By Haley Burgess, www.littlespiderfriends.com Curious Jumping Spider Image by Jan Rozehnal Jumping spiders are not social pets in the way dogs or parrots are, but research increasingly shows they are far more cognitively complex than many people realize. They can learn, discriminate between shapes and movement patterns, direct selective attention, remember information, solve problems, and may even distinguish familiar individuals from unfamiliar ones (De Agrò et al., 2021; Da

By Haley Burgess, www.littlespiderfriends.com Tiny Jumping Spiderling on Finger Image by Mayom Kheawpuang Jumping spiders are some of the most visually advanced and behaviorally complex spiders in the world. Their large forward-facing eyes, active hunting behavior, and curious personalities have made them increasingly popular in captivity. But one of the most misunderstood parts of keeping jumping spiders is understanding how dramatically they change as they grow. A newly eme

By Haley Burgess, www.littlespiderfriends.com Introduction Jumping spiders are often described as tiny predators, and that is true: they need live prey to grow, molt, and survive. But research shows their nutrition is more complex than simply “feed them bugs.” Some jumping spiders eat a wide variety of prey in the wild, and some also feed on nectar or sugar-rich liquids from flowers. This means the best captive diet should include safe live prey, variety, proper prey size, hy