11/16/2025
Today Nov 16 is the Cleveland Reptile Show from 9-3 21,000 ft filled with amazing creatures & supplies! Held at the Medina Fairgrounds Community Building 735 Lafayette Rd Medina Ohio 9 AM-3PM
The Goliath birdeater tarantula (Theraphosa blondi) is a very large tarantula, and while commonly cited as the world's largest tarantula, that claim excites nitpickers who would love to argue. Native to the upland rainforest regions of northern South America, these tarantulas can be found in French Guiana, Suriname, Guyana, southern Venezuela, and northern Brazil. The species is both nocturnal and terrestrial, living in notably deep burrows in the wild. While the common name for the species helps drive a lot of fascination, tarantula fanciers often consider these fast-growing spiders best suited to advanced, well-experienced keepers. Females can live for over 20 years, while males may only live for around 5 years. Goliath birdeaters are one of the few tarantulas capable of making a hissing noise through stridulation, and they also possess urticating hairs.
Despite its name, in the wild this tarantula species primarily feeds on worms, large arthropods, and amphibians. When maintained as pets, these spiders do well with commonly available feeder insects such as crickets and dubia roaches.
The species is listed as globally vulnerable in the wild. These tarantulas do breed under human care, and many are responsibly maintained by fanciers. If you are interested in keeping a Goliath birdeater tarantula as a pet, ensure that you support responsible tarantula keeping by seeking out captive bred animals.
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The photograph used in this post shows a Goliath birdeater tarantula (Theraphosa blondi) observed in French Guiana. The photo was taken by Nils Servientis - Bivouac Naturaliste, and shared under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) license. The image was cropped for use in this post.
View license information here: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
