Spider giants: baboon spiders and tarantulas, are they all the same, and can they all make good pets?

Taxonomic background

Spiders are separated into three suborders:

• Mesothelae, still possessing ancestral segmented abdomens and with all but one family extinct, these spiders are only found in certain parts of Asia.
• Araneomorphae, or the modern spiders, that have pincer-like fangs and breathe trough both booklungs and tracheae (air tubes)
• and the Mygalomorphae, having reduced spinnerets, dagger-like fangs, and two pairs of book lungs. This order includes the trapdoor spiders, tarantulas, and baboon spiders.

We are interested in the suborder Mygalomorphae, in particular the family Theraphosidae, as it is here that we find our...

The study of reptiles and amphibians is called herpetology.  They have two characteristics in common – neither possess a backbone and they cannot maintain constant body temperature. 

These animals are kept in aquariums, terrariums, and vivariums.  An aquarium is a container filled with water for water animals, while the terrarium and vivarium are mainly dry habitats with localised free water aka herpetarium.

A vivarium should be simple and clean and made escape-proof.&nbsp...