Interesting tarantula facts: everything you wanted to know and everything you didn’t

December 14, 11:25 AMDC Pet Care ExaminerErin Paquette

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While we personally would never want one of these furry eight-legged critters for a pet, we understand that there are some of you who find tarantulas interesting. (And even those of you who find them gross are bound to agree that they’re interesting to some extent). That’s why today we’ve created a special edition of “Interesting Pet Facts of the Week” and featured one of the more exotic critters that you’ll see in pet shops and teenage bedrooms worldwide.

To see a tarantula in action, simply click on the video — created and produced by National Geographic —below. If you’d like to skip the image of tarantulas crawling across your computer screen, continue to the list of interesting facts below the video.

Interesting Tarantula Facts

• Tarantulas can hunt prey in trees
   
• All tarantulas can emit silk
   
• Tarantulas were named after Taranto, a town in Southern Italy
   
• Tarantulas can grow to be 1 foot long (that's including their legs)
   
• Some tarantulas (specifically the Haplopelma lividum form) have bright blue markings. (See picture at upper right)
   
• Tarantulas can only drink their food, meaning that they must liquify anything before they try to eat it (the mouth is shaped like a straw)
   
• A tarantulas heart is shaped like a tube
   
• Tarantulas don't have blood -- they have something called haemolymph instead
   
• The hairs on a tarantulas body have the power to kill small rodents
   
• Tarantulas having a bite that is deadly to humans is a myth (in fact, scientists are still trying to discern the effects of a tarantula bite)
   
• Tarantulas are often broken up into two groups: Old World and New World
   
• Male tarantulas are often smaller than female tarantulas
   
• Excessively dry climates can kill tarantulas
   
• Tarantulas molt
   
• The oldest tarantula lived to be 49 years old

If you’d like to learn more about tarantulas, please visit the following sites:

• Tarantulapets.com
• ATSHQ.org (American Tarantula Society Headquarters)
• TheATA.org (The Australian Tarantula Association)
• Spidy.Goliathus.com
• TheBTS.co.uk (The British Tarantula Society)