Arachnids are increasingly kept as pets with significant welfare uncertainties and husbandry challenges.
Arachnid welfare in captivity combines genuine scientific uncertainty about sentience with practical husbandry challenges. Tarantulas can die from dehydration, improper humidity, or injury during molting in inadequately set up enclosures. The majority of pet tarantulas and scorpions are wild-caught, contributing to population pressures on wild species. Whether these animals have experiences that matter morally is genuinely debated — their nervous systems are simpler than vertebrates but more complex than is sometimes assumed. A precautionary approach to their care and a preference for captive-bred specimens over wild-caught is appropriate.