# Anyone here kept big spiders as pets?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-kept-big-spiders-as-pets/174165>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [May 9, 2003, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-kept-big-spiders-as-pets/174165 "2003-05-09T18:05:56Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![ratty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ccd318/32.png) [@ratty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ratty)\
**Post date:** [May 11, 2003, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-kept-big-spiders-as-pets/174165/21 "2003-05-11T23:25:18Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by QueerGeekGirl \*  
> **I’d never keep one for a pet, as I don’t think it would be very happy in a small tank.**

As mentioned, deciding what makes a tarantula happy is at best an academic exercise. I can tell you, however, that most ground-dwelling spiders, especially females, are pretty loath to leave their territory. Most wild tarantulas spend their entire lives within the same 10-foot radius of their burrows. (Males do wander to seek mates, but only at the end of their lives.) Add to this the fact that without a drag line, a tarantula would be largely incapable of finding its burrow again should it wander too far, and you’ve got yourself the ultimate home-body. My smaller spiders do wonderfully in standard 10-gallon aquariums. Larger ones appreciate the leg room of a 20 or 30 gallon.

I can’t say I can recommend building your own enclosure, since glass or plexi tanks are so cheap, easily cleaned, and well-suited to controlling temperature and humidity. They can also be purchased with locking lids- the best kind are the ones that have a sliding lid built into the top of the tank which can be secured with a peg. Regular screens can be easily pushed off by a determined spider, and then good luck finding him/her. Also, a fall of more than a few inches will seriously injure or kill most tarantulas. Ground-dwelling species are very clumsy.

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> [@](#):
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> Man, they kick ass, though. \*\*

Indeed. 😃

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**Author:** ![arachnidlove](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@arachnidlove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/arachnidlove)\
**Post date:** [May 11, 2003, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-kept-big-spiders-as-pets/174165/22 "2003-05-11T23:41:01Z")

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Ditto on what **ratty** said about enclosures. My curlyhair is a bit bigger than my palm. Her cage is about 2 feet by 4 feet. Quite big for a spider. She has plenty of room to roam and doesn’t really come out from her little burrow much. Just to feed and drink and explore. Her cage is one of those big plastic storage tubs thats see-through.  
My rosehair is smaller and is in a smaller storage tub. But still plenty of room to wander. But, again, they really don’t wander far from their burrows.

/X(…)/X\

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