How to Feed a Pet Tarantula

If you don't have a fear of creepy-crawlers and you're looking for a "different" kind of pet, you might consider a pet tarantula. Their feed consists of live insects such as beetles, moths and crickets, or in the case of larger varieties, lizards, small snakes and mice. Tarantulas make interesting pets, but require careful monitoring. Obtaining food, too, is a little more complicated than shopping for your average house pet.

Instructions

1. Purchase food for your pet tarantula at a pet store or through a mail order catalogue that specializes in feeder insects. If you gather insects yourself, make sure they do not come from areas that have been fertilized, since the fertilizer may poison your tarantula.

2. Tarantulas only need to be fed once a week on average. The exception is young, growing tarantulas, which should be fed several times per week. Tarantulas will not eat more food than they need, so you will learn through observation how much nourishment your pet tarantula will inevitably need.

3. Remove any food that has been sitting in the cage for more than a day. This will help to keep the cage clean and prevent the tarantula from any undue stress that may damage and even kill them.

4. Place a shallow dish of water in the tank. Make sure there is not enough water in the dish for your pet tarantula to drown in. One safeguard is to put some small stones in the dish so the tarantula can climb out if it needs to. Do not use sponges or cotton balls to hold water, because these can breed fungi and bacteria.

5. Feed or replace food 3 days after a tarantula molts or sheds. They will not eat during a molt, so hunger will set after a few days.