Spider Control Experts – Geelong, Surf Coast and surrounding areas
Victoria is home to a few dangerous spider species, so our professional spider control treatment (a “spider spray”) is one of our most requested pest control treatments. If you’re looking to get your house sprayed for spiders in Geelong, the Surf Coast or the Bellarine, our experienced technicians are ready to help.
Although spiders are “beneficial”, in that they eat insects, a few species have a very dangerous bite and it’s important to protect your family and pets.
Spiders are covered as part of our general pest treatment, which comes with a 6-month warranty, but we investigate a bit more thoroughly if you have a specific spider problem. This may result in us modifying our general pest treatment to make sure we deal with your specific problem.
For long-lasting protection from spiders and their web-building give us a call.
To protect your family and pets from spiders
Our professional spider treatments
Spiders are part of our general pest treatment and so we spray in all the areas where spiders are likely to hide and build their webs, including:
We will also treat sub-floors, roof voids and the cornices of rooms inside if required.
Generally, we use long-lasting sprays to treat surfaces, but we apply insecticide dusts in roof voids and other areas where spraying isn’t possible. This dusting of the roof void is sometimes called “spider fumigation”, and it targets spiders hiding in the spaces a spray can’t reach.
Sometimes we may need to treat additional areas, if there is a specific spider problem, such as wall voids and behind cupboards and appliances.
What to expect from our spider treatments?
After our treatment, it is likely you will start to see dead spiders within an hour or two. These are the spiders that would have come into direct contact with the initial spray. However, spiders which may have been hiding in cracks and crevices will only pick up the insecticide when they come out at night. So, it’s quite common to see spiders dying in the 24-48 hours after a treatment.
After our treatment, leave any spider webs in place for a couple of days. Any spiders in hiding will emerge at some point and will pick up the insecticide when they venture onto their web. After a week the webs can be removed, but they should be brushed down rather than hosed down, to avoid washing away the insecticide from the surface.
The residual insecticide on the treated surface is important for the long-term protection from spiders – it stops spiders building their webs and provides protection against “running spiders” which may try and enter the home.
All our spider treatments come with a 6-month warranty.
What our customers say
To protect your family from spiders
Types of spiders in Victoria
The most common spiders found around homes in Australia are:
Web-building spiders
- Black house spider
- Redback spider
Running or hunting spiders
- White-tailed spider
- Huntsman spider
- Wolf spiders
Others
- Victorian funnel web
- Trapdoor spiders
Web-building spiders
Web-building spiders are the easiest to spot and detect. Around home there are two main web-building spiders of concern to homeowners:
- Black house spider (builds dense, funnel-shaped webs around window, doors and eaves)
- Redback spider (builds messy webs in protected dry spots, such as vents, outdoor furniture fencing and even downlights)
Running or Hunting spiders
Hunting spiders are also called running spiders as they generally don’t build webs (unless they are laying eggs), but rather hunt for their prey. The main hunting spiders in Victoria are white-tailed spiders, huntsman spiders and wolf spiders.
These can be more difficult to kill as they walk on the tips of the legs. As such, when they walk on a treated surface, they pick up a lower dose of insecticide, so they may take longer to die. However, with a spider treatment also eliminating their prey, hunting spiders are less likely to find your home an attractive place to hang out!
White-tail spider myth: The idea that white-tail bites cause flesh to decay is not supported by facts. Research on white-tailed spider bites shows there is nothing in the white-tail spider bite that can do this, and there was no evidence of necrosis in the 130 confirmed spider bites in the scientific study.
Victoria funnel-web spiders are generally only found in Melbourne and in the southeast (Gippsland), so aren’t very common in Geelong and western Victoria. It’s only the males that you may encounter, when they leave their burrows in the warmer months, looking for a mate.
How to prevent a spider infestation
Spiders eat insects (and other spiders); if there are fewer insects around your home, there will be fewer spiders. There are 3 key actions homeowners can take to reduce the number of spiders around the home:
- Remove vegetation and garden beds from the immediate perimeter of the building (or at least trim it well back)
- Make sure there are no gaps around insect screens to door and windows.
- Get an annual spider spray / general pest treatment.
Spider bite first-aid
The standard first-aid for spider bites for common spiders (apart from funnel-web and mouse spiders):
- Calm the victim and keep them still.
- Clean the bite area with water and disinfectant.
- Apply ice if the bite area becomes painful.
- Seek medical attention, if
- It’s a redback or white tail, especially if it is a young child
- You are at all concerned or the victim develops other symptoms
If you can see the spider, take a photo of the spider with your phone for identification.
Bites from a funnel-web spider (and similar looking mouse spiders) need to be treated differently – you should apply the same first aid as you would for a snake bite:
- Calm the victim and keep them still.
- Immobilise the affected limb.
- Apply a pressure bandage to the limb with the bite.
- Call for medical assistance immediately.
For the non-experts it can be difficult to identify spiders, so if you are bitten by any large black spider, apply the funnel-web spider first aid and seek medical assistance.
St. John’s Ambulance spider bite first aid
Getting your house sprayed for spiders: what’s involved?
Having your house sprayed for spiders is a straightforward visit that typically takes around an hour for an average Geelong home. Our technician treats the full exterior perimeter, eaves, fences, garages and sheds, and treats sub-floors, roof voids and internal cornices if required. The treatment uses long-lasting residual products, so it keeps working for months after the visit, stopping new spiders from building webs on treated surfaces. Most customers have their house sprayed for spiders once a year, usually in spring before the summer peak, and the spider spray is included as part of our general pest treatment, so ants and cockroaches are covered in the same visit.
Frequently asked questions about spider treatments
How much does it cost to get my house sprayed for spiders?
The cost depends on the size of your home and whether roof voids and sub-floors need treating, so we provide pricing by quote. Call us on 1300 135 519 for a price tailored to your property; the spider spray is part of our general pest treatment, so it covers other crawling insects too.
How long does a spider spray last?
Our spider treatments use long-lasting residual insecticides and come with a 6-month warranty. In practice, most homes stay largely clear of webbing spiders for around 12 months, which is why an annual treatment is the most popular option.
Is the spider spray safe for children and pets?
Yes, safety is our number-one priority. We use registered products applied to label directions and target the areas where spiders hide rather than open living spaces. Simply keep children and pets away from treated surfaces until they have dried.
Which dangerous spiders are found in Geelong?
Redback spiders are the main dangerous spider in Geelong, with white-tailed spiders also delivering a painful bite. Victorian funnel-webs are rare this far west, being found mainly in Melbourne and Gippsland.
Do you offer spider fumigation?
Yes, as part of our spider treatment we can apply insecticide dust to roof voids, which is what many people call spider fumigation. It reaches spiders hiding in areas that a standard spray can’t treat.
When is the best time of year for a spider treatment?
Spring is ideal, before spider numbers peak over summer. Geelong’s good winter rainfall creates perfect breeding conditions, so a spring treatment gets the residual barrier in place just as spiders become active.