She bought a velvet spider from Petco and found out it had an egg sack. After telling the manager, she accidentally changed a nationwide Petco policy

An Arizona content creator (@walkinginspiderwebs) told TikTok she accidentally changed a nationwide Petco policy after buying a pet velvet spider.

She posted about Harriet, her velvet spider, whom her followers said was going to have babies. At first, the content creator was skeptical about the remark. But after peeling off the Petco lid sticker, she confirmed the spider had an egg sac. She decided to take Harriet back to Petco and informed the store about the situation.

“I just wanted to bring to your attention that my velvet spider that I adopted is, in fact, wild-caught and has an egg sac in here,” she told the manager. She clarified that she still wanted to keep her spider. However, she also wanted to warn the manager about the risks of selling a spider with eggs to first-time spider keepers. The consequences would be far worse than a spider home invasion.

She explained that if she were still new to the spider world and didn’t notice it came with an egg sac, many baby spiders would move in with the mother spider into the enclosure. It was like adopting a pet that couldn’t be handled. “And then all of a sudden, I’m a grandma to a thousand spiders, and then my spider dies because it got eaten by the babies. I would be devastated,” she explained to the Petco staff. The manager was confused by the content creator’s explanation. She clarified that the mother spider regurgitates food for her babies. Once they hatch and she runs out of food, they will eat her.

Petco took action

“It’s the circle of life, and there’s nothing that can be done about it,” she said. The manager allegedly said she didn’t know Petco might have been selling wild-caught velvet spiders. Out of concern, the manager asked the content creator whether the other velvet spider they left on the shelf still had an egg sac. The content creator confirmed it did.

“My store gave a c*** and they cared. So, what she did is she took the spider that she had left in the store, she put it in her office, and she started emailing,” the content creator said. The people above the manager allegedly acknowledged the concern and said they should change the policy on velvet spiders. Before she left, the manager took her information and promised to update her. The content creator said she didn’t expect anything to happen and was glad the manager handled it with care. But then, she said she received an update on October 21.

“This lady really freaking cared. Shout out to Brenda,” the content creator said. Brenda, the manager, was allegedly informed by the higher-ups that a policy change had been made. She continued, “If a gravid spider comes in with an egg sac or baby spiders, that it is to be sent back to the vendor, and then the vendor will care for it and take care of it, and take care of the babies, like it should be. And then the babies will be resold, basically, to Petco when they’re ready.”

She encouraged others who bought spiders from Petco to return them if they have an egg sac. “Exchange your spider, get a refund, and then wait for one that you know isn’t gravid or isn’t fully grown,” she added.

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