I’ve spoken a lot about the ethical treatment of tarantulas before, but I don’t think we can have too much of this information out there. I don’t think it can be said enough, especially as the tarantula hobby grows faster than it ever has. I believe this is wonderful and will only add to the knowledge we currently are growing with the help of the internet and social media, however I believe that it does lead some newer owners to jump in without understanding the type of creature this is or what kind of pet they’re investing in.

There are quite a few areas concerning ethics in tarantula keeping, such as importing, crossbreeding, and wild caught vs. captive breeding, however in this piece I’d like to keep things simple for the newer tarantula owners that may really need this information. The other ethical questions are more complex issues, and these things I’ll mention will actually help new tarantula owners become better keepers immediately.

One of the biggest things I think a new tarantula keeper can do to be more ethical toward their tarantula is to learn their body language so that you can respect them. A tarantula can’t tell you off like a cat or dog, but tarantulas do certainly use body language to tell you how they’re feeling. This means not poking at your tarantula just to see them react, or continuing to bother them if they are showing signs of stress (running away, threat posing, kicking hairs, hiding behind their legs). If someone did this to a cat or dog, it would be considered harassment or abuse. Tarantulas are incredibly easy to stress out, and it’s not kind to put them in situations where they feel threatened just for fun. This puts you, your tarantula, or anyone else nearby at risk.

Another thing I think involves ethics involves feeding in captivity. Tarantulas can eat many feeders safely. But I have unfortunately seen several YouTube videos about tarantula owners trapping their tarantulas in enclosures with big mice, bees, or other creatures that can sting, bite, or hurt them. Now, pinky mice are still a bit controversial in the tarantula keeping hobby, but at least pinky mice are either very tiny or already dead when they are fed to tarantulas. To feed your tarantula a live, fullgrown mouse that will use its teeth or claws to defend itself is putting your tarantula at risk when there are safer options available. The same goes for bees or other insects/prey that could be a danger to your spider. While some people do these feeding experience just out of curiosity, it is an even greater ethical issue if this is being done for “fun” and entertainment. Really, I can’t think of anything more disgusting and unethical than that with any pet.

Another ethical concern is handling – and it’s a sticky, debated subject in the hobby. As far as we know, tarantulas do not have the ability to enjoy handling, and more often than not it only serves to stress them out. This is important especially for newer tarantula owners, because many of them want tarantulas because they saw a cool photo of someone holding a tarantula and they don’t educate themselves about tarantula safety and handling. Whether you handle your tarantulas or not is of course a personal choice and your personal risk, but we have to accept that if something goes wrong, it was our fault and not our spider’s.

Tarantula euthansia is another ethical concern I can think of. If your tarantula is dying, sick, having a molting emergency or injured beyond prepare, there are many different schools of thought as far as how this should be done. This is mostly due to us not having enough info about how tarantulas process or feel pain. Some feel that freezing tarantulas is the most humane, however some believe that tarantulas actually do feel this pain and it’s very painful. Others believe in using blunt force to make it fast and “painless.” Others believe using carbon dioxide is the most humane. Others yet believe in feeding a dying tarantula to another tarantula in their collection. It’s hard to say which is the most ethical option here due to the limited research we have about tarantulas, so it mostly depends on your perspective.

I hope this was helpful in opening your mind to the many issues in tarantula keeping, and ethical husbandry. What ethical issues do you worry about in tarantula keeping?