Keeping a Tarantula in Your Territory

Spiders can make fascinating pets but you need to know the basics of housing and looking after them properly to ensure they enjoy a happy and healthy life with you. Not all spiders do well in captivity so here is one that makes an excellent pet:

The tarantula is a large and hairy spider and lives in warm areas around the world. It has a very long life span and can live over 30 years. Some tarantulas live in underground burrows, some on the ground and others live in trees. They are meat eaters and live on insects such as grasshoppers and beetles and sometimes lizards and frogs. They kill their prey using venomous fangs that inject a poison into their flesh, or they crush them with their powerful mouths.

If you decide to keep a tree dweller you will need a tall enclosure with a hideaway from the light. Temperature and humidity are of great importance and you should read extensively on these subjects to make sure you get the settings just right. You can lightly spray the enclosure for raising humidity, but you should never allow the enclosure to become too humid or else it will go mouldy and kill the spider. Ground dwelling spiders need a low enclosure with burrows if required.

The substrate (the ground the spider will live on) should be of moss peat from the garden centre. Never use gravel or real plants. The beauty of keeping tarantulas is that they need very little maintenance. Remove dead insect prey daily and clean any marks off the tank. Mites can be destroyed with a warm water wash of the enclosure.

Tarantulas do moult and will shed their skin in order to grow. This will happen about six times in the first two years and then about once a year after that. During shedding the spider will flip onto its back and look dead but you must not disturb it as it sheds its old skin. It may also stop eating and behave in a sluggish manner, but will soon return to normal. If your spider loses a leg it has the ability to re-grow it through the moults.

You need to keep all of your equipment clean and hygienic and it is vital to have all your rubbish removed regularly to avoid any health hazards. Call a reputable company such as Wandsworth professional rubbish removal to ensure you avoid any future problems.

You must not over feed your spider and it is sufficient to give him locusts and crickets to keep him healthy. Spiders can go for days without food, even weeks and months sometimes, so feeding one or twice a week will be quite acceptable.  Your tarantula does not need to be handled and can be enjoyed just by watching. Be aware that if you do pick it up the hairs may cause an irritation and snake bites can cause an allergic reaction.