Largest Spider
The World's Biggest Spider As A Pet
There are people who, instead of being terrified by spiders, find them to be quite fascinating creatures. Although spiders do not rank in popularity with dogs or cats, quite a few are kept as pets. They are generally easy keepers and, while you don't really want to be bitten by one, you'll actually find yourself mainly concerned about avoiding injuring one. They really are rather fragile creatures. Purchasing a Goliath Bird Eating spider as a pet is not a very good idea unless you've had some previous experience with tarantulas. As mentioned before, there are several types of tarantula, and the Chilean Rose, Curly Hair, or Mexican Red Knee would be better starter pets, as these types of tarantula are generally quite docile. The Goliath Bird Eater can be quite a bit more aggressive, and you really should be familiar with how to keep a tarantula before getting this particular variety as a pet. Some types of tarantula do not make particularly good pets, as their venom is considered to be more dangerous. This is not the case with the Goliath Bird Eater.
You can start with a baby spider, called a spiderling. It certainly won't take up much space at all. You can start with a pill box as a home for the little creature, and graduate to a critter cage by the time the spider is fully grown. Remember, that with a 12 inch span, the world's biggest spider needs a home large enough to move around in. Spiders are slow growers however and some pet owners prefer to get an adult to start with. The life span of these creatures varies greatly, with males typically living 3 to 6 years and females up to 12. So if you tend to grow attached to your pets, get a female. If you do purchase an adult, one of the guidelines for keeping it as a pet is to leave it alone for a week or so. Feed it and give it water, but nothing else. This type of spider is easily stressed and it can take a while for it to make an adjustment to its new home. The bird eater is a terrestrial spider, living in burrows in the ground, as opposed to the climbing, tree dwelling variates. As such it can easily be injured, or even killed, from even a small fall. For this reason, handling the spider is not recommended, or in any event it should be handled with great care. Some of the more commonly sold tarantulas are not terribly expensive, costing $20 and sometimes less. A Goliath Bird Eater may run several hundred dollars.
You will not have to purchase special tarantula food from the pet store, with the possible exception of some prepared cricket food. Insects, especially crickets will, be all that your pet needs. Your pet spider also needs to have a supply of fresh water nearby. Occasionally, the spider may go quite a long time without eating or drinking. It eats and drinks when it feels the need to, which rarely is on a daily basis. So the rule is to keep food and water available, but usually not in a large amount. A final note. Take care if you have a dog or cat in the house. These pets and tarantulas do not make good neighbors. Even though it's the world's biggest spider, the tarantula probably has the most to fear, being very delicate. But if it should bite a dog or cat the result could conceivably be fatal, as small animals are more susceptible to the spider's toxin.