When I first wanted to get a tarantula, I spent quite a bit of time looking up as many tarantula facts as I could to prepare me for my new pet. However even with weeks of research and knowing that a tarantula was the perfect pet for me, nothing could prepare me for how interesting having a pet spider really was!

You see, aside from the standard care information that is on the internet (and by the way, a lot of it is inaccurate so I made my own tarantula guide), there’s not much out there about all the crazy, silly things that tarantulas do. It’s a shame because when you look up tarantula facts and behaviors, you mostly just get warnings and information about their fangs, what to do if you get bitten, or their defense behaviors. There’s nothing about their more adorable, fun behaviors or how they show their little spider personalities – so I want to start a series called “Crazy Tarantula Facts” to start highlighting these special moments so that the world can see how cool these creatures are.

Anyway, on with the tarantula facts. What the hell is spider yoga?

I honestly had no idea at first, either. It actually took me months before I witnessed my sweet Grammostola rosea, Spidey, doing this strange phenomenon. The hilarious thing about tarantulas is that they do most of their coolest stuff when we’re not looking – so it’s actually a pretty special moment when I catch Spidey doing some of her silly spider things. Here’s what I mean:

The first time I saw this, I had no idea what she was doing! But I’ve seen her do this MANY times over the last few years, and other tarantula owners have noticed this too!

Sometimes I see Spidey doing this particularly after she had a molt, because she needs to stretch her new body out and fill out her limbs. However, there have been plenty of times where it seems like she just wants a nice stretch 🙂 Spidey’s favorite place to do her spider yoga is on her log, and I can sometimes even catch her trying to do a downward dog (spider?) or a handstand! It’s utterly adorable, here are a few pics:

As you can see, Spidey does this quite a bit! One week, she did it so much that I was worried I would find her TEACHING spider yoga to all the house spiders lol.

I hope you like this series – tarantula activism and shining a light on how wonderful these creatures can be is something I am very passionate about. If you liked this content and want to learn more about tarantulas, feel free to check out my big tarantula guide (I talk about lots of other weird spider behavior). You can also get free tarantula tips by signing up for my newsletter or subscribing to my YouTube channel!– I release new tips every Tuesday for Tarantula Tuesday!

Featured image via Christopher Woo / Getty Images