The largest jumping spider in eastern North America, prized as a tiny, charismatic, and visually engaging pet with excellent eyesight and a curious, interactive nature. Females live notably longer than males.
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Small; females about 15 mm (up to 22 mm), males about 12 mm body length.
Lifespan
1–3 years
Social needs
solo
Native region
Southeastern United States (esp. Florida), Bahamas, and Greater Antilles
Origin
New World
Climate
⛅ Subtropical
Family
Salticidae
Genus
Phidippus
Part of the Jumping Spiders
Small, day-active salticid spiders famous for their large forward-facing eyes, acute vision, and curious, interactive personalities. They are pounce hunters rather than web-snare builders, making compact, charismatic, and beginner-friendly pet invertebrates.
More jumping spiders coming soon.
Sounds & video
🎬 Video
Phidippus regius
Dennis.insect.filmer · Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0
Habitat & space requirements
From the minimum an animal needs to be kept humanely, up to the ideal setup. Bigger is almost always better — minimums are floors, not targets.
Photo coming soon
Minimum
Juvenile jumping spider
5 × 5 × 8 in vertical
Regal jumpers (Phidippus regius) are small daytime hunters — tall enclosure with branches, foliage, and a top-anchored web hammock for sleeping/moulting.
Photo coming soon
Recommended
Adult jumping spider home
8 × 8 × 12 in vertical, well-lit
Vertical mesh-front enclosure with cork twigs, silk plants, and a daily mister. Bright ambient light supports their excellent vision; feed small live insects every 2–3 days.
Photo coming soon
Ideal
Planted vertical bioactive
10 × 10 × 16 in planted bioactive
Tall planted bioactive enclosure with live plants, multiple climbing branches, and isopod cleanup crew. Jumpers explore actively — more space = more behavioural enrichment.
Life & growth stages
How this animal changes through its life — each stage often has its own care, diet and space needs.
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Egg
These invertebrates lay eggs — often in a guarded clutch, a silk sac (spiders), or a brood (carried by female isopods). The eggs are small and soft and develop without a true larval or pupal transformation.
Photo coming soon
Juvenile
Juveniles hatch as miniature versions of the adult and grow by molting their exoskeleton (or, in snails, by enlarging the shell). They gain size, segments, or leg pairs and gradually take on adult coloration with each molt.
Adult
Adults reach full size and reproductive maturity with the species' mature form and coloration. Many arachnids and myriapods continue to molt as adults, and sexes can differ in size or in specialized appendages.
Color & pattern variants
Natural variants occur in the wild; selectively bred (man-made) variants were developed in captivity.
House a single spider in a small, tall, well-ventilated enclosure of roughly 15 x 15 x 20 cm (about 6 x 6 x 8 in) or a 1-2 L bioactive cube, taller than wide to allow web nests in the upper corners. Furnish it densely with cork bark, fake or live plants, twigs, and vertical climbing surfaces, plus a thin layer of coco-fiber substrate. Front- or top-opening enclosures help, as these spiders nest high.
Keep at comfortable room temperature, about 22-26 C (72-78 F), with moderate humidity achieved by lightly misting one side a few times a week and letting it dry between mistings; constant dampness invites mold. Crucially, mesh or cloth lids must have a very fine weave, because these tiny spiders can squeeze through small gaps. No UVB is needed, but bright ambient light supports their highly visual, day-active behavior.
Substrate
A thin layer of coconut fiber, sphagnum moss, or even paper towel suffices since these active hunters spend their time climbing rather than burrowing. Keep it lightly misted to hold gentle humidity without dampness.
Equipment & setup
Use a tall, well-ventilated enclosure (a 12-inch-plus vertical acrylic or mesh cube) with plenty of vertical climbing decor and a magnetic or front-opening lid for easy feeding. Bright ambient light or a small LED supports their excellent daytime vision; keep temperatures around 72-82F with no heat lamp needed.
Diet
Feed live, appropriately tiny prey: flightless fruit flies for spiderlings, then graduating to small crickets, bluebottle/green bottle flies, small dubia nymphs, and mealworms for adults. Prey should be roughly the size of the spider's body or smaller. Adults eat every 2-4 days; growing slings eat more often.
Unlike most tarantulas, jumping spiders are active visual hunters that stalk and pounce on prey rather than ambushing from a burrow. Offer light misting for drinking droplets, remove uneaten feeders (especially crickets, which can harass a molting spider), and expect a fast before each molt, during which the spider seals itself in its silk nest.
Behavior & temperament
Regal jumpers are bold, curious, and unusually interactive for an invertebrate, often turning to watch movement and even tracking their keeper thanks to exceptional binocular vision. They are diurnal, active hunters and do not build snare webs; instead they spin dense silken nests for sleeping, molting, and egg-laying. Many individuals tolerate gentle, low, over-a-soft-surface hand interaction, though this should always be calm and brief.
Enrichment means a busy, three-dimensional enclosure with lots of climbing structure, varied prey to hunt, and good light. Avoid drops from height during any interaction, as a fall can injure them. Each spider has a noticeably distinct personality and boldness level.
Health
Common issues are short-lived males (a natural sex difference, not illness), dehydration from too-dry conditions, and bad molts (dysecdysis) where the spider gets stuck in old skin, often from low humidity or disturbance. A spider that stops eating and seals its nest is usually pre-molt and should be left undisturbed, not assumed sick.
Prevent problems with light regular misting for drinking, never handling or feeding near a molting spider, fine-mesh escape-proofing, and avoiding wild-caught or pesticide-exposed feeders. Mature females may produce infertile egg sacs; this is normal and the female should not be disturbed while guarding them.
Tips, DIY & hacks
Jumpers thrive on enrichment, so add silk plants, twigs, and varied perches to give them surfaces to hunt and build hammock-style nests. Feed appropriately sized flightless fruit flies for slings and feeders like small crickets or roaches for adults, and offer a water droplet misted on the glass rather than a deep dish they could drown in.
