Having a few spiders indoors is not a reason to be concerned. There are only two venomous spices in the US, the rest can’t do much harm to your health. However, any kind of spider can damage your property, if they select your house as a place to settle, feed and lay eggs. Like the rest of insects, spiders leave waste in the areas they inhabit, and if you notice it too late, cleaning might steal hours or even days. In this article, I will explain what does spider poop look like, how to remove it, and share easy tips on spider prevention.
- Wear protective clothing until you make sure the spiders are not venomous.
- Unclutter your place and look for egg sacs since waste is a clear sign of infestation.
- Deeply clean your house with a vacuum cleaner.
- Scrub damager surfaces with a bleach solution or with stain removers and wash the remedies off with clean water.
How to Distinguish and Remove Spider Waste
Feces spiders leave on various surfaces become harder to remove over time. New spots are easy to wipe with a wet towel, but by letting them get dry, you risk spending hours scrubbing in the future. Thus insect removal and prophylactic are my main recommendations for keeping your house clean.
How do spiders feed?
Like any other insect, spiders feed and leave waste. They belong to predators, and they hunt both insects and animals. Spider spices that can inhabit your house most likely feed on flies, mosquitos, moths, and sometimes other spiders. Larger species require more food, thus their targets are snails, frogs, and even small birds sometimes.
Spiders have no teeth, therefore they can’t chew and swallow prey. These insects catch a target, bite it, inject the enzymes, wrap it with a web and wait until it dies. Enzymes are a kind of protein that boosts chemical reactions, particularly, they turn prey into a soup-like substance, so a spider can suck it. After consuming the feed, the spider releases its dropping via the anus.
What does spider poop look like?
For a house owner, any insect waste might look the same. The appearance of spider droppings can mark the species a spider represents because it directly depends on an individual’s diet. As a rule, it looks like dark spots that are hard to see unless they are on a light surface. They resemble black, brown, or gray paint splatters of ink drops and their consistency is more liquid-like than solid. However, it is one of the signs you are dealing with an infestation, and even if feces has not spread too wide yet, it is a clear one.
Where to look for spider poop?
You can find insect waste everywhere they inhabit both indoors and outdoors. The general rule is to look near the places spiders primarily select to inhabit. The waste is usually found straight near webs. Since most spices spin webs to catch prey and have no other ways to feed, they avoid people and animals, settling in hard-to-reach places where the trap will stay unharmed. Attics, basements, areas behind the furniture, and room corners are the first places to check when you need to look for insects in your home.
What to do if you find spider droppings?
Since spider poop on walls always signals that insects have settled in your house and lived there long enough to become noticeable, you have to consider improving sanitation. Many kinds of insects select cluttered rooms, dark corners, and areas with high humidity to create a nest. If you find spiders poop indoors, you need to start a deep cleaning, which means not only removing waste but also searching and killing egg sacs.
- It is impossible to tell what species of spider you have according to spider droppings identification. Therefore, before starting any action, wear protective clothing in case the spiders you house are venomous.
- Unclutter your place starting from an area where you noticed waste. If you run into a spider or its sacs, pay attention to their appearance so you can tell if they are harmful or not.
- Remove webs and sacs with a vacuum cleaner and take them away from your house to make sure there is no single spider indoors.
- After removing the cause of dirt, you can move to wash it off once and for all. There are three ways to solve this issue: close-to-hand remedies like vinegar and baking soda, more aggressive chemicals like bleach, and commercial stain removers. There is no best method overall since they fit different surfaces and show the best results when combined.
How to safely remove spider poop?
The first rule is to protect your skin until you make sure you won’t run into venomous spiders during cleaning. The rest depends on the remedy you’ve selected.
- Pure bleach can cause chemical burns on the skin and harm your airways, therefore, prevent direct contact by wearing thick gloves and a protective mask that will cover your mouth and nose. Prepare a solution by mixing equal parts of bleach and water, this proportion is effective enough to cope with insect waste and will harm you less in case of accidental direct contact.
- Stain removers are more specific and can suit particular types of materials bleach can spoil. They vary by ingredients and rules of applying, thus always read the instructions before using any kind of such a remedy. However, it is recommended to avoid direct contact with skin and especially mucous, breathing it in also can harm your health.
Is spider poop poisonous?
All safety rules concern contacting spiders and remedies to remove their waste. There are no restrictions on direct skin contact with their waste or breathing near these spots. Spider faces are not toxic even if they consume insects that carry harmful germs or viruses. This explains why spiders are considered beneficial insects sometimes: they control the population of more dangerous pests that spread diseases.
How to prevent spider infestation
When you manage to get rid of spiders and wash off all the dirt, you might think about what caused this problem and how to prevent it in the future. The rules are easy and they concern almost every insect species.
- Regular cleaning is key to keeping spiders away from your place. Don’t clutter the room and don’t skip vacuum cleaning since it prevents these insects from creating webs. A web allows them to feed and lay eggs, and when this happens, fighting becomes much more tiring.
- Check for cracks in the basement, windows, and doors. Spiders should not be able to enter your house.
- Make sure other pests have not settled inside your home. Moths, mosquitoes, and flies attract spiders as a feed source and can cause infestation.
FAQ on Spider Poop
You can find spiders all over your place, both indoors and outdoors. Here are some specific, yet popular questions you might ask yourself when dealing with spider waste.
Can spiders pee?
Spiders don’t drink water like humans or animals, they also preserve their water resources as long as possible. These insects have only one way of releasing waste, they both throw feces and urinate via the anus. Spiders pee, yet it happens rarely and in the same way the poop.
How to remove spider poop from vinyl siding?
To clean vinyl siding, you can wash it with a mixture of 3 parts of vinegar and 7 parts of water. This remedy is a versatile way to clean the facades. To make washing faster, you can use your water hose.
What color is spider poop?
Spider poop differs depending on the spices a spider belongs to and the diet it has. Its waste looks like paint splatters and it has black, brown, or gray shades.
Keeping Your House Clean of Spider Waste
Most spider species you can run into in the US are not harmful to humans, but any kind of these insects can cause sanitation issues. They can settle inside or outside your house and cover surfaces near their web with feces. To identify droppings in house, pay attention to their pattern and color: spider waste looks like paint splashes and has dark, sometimes gray shades. It is not toxic, yet uses protective clothing when cleaning it. Firstly, to ensure spiders won’t bite you, secondly, to avoid direct contact with cleaning remedies.
You can scrub a dirty surface with a bleach solution or specialized stain removers. If you are cleaning the facades of your house, a water hose will save you a lot of time.
What kind of remedy seems more trustworthy and reliable to you? Please share your suggestions.
Also read:
- How to Get Rid of a Spider Nest: Step-by-Step Guide for Beginners
- How to Get Rid of Clover Mites: Best Ideas
- How to Get Rid of Spider Mites for Beginners
- How to Get Rid of Mites: Complete Ticks Control
- How to Get Rid of Chicken Mites on Humans: Complete Control & Prevention Guide
References:
- Spider Bites (State of Hawaii, Department of Health)
https://health.hawaii.gov/docd/disease_listing/spider-bites/l - Myth: Spiders only “suck juices” of prey (Burke Museum)
https://www.burkemuseum.org/collections-and-research/biology/arachnology-and-entomology/spider-myths/myth-spiders-only-suck
Contents
Why You Should Trust Pest Control Hacks?
We know that pests are nasty neighbors, and it can take months to eliminate them without the right approach. Our experts use their own experience to compile articles and guides that are introductory and informative. Our authors’ opinions are independent and based on the results of practical testing of pest control tools. We do not notify manufacturers of testing of their products and do not receive payment from them for posting their items. Also, our texts are never submitted to company representatives for proofreading before placement. On the site, you will find exclusively objective ratings and reviews.
