So I’ve been thinking about getting tarantulas for a while, and my eyes are on euthalus sp. red…so if anybody out there has tips about keeping tarantulas, they’d be greatly appreciated!
I also have some questions…First, what’s your feeding schedules? What kind of enclosures do you use? What do you feed them? What do you do if they escape, and finally, how do you keep yourself safe from bites just in general?
Tarantulas are awesome pets!
I use Tarantula Cribs enclosures. They’re a bit on the pricey side, but they’re excellent quality and are extremely well-designed. Very secure, very easy to use, and they’re crystal clear and allow you to easily observe your spider. That said, there’s nothing wrong with doing something cheap and DYI. Any container with the right size and dimensions can just have some ventilation added and voila, spider enclosure! Though one caveat with DYI enclosures: remember that tarantulas are surprisingly strong for their size. They can push up lids that are not secure. And slings are very small and can escape through very small holes and gaps. I’d also avoid using anything with a mesh lid or mesh ventilation, as tarantulas can get their little toe claws stuck in it, and they can also chew through wire mesh and potentially escape.
I feed my spiders a variety of feeder insects. Mainly crickets, dubia roaches, and mealworms, though I’ll occasionally get hornworms, and sometimes get super worms for my bigger gals. For very tiny slings that are too small to take pinhead crickets, I’ll usually just prekill a small cricket or mealworm and leave it at the mouth of their den. Slings will scavenge, so I find that easier than dealing with fruit flies.
Feeding frequency depends on age, and on the size of the meal. I also tend to feed my spiders less often than most care guided recommend (I just feel like we tend to feed animals like snakes and spiders too much in captivity). I go more based on the size of their abdomen than a set schedule. When they start looking a little less plump, I’ll feed them. For small slings, that usually ends up being once, maybe twice a week. For juveniles, maybe once every 10 days. For older juveniles and adults, maybe once every two weeks or so. But those time-frames are just ballpark estimates, actual frequency may be more or less depending on how quickly they seem to be burning through their last meal.
They typically won’t eat when they’re in premolt, so be prepared for that. Don’t feed them right after a molt, wait a week or so for their new exoskeleton to harden (can take several weeks for larger Ts). Feeders can actually injure or kill a freshly molted tarantula, so just make sure to always remove any feeders that don’t get eaten.
If you have a species that needs humidity, I recommend adding water to the substrate rather than misting. I’ll make little holes in the substrate in the corners of the enclosure and drip water down those holes with a pipet. This adds humidity while also creating a more natural moisture gradient and avoiding things getting too wet and soupy. The top of the substrate stays dry, but the lower layers are damp.
I do recommend giving your spider a water dish. Not everyone does, but I do see mine drink from their dishes with some frequency, so I recommend water dishes. You can just use something like a small bottle cap in small enclosures.
Sorry for the info dump. Happy to answer any more specific questions.
I will second everything said here. I will add a couple of things.
Don’t start out fresh with a tiny sling. They can be temperamental and difficult to raise in some cases. A juvenile is a good place to start.
Don’t start them out in too big and enclosure. Especially juvies, as it’s easier to track their feeding and they don’t have to hunt too far.
The best way to avoid being bitten, is to NOT handle your spider. They won’t enjoy it and there is a chance of both escape and death. If they are dropped from height, they can rupture their abdomen.
The Chilean Flame is considered a dwarf tarantula that on occasion will refuse food.
Good advice from David! I forgot to address how to not get bitten, but David is right: best way to avoid a bite is to not handle your spider. It’s pretty easy to avoid being bitten if you avoid handling and follow some basic common sense. Use tongs to pick up or move anything in the enclosure, don’t just reach your fingers in and start poking and grabbing stuff. If you need to rehouse your spider or otherwise need to remove it from its enclosure, use something like a stick or paintbrush to gently herd them into a small cup. There are lots of YouTube videos that show this process. Some of my favourite tarantula YouTubers are Tom’s Big Spiders, Tarantula Kat, and Dave’s Little Beasties. If you haven’t already, I’d recommend watching some unboxing and rehousing videos, just so you can see how they wrangle their spiders without putting themselves at risk of a bite, even with more spicy specimens.
Thanks! Firstly, out of crickets, dubia roaches, and mealworms, which do you think has the best feeding response? Also, for slings, should I actually build an enclosure or give them some sort of cup with substrate? Do you breed all of your food/feeders? Finally, when do you normally clean your Ts cage?
I would say that crickets probably trigger the best feeding response, just because crickets are more active than other kinds of feeders. But they’re also stinky and are more difficult to keep alive long-term (they dehydrate very quickly, so if their water source dries up, they’ll all be dead within about 24-48 hours). And adults chirp, so they can be noisy. I like to give a variety of feeders, because each insect is going to have different nutritional content, and it’s not like they only ever eat one thing in the wild.
For slings, depending on the size, you can often just use a plastic vial with substrate. Tarantula Cribs also makes “sling cribs” that are ideal for most slings.
I do not breed my own feeders, I just buy them from the pet shop. I don’t really clean my tarantula enclosures. I take out molts and takeout containers (also known as boluses, the dessicated remains of an insect after a spider has sucked out the soft gooey innards), but I don’t really do much cleaning beyond that. I mostly just rehouse them once they’ve outgrown their current enclosure. I suppose when my long-lived species are full grown, I might do a substrate change in their enclosure every now and then, but that’s about it. Spiders are very low maintenance.
Dubias and mealworms will almost instantly start to burrow in the soil. Red runner roaches do not burrow.
Slings are scavenger feeders. I’ll smash the head of a tiny mealworm, and add it to the enclosure. For really small slings, I’ve actually used the rear leg of large crickets as food.
There are lots of tiny little lessons that you will learn about raising tarantulas successfully. Watch a lot of videos. Tom Moran, tarantula collective, Dave’s Little Beasties all are super. Arachnaboards is also a good forum. But we are always on here as well as others. And we can help with any questions.
@jawramik, @spottedbull, thanks for all the info! I usually watch Exotic Lairs for YouTube, and use Tom’s Big Spiders and Tarantula Collective for websites. (They are good and reliable, right?) Do dubia roaches stink? 'Cause I know a guy who breeds some for his bearded dragon, and they smell like hell. I haven’t actually ever noticed an odor for crickets. I think I’m going to start out with juvenile Chilean Flame…Do you reccomend prekilled or live prey? And how should I store my feeder bugs?
OK, couple of questions first.
Do you have other animals that will be consuming the insects?
Juvies won’t need that much food. And live prey by then. They need the motion to trigger a feeding response. They don’t eat daily. Cricket when established breed fast. You will have far more crickets that you need in a hurry. If there is a pet store nearby, that would be the best bet.
And the spider you are looking at is a dwarf spider, so it will be small as well. Not trying to discourage breeding feeders, just letting you know my stance. But even as an adult it probably wont eat more than 6 or 8 crickets in a month.
I have 9 tarantulas, and 7 lizards and I don’t raise my own feeders. Easier to me to go get 100 crickets once a week at Petco.
I love this thread! I keep dallying with the idea of getting a spider. Dan likes them. Once we get moved, maybe I’ll make that happen. I amgoing to bookmark this thread, just in case. Of course, I’ll need advice on what species to get. Not to hijack the thread but since it’s about tips for beginner keepers, if I want a reasonably easy to keep alive spider whom I can see regularly, what are the top species to consider?
Giant Orange Knee
Curly Hair
Stripe Knee
All above are terrestrial and don’t web much
Green Bottle Blue
Trinidad Chevron
Panama Blonde
All above are arboreal. They web but are still visible, esp the chevron because it is huge.
I will add Arizona Blonda as well. Terrestrial with personality. Mine regularly will rearrange her enclosure. I’ve actually seen her with her water bowl on her back walking it over to another spot.
I wrote this up awhile back from a video by Tom Moran.
Top 13 Beginner Tarantulas
Tom Moran
YouTube @ Tom’s Big Spiders
Be aware that #12 gets really big…like 10"+. But they are super docile and easy to raise.
@spottedbull, I won’t have other animals consuming these insects. I knew Chilean Flame was a dwarf spider, that’s…partially the reason I was looking at it. What kind of substrate should I use, what kind of plants/and or decorations, and what size should the enclosure be? Like, the measurements. Do they web a lot?
Pay attention to what others are saying about over feeding.
I once decided to keep a couple adult western widows. Thinking they need food frequently, I gave them a cricket per week. They ate but got extremely fat in the abdomen.
One morning, doing my daily checks, I see they both had laid huge egg cases and had expired. Not ideal and not the same as a T. so, definitely pay attention to more experienced advice.
I’m not super knowledgeable on these guys, but here is a great video by Tom Moran about them.
By the way, they are now called Homoeomma chilense. You will find that Science will change tarantula names frequently.
Thanks! I will take all of this advice to heart. If I get two, should I breed them instead of buying more? Also, should I give myself a feeding routine or do it based on what their abdomen looks like?
Think of breeding this way. You have two spiders. And you may or may not have only one spider, afterwards.
And then suddenly you have 100 spiders. Teeny tiny ones. That you have to feed. And get rid of.
I’ll never breed for that reason alone.
As for feeding, a routine is good for the babies and juvies. Adjust it as needed, if they start looking rotund. All of mine are adults, so I will feed them when they come out of their burrows and start wandering around during the day or just hanging out a lot. That means they are looking for food.
My first Ts were a G. pulchripes (Chaco golden knee) and a T. albopilosus (curly hair). I think both make excellent first tarantulas. Super hardy, and generally pretty docile (they may kick hair, but neither species is known for being overly quick or bolty). G. pulchripes also have some of the least irritating urticating hairs, which was a big selling point for me.
If you prefer something arboreal, anything from the Caribena or Avicularia genus could be a good choice, and there’s some truly stunning colour options.
Thank you, Caron and David! Love having some recommendations.
This sounds completely charming. 
They really are one of my favorites. Mine has a big personality. She acts like she wants to get out every time I open the box to feed and water. But when I use my paintbrush to turn her water dish up, she bolts for her hole.
Which reminds me, get some long thin paint brushes to help move the spiders around gently. You’ve probably seen that on videos. I use them to move everything in their homes around.