What’s the Point of Having a Tarantula?
Why not? If you get past the societal stigma of having spiders and tarantulas as pets, you’ll soon understand how special these creatures are. Tarantulas are highly evolved for their lifestyle, despite being one of the world’s oldest animals. They’re well-suited to hunting and reproducing in a variety of settings. There’s no limit to how much you can learn from these arachnids.
Okay, we all know these animals get bad press. Spiders are often portrayed as pests in the media. Despite the fact that spiders assist humans in a variety of ways, they also make for interesting pets. You might think it’s impossible, even ludicrous! However, it’s true.
Having a tarantula spider as a pet is more like having a collection. They like to be watched rather than dealt with. If you’re serious about getting one though, you should wait until you’ve weighed the advantages and disadvantages.
The Theraphosidae family includes over 1,000 species of tarantulas. They’re indigenous to a wide variety of habitats and climates, including arid, tropical, and subtropical climates. The Avicularia avicularia, a hardy spider native to Costa Rica and Brazil, is generally easy to care for and very gorgeous to look at. This is one of the most common types of species kept as a pet.
Here are eight reasons why tarantulas make fantastic pets.
1. There are Very Few Out-of-Pocket Expenses
The cost of constructing a tarantula enclosure is quite low compared to looking after other pets. For example, you’ll need supplements, special lighting, and large glass enclosures for reptiles. When it comes to fish, you’ll need an expensive tank, a filter, and a heater, among other things. You won’t need all of that with a tarantula. An acrylic enclosure with a coco-fiber substrate & a cork bark hide is the traditional tarantula setup. You can also make your own enclosure by drilling ventilation holes in a plastic storage bin, as I’ve done in the past. The tarantula would be the most costly part of having it as a pet, and depending on the species, the tarantula can be very cheap.
2. Tarantulas Require Very Low Maintenance
There’s nothing more to do once you’ve set up the enclosure. A tarantula’s home only needs to be cleaned once a year on average. If you add any cleaning crew like woodlice or springtails, you can build a live bioactive tank that you never have to cleanout. They consume all of the garbage and leftover food, resulting in a self-sustaining, clean environment.
Tarantulas only feed once or twice a month as adults. When they’re getting ready to molt, they’ll sometimes go months without feeding. Some tarantulas have been known to go for more than two years without feeding! Much of that time, you just need to make sure they have fresh water.
The only drawback of feeding tarantulas is that they consume live insects, so be ready to feed them cockroaches and crickets! Locust and mealworms are both favorites. Some people wonder if you have to feed them mice as they get older, but you shouldn’t! In the United Kingdom, feeding mice to tarantulas is illegal as well as barbaric & unnecessary. It’s also bad for your tarantula because rodents are capable of fighting back.
3. Tarantulas Have a Very Budget-Friendly Diet
Tarantulas don’t need expensive food to survive. They can go for weeks, if not months, without eating. They have a sluggish metabolism because they are ambush hunters. As a result, they are rarely hungry.
When it comes to food, you may feed them your home insects, which will cost you nothing. If you want to treat them, give them some TopFlight Dubia Roaches, which are high in protein.
You can feed them crickets, moths, cockroaches, and any other small insect you notice in your backyard.
4. They Are Extremely Interesting!
It’s not something you’d imagine, but once you have a tarantula, you’ll understand. Some people believe that tarantulas are boring because they only sit in their tanks and do nothing, but this is not the case. It’s like having a little piece of nature in your own house. Since they are so different from other commonly kept pets, they arouse a special kind of curiosity, and each kind of tarantula has its own peculiar way of life.
Some are voracious eaters and watching a predator in action is thrilling. Others weave complex webs of interlocking tunnels. When tarantulas molt, they squirm out of their previous skin like an alien giving birth, which is kind of disgusting but hard to look away from nature’s wonder! If you get them as spiderlings, it is so much more interesting to watch them develop and grow, particularly when you figure out if it’s a boy or a girl. With a microscope, you can understand how to classify them!
5. There’s No Need to be Concerned About Space
Tarantulas rarely travel from one location to another and are small creatures in comparison to other pets. They take up very little space, only as much as the enclosure in which they are stored.
Interesting fact: Tarantulas like to live in small spaces because they ambush other insects who prefer to sit in one position and wait for food to come to them rather than chasing them. In reality, being in a large space could trigger your tiny tarantula a huge amount of stress.
6. They Can Be by Your Side For a Long Time
While purchasing a tarantula, it is suggested that you purchase a female one, as females appear to live much longer than males. A male tarantula’s lifespan is usually limited to a few years, while a female can comfortably live for 20 to 25 years.
As a result, if you’re looking for a long-term pet companion, a female tarantula spider is one of the best alternatives. So, when you go to buy a tarantula, make sure you ask for a girl.
7. They are Docile by Nature
Tarantulas are known to be quiet and calm pets despite their big, furry bodies. Most tarantula species are regarded to be docile, especially the Brazilian black, Chilean rose-hair, and Mexican red-knee tarantulas. They can’t make noise and, according to scientists, they prefer dim, quiet environments, so they don’t need to be near the window or in a room full of natural light.
8. Few Resilient And Healthy
Another fascinating thing about these creatures is that they are extremely resilient and can survive in any climate. So, even if you forget you have a pet and go away for a week or two, you will find that your little pet is still in good condition when you return.
Summary
Tarantulas make fantastic pets. You don’t have to spend additional money to buy food for them, and you don’t have to waste money to take them to the vet.
If you do plan to get a tarantula, search for legitimate vendors who sell captive-bred specimens. Many tarantula species, such as those belonging to the Poeciltheria genus, are critically endangered in the wild, and it is up to you to avoid purchasing wild-caught specimens. Owning a Tarantula is a fascinating and enjoyable hobby because they are easy to care for and take up little space.