Introduction:

Contrary to popular belief most tarantulas are NOT HARMFULL OR DEADLY to humans, most tarantulas are silent peace loving creatures. There are around 35,000 species of spider which have been recorded to date. 700 plus of these are tarantulas. The name 'Tarantula' comes from a small wolf spider (lycosa narbonensis) which comes from southern Europe. Many years ago in a town known as Taranto in southern Italy the people of the town believed a bite from this 'Wolf Spider' would cause death or at the very least madness. Therefore a dance was performed to rid themselves of the poison. The name of the dance was the Tarantella, hence the name 'Tarantula'. Since then it has been common practice to refer to these spiders as tarantulas it is not however correct. The correct term for the tarantula we all know today is 'Theraphosid'.

Tarantulas unlike some species of spider do not build webs in order to trap and capture their prey. They usually will either stalk or just lie in wait of an unsuspecting insect. Tarantulas spin silk webs for other purposes for example if you touch the substrate of a tarantulas dwelling you will find it welded together with silk, female tarantulas wrap up their eggs in silk to form an egg sack, also a web like mat is spun which the spider will lie upon during moulting.

85%-90% of people are afraid of spiders, this is due to over exaggerated hype by the media and films (We have all seen the film 'Arachnophobia'). It is my intention to not only prove to you that tarantulas pose no threat if handled correctly and are seriously misunderstood but also how to keep them in a safe environment to simulate their natural needs.