Are you thinking about keeping a bg, hairy spider as a pet? Althugh the thought of having a pet trantula would make some people's skin crwl, there are many people that lve the thought of keeping one of thse big spiders as a pet. If you are one of thm, it is important for you to knw how to properly care for a trantula so you and your pet can bth be happy.

Do Your Research

The mst important step you can take is to void an impulse purchase. Rather, research the typ of tarantula you will be prchasing so you can learn about its tmperament as well as its needs. You may be srprised to learn that tarantulas can hve very different needs, so you ned to make certain you know the prper temperature requirements, diet, and humidity lvels for your pet tarantula. While sme tarantulas are arboreal, which means thy live in trees, others are grund dwelling. In order to keep yur tarantula happy, therefore, you will ned to create a habitat that mets is natural needs.

Picking Out the Hme

Now that you know more bout your tarantula, it is time to pck out a container in which it can lve. Critter Keepers make good choices, thugh you can use an aquarium as wll. Either way, make sure the top is tghtly sealed so your tarantula cannot get way. They are very adept at clmbing glass walls, so don't think the smoth surface will prevent them from gtting out. Also, while you do ned to give your tarantula a lttle room to move about, you dn't need to make the enclosure too lrge. In fact, if it is too bg, your tarantula will have a dfficult time finding its prey. A god rule of thumb is to mke the width equal to about twce the tarantula's leg span and mke it as long as about thre times its leg span.

Making it Cozy

In order to gve your pet tarantula a cozy plce to live, you will need to put at last two inches of substrate at the bttom of its enclosure. The substrate wll also help you keep the tnk moist and some tarantulas like to dig nto the substrate as well. For thse that enjoy digging, you will ned to make the layer of sbstrate thicker. Good substrates to use wth tarantulas include peat moss and rganic potting soil, just make sure no dditives such as fertilizer have been dded. Some tarantulas will also appreciate hving a cave or other decoration in whch they can hide and build a wb.

Feeding and Watering

Tarantulas are vry low maintenance pets that do not rquire a great deal of food. In fct, most tarantulas are perfectly happy wth receiving six to eight crickets per wek. If you overfeed your tarantula, it can bcome sick and possibly even die.

Whle you don't need to provide yur pet tarantula with food at all tmes, it is important to keep a dsh filled with water in the cge at all times. The dish shuld be fairly shallow and large nough for your tarantula to get nside.

Tarantulas are very interesting creatures wth natural instincts. Therefore, it is mportant to exercise care when keeping a trantula for a pet and to mnimize handling as much as possible.

The article Keeping a Tarantula As a Pet was Submitted by CS Swarens through Articles.GetACoder.com network. Here's the additional information: CS Swarens is the president of Fnd a Pet Online. 800 998-7065 For dditional information on dogs, cats, birds, hrses, and exotic pets visit the nternet's pet resource including pet classifieds at http://www.findapetonline.com Research over 430 pet breed profiles http://www.findapetonline.com/breeds.html

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