Tarantulas are absolutely beautiful, adorable, fascinating and terrifying all at the same time! One of the biggest concerns someone new to the tarantula hobby inevitably asks themselves (or me, of course lol) is “Are tarantulas friendly?” It’s a fair question, considering the danger and concerns that inevitably follows a mysterious pet like this. Who could blame them for wanting to know? I think that at some point, all of us – even the very experienced bunch of us – have wondered this at one point or wished that our tarantulas could love us.

Can your tarantula love you?

It’s important to know a little bit of the research that influences what is currently the consensus in the hobby right now. And by that, I mean that there isn’t much research about this at all. However, there has been some study about the way the tarantula body, its nervous system, and the spider brain works. Currently, the consensus is that tarantulas do not have the brainpower or capacity to feel or process emotions, therefore they do not have the ability to feel happiness or love (or sadness, etc). Many tarantula owners subscribe to this opinion, as do I at the moment. However, if you’ve looked through any number of my articles or videos, you’ll notice that we know SO LITTLE about these creatures that we should continue keeping an open mind and continue to make our observations because there is still so much to learn and study about tarantulas. With that being said, when it comes to love it seems that from what we know, tarantulas unfortunately cannot return our love :(. I know, it makes me depressed, too… especially considering that I literally have several blogs and facebook pages for the sole purpose of dedicating them to my oblivious spiders lol. Spidey has NO idea she’s internet famous, and quite frankly she doesn’t give a crap about her fame or the countless amount of hours I spend photographing her and photoshopping cute costumes on her lol.

Now, are tarantulas friendly?

So, building upon the former current research we have available to us, tarantula friendliness is yet another tricky topic. Some tarantulas have done weird things such as habitually come out of their dens when their owners approach their tanks or routinely get on their owner’s hands. While this may look like a sign of affection or goodwill, many in the hobby believe it is instinctual and possible that the tarantula has made an association with footsteps toward its tank or the opening of the enclosure with the possibility for food. This is also tricky, because the hobby cannot make up its mind about whether or not tarantulas have the ability to have memories lol – but that’s a whole different article!

Now when it comes to friendliness, we can equate this to whether or not a tarantula is docile if we are going along with the thinking that tarantulas do not have emotions and therefore can’t really be “friendly.” A “friendly” tarantula would be more approachable and perhaps tolerate being handled and unlikely to flick hairs or threat pose when interacted with. With this considered, it’s a case by case basis because while certain species of tarantulas have reputations of being more docile than others, there are always exceptions in each species. In reality, every spider is different and even if you get a docile species, you could end up with a temperamental spider anyway. There’s just no way to control this unfortunately, so it’s best to manage your expectations and know what you could be getting into.

The big question when thinking “Are tarantulas friendly” is perhaps how likely will you be able to hold it? Perhaps this is why this question is asked so much. I want to point out that while several tarantulas will tolerate handling when it is done the proper way and with care, tarantulas don’t really LIKE handling. Tarantulas are pretty much the biggest introverts of the insect world, and they much prefer to be left alone than bothered whether it is just you moving things around their tank or physically holding them. Tarantulas are loners and like to be admired from afar.

So I am sorry to burst anyone’s bubble, but the answer to “Are tarantulas friendly?” so far is: Not really, because they don’t have the ability to have this emotion. It would be great if they were like little 8 legged puppies and could enjoy belly rubs or snuggle up next to you with their furry little pedipalps, but for now think of them as your standard moody teenager: better off left alone and watched from a distance lol.

What’s your opinion on tarantula friendliness and love?