When you’re new to the tarantula hobby, it’s easy to be under the impression that you can keep several tarantulas in the same enclosure if you’ve stumbled upon a picture of a communal enclosure. But don’t be fooled – tarantulas are solitary, territorial creatures and unless you have a communal species, you’ll likely end up with casualties!

There are only a select few tarantula species that are communal by nature and tolerate other tarantulas being in their space. I know it’s tempting to want to house tarantulas in the same enclosures because it might save money and space if you can work with fewer enclosures but this is a recipe for disaster!

The truth is, unless you have a communal species and setup, or are temporarily housing a male and female tarantula together for mating purposes, your tarantulas should always have their own individual space. The only other exception is if baby tarantulas have just hatched from an egg sac. They will be ok together for a little bit, but if they are not separated, eventually they will start eating each other.

Now, there are ways to bend the rules if you’re careful. I recently came across a video on the Gav’s Tarantulas YouTube channel in which he managed to house two tarantulas in the same closure by using a divider. You can see how he did it here:

I think this could work however you’d have to be extremely careful to make sure the divider was tight and there was no space or holes for the spiders to get through. I don’t know if I would trust spiders, honestly – they are pretty sneaky and crafty when they want to be naughty! You would also have to be extremely careful during tank cleanings, feedings, rehousing, or any other time you have to open the tank in case a curious spider wants to climb over the divider and explore the other side!

One thing I’d also be curious about with this setup, is if the tarantulas could communicate with each other and if that would cause issues. For example, could they sense each others’ presence through vibration or anything else?

I think these questions are worth exploring. Have you ever put two tarantulas in the same tank?