© Clare Elderkin
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My Pet Tarantula
This is my Curly Haired Tarantula, Atropos. She is nine years old and measures about six inches across. Female tarantulas generally live longer than males and I expect her to live for around ten years. Unsurprisingly, this species of tarantula are called 'Curly Haired' since they have rather long brown curly hairs all over their body and legs. In between these hairs is a layer of soft downy black hair that looks and feels like velvet.
Tarantulas are carnivorous and so they must be kept separately. It is not uncommon for the larger female to overpower and eat the male after mating. Other than this unfortunate habit, they are spectacularly effective predators that move with great speed to catch prey. Since tarantulas will only eat live prey, I feed her live crickets or locusts. The crickets can be quite noisy, but overall they are easier to keep than locusts which eventually grow wings! Amazingly, some of the larger types of tarantula are able to catch and eat small mammals such as rodents.
Yes, I know that most of you will be cringing at the thought of my spider; however tarantulas actually make very good pets. They are easy to care for (once you understand their unique requirements), are quiet and don't make any mess. Many types of tarantula are surprisingly docile; including mine. Having said that, I seem to be the only person I know who will touch her. Perhaps it will be a difficult task to convince the rest of the world that spiders do not mean to frighten us!
