How to Play With a Pet Tarantula

Tarantulas make great pets as they are quiet and relatively healthy in captivity. If you want to play with your pet tarantula, you'll need to learn about the particular species and recognize that playing with a tarantula will be different than playing with other kinds of pets.

Difficulty:

Moderately Easy

Instructions

1. Avoid handling your pet tarantula very much as even a minor fall can be deadly for this spider. They are often very fast and you may not be able to prevent yours from falling or jumping off you.

2. Provide your pet tarantula with something to climb on in its cage. You might buy a piece of driftwood, silk plants or cork bark. For ground spiders, this item should be low to the ground and longer while tree spiders can handle a more vertical climbing item.

3. Give your pet tarantula bugs and other live food sources that are advised for your particular tarantula type. This will allow your tarantula to hunt and stalk the prey, which is what she would do in the wild.

4. Put a small shelter of some sort in the tarantula's cage. This can be a piece of cork bark or a flower pot or another item that will provide a hiding spot for your spider. Tarantulas spend a great deal of time in sheltered spots. In the wild, this helps prevent predators from finding and killing them.

5. Keep tarantulas above a solid surface when you do hold them and be aware that small movements or changes can startle them.