Jumping Spider Care
Jumping spiders (Salticidae) can make amazing pets if kept right! I’ve been keeping jumpers for three years, and I absolutely love them. They can be found all over the world, so they’re an option wherever you are.
Types of Jumping Spiders
The spiders shown above are in the genus Phidippus. This genus has some of the largest jumpers, and they make fantastic pets. They are smart, easy to handle, and easy to provide food for. Large jumpers can be fed small crickets, moths, house flies, mosquitoes, and things like that.
There are more common jumpers that are much smaller, such as tan jumpers and zebra spiders. These cuties can be quite fast and a bit more difficult to handle as they’re easy to lose. Smaller jumpers will eat fruit flies, small mosquitoes, leafhoppers, etc.
Catching Them
Please refer here to learn where to find them and how to capture them!
Enclosure
Jumpers need quite a bit of space, as they need to exercise their jumping abilities. Small critter carriers or taller acrylic tanks are ideal. Enclosures should have a good amount of ventilation to prevent mold, but make sure the holes are small enough so that your new friend doesn’t sneak through. If you’re using a different storage container, make a sufficient amount of holes.
They don’t tend to spend too much time on the ground, so a simple substrate like potting soil without fertilizer would work fine. Jumpers like to spend more time on the walls – it gives them a better vantage point when stalking their prey.
Make sure there are a few sticks and leaves for the jumper to make a shelter on or hide under. I’ve always used silk leaves or flowers, as I’ve had problems with decaying plant life in the past. They make little tube- or hammock-shaped shelters to hide out in when they’re not hunting. Make sure there’s enough surface for the jumper to jump around, but not so much that the enclosure is cluttered. Jumpers use their great vision to hunt down prey.
Feeding
Depending on the size of the food, jumpers should be fed about every 2-4 days. They can go over a week without food, but I never like to push it. Just drop your prey in the enclosure and watch your jumper hunt.
I tend to avoid ants, as they like to fight back. As do grasshopper nymphs. I’d rather not risk injuring my jumpers. Also, it’s best to avoid hard-shell beetles and pill bugs, as they won’t accept those. Most beetles put out a foul-tasting chemical anyway, so that’s not a good idea in the first place. Another thing to keep in mind that each spider is an individual and has individual tastes. I always write down in a journal which spider likes what food so I don’t give them items they won’t eat.
Don’t feed your spider anything larger than 1.5 times its size, as it may have difficulties hunting large prey items.
Pet stores usually cary small crickets and flightless fruit flies, so you can purchase those during the cold seasons when wild prey will be scarce.
Water
Either lightly mist or wipe down the side of the enclosure with a damp paper towel to leave a few droplets on the side for your jumper to drink from. DO NOT GET THE SPIDER WET. Water can leak into their book lungs and drown them. Since they get most of their liquids from their prey, they don’t need to drink water too often. Once or twice a week should be fine.
Other things…
- Jumping spiders like sitting in the sunlight, but make sure to monitor the temperature in the tank. If you leave it in direct sunlight too long, the enclosure may become oven-like and cook your spider.
- Like most spiders, jumpers should be kept solitary. Putting two of either sex together may result in a fight to the death. There are other people who may know more about breeding than me, so I’ll leave it at that.
- Most jumpers generally live about a year in the wild, though could live longer.
- I would take my jumpers out to “play” occasionally to exercise their jumping reflexes.
Happy hunting, spiderlings!
Your noble spider knight, ~Sir P. Audax
