{"id":3323,"date":"2021-01-25T17:04:43","date_gmt":"2021-01-25T17:04:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/keepingbugs.com\/?p=3323"},"modified":"2021-08-04T21:13:24","modified_gmt":"2021-08-04T21:13:24","slug":"are-tarantulas-dangerous-pets-and-more-you-should-know-about-them","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/keepingbugs.com\/are-tarantulas-dangerous-pets-and-more-you-should-know-about-them\/","title":{"rendered":"Are Tarantulas Dangerous Pets? And More You Should Know About Them!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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You have probably seen it many times on pictures and video: A kid or adult holding a tarantula. Although they have a bad reputation because of all the horror movies, tarantulas have become popular pets because of their massive size and hairy bodies. But are tarantulas dangerous as pets? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most tarantulas are relatively harmless to humans and can be safe pets to have. As for most tarantulas, a bite will rarely cause serious harm or an allergic reaction. However, when they fling their urticating hairs at you can be extremely irritating to the eyes and mucous membranes. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although tarantulas can make great pets that are generally slow-moving and docile creatures, there is a risky side note you should be aware of. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Is a tarantula a dangerous pet?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Hollywood is probably the blame for these largest-of-all spiders’ bad reputation. They are often used in horror movies where they picture the tarantula as creepy, dangerous and toxic. But if they really were dangerous, they wouldn’t use it in movies, right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although they possess venom, it is rarely lethal to humans. And tarantulas that are sold in the pet industry are absolutely not deadly. You can’t even call them dangerous. Most of the tarantulas are calm creatures, minding their own business. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Actually, tarantulas are making great pets for a lot of people. They don’t have high requirements and don’t use much space. And several species are even suitable to handle. It is not that they particularly like that or they like humans’ presence, but they won’t attack you if there is no reason for it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, what is all the fuzz about then?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What are the risks of keeping a tarantula as pets?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Although tarantulas make good pets, they can use one of their defence mechanisms if they feel threatened. They can defend themselves by using their fangs for a venomous bite or shooting their urticating hairs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First, the bite. It sounds very frightening, but with most species, it is nothing more than a bee sting, and most tarantulas have very low toxicity to humans. A bite or scratch from a cat, or a bite from a corn snake, is just as painful or in some cases even more painful than a bite from a tarantula. It is mostly the thought of a spider that bites you. Don’t worry; you won’t become spiderman!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And then you need to understand when a tarantula bites. Because they normally won’t do that without reason. And that reason is that they feel threatened and don’t see any other solution to escape the situation. The risk of being bitten is, therefore, mostly when they are handled. And even before they bite, they make enough signals that they don’t like the situation, such as a threatening pose. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But even before a tarantula will bite, they may shoot their urticating hairs, or simply called bristles, from their back towards you. These hairs have tiny hooks which sting in your skin, eyes and mucous membranes. These hairs can be very itching and irritating. Maybe this is even more annoying and irritating than the bite. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Be aware that the tarantula’s substrate can be covered with these bristles. When cleaning the enclosure or substrate, these hairs can blow up, which may be very itching. Wearing gloves would be wise in this case, or use tools that increase the distance between your hands and the substrate. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, these risks are generally minimal when you just have your tarantula in the enclosure and normally feed them with a tweezer or let the feeder insect fall in the enclosure \u2014 I guess they would otherwise not be such a popular pet. So, there is nothing to be scared off when keeping tarantulas. You only need to be careful when you need (or wish) to handle them or when you clean the enclosure. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Interested in keeping tarantulas?<\/strong>

Do you consider keeping a tarantula as a pet? They can be a perfect pet, but it is important to understand the basic care requirements before deciding to buy one. Check out our basics guide<\/a> on how you can keep and what you need to take proper care for your pet tarantula.<\/div>