Pets

Pet spider health is a genuine concern with pet spider owners, mainly as they do not interact with humans much, making it difficult to tell if they are ill. One indicator of a pet spider’s health is whether it is eating or not. Now some spider species can survive for long periods of time without food, but generally this is a good indicator of pet spider health and also of whether it is uncomfortable with its surroundings.

Some important considerations, which need to be kept in mind while talking about pet spider health are, pet spider habitat and pet spider food. Your pet spider should be kept in a comfortable, clean and secure habitat, which is the closest to its natural habitat in terms of temperature, lighting and humidity. Further, make sure that the spider has ample hiding spaces, as they are not social creatures and prefer the dark most of the time. All these factors play a major role in keeping your pet spider happy and healthy.

Regarding pet spider food, most spiders live off insects of any kind, such as crickets, moths, butterflies, roaches and flies. All these can be acquired from vet supply stores, or even from your backyard. Gut loading, the process of feeding your spider’s prey before feeding it, is an important process to ensure the spider is healthy. There are many commercial food products available for this purpose. Another way to keep your pet spider in good health is to spray the insects you feed it, with vitamins.

Make sure all the insects you feed your pet spider are smaller than the spider itself, this is absolutely essential to keep your pet spider alive and in good health. Water is another concern when keeping pet spiders, as they need access to clean water regularly. Be sure you clean out the water dish in regular intervals, and that the water dish is shallow enough to avoid the spider drowning in it. In the case of some web-weaving spiders, sprinkling water on the web is also a great way to supply your spider with water.

Now during the molting period, most spiders will stop eating, so don’t start panicking. Especially in the case of tarantulas, molting is a sensitive period. They usually stop eating and lie on their back, during which time they wait for the old exoskeleton to split and then they work their way out of it, and become upright again. For a few days after shedding the old exoskeleton, the new exoskeleton is still soft and tender, so make sure that during the molting period no live prey is within reach of the pet spider, as this could be hazardous to the pet spider’s health.