How to Care for Tarantula Spiderlings

If you're a tarantula hobbyist, one of the most rewarding experiences is the raising of spiderlings. However, tarantula spiderlings are initially only a few millimeters in length; quite tiny in contrast to an adult tarantula. Trying to keep your spiderlings alive may leave you with a feeling of unease, but spiderlings only require small containers to keep them satisfied until they reach adulthood. It's important to provide each spiderling with its own habitat to prevent predation.

Things You'll Need

  • Drill
  • Baby jars
  • Potting soil
  • Peat moss
  • Pencil
  • Spray bottle
  • Water
  • Crickets
  • Mealworms
  • Tweezers
  • 8 oz. deli dish
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Instructions

    • 1

      Drill holes into the lids of baby jars. Ventilating the jars will prevent the growth of mold. You will need one jar for each spiderling.

    • 2

      Fill each jar halfway with potting soil. Use only unfertilized potting soil. Provide a piece of moss, such as peat moss, which will provide a place for the spiderling to burrow. Alternatively, you can poke a hole into the substrate to create a burrow, by using a pencil, according to Tarantulas.

    • 3

      Mist the sides of the jars with a spray bottle, which will provide water and humidty for the spiderlings, recommends the American Tarantula Society Headquarters.

    • 4
      Spiderlings don't require daily feedings.

      Offer crickets or mealworms twice a week. Remove any leftover food that a spiderling doesn't eat. Place one cricket or mealworm in with your spiderling per feeding. If your spiderling doesn't initially eat, you can entice it by holding prey with tweezers and lightly stroking the back of the spiderling. Hold the prey in front of the spiderling and wait for it to spring at the prey. Only offer food smaller than your spiderlings. Food that is larger can potentially harm the spiderlings.

    • 5

      Watch your spiderling for moltings. Your spiderlings will go through a procession of moltings, with the first taking place one month after hatching. When a spiderling molts, it becomes darker and duller in color. Spiderlings won't eat before molting occurs and won't be hungry for up to two days after molting. Don't feed a spiderling while it's molting as it will be vulnerable and can be killed by the crickets.

    • 6

      Provide a larger habitat, such as a deli dishes as your spiderlings get larger. Deli dishes are plastic, disposable containers. A small sized 8 oz. deli dish can hold one siderling. Deli dishes can be purchased at pet stores with lids already ventilated. Keep lids on your deli dishes to prevent your spiderlings from escaping.

    • 7

      Fill a deli dish with a 1/4 inch of potting soil. Place a spiderling into a deli dish, when its body (including leg span) grows to 1 inch in length. As the spiderling continues to grow, you can increase the size of deli dishes to accommodate the spiderling.