How to Keep Spiders as Pets
Spiders can make fascinating pets. Here are a few steps to get you started keeping spiders.
Step 1: Catch a spider
Spiders are all around us, indoors and out, so they’re not hard to find. Some species can bite and a few are venomous. Learn about dangerous spiders in your area before heading out. It’s easy to safely catch a spider by using a small jar. Gently coax it into the jar using the lid. Spiders will eat each other, so keep only one per jar.
Step 2: Prepare a cage
Large spiders do well in the inexpensive plastic terrariums available from pet stores. Smaller ones can be kept in jars or plastic containers if air holes are drilled into the lid or sides. Be sure the holes are small enough to prevent escape.
Potting soil makes good cover for the cage bottom. Sticks, dead leaves or artificial plants provide structure for hiding, climbing and webbing.
Step 3: Water
Depending on the size of the spider, anything from a plastic bottle cap to a small bowl can serve as a water dish. Spiders also drink water sprayed on webbing, but you should never allow the cage to become damp.
Step 4: Feeding
Offer insect prey once or twice a week. Crickets are available from pet shops, or you can collect insects outdoors if no insecticides have been sprayed in the area.
Step 5: Observing
Watch your spider and take notes on its behavior. You won’t believe what happens in the spider’s web until you’ve visited it yourself!
PREFERRED PETS
Not all spiders do well in captivity. Active hunters are usually easier to keep than web builders. Here are a few that make good pets.
Tarantulas: Some species exceed 10 inches in legspan. They’re by far the most popular pet spiders and can be bought in pet stores.
Wolf Spiders: Some can be more than three inches in legspan. Large specimens do best in terrariums with lots of floor space.
Jumping Spiders: Although small and rarely exceeding half an inch, their jumping ability is amazing. Many species are brightly colored and can easily be kept in jars.
Fishing Spiders: In captivity, these large spiders appreciate vertically arranged pieces of bark for climbing. They’re very fast, so use caution when capturing them.
Grass Spiders: These spiders build funnel-shaped webs in grass, bushes and on buildings. In captivity, they will build extensive webs inside their cage.
LEARN MORE: Click here to see photos of a spider expert’s seven favorite spiders
Hi
My pet is a house spider is that a good spider to keep and how do I look after it
I have a hobo spider in a huge tank but be careful because the are fast her name is Bilbo baggins
We have writing spider’s on our farm and I will catch one as soon as possible.😓😓😓
I have a red backed jumping spider his name is Harry
I just caught a spider today. I don’t know what type it is. Can you please tell me what the named spider-breeds look like. Other then Tarantulas.
i have a pet brown widow and a pet black house spider its not a black widow its called a black house spider i dont know the scientific name for it but what other things besides crickets could i feed it
Me and my brother caught a spider yesterday and we’ve done everything as now it’s in healthy condition
I love spiders! I even have a pet named Garold.
I just found a spider nest in my plant’s pot! What should I do? I want to raise it but I don’t know how.
We trapped a large spider which was in our bathtub over a month ago and put him in a pickle jar. My husband shook the jar the other day and he’s still alive! What in the world?
strong spider. why would he shake it?
I’m a girl and I like this website
I have got a common jumping spider that is dead leaf tone brown color and I do exactly same the instructions than I went get some dead leaves and give her food then she just gone in the leaves!Oh I give her another spider but not a same kind as her and it just gone now!
Jumping spiders are carnivorous, which means that they would easily prey on other spiders for lunch.
I am a girl, and I want a pet spider. Does that make me weird?
No, you are not special.
No
I captured a Black lace weaver and is now in a small terranium, siutable for her size. and she is doing amazing,she is lazy and after 2 weeks realised its easier to build her web directly under the feeding area.lol. but big bertha is truly happy. and fat. xxx
No!! im a girl and i love spiders! my dads name is spider, so i think in weirder! lol xx
no. stop trying to be quirky and special
Do people keep writing spiders? I think they are so gorgeous. am I weird for thinking that? I just love their bright colors and the patterns in their webs.
do people keep writing spiders? I think they are so gorgeous. am I weird for thinking that? I just love their bright colors and the patterns in their webs.
I’m keeping a small house spider that I found in my house but I don’t know what species it is and what it eats ??
Do spiders heart people and why do people have them for a pet
mabye try feeding mosquitos or flies that are already dead?
Rip money spider and fishing spider p.s good luck with that wolf spider
I’m keeping several species of spider at the moment. Most of them are arboreol, any good enclosures for species like those?
I caught a stocky spider with a reddish – brown front and a grey abdomen . She is starting to Web – build around her enclosure but she won’t eat . what do I do?
It sounds as though you have Dysdera Crocata – the woodlouse spider. Eats woodlice or pillgugs.
id say shes one of the wolf spider variety, try very small crickets, you can get them from pets at home, its what i feed my black lace weaver, they are the same size and eat the same things
I caught a grass spider and i put dirt and other stuff in there and the spider keeps trying to escape
What do i do? And i have everything it needs. And every week i feed it woodlouse
try a variety of different insects until it eats or maybe its sick or gonna lay eggs so if its not eating id sugest releasing it
I have a grass spider and it keeps trying to escape
What do i do?
where do I find tarantula spiders?
send an email with a pic to any spider retailer, or type into google SPIDER IDENTIFICATION WEBSITE, tbey do it for free.
Spiders are cool especially black widows witch I find all the time
I found a spider in my bath tub so I’m putting it a little container because my sis and mom hate spiders it looks like a daddy long leg but can you jump superhigh
What about an orbed weaver…. He hasn’t eaten since we brought it in from the cold about 3weeks ago. What can i feed it??
We find wolf spiders in our house all the time!!!
They’re disgusting😱
That sounds cool. All spiders are venomous, only two in America can break your skin
I love wolf spiders!
False. Even orb weavers can break skin. Only two north American spiders have a venom potent enough to seriously harm humans, however, the black widow and brown recluse. Fortunately, an antivenin is easily available for both and they’re fairly skittish spiders.
They eat things like mosquitoes and flies, so even if they are disgusting to you, they eat things that are more gross and hazardous and should be treated with kindness. Because spiders are awesome, man.
I found spider eggs and specific care till they are older?
Jumping spiders need at least a foot of space to excercise or they will die earlier than they should. DO NOT keep your jumping spider in a jar. Make sure you also make sure to get a docile one as a pet (one that you can hold for more than 3 secs), otherwise they will die from stress.
Lol I keep black widows.
I have two grass spiders one male one female I also have a hobo spider that is tormenting rocky (the female) rocky and the male are in separate enclosures for now so rocky doesn’t eat the 2mm
male
yo guys where do i find hobo spiders?
I’m scared of spiders 3: WHAT DO I DOOOOOOO :C
i love jumping spiders
Don’t buy a spider as a pet then…
To Drastic lie, some spiders are venomous and most are not because only 2 venomous spiders live in the United States of America, the black widow and the brown recluse! P.S, spiders are most likely to be more afraid of you than you are afraid of THEM!! ALSO, did you know that spider silk can be stronger than STEEL!!!!? I use to be afraid of spiders and I am a little bit still but if you are afraid of spiders then you should just learn more about spiders!!! That helped me a lot
Learn about them as much as possible. The more you know, the less there is to be afraid of. Did you know that there’s a type of spider that lives most of its life underwater? That tarantulas aren’t poisonous? That wolf spiders care for their young until they can fend for themselves? After awhile and a bit of exposure it won’t bother you at all.
if you want to get over the fear i suggest start with a daddy long legs. they are harmless
spiders are lame. people who like spiders are deformed and wierd
spiders are rad
spiders are not lame.Their intresting to observe only people with half a brain or retards cant keep them cause they do not know how to learn from thing.
To lol, Spider silk can be stronger than STEEL!!!
Like you?
I’ve kept black widows, brown recluses, funnel webs, wolf spiders, tarantulas and garden spiders as pets~ I love spiders as pets
I hate spiders. They look cool, but I never want one for a pet.
Wye doesn’t my spider move along all day
i disagree. most of the time,if the’re venomus noway.
Same. True. My tarantula? Never moves. Except if you spray her with a water bottle, then she’ll flinch so cutely, it’s adorable.
Dito
I have a green and orange and a whiteish silver spier in its cage and I have a big one and small one are they male and female.
all spiders are venomus but its onl the one that can break threw your skin that are dangerous and some spiders venom is so weak it dosent harm us
brighter colors are usually males
I caught a bold jumping spider that always stays at the top of its cage. What do I do?
My classmate gave me a baby fire leg spider today is bigger more than an 3inch
my pet grass spider has been living with me three days now and I have a male and female together and the are mating and I found an egg sack this morning in my spider cage and they are happy and are none biting spider so I can hold them every day and I feed them by hand when their in my hand grass spiders are really good spider starter pets
Would this spider be a good pet it is nonvenomous it is a yellow and black garden spider it is a female
Thanks that help me so much
I caught a Hobo Spider with a legspan slightly larger than a poker chip. I’m keeping him in a glass coffee jar that I have layered with sediment, a hollow peanut shell, a peice of bark that I soaked in water just, and a couple of twigs. He can’t jump, and has a hard time climbing glass. Hobo Spiders are known to be very fast, but this giant is very slow and non aggressive. I even tried to provoke him with a pencil and and he had nothing to prove. He is: Brobo.
Wow that’s cool I had a tarantula but sadly she died I keep hobo spider as pets it’s awesome but I am getting a new tarantula soon I don’t know when
I wish I didn’t kill that fishing spider on my bike seat.
I found a flat brown spider has only 7 legs brown and white stripes what spider is it
Cool i’ll try it I had a money spider that unforunatly died in sleep :'( It was a good friend its would never harm u at all it would just build webs and ate nats….
Im going to try and get a wolf spider!
gnats is spelled like this
its missing a leg thats what it is.
Have noticed a large spider who appears once in a while from my fire….usually get rid of these creatures.. .what is keeping him alive behind there?
Just got mine it’s a Carolina wolf spider biggest wolf spider there is very very active only about half an inch but is already taking down 1 inch crickets like a pro
Thanks i will try it!!!
I think it is a colonus Hesperus.