Terrestrial Tarantulas
The term Terrestrial Tarantulas covers a wide variety of species, however for most of these the basic care is very similar. The only real differences being the size of the enclosures you need for them as adults.
Housing
With ground dwelling species it is essential to make sure the enclosure is deep enough to allow enough substrate for them to burrow.
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When deciding the depth of substrate it is important to take a few things into consideration, firstly is how tall the enclosure is, only leave a small gap (1.5 x the length of the T) from the roof of the enclosure to the top of the substrate.
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The enclosure size itself depends on the species of tarantula, for example a Goliath Bird eater (Theraphosa blondi) would need something much larger than a Pumpkin Patch (Hapalopus sp. Columbia)
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It's also a good idea to add in pieces of cork bark or decorations that your T can use as anchor points for webbing or to use as a burrow.
Feeding
Tarantulas live on a diet of insects such as locusts, crickets, roaches and mealworms (for your larger species you can throw in the occasional frozen thawed mouse as a treat).
When feeding it's always recommended to feed prey that is roughly two thirds the size of the tarantula, if you can't find the appropriate sized prey item, larger food is fine providing it is pre-killed to avoid causing any harm to your Tarantula.
Slings should be fed every 3-5 days.
Sub adults should be fed every 7-10 days.
Adults should be fed every 10-14 days.
Its important to note that most species of Tarantula will stop feeding once they hit pre-moult so as long as their abdomen is plump there is no need to worry.
It should also be noted that it is not uncommon for tarantulas to go through long periods of fasting, especially once they are mature, this is completely normal. And again, as long as they appear healthy this shouldn't be a concern.
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Handling
When it comes to handling there are arguments for and against, generally we recommend that unless it is necessary (or you have a particularly awkward Tarantula that likes to run on to your hand the second you open up the enclosure) to just admire them from afar.
However if you do decide to handle your Tarantula there are a few simple things to remember, always make sure your T is in a good mood, use something soft like a clean makeup brush or paint brush to gently nudge their abdomen, as long as they don't turn round and attempt to bite it, or flick hairs, you should be safe.
When you get them out make sure you're close to the ground and over something soft like a pillow, or alike, should the worst happen and the T should fall or jump off, there's a short, soft landing to reduce any damage to the abdomen.