Equipment & Enclosure Requirements

Providing the right environment for your jumping spider is essential for its health, comfort and overall wellbeing. At Tara’n’Tula, we believe that a well-designed enclosure should offer both security and enrichment, allowing your spider to display its natural behaviours.

Choosing the Right Enclosure

Every jumping spider should have its own individual enclosure, as these fascinating little creatures are solitary and should not be housed together.

Acrylic terrariums can provide suitable homes, provided they offer adequate ventilation. We recommend an enclosure with ventilation at different heights to encourage good airflow and help prevent excessive moisture buildup.

For larger juveniles and adult Phidippus regius (Regal Jumping Spiders), we recommend an enclosure measuring approximately 15 × 15 × 15 cm as a starting point. Younger spiderlings will require smaller, appropriately sized enclosures to ensure they can locate and capture their food safely.

Front-opening enclosures are strongly recommended.

Jumping spiders naturally prefer elevated areas and will often construct a silken retreat near the top of their enclosure. This special little space serves as somewhere to rest, sleep, seek security and moult as they grow.

An enclosure that opens from the front helps prevent accidental damage to these delicate retreats during routine feeding, misting and maintenance.

Decorating Your Spider’s Home

Creating an enriching environment is important, but when it comes to decorating your jumping spider’s enclosure, balance is key.

Jumping spiders are active, curious hunters that rely on their excellent eyesight, agility and impressive jumping abilities to explore their surroundings and capture prey.

Unlike web-building spiders, they do not construct webs to trap their food. Instead, they actively stalk and leap towards prey, using a fine silk safety line to help protect themselves while jumping.

We recommend including a selection of suitable climbing surfaces, secure hides, ledges and enrichment accessories to encourage natural exploration.

However, avoid overcrowding the enclosure with unnecessary decorations. Your spider should have plenty of open space to move freely, jump between surfaces and hunt comfortably.

Our top tip: A thoughtfully arranged enclosure with secure climbing opportunities, accessible hiding places and sufficient open space is far more beneficial than one packed with decorations.

The aim is to create a safe, stimulating little home where your jumping spider can explore, hunt, rest and thrive.

Environment, Temperature & Humidity

Creating a comfortable and well-maintained environment is one of the most important aspects of keeping a happy, healthy jumping spider.

Phidippus regius, commonly known as the Regal Jumping Spider, originates from warmer regions, Replicating suitable environmental conditions within their enclosure helps encourage natural behaviours, healthy growth and successful moulting.

Temperature & Heating

We recommend maintaining a daytime temperature of approximately 24–26°C for Regal Jumping Spiders, with a slight night time drop.

Slight temperature fluctuations are generally tolerated, but prolonged exposure to excessively hot or cold conditions should be avoided.

A low-wattage heat mat positioned externally against the back of the enclosure can provide supplementary warmth. However, all heat mats must be connected to a suitable thermostat to prevent dangerous temperature increases.

Heating should only affect part of the enclosure, allowing your spider to move between warmer and cooler areas as needed.

We also recommend using a reliable digital hygrometer to monitor the temperature and humidity inside the enclosure.

Humidity & Hydration

Maintaining appropriate humidity is essential, particularly when your jumping spider is preparing to moult.

A light misting of one side of the enclosure every couple of days provides small water droplets that your spider can drink from while also helping maintain suitable moisture levels.

For many established juveniles and adults, lightly misting every couple of days is a reasonable starting point. However, the frequency should be adjusted according to the enclosure’s temperature, ventilation and humidity. Young spiderlings may require more frequent access to tiny drinking droplets.

Daily humidity should be around 60%, during pre molt/molt humidity should be increased to 70%.

Always avoid spraying your spider directly, especially when it is resting inside its silk hammock or moulting.

The enclosure should never remain constantly wet. Good ventilation and allowing surfaces to dry between misting sessions will help prevent excessive condensation and mould growth.

Substrate

Although jumping spiders spend much of their time exploring and climbing above ground level, a suitable substrate can help create a more natural environment.

A layer of spider life soil, coco fibre or a suitable invertebrate substrate mix can provide an attractive base while helping regulate moisture.

Spaghum moss is highly recommended to help aid humidity.

Choosing a Safe Location

Where you position your jumping spider’s enclosure is just as important as the environment you create inside it.

Never place an enclosure in direct sunlight or on a sunny windowsill. Glass and acrylic terrariums can heat up very quickly, potentially reaching dangerous temperatures even when the surrounding room feels comfortable.

Choose a stable, well-ventilated location away from draughts, radiators and sudden temperature changes.

We also advise against keeping jumping spiders in kitchens or areas regularly exposed to cooking fumes, aerosols or household cleaning chemicals.

Household Chemicals & Hidden Dangers

Jumping spiders are extremely small and can be highly sensitive to substances that may seem harmless to humans and other household pets.

Particular care must be taken around flea and tick treatments, insecticides, cleaning products and airborne fragrances.

Some veterinary flea treatments contain chemicals that are highly toxic to invertebrates. Exposure through contaminated hands, surfaces, equipment or other pets can pose a serious risk.

We strongly recommend keeping treated pets and all flea treatment products away from your spider-keeping area. Always wash your hands thoroughly before handling your spider, its enclosure or its food.

Avoid using perfumes, deodorant sprays, air fresheners, scented aerosols and insect-killing products anywhere they could contaminate your spider’s environment.

Exposure to certain harmful substances may cause serious neurological symptoms, including tremors, loss of coordination and abnormal movements, sometimes described by keepers as Dyskinetic Syndrome (DKS).

Our top tip: Prevention is always better than cure. Keeping your spider’s environment clean, stable and free from potentially harmful chemicals is one of the simplest ways to protect its wellbeing.

Creating the Ideal Environment

A successful jumping spider enclosure doesn’t need to be complicated.

By providing suitable warmth, controlled humidity, good ventilation, safe climbing opportunities and a chemical-free environment, you’re giving your spider the best opportunity to settle in and display its wonderful natural behaviours.

At Tara’n’Tula, we believe responsible spider keeping begins with understanding their individual needs and creating an environment where these fascinating little creatures can truly thrive.

Feeding & Nutrition

Providing a nutritious and appropriately sized diet is essential for the healthy growth, development and overall wellbeing of your jumping spider.

Phidippus regius are active hunters that rely on their exceptional eyesight and natural hunting instincts to locate and capture live prey.

At Tara’n’Tula, we recommend feeding suitable live flies throughout your jumping spider’s life, selecting the appropriate feeder size according to its age, size and stage of development.

Choosing the Right Food

As your jumping spider grows, its dietary requirements will change. Offering prey that is suitable for its current size is important to ensure safe and successful feeding.

Spiderlings & Early Instars

Young jumping spiders require very small live prey that they can safely catch and consume.

We recommend:

• Drosophila melanogaster (small fruit flies)
• Suitably sized, pesticide-free aphids

These tiny feeders are ideal for young spiderlings that are still developing their hunting abilities.

Growing Juveniles

As your jumping spider develops and becomes more confident at hunting, you can gradually introduce larger feeders.

We recommend:

• Drosophila hydei (large fruit flies)
• Small greenbottle flies, once your spider is large enough

Older Juveniles, Subadults & Adults

Larger jumping spiders can progress to bigger flying prey as they continue to grow.

We recommend:

• Greenbottle flies
• Bluebottle flies, where appropriately sized

Flies are an excellent staple food for Regal Jumping Spiders. They encourage natural hunting behaviours, provide valuable nutrition and offer enrichment by allowing your spider to stalk and capture moving prey.

Why We Recommend Flies

At Tara’n’Tula, flies are our preferred feeder insects for jumping spiders.

They provide a nutritious food source while encouraging the natural hunting behaviours that make these little creatures so fascinating to observe.

Feeding Safely

Always select live prey that your jumping spider can comfortably overpower.

Avoid offering oversized insects, and never leave potentially dangerous live feeders unattended in the enclosure.

Although some keepers choose to offer mealworms or crickets, we do not use or recommend these as part of our regular feeding practices.

Both can present additional risks, particularly if they are too large or left unattended inside an enclosure.

Mealworms and crickets have the potential to bite or injure a jumping spider, especially when it is vulnerable during moulting. Feeder insects from unreliable sources may also introduce parasites or other contaminants.

For these reasons, our preference is to offer appropriately sized flies purchased from reputable feeder suppliers.

Once your spider has finished feeding, remove any uneaten or dead insects to help maintain a clean and hygienic environment.

It’s also important to remember that jumping spiders should never be disturbed or offered live prey while actively moulting.

Understanding Your Spider’s Appetite

Every jumping spider is different, and its appetite may vary depending on its age, size, activity level and whether it is approaching a moult.

Younger spiders generally require more frequent feeding, while older juveniles and adults may go longer between meals.

Observing your spider’s abdomen, behaviour and overall condition can help you determine when another meal is needed.

Our top tip: A healthy feeding routine isn’t about offering the largest prey or feeding as often as possible. It’s about providing safe, nutritious food that suits your spider’s individual needs.

At Tara’n’Tula, we believe that offering the right nutrition from an early age plays an important role in raising healthy, active and thriving jumping spiders.