If you have a pet tarantula, it’s an obvious question. Do tarantulas poop? We’re not going to beat around the bush, lets answer that for you straight away.
Quite simply, yes. As with all other animals, what goes in must come out and whilst they use an awful lot of their food for other reasons, there will always be waste product. Healthy tarantula poop looks like white oval-shaped drops and looks similar to bird poop.
Now you know that tarantulas do poop but let’s take that a step further and look into how they poop, where they poop from and all other related enquiries. Read on!
How Often do Tarantulas Poop?
Tarantulas usually poop between 24-36 hours after they have had a meal. This is how long it takes the digestive system to work but it’s not usual for a tarantula to go a week without pooping.
Be aware though, that you may not see your tarantula pooping at all as they have favourite spots they like to defecate in (more on that later).
Also, it depends on the size of the tarantula (it may be too small for you to see) and how much food they’ve eaten.
How Much do Tarantulas Poop?
Not only does their size make a difference, but an older tarantula will create more poop than a younger one.
It goes without saying that the larger the arachnid, the more they need to eat to get the sustenance they need in order to remain healthy.
If they eat more, then it makes sense they will then end up needing to produce more poop, as the two are directly linked.
So, the more you feed your tarantula, the more they will defecate in their enclosure.
Regular Areas to find Tarantula Poop
Tarantulas are quite clean animals and so will decide to poop as far away from their home as possible. Tarantulas are known to be quite houseproud, therefore they have very specific spots in their home where they are going to poop.
Understandably, they just don’t like poop being spread all over the place so generally speaking, it’s going to be at the opposite end of their home from where they tend to hang out.
They understand that they will need to poop, so they get everything organized. In the same way when building a house for a human, we make sure there is a bathroom, tarantulas will make sure there is somewhere for them to use the toilet.
Simply speaking, they don’t like to have that sort of stuff close to their burrow. Therefore, if you are cleaning out their enclosure, look as far away from where they tend to hide, that’s probably where you will end up finding their favourite poop spot.
Tarantula Poop on Walls
Another favourite spot tarantulas like to poop is on the walls of their enclosure.
What we are saying is that tarantula pee is combined with their poop so whilst your arachnid may go ahead and effectively spray it in a corner of their enclosure, the uric acid will spray it up onto the walls where it will dry.
Tarantula Poop in Water Dish
Another place tarantulas love to poop is their water dish. Unfortunately, there is no scientific evidence to explain why they do this, we just know that they do. Therefore, don’t be surprised to see tarantula poop in there!
We would recommend that the water is replaced as soon as this is noticed however, as tarantulas need to have a clean water source for their general well-being. Don’t worry, they won’t drown!
Do You have to Clean Tarantula Poop?
From an aesthetic point of view (if your tarantula has pooped up the walls of its enclosures), it’s probably better, but not essential, to clean it.
The good news is, it’s a relatively simple process. Just take a wet cloth and wipe it away. Done.
If you notice poop on the floor of the enclosure, again, this is not essential, but just using a soft brush will move it, making it easier to pick up and dispose of.
There is no need to do a deep clean of the enclosure every time you notice poop. Your tarantula will have spent a long time arranging and organizing their home to their liking and not only will you be disturbing that but changing the substrate too often will stress your tarantula.
TOP TIP: First thing in the morning is the best time to remove tarantula poop as tarantulas are less active at this time of day so will be more likely to ignore you and let you carry on about your business.
Does Tarantula Poop Smell?
Tarantula poop when first excreted does not have any odour to it. However, if you leave the poop for a significant amount of time then it will start to rot and of course, will begin to produce an unpleasant smell.
Bacteria
Fortunately, tarantula poop is free from bacteria initially. It’s harmless to humans and will not spread any diseases. This is of particular interest to note should a tarantula poop on your clothes or hands.
Having said that, if a tarantula does poop on your hand, this is usually a sign of stress, and they are just trying to defend themselves. It is an automatic reaction of certain tarantulas so don’t be concerned if this should happen to you.
As long as you put the tarantula back into its enclosure, it will be fine. However, only gentle handling of your pet tarantula is ever encouraged and in the case of old world tarantulas, handling is definitely off the menu!
Defence
Going back to what we just said about a tarantula pooping on your hand as a sign they are trying to defend themselves, some species of tarantula have been known to do this in the wild.
The idea is that they spray their poop in the direction of a potential predator to ward it off.
Avicularia avicularia (Pink Toe tarantula) has been mainly observed doing this.
Impaction
This is not so commonly known, but tarantulas can suffer from constipation and anal impaction. Unfortunately, this can be fatal.
The truth is no-one yet can say with any clarity what causes it, but there are a number of theories as to why this happens, it could simply be a bad or wet moult, an internal injury from a fall to even over-feeding.
Symptoms
Alas, a lot of tarantula deaths caused by impaction aren’t discovered until after the arachnid has passed away. However, symptoms include:
- Visible waste around the anal area and spinnerets
- Excessive drinking
- Excessive scratching and grooming of its backside
- Hard or misshapen abdomen
- Lethargy
How You Can Help
Firstly, it has to be said that once a tarantula becomes impacted it is very rare to be able to save them. Having said that, the following is worth a try:
- Clean its anus with warm water and cotton swabs
- Rub some glycerin around the anus (this can help loosen the obstruction and allow the tarantula to poop)
- Use a small syringe to gently run warm water over the area (as in step 2, this will clean the area and possibly loosen the obstruction)
- As a last resort, you can try to carefully remove or even pierce the obstruction with a toothpick or tweezers. Of course this only applies if you can visibly see the impaction. It also needs to be said that trying to remove the obstruction could cause injury to the tarantula so it really is a worst case scenario.
Hopefully this article will have helped you with your question on do tarantulas poop. Now you’ve read this article, why not have a look at our article on the Best Communal Tarantulas.
Until next time, stay spidery!