Despite their scary, or creepy, reputation it’s becoming far more common to find tarantulas as pets!
They are quiet, relatively small (compared to a cat or dog, for example) and therefore don’t require a large space in which to reside, and for the most part, they don’t really need any special food or care either.
It’s quite common to find tarantula’s for sale in pet stores that carry exotic pets, and there are special online breeders just for various species of tarantula. You might also find these spiders available at reptile shows if you are lucky enough to have any shows in your area.
What Do You Need To Know?
There are a number of topics you ought to be knowledgeable about about before you buy your pet tarantula, or even before you choose the particular species you will own, including:
- Tarantula Care Basics
- Tarantula Enclosure & Habitat
- Tarantula Food & Diet
- Handling Your Tarantula
- Tarantula Molting
- Species of Tarantula
Note: You can click on the linked names in the list to learn more about that topic.
These articles should give you a basic understanding of the kind of care your pet tarantula will need, including all of the necessary feeding and habitat equipment you may need.
There are some 900 species of Tarantula which gives a wide variety of care needs, I suggest that in addition to reading the general articles here that you research more about the specific tarantula you plan to keep.
Typically, the best species for beginners are the slower-moving ground-dwelling and burrowing species of tarantula, because they are easier to care for and have less exotic needs to worry about.
Suggested Beginner Species
The list below shows the Latin name, followed by a common name. Most species of tarantula have more than one common name, so the original Latin name is the most accurate guide to which species we are talking about.
- Grammostola pulchra – Brazilian Black
- Acanthoscurria geniculata – Brazilian white knee
- Brachypelma smithi – Mexican Red-Knee
- Brachypelma albopilosum – Curly Hair
- Brachypelma vagans – Mexican Red-Rump
- Grammostola pulchripes – Chaco Golden Knee (formerly Grammostola aureostriata)
- Grammostola rosea – Chilean Rose or Rose Hair
- Avicularia avicularia – Pinktoe
Note: You can click on the linked names in the list to learn more about that topic.
The female tends to make for a better pet than the male spider, simply because they live longer than the males. For example the female Grammostola rosea (Chilean Rose) has a life expectancy of 20+ years, whereas the male of the species tends not to live beyond the first three to five years.
To learn more click any of the links on this page, or select one of the topics listed in the menu’s to the right.
