I’m considering getting a pet tarantula, possibly a Mexican red knee. I have never kept spiders before, but I’ve always been interested in them (fascinated may be a more accurate word!).
I know very little about tarantulas, and have been reading up on them in some books and on-line. I’m aware that their venom is not powerful enough to be dangerous to people, but they can bite if provoked. I know that they have hairs on their back that they can rub off, and that these hairs can sting. I also know that they like to burrow, and that they like live prey. Just the basic stuff, really.
My main reason for emerging from the shadows of lurkdum (is that a word?) is so that I can post this question here, and hopefully draw upon your experiences to help me make my decision. I’m sure some of you will have kept big spiders as pets, so what advice would you give me?
What kind of pleasure did you get out of keeping one of these critters? Are they worth the hassle? Any bad experiences? Also, any advice on preparing their habitat and what kind of things they really like to eat would be appreciated (should I decide to go ahead with this).
Herge, my friend. Your ranking amongst the chicks will probably drop numerous rungs on the ladder of love if you go through with this. Yeah, SOME chicks might like a big ugly fucking spider, but most will never make it past your front door.
I think a tarantula would be a pretty cool pet. I would never have one though, as I don’t think I’d have the balls to handle it. The thought of a huge spider crawling around on me would freak me out slightly!
Good for you for doing some research on your own first, you’d be surprised how few people seem to do that in my experience. The substrate you use will depend on what type of tarantula you purchase. Most available in pet stores like to burrow to some extent and I’ve known people who’ve had good luck with potting soil in those cases. I prefer aspen, it’s a lot easier to keep clean.
I’ve been around quite a few tarantulas, but the only ones that seemed willing to be handled on a regular basis were Costa Rican Zebra Legs and Chilean Rose Hairs. I’ve never been bitten by either, and watching their body language, it’s easy to see if they would rather be left alone.
The positives (IMHO) of owning a tarantula: They are fascinating. Watching them build webs around their environs and arranging their substrate is pretty cool. If you’ve never seen it before, watching a tarantula capture a cricket or other insect is pretty interesting. If the tarantula is not particularly hungry it’s entertaining to watch them store their food for later. They are inexpensive to keep, not demanding time wise, and beautiful.
The negatives (again IMHO): Not many people seem to find tarantulas beautiful and at best can only tolerate being in the room with one, so it may be difficult to find other people you can discuss your wonderful pet with. If you don’t like handling insects or baby mice, feeding could be a problem. Running to the pet store at least weekly for crickets could be a hassle, or as an alternative raising crickets yourself, a possible annoyance. If you end up with a tarantula that does not like to be handled, cleaning out the enclosure can be a frightening experience.
While I hate to disagree with Kalhoun, my experience is out of the numerous people I’ve tried to convince that tarantulas are not the epitome of oogieness, only myself and two other females were actually willing to handle one. YMMV
I haven’t kept a pet tarantula, but I did work at a petstore for 3+ years so I had more contact with them than I really cared to. Not that it bothered me to have them around, I just never cared for them much, and definitely didn’t have the cajones to pick them up. We did have a couple girls at the shop that would handle them, and even walk around with the spider on their shirts.
They aren’t very active, for one thing. On the other hand, they are very easy to keep. Just get a large “Critter Keeper” (like a plastic aquarium with a snap-on lid. Put in one of those hollowed out half-logs or other cave, some reptile bark, and a small dish with floss for water. You may also need a heat lamp of some sort, depending on how cold it gets where you keep it, and what species you get.
Kalhoun is right; some people may eschew your company if the spider’s part of the deal.IME, most women will at least get near the cage of a tarantula, but might be a little oogy about sleeping with one around. OTOH, I have seen big, burly football player type guys scream and run out of the store upon spotting the tarantulas.
As far as feeding, they don’t eat much, but we gave the smaller spiders a couple crickets each week, and the larger ones could take a small pinkie mouse (it’s sort of nasty watching them spend 3 hours sucking on a pinkie mouse).
That’s about it. I’d also suggest picking up a book and doing some reading before getting your new pet.
I’ve got the heebie jeebies just reading this stuff. I truly think I would pass out if I had one on me. I’m glad some girly types are brave and willing to handle them…makes the rest of us look tough! Except me. I’ll be on the table over there in the corner. Screaming my fool head off. Really.
This might be a very silly question, but I’m curious…
Do you think tarantulas can be domesticated at all? I mean, the more you handle one, does it get to know you, and does it like being taken out and handled?
I don’t know if they ever like anything except feeding, mating and spawning, but I think tarantulas that have been handled are a lot less jittery about it than those who haven’t.
If you’re thinking of getting a tarantula, might I suggest as an alternative or addition (not a same tank addition) an Emperor scorpion. Not very cuddley, but loads of fun, and if you’re careful and not stupid very good about being handled.
I now have two tarantulas. One a chilean rosehair. The other a curlyhair. I loooove them. I think they are so freaking cool, especially during feeding time.
To me they aren’t really high maintenence. My curlyhair eats like once every couple of months. She eats crickets and feeder mice. Alot of people will caution you on feeder mice because, yes the will try and kill your pet. I usually watch really carefully when I put the mousey in. I’ve even “stunned” the mouse before putting it in.
The Rosehair has a voracious appetite. I got him about a month ago…I don’t really remember. My local pet store got some tarantulas and I don’t like the way they care for their pets so I bought one to “save” it. I gave him a nice roomy cage and fed him some crickets. He ate them up immediately. When I bought him I asked the whole crew there when was the last time they feed the tarantulas. None of them knew. He eats a couple of crickets per week.
Do I pick up my tarantulas? No, not really. Only when I have to. I’m more scared of hurting my tarantulas or dropping them so I just keep them in their homes. I tend to think they prefer it that way to.
Substrate depend on what kind of tarantula you get.
Definately get the Tarantula Keepers Guide. It is the most thorough and accurate book so far.
Oh…and if you get a Mexican Red Knee please tell me how you scored one. It seems they are the hardest to get ahold of. I read somewhere that they were endangered or something. I’ve been trying to get ahold of one because I think they are beautiful.
I personally HATE cats. I’m female too. I’m severly allergic to them. When I go to people’s houses with cats I ask them to remove them from the area we’ll be in.
I’ve had a tarantula. I also used to have a job where I took care of lots of them (I also got to feed black widows, brown recluses, lots of scorpions, and really neat-o stick insects from Australia, but all this is beside the point.)
Tarantulas are great as pets. Not only are they incredibly cool, but they’re very low-maintenance.
pravnik gave an excellent answer to this question. The only thing I’d add is that when you do handle them, it’s best to do it where they won’t take a large fall if you happen to drop them. You’d be surprised at how quickly they can go from your arm to a shoulder, and while they aren’t attacking, some people might panic causing an accident. Don’t forget to wash your hands afterward.
Which was your favorite JThunder? Your reply cracked me up Kalhoun!
I had a red leg as a kid. I fed her crickets about once a week. I’d usually buy them by the dozen. She got VERY BIG. Seriously. We’re talking salad plate sized. As a pet she was fascinating. She would run away from anything remotely threatening. Then, she would throw hair. Only as a third option would she turn and bite. OTOH, don’t mess with her when there was prey around. They have terrible eyesight. NOTE: any sound like a pespis wasp will freak a tarantula completely out. Once they hear what they think is a wasp they will rear up and bite at anything. If I scraped the top of her cage wrong sometimes she would react.
She cured my fear of red leg tarantulas. I still hate other spiders.
I have a rosehair tarantula. I bought her because I thought she was being mis-treated in the pet store and my daughter was just amazed by her. I don’t let my kids handle her and I keep her out of their reach but she is really amazing to watch. She’s really easy to care for but she is getting big. When we bought her she was about the size of a quarter and now she’s the size of a baseball. I’ve noticed that during feeding time she’ll haul her butt to the side of her tank just like all my other pets even though she doesn’t get fed every day. She’ll crawl up her little tree to crawl on my hand right before cricket time. Not that I really enjoy her crawling on me but even big spiders need love. She doesn’t care for my husband at all though, she’ll run from him so he’s not allowed near her tank anymore. I don’t let my kids handle her and I don’t hold her if she’s in a pissy mood so it works out well for us.
Okay…WARNING!!! Because alot of people will think this is cruel but I’m not the only person on earth who does it. I’ve seen zoo keepers stun rabbits before for pythons to eat. But its different.
You whack the mouse on a hard surface paralyzing it but it is still alive and twitches thus making the spider want it because its still alive. Its cruel but …yeah… Why I do it? Because I value the life of my tarantula more than that of a feeder mouse which purpose in life is to be fed to other animals. I’ve seen my spider fight with mice before. I cringe when it happens. I paid 30 bucks for my tarantula, and $1.50 for the mouse. I think the tarantula is worth more.
The way zoo keepers stun the rabbits is using some kind of stick and whacking it on the back of its neck/head paralyzing it but it still twitches.
I have a feeling that people will either be horrified by this, or that they will pass it off as part of life.
Dunno why to go the mouse route, I avoided all that by feeding mine enough crickets to equal a mouse. Once, I fed her an anole* I caught on the back porch. I felt kind of bad because the anole bit one of her legs. No problem, she grew a perfect new one next moult.
Sometimes my tarantula would go on a killing spree and kill every cricket in the tank, one by one. After wrapping each one individually in silk, she would move them to her favorite corner under the rock, and munch them one by one. It was entertaining in a Discovery Channel kind of way.
I only handled her when necessary. Which, honestly, was almost never. If you don’t feel brave you can usually just nudge them out of the way gently.
By the way, only buy a female. They are less ill-tempered, get bigger, and live longer, IMO.
*Don’t worry, there are thirty just like that one in my back yard at any one time.
I have owned several tarantula species over the years- I posted in the other thread that arachnidlove linked to.
You don’t really need to ever pick up your spider. For tank cleaning and such, I just use a kitchen spatula to scoop the girls into a smaller plastic “holding tank” while I change substrate and such. A few of my spiders tolerate light petting. Be careful with this, though- many New World species have urticating bristles on their hind end that can cause a very, very itchy rash.
Good points have been brought up re: other people’s reactions to your pet. I know a few people who for quite some time refused to even go upstairs in my house because they knew the spiders were up there. Telling people you keep tarantulas as pets is always a crapshoot. Most people respond with shuddershudder*, a few will be interested or even a fellow hobbyist, a few will just plain freak out. I had some woman in a pet store tell me I was “sick” for keeping spiders.
Also, be aware that certain species can be quite expensive. A standard rose-hair tarantula is fairly cheap, and makes a good first spider. The Mexican red-knee, Brachypelma smithii can be pretty pricey, since they’re now listed as CITES II. An adult female can cost close to $300. The “holy grail” of tarantula-keepers, the Goliath bird-eater Theraphosa blondi can usually only be purchased as spiderlings and they cost up to $100. My blondi cost me $70 from a breeder as a spiderling. They attract fanciers because of their size (13-inch leg span), but they’re really not good first spiders, since they require mice as food and are easily stressed.
If you choose to feed your spider mice, I highly suggest buying frozen pinkies and then popping them in boiling water for 5-10 minutes before feeding your spider. You can feed live, but it’s a risk, even with stunning. Mice are smart, fast, and have sharp teeth. Spiders are dumb, slow, and only have fangs. The potential for serious injury to your animal is always there. Some spiders, even large ones, won’t accept mice. So crickets are a good food source, especially if you feed them on some dog food first.
Tarantulas are beautiful. I’m a bit afraid of them, but I think they’re just gorgeous. I’d never keep one for a pet, as I don’t think it would be very happy in a small tank. I also don’t know how good I would be at handling her. I always build my animals enormous homes (you should have seen my three foot by eight foot two-story guinea pig home), and I wouldn’t know how to go about building a good enclosure for a spider.
but why/how do you stun mice before putting them in?