I’m embarrassed to admit it, but when I first stumbled across Grammostola pulchripes at bug shows I was far from wowed. My key concern when choosing tarantulas for my collection is “color” – and at first glance Grammostola pulchripes is just a typical boring, brown spider like so many others. In the last few years, …
Tarantulas are carnivorous arachnids that catch and eat any animal they are able to subdue. They are “generalist” predators and do not focus on one single source of food. In the wild, tarantulas will most commonly feed on other invertebrates that they encounter, but they may also eat smaller vertebrates such as lizards or rodents …
I’ve kept pet tarantulas for over 20 years. In that time I’ve had hundreds of specimens and bred dozens of different species in my home. Until people find out I seem just like any other normal person. However as soon as friends and colleagues discover I have tarantulas – not just one but a whole …
Male and female tarantulas live very different lives after maturity. Depending on the species, female tarantulas can live for decades, hidden away in burrows or tree crevices. For male tarantulas, however, the clock starts ticking as soon as they reach maturity. Male tarantulas roam far and wide in search of receptive females. But what happens …
Many of us have an innate fear of tarantulas, seeing them as scary, dangerous or even deadly. But how much truth is there behind the myth? Is a tarantula dangerous to humans? Can a tarantula kill you? Or is the reality really rather different? Let’s find out… Tarantula Defences Tarantulas might look scary to many …
I’ve been keeping pet tarantulas for roughly 25 years so I obviously think they’re pretty neat. That said, still to this day I have people asking me whether tarantulas are really a good pet. The answer, of course, is that it depends. In this article I’m going to break to the good and the bad …
Tarantula cages have come a long way in recent years. When I first started keeping tarantulas in the 1990’s (how old do I feel now?) we had to try and make do with whatever was at hand. In recent times, however, as interest in the hobby has grown, so too have the number of cages …
Most articles about keeping tarantulas focus specifically on the cage itself; what size it should be, what it should be made from and so on. While all these elements are important, many articles miss a crucial element; where to place your tarantula tank in your home. In this guide, therefore, we’re going to take a …
Many common pets like cats and dogs learn to recognize their owners. They respond differently to the person they associate with the provision of food, water and shelter to other unknown people. An obvious question asked by those new to tarantula keeping is therefore “can tarantulas recognize their owners?” Tarantulas are very simple animals and …
There are over 600 recognised species of tarantula though typically only a tiny percentage of these are seen regularly in the pet trade. This huge reservoir of tarantulas can be divided up in a wide variety of different ways based on habitat, size, colouration and more so an article discussing the different types of tarantula …
For those in the know, tarantulas can be sexed from their skins from quite an early age. The moulted skin is turned inside out and the reproductive linings which are shed as part of the moult are examined under a microscope. With practise one can sex tarantulas from when they are only a few centimetres …
Whilst there are some rather expensive and specialist species available, the average tarantula is reasonably easy to care for once you understand a few basic concepts. Selecting A Species With around 800 species of tarantulas currently recognised there is a huge variety of species available in the pet trade. Luckily the average exotic pet shop …
