If you’re a new tarantula owner, you’ll be learning as you go just how strange (and beautiful) tarantulas are! From their weird molting behaviors, hunting strategies, and tank rearranging, there is tons to observe and learn about – which is what makes tarantula keeping so exciting!

I figured all animals and creatures have some way of bathing themselves, however when I first saw Spidey sticking her legs and feet in her mouth I was VERY surprised! I freaked out a little, wondering WHY is she eating her foot?!?! But alas, she was merely grooming.

Believe it or not, tarantulas are one of the cleanest animals you can keep as a pet. Not only do they tidy up after they eat or go to the bathroom, but they also can spend hours cleaning themselves. They are kind of like cats, but with 8 legs and 8 eyes!

Tarantulas don’t really get “dirty” if they’re healthy. It is unheard of that your tarantula will give off any scent unless they are dead, sick or there is something wrong. Something that may happen occasionally, though, is they might get a little bit of substrate on them from moving around their tank or going about their daily spider business – but its not likely that they will let the dirt stay there long!

Tarantulas are most likely to clean themselves after a meal, because bug guts can be a little messy and get on their legs and mouth area. To clean themselves, tarantulas can do a few things. To clean debris off their hair, they might use a few of their legs to gently rub any dirt or material off their bodies. They will rub their legs together to clean them, or rub their legs on their abdomen to clean – it will look a little like they are rubbing their butts! They will also clean their dirt from their legs using their fangs and mouth.

Tarantulas will also put their feet in their mouth to clean their paws! This is because putting their feet through their fangs and mouth cleans small bits of dirt from their legs and feet. This is very important, because the hairs on a tarantula’s legs are very sensitive and it’s how they make contact with their environment – so it’s important that these hairs are free and not weighed down by anything!

For a creature that lives in an enclosure full of dirt, they are very clean!

Grooming can sometimes cause stress for new tarantula owners however, because sometimes tarantulas get themselves in weird positions that can look like a death curl. But not to worry – it you watch for a few seconds you will see that your tarantula will move again, and that they are grooming. They are just trying to get into a better position to clean themselves. One giveaway could be that in a death curl, usually all the legs are underneath. Often when my tarantula cleans herself, only some of the legs will be pulled underneath her body.

I hope this helps! Here are some great videos of tarantulas grooming so you can see how it works!