Bold jumping spider

A North American visual hunter, usually black with pale abdominal spots and iridescent mouthparts. Juveniles may have orange markings. Colour alone does not distinguish every Phidippus.

Confirm sex, life stage and feeding response for the actual spider. An illustration cannot establish its identity.

Choose an individually housed, established captive-bred spider and obtain its last moult and feeding records.

Arrange dependable holiday care and keep money available for food, replacement equipment and appropriate veterinary help. Test the habitat before the animal arrives.

A 15 × 15 × 20 cm adult enclosure is the breeder reference. Provide cross-ventilation, high web anchors, foliage and access that avoids opening through the silk retreat.

Measure usable internal space after substrate, guards and furnishings. Check ventilation, cable holes and access against the smallest occupant. Fix heavy furnishings independently of loose substrate.

The retrieved breeder uses 20–26°C. Measure enclosure air, including overnight and sunny-window peaks; this is not a basking-surface target.

Record the warm and cool locations, overnight minimum and daytime maximum. Air, surface and substrate readings are different measurements. Any added heater needs compatible thermostatic control and safe separation from the animal; assess summer cooling as well as winter heating.

Bright indirect daytime light supports visual hunting. Keep a dark night and shaded retreats; no mandatory species UV Index was established.

Keep the night dark and provide retreat from daytime light. Lamp percentage, electrical wattage and a product name cannot establish the exposure reaching an animal. Check the finished installation after changes to mesh, branches or lamp position.

Offer fine drinking droplets on one side and allow drying. The breeder lists 50–70% air humidity; avoid saturating the retreat.

Inspect the occupied refuge and substrate as well as the air reading. Adjust water provision and ventilation together, and clean contaminated drinking surfaces. A single humidity number cannot describe every microclimate.

Offer small cultured flies and suitable small insects; the breeder starts juveniles every 2–3 days and adults 2–3 times weekly, adjusted to abdomen condition.

Record what is actually eaten and follow changes in growth and body condition. Food size, life stage and the full diet matter. Supplement products require an individual plan; do not combine calcium, vitamin D and multivitamins by guesswork.

House singly. Leave closed silk retreats intact, especially before moulting. Avoid direct spraying and remove uneaten prey.

Make necessary maintenance predictable and allow voluntary retreat. Prepare a secure transfer container before essential moves. Observation should not repeatedly interrupt feeding, rest or moulting.

Check successful moults, movement and abdomen condition without pulling the animal out of its web.

Keep dated observations of appetite, activity and condition. A sudden decline, injury, abnormal breathing or repeated failed moults needs appropriate professional assessment. This guide does not provide a diagnosis or medicine dose.

Confirm P. audax rather than assuming a regal-spider label identifies it.

Ask for a dated source record, scientific identity, life stage and established care history. Keep new arrivals and their equipment separate while an appropriate quarantine plan is agreed. Check current official rules for the exact animal, route and transaction before importing or buying; this page does not establish legal clearance. Never release animals or viable eggs outdoors.

Check drinking droplets and enclosure security without opening a sealed retreat. Match prey size to growth and inspect high web anchors before maintenance. Keep a dated record of measurements and observations, and revisit the full advice when conditions or life stage change.