The Surprisingly Interesting World Of The Tarantula

by Richard Adams
(KeepingExoticPets.com)

When most people think about tarantulas, they conjure up an image of a large, brown, scary spider. Couple that with the way they spend most of the day asleep, need live insects to eat and won't show you any affection and it's understandable why new people would consider keeping one as a pet.

However I do. Well, not just one, but a whole collection. No, don't worry, I can picture your face now. Don't worry, I'm used to it!

I wanted to take a few minutes to "fight their corner" and explain just why keeping tarantulas can be so fascinating and even addictive for those people with a genuine interest in looking after exotic pets in the home.

There are over 800 species of tarantula known to science and while the varieties "commonly" available are limited to just a handful such as the Chilean Rose and the Curly Hair, there are dozens, even hundreds of species being successfully kept and bred by passionate keepers. This means that once you've got a taste for keeping tarantulas, normally through the purchase of one of the more common and easily-kept species, there are a whole host of options available to you.

Furthermore while getting to grips with keeping your first tarantula may prove something of a challenge, once you've got your technique worked out, transferring these skills to keep other, rarer, more colorful and exotic species becomes reasonably simple.

Did I mention color? Oh yes, not all tarantulas are just plain brown. Amongst the tarantula species available to the caring pet keeper you can find spiders in an assortment of colors including, but not limited to; green, blue, pink, red, yellow, orange and even purple. Some spiders are just one color while others have a number of different markings and colors on them. Take the Greenbottle Blue as a perfect example which has brilliant blue legs, a metallic green carapace and an orange rump! Even people not interested in tarantulas will often admit that - at least from the other side of a piece of glass - some of these tarantulas can be very attractive indeed!

Lastly it's worth us mentioning the breeding of tarantulas, which can be accomplished with many species in captivity. Certainly like breeding many exotic pets there are things you need to learn and challenges you will face but it is entirely possible to actually be able to observe tarantulas mating, laying eggs and then looking after their young from the comfort of your own sofa.

Even more interestingly, the baby tarantulas (often known as spiderlings or "slings" for short) are worth quite a bit of money and so it's entirely possible for your hobby of keeping tarantulas to become self-funding by selling baby tarantulas and using the money to expand your collection.