Spiders are one animal that I have a fair bit of experience with, having one of the largest spider web sites around at www.spiderzrule.com. If you want to identify a spider check my site out and maybe I can help you. My affinity with spiders came from doing a unit on spiders with my Year 5 kids and during that unit we often kept spiders in the classroom - even redbacks which can give a nasty bite and kill a small child. In keeping spiders, you always need to be aware of the spider that you are keeping and if it is dangerous or not. Our redbacks were in sealed containers and I was the only one who fed them. If you want a long term pet, the larger species of myglamorphs like tarantulas and trapdoor spiders live for several years. Garden orb weavers and redbacks only live for one season before laying their eggs and completing their life cycle so are not long term pets. It is not advisable to keep the orb weaving spiders in captivity anyway as they need to be able to spin large webs outside. Hunting spiders like wolf spiders, make better pets. It is up to parents to decide if they will allow their child to keep a spider as a pet, often it's best to just observe them in their natural environment and not take the risk of perhaps being bitten. I am not recommending keeping spiders as pets for children!!

Spiders belong to the arachnid family and have 8 legs, usually 8 eyes and 2 body parts. Insects have 3 body parts and 6 legs so spiders aren't classed as insects. Spiders are fascinating to watch and are a low maintenance pet. Depending on the type of spider, they can be dangerous to handle but people with tarantulas often let them wander on them. Tarantulas can bite and have venom but usually their bite is no worse than a bee or wasp sting. They also have urticating hairs on their abdomens that can cause itching. They rub their abdomens if threatened and these tiny hairs have barbs which can work their way into the skin. If they get in your eye they can cause inflammation, so be careful handling tarantulas.

Many people think that you need to kill a spider the minute you see one and this attitude is a regrettable one. I have found my spiderzrule web site helpful to people who are afraid of spiders and hopefully have helped to change some folk's minds about senselessly killing every spider they see. Spiders are wild animals and need to be treated with respect like all other animals.

Spiders are venomous not poisonous. This means that they inject venom to kill their prey, if they were eaten themselves, they would not poison the animal eating them. Spiders moult as they grow and tarantulas in particular lie on their backs while moulting. They aren't dead and shouldn't be fed during this time as the prey could hurt them.