🕷️ How to Set Up a Tarantula Enclosure

A tarantula is one of the most fascinating pets you can watch, and setting one up well comes down to a single rule: the right enclosure depends entirely on the species you keep. Match the home to the spider and most of the hard work is already done.

Know your species: ground or tree

Tarantulas fall into two broad groups, and each wants a very different home. Terrestrial (ground-dwelling) species need more floor space than height, plus deep substrate so they can dig and burrow. Arboreal (tree-dwelling) species need the opposite: a taller enclosure with cork bark and sturdy plants to climb. Before you buy anything, find out which type your tarantula is, because that one fact shapes every other choice you'll make.

Enclosure and safety

For ground species, keep the enclosure low. A terrestrial tarantula has little use for climbing space, and a fall can be dangerous: a tumble from height can rupture its soft abdomen. A good guide is to keep the height to roughly the spider's leg span above the substrate. Arboreal species are the exception, since they're built to climb and rest up high.

Whatever the type, a secure, ventilated lid is a must. Tarantulas are stronger and faster than they look, and a determined spider will find any gap. Choose a lid that latches firmly and still lets air move through.

Substrate and décor

Give ground species several inches of substrate to burrow into, and give tree-dwellers cork bark and plants to climb. Every tarantula appreciates a hide to retreat into and a shallow water dish for drinking. Keep décor simple and stable so nothing can topple onto your spider, and avoid tall, hard objects in a terrestrial enclosure that could turn into a fall hazard.

Heat and humidity

Most tarantulas do just fine at normal room temperature, so you usually don't need special heating. Humidity is where species matters most: some come from dry scrubland and others from humid rainforest, so match the humidity to your species rather than guessing. A little research into where your tarantula lives in the wild tells you almost everything you need.

Feeding

Feeding is refreshingly simple. Offer appropriately sized live insects such as crickets or roaches about once a week or so, and feed larger spiders and adults less often. Remove any prey your tarantula doesn't eat within a day, especially around molting time, when uneaten insects can bother a vulnerable spider.

Molting and handling

Every so often your tarantula will molt, shedding its old exoskeleton to grow. When it's ready, it will often flip onto its back and lie still, which can look alarming but is completely normal. Don't disturb a molting spider, and don't offer food during or just after a molt, while the new exoskeleton is still soft and hardening. Give it a week or so of quiet — up to two weeks for a full-grown spider — and wait for the new fangs to darken before you feed it.

Tarantulas are a watch, don't handle pet. Many New World species can flick tiny, irritating "urticating" hairs from their abdomen when they feel threatened, so avoid touching your face after being near the enclosure and wash your hands afterward. If a hair does get in an eye, don't rub it — rinse gently with clean water and ask an adult to take you to a doctor, because the hairs can stick in the eye. Enjoy your spider as a living display rather than a hands-on companion.

One lovely payoff for good care: females of some species can live a very long time — many years, and even decades. With simple needs and a long life, a tarantula makes a wonderful low-maintenance display pet.

Quick setup checklist

• Confirm whether your species is terrestrial (ground) or arboreal (tree)
• Ground species: low enclosure with deep substrate to burrow
• Tree species: tall enclosure with cork bark and plants to climb
• Secure, well-ventilated lid that latches firmly
• A hide and a shallow water dish
• Room temperature, with humidity matched to your species
• Feed crickets or roaches about weekly; less for adults
• Never disturb or feed a molting spider

If a quiet, hands-off invertebrate appeals to you, you might also like our scorpion habitat guide or our roundup of low-maintenance pets — and when you're ready to find your match, take our free pet quiz.

🛒 Recommended supplies

Hand-picked gear for this guide. Affiliate links — we may earn a commission. The $/$$/$$$ badges are a rough budget guide, not live prices.

🧽 Cleaning & maintenance

Keep it simple and gentle. Remove uneaten food, dead feeders, and obvious waste every few days so mold and mites cannot take hold, and pull out any moldy substrate right away. Wipe the walls and rinse the water dish as needed, and do a full substrate change every few months (more often for humid setups). Skip chemical cleaners inside the enclosure — invertebrates are very sensitive to residues — and use just hot water, with a little vinegar for the glass. For humid species, good airflow and prompt waste removal are your best defense against mold.

Cleaning supplies for this habitat. Affiliate links — we may earn a commission. The $/$$/$$$ badges are a rough budget guide, not live prices.

⚠️ Common tarantula setup mistakes

Already have one and something feels off? Start here. These catch almost everybody — none of them mean you have done badly, and every one of them is fixable.

Why does my tarantula keep climbing the glass?

The mistake: Housing a ground tarantula in a tall tank.

A terrestrial tarantula with more wall than floor will climb, and it is not built to land. A fall of even a few inches onto hard decor can split its abdomen, and that is usually the end.

Try this: You don't need a new tank. Fill the extra height with substrate until there's only about a leg-span of air above it, and take out anything tall or hard it could land on. A bag of coco fiber costs a few dollars.

Is a heat mat safe for a tarantula?

The mistake: Sticking a heat mat under the tank.

When a tarantula gets too warm it digs down — which, with a mat under the floor, means digging straight toward the heat with nowhere cooler to go. Mats underneath also bake the moisture out of the substrate, and dehydration kills far more pet tarantulas than cold does.

Try this: Most species are fine at normal room temperature, so the safest fix is free: unplug it. If your room really does get cold in winter, warm the room, or move a low-watt mat onto one side wall with a thermostat — never underneath.

Can two tarantulas live in the same enclosure?

The mistake: Keeping two tarantulas in one enclosure.

Tarantulas aren't social and never get lonely. Housed together they are strongly cannibalistic, so sooner or later the bigger one eats the smaller — often within days, and almost always overnight when nobody is watching.

Try this: One spider, one enclosure, no exceptions. If yours are sharing right now, separate them today — a clean plastic tub with air holes and a few inches of substrate will do until you can buy a proper enclosure.

Should I put a sponge in my tarantula's water dish?

The mistake: Putting a sponge in the water dish.

Sponges were old advice for stopping drownings, but a tarantula is covered in water-repellent hairs and can't sink. What the sponge does do is turn slimy quickly, growing mold and bacteria in the one place your spider drinks from.

Try this: Take the sponge out and keep plain water in a shallow dish. Rinse and refill it a couple of times a week. If you're worried about crickets drowning, drop in a small pebble instead.

Is my tarantula one of the dangerous kinds?

The mistake: Choosing a tarantula by its colors.

The bright blues, oranges and stripes usually belong to Old World species from Africa and Asia. They're fast, they have no irritating hairs to warn you with, and their venom is much stronger — keepers who've been bitten have had days of severe, whole-body muscle cramps and needed hospital treatment.

Try this: Ask the seller for the species name and look it up. If you already have one, nothing about the setup has to change — just how you work in the tank: lid on, long tongs, and never a bare hand inside.

❓ Common questions

📚 Where this comes from

We check our care advice against vets, animal charities, and government health guidance. Here is what this page is built on.

Vets, charities & official guidance

• Pet tarantula care — University of Illinois Veterinary Medicine
• Tarantula hair keratitis — Digital Journal of Ophthalmology
• Are tarantulas dangerous? — National Capital Poison Center

Keeper & species-community guides

• Tarantula care — Tree of Life Exotic Pet Medical Center
• Tarantula caresheet — Amateur Entomologists' Society
• Keeping tarantulas: the basics — British Tarantula Society

Checked August 2026. These are other people’s websites, and none of it replaces your own vet — if a pet seems unwell, call one.