Food Options for Tarantulas

Tarantulas are furry looking spiders commonly found on several continents, including North America. Although tarantulas may look a little creepy, they are actually not poisonous. Some people even choose to keep tarantulas as pets. If you have always wanted a pet spider, the tarantula may be a good choice as they do not require a lot of maintenance. Before purchasing your pet, it is important to be aware of what you will need to feed your tarantula.

  1. Crickets

    • Tarantulas are fond of eating crickets. Many pet stores carry crickets and you can also order them online. It is important to know that your tarantula will have little interest in a dead cricket. Spiders need to attack their prey. You can feed your tarantula by placing a live cricket in its cage. The tarantula will feed when it is hungry. Although the crickets are being used as spider food, you will actually need to keep a few crickets alive in your home and feed the crickets before feeding them to your spider. A normal sized tarantula will likely only need to eat two crickets a week.

    Meal Worms and Other Small Insects

    • Meal worms are another prime food choice for a pet tarantula. If you live close to bait and tackle shops, it should be easy and cheap for you to find some meal worms. Your tarantula will also enjoy munching on grasshoppers, flies and moths. Most of these insects can be found at pet stores. Remember that your tarantula also needs a water dish. Even though tarantulas don't need to eat everyday, they should always have water available.

    Finding Your Own Insects

    • While some tarantula owners like to go outside and find insects to feed their pets, you should be careful doing this with your first tarantula. Pesticides can sometimes harm tarantulas, so it wouldn't be wise to scoop up a bug from a freshly treated lawn to feed to your pet. Insect size is also important when picking which bugs to feed your tarantula. Smaller critters, about half the size of your tarantula, will work best. Poisonous bugs or bugs with stingers should not be fed to your spider.

    In the Wild

    • Wild tarantulas mainly dine on the same insects that you will be feeding them, only they find and catch them on their own. Tarantulas living in the wild also eat baby mice. You can feed baby mice to your pet tarantula if you wish, but it is not necessary. If you do feed mice to your tarantula, you should use the smallest mice that you can find. It is best to speak to someone at a pet store if you have questions about what type of mouse to purchase.