Pet Tarantula?!

[Eyelet]

Hey- My 10 year old son has ben begging for a rose hair tarantula for ages and since he's pretty responsible with his pets, I'm considering getting him one. I have a few questions/concerns though for anyone who's had them as pets: Are they hard to keep healthy? Are/can they be aggressive? Will I ever get over the creepy factor of keeping a spider in the house? lol I mean, can they end up being endearing pets even if you're not keen on them at first? Any other advice?

TIA!

[angie7]

I don't personally have an spiders but my dh wants one REALLY bad and honestly, I'm not keen on one being in my house. I mean, I sleep with 4 snakes in my bedroom, what else does he want Anyways, he knows a lot of people that have spiders and the care, etc. of them so I know a little about them.

They are very easy to care for. They don't need much at all. A rose hair doesn't need anything other then bedding, water and some branches and such. I've seen people use aspen for bedding (a friend of mine has one and that is what she uses) but a lot of people prefer a reptile bark or an eco brick. Not really sure which is better though, definately research it. As far as food, when they are real little, they eat bugs such as crickets. When they get older, they will get a small mouse. They usually won't eat a dead one so it has to be live so that's something else to consider. A lot of people have problems feeding mice to creatures, especially live ones.

They really aren't an aggressive species but they can bite. They do have fangs but they are not poisonious but will leave a very painful, nasty sore for a while.

Can't help you with the creep factor. I love animals but spiders are on the bottom of my list. I'm trying to deal with it so my dh can have one but it will be awhile.

GL in whatever you decide!

[Denvergirlie]

My roommate in my early 20's had one of these, although I don't know if it was a rose hair or whatever, but he had a spide in this family.

Fed it crickets... that was the most irrating thing, the spider would pace itself in eating of the live food, so we had crickets too for a while.

Luckily, my roommate rarely took the things out of it's "home" so I had very little interaction with it.

As for ick factor.... I never got over it, but then again it just sat in a tank 99.99% of the time, so it wasn't really a big deal all in all.

[Oubliette8]

They don't need much care, although I understand the females can live a long time (as in, decades). I was completely creeped out by them too, until I had to work at a place with them. One day the herp guy called me over and made me hold one after explaining that they rarely bite, that you just let it go where it wants, and you shouldn't pet it (the hairs can stick in your skin and be irritating). I really didn't want to, but was actually pleasantly surprised. It didn't feel like a creepy crawling spider, they tread rather lightly and it was a very interesting experience. Actually, they're the ONLY spider that I feel really comfortable interacting with now. I'd ask an experienced spider person to show you how to handle one, it was NOT AT ALL as terrifying as I thought it would be. Once I was educated they were actually pretty neat.

[blizzard_babe]

Just the fact that you're considering it makes you a far better mother than I. I would never be able to get past the ick factor. I'd take a snake long before a spider.

People I know who have them swear that they are just the coolest thing, but I guess I'll just have to be a prejudiced ignoramus on this issue.

[Attila the Honey]

When dd was 4.5 she had a pet kitten that suddenly died. She asked for a new pet, something small and furry, and when we finally agreed she told us she wanted a tarantula.

Anansi has been with us for a year and a half now and he's the most fascinating pet. I love him! I wasn't keen on a tarantula at first either, but wow, he really is cool.

Endearing? Absolutely!

The good stuff: he makes no noise, he doesn't smell, the molting process is fascinating, you only have to change his bedding maybe 2x a year, his food costs about 50 cents a month, he's actually cute and interesting.

the bad stuff: you can't cuddle him, the crickets can be stinky and annoying, they are actually very delicate

Rose hairs (like anansi) are very calm, docile, slow moving... they certainly aren't escape artists or aggressive. They are kind of like a pet plant. If you can trust your ds not to bother the tarantula (holding him etc) I think they are a perfect pet.

They can bite if they feel threatened, their bite has been compared to a bee sting. It's never happened to us. We hold Anansi rarely, but he seems really OK with it when we do. Mostly we just put our hand in the tank and let him decide if he wants to climb on. The main reason I would caution against handling a tarantula is because they are very delicate - even a drop from just a few inches can kill them.

I've read that one way to pick out a docile tarantula is to make sure the butt is furry. An angry tarantula flicks irritating hairs off his butt, so if the butt is bald you know he gets angry easily.

[Dar]

My family had a few pet tarantulas when I was a kid - we were living in Arizona and they were all ones we caught in our yard. For that reason they were generally boys, which, after mating, go off and mope around for a couple of months and then die. If you're actually buying one I'd try to get a female, to be sure he isn't ready to die soon.

We held ours some but not often - my brother got bit once but it wasn't really that painful, and I'm sure it was because he was doing something annoting to the spider.

dar

[Eyelet]

Thank you all for the great advice, I appreciate it much. I had an another long talk with ds about caring for a tarantula -being extremely gentle and careful, not to handle it, etc and decided we're going for it.

We prefer to get one from a breeder, not a pet shop, so we know exactly what we're adopting.

Anyhow, wish me luck!

[Attila the Honey]

Good luck! You won't be sorry. I never expected to enjoy our rose hair as much as I do.

[FreeRangeMama]

I am totally a spider person, but we have found our rosie to be a little....boring Seriously, she just sits there, rarely puts any effort into catching her food, is very timid, and not interactive. All typical tarantula traits, but not what my ds was hoping for. I love her though, which is a good thing because I am the one to take care of her! She just isn't a good "kid pet" because aside from the every other week feeding she doesn't do anything exciting for them to watch. Even then she paces herself so they don't get to see her eat much at all.

For an interesting spider pet you may go for a Black Widow. I found ours had much more personality! When we cleaned out her habitat we could watch her spin a new web (they are cobweb builders, not hunters like tarantulas). And she was so pretty Watching her catch crickets based on web movements was super cool! The only downside is they don't live that long. Ours was about a year when we got her (right before her final molt) and she lived to be 3. I have heard they can live up to 5 years in captivity though.

Spiders in general are great. Very few are aggressive, they mostly just react to perceived threats. As long as your ds is aware that they don't do much and they really shouldn't be held much (they are delicate like a PP mentioned) it may be a great pet for him.

[BunnySlippers]

If you get bored of it you can always coat it in batter and fry it They are supposed to be really tasty. Personally the thought icks me out though.

[unschoolinmom]

I loved my rose hair J.R. He went with me to college actually. He was awesome, friendly and rose hairs make awesome first time spider owner pets! Good luck!

[tinuviel_k]

My husband LOVES our pet rose-hair tarantula. She is quiet, you only need to change the litter in the cage once a week (we use a combo if vermiculite and coconut fiber), and she eats 50 cents worth of food once a month.

She doesn't actually do much, but when she is active she moves in such a graceful, methodical way. DH calls her his "living Zen garden."

[xJewelx]

We had a pet tarantula when I was a kid. My dad wanted one, I hated it! It wasn't a rose hair, but one of the less hairy ones (the rose hair was too creepy for us). I don't remember much about it's care, but it wasn't aggressive. It kept escaping from the cage (we never found out how), so make sure things are secure. Not a pet that I could have again, but to each their own!