Raising a spider

[ThrashAttack]

Hey guys

When i move out one day im thinking of getting a Turantilia. I was wandering about them, are they easy pets to keep?

I know they are more delicate then most other pets, also whats a life span of a spider?

Thanks

[kathryn]

Hello! I work at a pet store & animal shelter and have experience with just about any animal under 300lb.

Personally, I hate spiders. I have cared for tarantula's where I work and they are very boring creatures. The life span.. I'm not positive. I'm saying the minimum of a year but probably closer to 3-4 years. I can't be totally sure.

They don't require much care at all. They eat about 3-4 live crickets at a time.. usually just about 2 or 3 days a week. You can offer them other insects as well such as mealworms and waxworms but they don't always take them.


Their terrarium can be fairly small. Ideally anything around the size of a 5 gallon fish tank would be great. Most people either go big and get a full on glass terrarium for about 100$ but usually people get the plastic Kritter Keeper type containers, which would be my recommendation.

They need mulch as a substrate.. any kind of reptile bark will do. A bit of spaghnum moss.. a few sticks, a water dish and you are set. They require regular misting.

Overall that is about it. Clean the cage every once and a while. They shed their skins too!! I had someone bring over a skin shed to me before and I thought it was the actual spider and ran away screaming.


I would NEVER keep one as a pet.. I refused to even take care of the ones where I work after I got scared by one xD But hey, people would probably think I'm nuts for having 2 bearded dragons, a snake, a turtle, a leopard gecko, a tank of hermit crabs and a ton of cats. BTW- would very much recommend any of the above over a spider! :P


http://zoomed.com/cm/resources-stuff...Tarantula.html

[ThrashAttack]

Ok, thanks for the advice

[Power Cosmic]

Tarantula's are lovely creatures in my opinion. Their care requirements vary depending on the exact species you're keeping.

A commonly kept species is the chilean rose tarantula, called that since it's hair is kind of pinkish. They're generally quite placid and won't immediately try to murder your hand like some species, and they can be handled.
That said, handling tarantulas is always a somewhat risky business, since if something startles them, those fangs will hurt, plus, if you happen to be allergic to their normally bee-sting-equivalent venom, that could just turn out nasty.

They're still quite interesting though. Also, as for their life spans, that actually depends on their sex. A male, lives for about 5 years average, maybe more, maybe less, depending on the species, but females can live for roughly two decades.
For this reason, they're often sold for different prices.

Also, here's a care sheet, it's a bit more detailed than the one kathryn gave, it also is UK oriented. This is only really important, I guess, when it comes to humidity and misting, considering the average room humidity in Britain is about 50-60% relative anyways, which is considerably higher than most parts of America.
http://www.thereptilian.co.uk/care_s...are_Sheet.html

That's for a Chilean rose, but there's loads of other species on the market too, some with more exotic requirements, but basically, it should be okay as long as you do your research. I'd advise against aggressive species, just due to this being your first tarantula, since they are VERY fragile, for example, a fall from hand height to the ground will burst it open and it'll bleed to death. This is important when it comes to aggressive species since if they go for you and you drop them, bye-bye spider. And some, like the King Gaboon will attempt to murder you given one-eighth of a chance (I saw one attempt to murder a pair of tongs in my local exotics shop once ^^; ).
As for food, you can get it from the same place where you get the tarantula. Crickets are disgusting and icky and all that (In my humble opinion, admitting that does not diminish one's manliness >.> ), but there's still locusts as an option, which I personally find a lot less icky >.> But that's just me ^^;

If you do get one, I demand pics

[ThrashAttack]

Thanks for the tips

Ive always liked spiders.

[topov]

Personally I LOVE SPIDERS!

I had A mexican red knee and I loved him dearly.
I only had him for about 5 years, but I have been told females can live up to 30 years.

I would definatly recommend a red knee for a pet, he wasn't to big (about 5 inch) and he was soooo easy to look after.
I fed him crickets and mealworm and he seemed very happy with that.

It's worth remembering tho that you cant handle spiders to much, they get scared really easy! which either means they will bite you (and yes it hurts like a bitch... and hurts for a few days) or they just die!

Also, you can always tell when your about to get bitten, they rise up and 'waggle' there front legs in warning, from personal experiance if you have a body part within stricking distance once they start there waggle, thats it your doomed! LOL.
I was told and read that a bite will feel like a bee sting! thats a load of rubbish... its more like 30! (be very careful if allergic to bee stings, if you are a bite can prove fatal)
Before you get bitten your likely to get haired... personally this had no effect on me, but you can get a rash!

I called my spider Boris! lol, He really was awesome, he used to sit on my shoulder and he would be still as anything until anyone tried to touch him.
I once had a friend think he was a fake spider so she poked one of his legs, he jumped straight up and ran up her arm across her shoulders and hid in her hair. It took me 2 hours to lure him back out without either of us getting bitten, and she never forgave me LOL.

[ThrashAttack]

I have a question, will spiders attack and kill other spiders in there webs?

Becouse ive several spider webs where there has been one live house spider, perfectly healthy whilst there were 4 dead spiders within that same web

[topov]

Originally Posted by ThrashAttack

I have a question, will spiders attack and kill other spiders in there webs?

Becouse ive several spider webs where there has been one live house spider, perfectly healthy whilst there were 4 dead spiders within that same web

Some do, Some dont.
Depends on the species and general 'grumpyness' of the spider.

[ThrashAttack]

Thanks

Around this time of year we get loads of house spiders , normally they come to mate and its annoying becouse there normally in my room all the time :P

[Power Cosmic]

Though maybe its just a big female house spider, and the dead ones are what's left of her boytoys after she's done with them? >.>. It is that time of the year..

[ThrashAttack]

It is that time of the year..

lol things are hard