How to Feed a Red-Rump Tarantula

For some, a tarantula is a bizarre and unappealing animal to choose as a pet. But tarantulas are easy to keep and interesting to watch. If you like creepy-crawlies, you might just have a Costa Rican or Mexican red-rump tarantula at home. Both species are similar in appearance, although the Mexican red-rump is larger and redder. Tarantulas should be kept in a large tank lined with up to 4 inches of potting soil, coconut fiber or vermiculite to burrow in. Providing the right diet is a crucial part of its care.

Things You'll Need

  • Small dish of water
  • Pinhead crickets, locusts, mealworms
Show More

Instructions

    • 1

      Provide a small dish of water on top of the potting soil or other burrowing material in the base of the tank. The dish does not have to be very big; cut off the bottom of a small drink bottle and bury it in the soil so that is level with the surface. Or use a coffee jar lid. Keep it filled with with fresh, clean water. A spider can live for weeks without food but dehydrate and die much more quickly without water.

    • 2

      Source a fresh supply of food for your tarantula. It needs to be fed regularly throughout the week. Get crickets, mealworms, locusts or other insects for your tarantula. Some may even eat moths and caterpillars. If you keep them live in a separate tank, also make sure they are cared for appropriately.

    • 3

      Drop a live insect into the tank with the tarantula once or twice a day. As a guide, a red-rump tarantula with a body length of up to 2.5 inches eats between 8 and 10 crickets a week. However, younger spiders will eat fewer. Give spiderlings pinhead crickets, rather than larger ones.

    • 4

      Stop feeding the red-rump when it is going to shed its skin. This happens two or three times a year, and you can tell because the tarantula becomes darker in color and stops feeding. Remove any live insects in the tank when it does this.

    • 5

      Feed the tarantula after it has molted its skin, but only do so after waiting for four or five days. During this time, the new skin hardens. Begin feeding it once or twice daily, again, after this delay.