Chilean Rose-Hair Tarantulas as Pets: Tips for Setting Up Their Tanks

Setting up a home for a Chilean Rose-Hair tarantula is pretty easy and cheap, and when done right will provide your pet with a happy, stress-free environment in which to live. With proper surroundings, your tarantula will definitely be a happy camper.

The first step is to provide the tarantula with a comfortable place to stay. They can be kept in plastic tanks known as "Critter Keepers", which come with a lid and a handle. These are a good starting point, but for the adult tarantula I prefer a smaller-sized fish tank. Used five or ten gallon fish tanks can be found for very little money, and provide an excellent home for a Chilean Rose-Hair tarantula.

The substrate, or the stuff they like to sit on, won't set you back much either. It is often recommended to use vermiculite and sterile soil for the bottom of the tank, because it holds in moisture and tarantulas need some humidity. However, I have had excellent results using the smaller-sized bark substrate with the Chilean Rose-Hair variety, mostly because it is a desert dwelling tarantula and can survive with much less humidity than the tropical spiders.

When setting up the tarantula's tank, be sure to provide some place where it can get inside and hide. Half-log dwellings and other kinds of cave-like retreats can be found at almost any pet store, and many are in the ten-dollar range, so you won't have to take out a loan to purchase the thing. It is important that the tarantula have a place to hide, or it may spend its life a bit stressed out and pace the perimeter of the tank over and over, looking for something to get under. Some may dig burrows even if you have a retreat, which is really cool to watch.

Make 100% sure you get a wire or mesh covering for the top of the tank if you decide to use an aquarium. These tarantulas can climb the glass and escape in very little time. Waking up to check on your favorite pet only to find it is loose in the house somewhere is a less than enjoyable experience. Take my word on this one - cover the tank.

Every couple of days I take a regular household water sprayer (like the kind used for ironing or glass cleaning) and mist the inside of the tank. This will effectively keep the humidity level inside it up a bit, keeping the tarantula healthier. Hygrometers (humidity gauges) can be purchased at pet stores and come in very handy to the new tarantula owner. Simply put the gauge in the tank where you can see it, and keep an eye on it here and there. I keep the humidity level in my tanks around 55-70%.

If you find that it is difficult to keep the tank humid, try covering one-half of its lid with plastic of some sort. I simply cut a trash bag, grocery bag or sandwich baggie to the appropriate dimensions and tape it to the lid of the cage. This will reduce how fast the water inside evaporates, keeping humidity inside where it's needed.

Never let the tarantula run low on water - they can go a few weeks without food, but always make sure they have a little water in the tank to drink. Many tarantula enthusiasts wet a special sponge and place it in the tank, allowing the spider to drink from it whenever it wants to. In my personal tanks, I use a rock-style feeding dish filled with water. The tarantula will sit in there for a bit and then move on once it is hydrated. Tarantulas use blood pressure to move; they have no leg muscles. Therefore, it is critical that they have ample water!

Once you deposit the tarantula in its new home, give it a few days to adjust. They will likely move stuff around, dig, climb the sides, etc. They are simply trying to get acquainted with their new surroundings, and once it calms down a bit and is happy with its habitat, you can start feeding it and handling it.