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Spiders as pets.
Scroffus
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
So I think large spiders are beautiful and I want one as a pet. Unfortunately I'm completely clueless about them. Does anyone have any experience they could share? Any recommendations on which species to get? How much do they cost usually, (including the case, food etc)?
I have a spare room that I can keep the tank in so lighting, heating and space shouldn't hopefully be an issue. Much thanks in advance.
I have a spare room that I can keep the tank in so lighting, heating and space shouldn't hopefully be an issue. Much thanks in advance.
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I don't like spiders though.
I've heard the cricket thing before too. I don't think you have to really feed them a whole bunch either.
Don't get a spider.
They'll bite you, kill you, and then feast on your corpse.
This question was made for me.
I love tarantulas. I think it's because ever since I was little my mother has been a complete arachnophobe and can't stand a spider in her sight. Now, I love my mom, but this gave spiders a kind of "mysterious" quality to me, and so I wanted one really bad for the longest time. I knew I had to wait till I moved out tho.
Interestingly, my mom was the one who found me one as a pet (someone needed to get rid of it and posted it on Freecycle. As you will learn, tarantulas can be the fruitcake of the pet world).
So, you wanna acquire a tarantula?
Well, first you should decide on what kind you want to get. As a beginner I would recommend a terrestrial species (as opposed to arboreal, or "climbing" species) since they are slower and easier to take care of (they just need a normal 5-10 gallon tank. Arboreal needs a tall tank, up to five feet with some species)
The very best beginner spiders are ones that are generally mild tempered and non aggressive. These would be the Mexican Red Knee (Brachypelma smithi) and the Chilean Rose Hair (Grammastola rosea). They don't really bite or kick up their hairs unless they feel really threatened.
Oh yeah, kicking. So on the tarantula's butt, there's these hairs called urticating hairs that are like tiny spears. They kick them at whatever is threatening them and generally will just make you itch. Probably not as bad as a bee sting but if you are allergic it *could* be bad. I have never heard of anyone dying from a tarantula bite (which btw, is completely harmless to humans) or the hair thing.
Caging: The cage is easy. Like I said the tank can be small (the rule of thumb is about 4X the size of the spider should be the area of the cage floor). For substrate, I use stuff similar to this (http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=6494)
It's kind of a bitch to work with at first because you need to wet it and then make sure it's really dry but it makes a shitload so you'll probably never have to do it again after you use one brick. There's others you can use but I can vouch for this one.
Lighting and heating: Really, if you keep the room at basically the same temp year round, a hardy spider like the Rose hair or Red Knee will not have a problem. I thought I would need a heating pad and a special light, but really the thing does not care and is happy as a clam most days. One thing that is nice for the animal is to have a window with light, so it does know what's day and what's night time, their Circadian rhythm can sync up with it.
Molting! It's fun because it looks like your spider is CTRL-C and CTRL-Ving itself! Seriously that's half the fun of the spider because afterwards the molt looks EXACTLY like it and comes off in one big clump (if it worked right). This is a dangerous time for the spider but you can't really help it out and it only happens once a year or so. The thing to remember is if you see the spider on it's back IT'S NOT DEAD. That's the molting posture.
If you really want to go through with this I highly recommend The Tarantula Keeper's Guide (www.amazon.com/Tarantu.../dp/0764100769)
It's got pix and just about every question you will have will be answered in this book. Also, it's just 10$, you really can't get a better book for cheaper.
Cost: Once you have everything set up, the only thing you will be buying is live crickets for 5 cents a pop. Definitely buy crickets from a pet store, if you use stuff from outside, you have no idea if it's got poison or pesticides all over it and that could kill your spider. You should put a couple in her cage at first to see how she reacts and then up her dosage to what you think is most comfortable for her. Do this once a week, or (what I do) a large batch every two weeks. These spiders are pretty hardy, so they can and will go long periods of time without food (sometimes they will fast before molting as well). Cage+ substrate+ fake log to hide in = <50$. As for the cost of the tarantula, try to look around Craiglist or Freecycle because these spiders live ridiculously long (15+ years for females, 5+ for males) so people just want to get rid of them after a while, I guess. Most people will be trying to let go of the Rose Hairs because they are real common. You can also find them (Rose Hairs) in pet stores for 30-50$. The weirder, rarer, and more aggressive the spider, the more it will cost. Really, the whole shebang shouldn't put you over 100$ as a beginner (and trust me, you don't want to start with an expensive angry Cobalt Blue (Haplopelma lividum))
Good luck, with a small amount of effort you’ll have one of the most interesting and rewarding pets out there!
They'll make graven monuments in your likeness, then they'll eat your dog.
They're soft and furry and tiny so they've got that neoteny thing going deep in people's brains.
Probably tickles when they scurry across you, too.
E: Or also for decoration. Wearing pets on your shoulder is cool.
2nd regarding exotic pets, you need to be really serious about caring for this animal if you intend to get one. While dogs and cats are extremely common and relatively easy to care for and capable of letting their owners know they are in distress and need a trip to the vet, exotics like spiders, insects, or reptiles require more of their owner's attention to signs of sickness or injury. Also the expense is greater. While your local vet might have alot of practical experience with more common animals, you bring her an indian ornamental or cuban night lizard and she is probably going to send you to a specialist, and that is probably going to end up being expensive.
When I had my python she ran about $400-$800 per year in medical expenses. Think of it like owning a luxury car, when the thing breaks, it's gonna cost more to get the parts the fix it than your old ford.
Also, you are stuck with an animal such as this. You can't drop it off at the pound and most people (again most of us are sane) aren't looking to take your spider off you hands like they would your cat or dog if you move to Mozambique.
Funniest thing I have heard since the last spider thread...which was awesome.
I can't believe I am saying this but...thanks Satan o_O
You could euthanize it?
I knew I hated spiders.
Euthanization by fire!
The more aggressive the spider is the faster it tends to move and the less patience it has being messed with. Spiders in Australia for example are known to be some of the most aggressive spiders in the world and will charge humans. It doesn't help that their bite is hard enough to penetrate both leather and toenails. Basically if you want an aggressive spider make sure you have a cage that is well sealed (air of course needs to get in) and keep in mind you're going to be using them more as an art piece and less as pets.
Spiders are more or less fish, you can't really do much with them. You're much better off with a lizard or a furry pet personally.
So they aren't farting needles at you? Damn.
@gamefacts - Totally and utterly true gaming facts on the regular!
I decided to take a peek at some videos of them. Dang this is creepy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPZrf7C6ry4&feature=related
I'm now going to declare I don't really get keeping these as pets. It's not just that I don't like spiders. Look at all the webbing. It's a big, angry, tarantula that does it's best to make sure you never see it.
I've never heard of anyone dieing from inhaling hairs from the species common as pets. There are some species that have particularly nasty hairs (mostly due to their size iirc) but they're generally nothing more than an annoyance in the species common to own as a pet.
And even then the hairs are only particularly annoying if you're either allergic (which is rather rare from what I remember) or you get them in any kind of mucous membrane. Unfortunately due to their nature it's very easy to get them in your eyes/nose/mouth if the tarantula decides to toss some up in the air.
In the end though, like Killgrim said you're better off just not handling them unless necessary. Arachnids as a rule don't like it when gigantic things pick them up :P Even if the spider doesn't go as far as biting or throwing off hairs it's still putting needless stress on the critter.
But did anyone else, in the course of reading this thread, have to look under their desk/chair/all around just to make sure nothing was creeping up on them? Ewwww...
http://newnations.bandcamp.com
Also, your links are double http'ing. It makes following them a bit of a pain, they're excellent links though.
Edited, thanks. I have trouble with the URL tool I guess :P
I'll look around for some pix of Pumpkin but she's mostly pretty camera shy
Indeed. This whole thing has been quite intriguing and I'm now quite awestruck by these creatures. With that said I did have to put on shoes and after reading the creepy link from the first page am paraonoid as fuck of all the neighbors I've deemed questionable.