Unique Apartment Pets: Tarantulas

Quite different from the fluffy cat or dog, tarantulas are compelling apartment pets that nonetheless are more suited for the small space apartment environment than the typical mammal. When it comes to owning a pet spider, there are none more attractive than the tarantula.

Tarantula Care

The best way to ensure that your tarantula apartment pets live long lives is to provide an escape-proof appropriate habitat and fresh water and food. All tarantulas are venomous and cannot have their poisonous glands removed while they are alive. However, tarantula venom rarely seriously hurts human beings and tarantulas are unlikely to secrete their venom unless attacked or injured. Still, caution is advised, and people should handle tarantulas sparingly. Tarantula bites can be irritating and a fall while outside of its aquarium could prove fatal to the pet. Dogs, cats and children should never be exposed directly to the tarantula.

Tarantula Habitats

Unlike other apartment pets, tarantulas should not have overly large housing because tarantulas falls can be fatal. Get a 2.5 to 5 gallon aquarium with a tight, secure lid. (Tarantulas escape very easily.) The bottom of the tank should be filled with two to four inches of vermiculite, potting soil or coconut husk bedding. Tarantulas require little in their tank, other than a hiding place made from a small planter or a hollow log. However, you can add appropriate silk or real plants and a few pieces of wood, but at least a quarter of the floor space should be uncluttered. Tarantulas require an environment that’s regulated in temperature and humidity. Do not install lights, but do use a heating strip to regulate the temperature. Depending on the breed, tarantula habitats should be 40 to 100% humid. Mist the inside of the aquarium twice a day (for rainforest breeds) or twice a week (for desert breeds) to keep the tank humid.

Feeding Your Tarantula

Although fresh water in a shallow dish with pebbles should be available for tarantula apartment pets at all times at all times, tarantulas actually rarely need to eat. They should, however, be fed at least once every other day, or once every three days. (Adolescent spiders should be fed at least four times a week.) When they molt, they may even fast for as much as a month.

The tarantula diet should consist largely of fresh crickets, as well as a few mealworms and roaches. Put one to three insects in the tarantula aquarium at feeding time and let the tarantula hunt its own prey. Feeding a tarantula is the easiest part of proper tarantula care.

Tarantula Molting

Tarantulas grow by lying on their back for several hours and shedding their exoskeleton. During this time, they will and should fast. Don’t feed or handle the tarantulas for at least two weeks after it has molted, as the new exoskeleton is still hardening and the tarantula is vulnerable to irreparable injury and damage during this period.

Tarantulas are unique apartment pets that can both fascinate and entertain. Among the easiest of pets to feed and house, tarantulas perfectly fit into the lifestyle of the busy apartment dweller.