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How to keep spiders as pets




 

Spiders can make fascinating pets. Here are a few steps to get you started keeping spiders.

Step 1: Catching

Spiders are all around us, indoors and out, so they’re not hard to find. Some species can bite and a few are venomous. Learn about dangerous spiders in your area before heading out. It’s easy to safely catch a spider by using a small jar. Gently coax it into the jar using the lid. Spiders will eat each other, so keep only one per jar.

Step 2: Preparing a cage

Large spiders do well in the inexpensive plastic terrariums available from pet stores. Smaller ones can be kept in jars or plastic containers if air holes are drilled into the lid or sides. Be sure the holes are small enough to prevent escape.

Potting soil makes good cover for the cage bottom. Sticks, dead leaves or artificial plants provide structure for hiding, climbing and webbing.

Step 3: Water

Depending on the size of the spider, anything from a plastic bottle cap to a small bowl can serve as a water dish. Spiders also drink water sprayed on webbing, but you should never allow the cage to become damp.

Step 4: Feeding

Offer insect prey once or twice a week. Crickets are available from pet shops, or you can collect insects outdoors if no insecticides have been sprayed in the area.

Step 5: Observing

Watch your spider and take notes on its behavior. You won’t believe what happens in the spider’s web until you’ve visited it yourself!

PREFERRED PETS

Not all spiders do well in captivity. Active hunters are usually easier to keep than web builders. Here are a few that make good pets.

Tarantulas: Some species exceed 10 inches in legspan. They’re by far the most popular pet spiders and can be bought in pet stores.

Wolf Spiders: Some can be more than three inches in legspan. Large specimens do best in terrariums with lots of floor space.

Jumping Spiders: Although small and rarely exceeding half an inch, their jumping ability is amazing. Many species are brightly colored and can easily be kept in jars.

Fishing Spiders: In captivity, these large spiders appreciate vertically arranged pieces of bark for climbing. They’re very fast, so use caution when capturing them.

Grass Spiders: These spiders build funnel-shaped webs in grass, bushes and on buildings. In captivity, they will build extensive webs inside their cage.

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Comments about “How to keep spiders as pets”

  1. spiderfreak says:

    i have caught 17 different speicies of spider they are in a huge tank so far there a no problems will they kill eachother

  2. fun man says:

    spiders are so cool

  3. sara says:

    always let your spider have air

  4. Brocky says:

    I found two small yellow spider nests in my back yard and I’ve put them in a plastic container. One nest has hatched and there are hundreds of orange spiders. I’ve caught a fly too and put it in there with them. This should be fun! Haha hope they last a while. I know nothing about spiders :o

  5. selena says says:

    i am scared of spiders

  6. gadge says:

    i cought a brown recluse and i read this so i can take care of it

    • Ace says:

      be careful with the brown recluse!!!

      i suggust doing more research on that specific spider, and look up the injurys it can inflict!

  7. yo yo master says:

    my mom would kill me if i caut 1 she h8ts spiders

  8. johnny says:

    im about 2 go in my backyard and catch a spider for a pet. im hoping for a wolf spider.

  9. webelo from pack 295 says:

    i was bitten by a big wolf spider but i still love them just the same

  10. Tbones says:

    I plan on catching a wood-louse spider soon. They are my current creepy fascination, because they can often be aggressive and they scare me. I’ve never seen one in a web, so I think they’re hunters. But they grow to be pretty decent size I think. I like ‘em.

  11. naomi says:

    i caught a big wolf spider and i want 2 keep it but i need to know what a good cage set up actully looks like

  12. web says:

    I have a wolf spider and I have flies all over my house, I don’t know what to feed it, I gave it a moth one day. I am keeping it in a jar with holes on the top! I have leaves and sticks in it, I brought it to school but did not know what it was at the time. It doesnt move in the light, but does move in the dark. What should I do with it!?!

  13. spyderrrboy says:

    thank you for your routine for keeping spiders i am very curious about the way spiders live

  14. Spydergirl says:

    i srsly have to buy a spider now….any suggestions??

  15. Spydergirl says:

    i officialy love spiders after readin all ur comments….gonna get a trantula now :)

  16. TGOD37 says:

    i found a house spider in my house and its kinda long but I dont know what to put in its cage, grass, wood chips, what do i put in it?

  17. mrs spider girl says:

    i dont know if i have a jumping spider or a wolf spider or a house spider i just dont know what should i do with it

  18. efreeze says:

    i found a little brown spider in our sandbox in our backyard. does anybody know what kind it is??? i put it in a jar with a some potting soil, but i dnt know if it likes it he just stays on the side of the jar and kinda balls up.

  19. spidee says:

    my jumping spider spun its web beside the jar lid, now i cant feed it, what should i do?

  20. chipper says:

    if your spider is not spinning a web that is fine because some spiders hunt by themselves without a web

  21. LeBron James says:

    Does a baby tarantula which is about an inch or less eat jumping spiders? I’m afraid it might turn to the other way around and my tarantula ends up being the one that dies… What can I feed it with, something that has can be found at home with garden. (no cricket, no cockroach, no grasshopper…)

  22. sandy says:

    I just caught a brown recluse spider in my backyard. Is it alright to keep it?

  23. Scouting 101 says:

    I don’t like spiders, but I have heard that a preying mantis makes a good pet too.

  24. Spider? says:

    I found a spider in my living room. I’m not quite sure what it is. It looks like a jumping spider. I would say it’s about 1/4 to 1/3 of an inch. I’m not sure whether to keep it until it gets warmer outside or let it go in the cold or let it go on a plant in my house. What should I do?

    • spider man says:

      letting it outside in the cold is the best Idea, but don’t be worried about it dying in the cold cause most spiders that have that over a year to live will hibernate.

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