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How to Keep Spiders as Pets

Spiders can make fascinating pets. Here are a few steps to get you started keeping spiders.

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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

84 Comments on How to Keep Spiders as Pets

  1. Hi

    My pet is a house spider is that a good spider to keep and how do I look after it

  2. I have a hobo spider in a huge tank but be careful because the are fast her name is Bilbo baggins

  3. Anonymous // May 20, 2020 at 3:12 pm // Reply

    We have writing spider’s on our farm and I will catch one as soon as possible.😓😓😓

  4. Red backed jumping spider owner // May 15, 2020 at 2:39 pm // Reply

    I have a red backed jumping spider his name is Harry

  5. Smokethecoyotereal // May 12, 2020 at 5:48 pm // Reply

    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.

  6. spiderman // May 5, 2020 at 3:39 pm // Reply

    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

  7. Me and my brother caught a spider yesterday and we’ve done everything as now it’s in healthy condition

  8. Spider/Percy Jackson's big fan // April 5, 2020 at 1:18 pm // Reply

    I love spiders! I even have a pet named Garold.

  9. 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.

  10. Scared of Spiders // June 13, 2019 at 10:02 am // Reply

    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?

  11. 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!

      • OneZooTree // December 30, 2019 at 1:20 am //

        Jumping spiders are carnivorous, which means that they would easily prey on other spiders for lunch.

  12. I am a girl, and I want a pet spider. Does that make me weird?

  13. 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.

  14. 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 ??

  15. Do spiders heart people and why do people have them for a pet

  16. Animal obsessor // August 31, 2018 at 1:06 pm // Reply

    Rip money spider and fishing spider p.s good luck with that wolf spider

  17. I’m keeping several species of spider at the moment. Most of them are arboreol, any good enclosures for species like those?

  18. tarantulaboy658 // June 7, 2018 at 9:42 am // Reply

    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?

    • Spiddyquiddy // March 26, 2019 at 8:22 pm // Reply

      It sounds as though you have Dysdera Crocata – the woodlouse spider. Eats woodlice or pillgugs.

      • Anonymous // August 6, 2019 at 1:32 pm //

        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

  19. 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

  20. Bob the ugly builder // May 18, 2018 at 7:50 am // Reply

    I have a grass spider and it keeps trying to escape
    What do i do?

  21. WingsofFire_11 // March 27, 2018 at 2:21 pm // Reply

    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.

  22. Spiders are cool especially black widows witch I find all the time

  23. 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

  24. 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??

  25. Kittens r life🐱 // October 15, 2017 at 12:28 am // Reply

    We find wolf spiders in our house all the time!!!
    They’re disgusting😱

  26. 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.

  27. Karsin_de_Frog // October 3, 2017 at 8:55 pm // Reply

    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.

  28. Lol I keep black widows.

  29. Crockerdile // August 12, 2017 at 5:10 pm // Reply

    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

  30. the niBBa man // July 13, 2017 at 1:21 am // Reply

    yo guys where do i find hobo spiders?

  31. Drastic lie // May 30, 2017 at 9:31 pm // Reply

    I’m scared of spiders 3: WHAT DO I DOOOOOOO :C

  32. Hairy Russian // May 25, 2017 at 10:36 am // Reply

    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

  33. spiders are lame. people who like spiders are deformed and wierd

  34. I’ve kept black widows, brown recluses, funnel webs, wolf spiders, tarantulas and garden spiders as pets~ I love spiders as pets

  35. #1StarWarsFan // October 19, 2016 at 3:05 pm // Reply

    I hate spiders. They look cool, but I never want one for a pet.

  36. Wye doesn’t my spider move along all day

  37. 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.

  38. I caught a bold jumping spider that always stays at the top of its cage. What do I do?

  39. My classmate gave me a baby fire leg spider today is bigger more than an 3inch

  40. my grass spider // September 16, 2016 at 10:38 am // Reply

    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

  41. Would this spider be a good pet it is nonvenomous it is a yellow and black garden spider it is a female

  42. Thanks that help me so much

  43. 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.

  44. 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

  45. I wish I didn’t kill that fishing spider on my bike seat.

  46. I found a flat brown spider has only 7 legs brown and white stripes what spider is it

  47. 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!

  48. 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?

    • 8legLycanthrope // March 11, 2017 at 5:25 am // Reply

      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

  49. bleh bleh bleh // June 3, 2016 at 3:49 pm // Reply

    Thanks i will try it!!!

  50. I think it is a colonus Hesperus.

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