Tarantulas don’t build nests in the way most people picture them. There’s no web spun between tree branches or tucked into a corner of your garage. Instead, tarantulas create shelters that match their lifestyle: underground burrows, silk-lined tubes inside tree bark, or simple retreats beneath rocks and logs. What counts as a “nest” depends entirely on the species, and there are over 900 of them worldwide.
Three Main Types of Tarantula Shelters
Tarantulas fall into three broad categories based on where and how they live, and each group builds a very different kind of home.
Fossorial (burrowing) species spend most of their lives underground. These tarantulas dig deep vertical tunnels into soil, creating a den at the bottom where they rest, molt, and ambush prey. Some species excavate burrows reaching 50 cm (about 20 inches) deep. The burrow opening is typically circular to elliptical and lined with silk, which helps prevent the walls from collapsing. These are the closest thing to a true “tarantula nest” in the traditional sense.
Terrestrial species live mostly on the ground but don’t necessarily dig elaborate burrows. In the wild, they settle into natural hollows, gaps beneath rocks, or spaces under fallen logs. Some are opportunistic burrowers, meaning they’ll use a natural hide if one is available but won’t go out of their way to construct one. Others are obligate burrowers that will dig their own shelter if nothing suitable exists. Many terrestrial tarantulas only burrow when they’re preparing to molt, a vulnerable process that can take hours or days.
Arboreal species live in trees and build their retreats off the ground. Rather than digging, they spin silk structures on bark, branches, or inside tree hollows. Some species weave elaborate hammock-like platforms stretched between branches. Others create tubular silk retreats along vertical surfaces, sometimes mixing bits of dirt and debris into the webbing to form what keepers call “dirt curtains,” thick silk-and-substrate walls that provide camouflage and insulation.
How Tarantulas Dig Their Burrows
Burrowing tarantulas excavate using their chelicerae (fangs) and pedipalps (the small arm-like appendages near their mouth). They loosen soil with their fangs, scoop it up, and either carry it to the surface or fling it out of the burrow entrance. Over time, a small mound of excavated dirt often accumulates around the opening, which can be one of the first signs you’ve found a tarantula burrow in the wild.
Once the tunnel is deep enough, the tarantula lines the interior walls with silk. The thickness of this silk lining varies. In loose, sandy soil, tarantulas tend to apply thicker sheets of silk to keep the walls stable. In firmer, more cohesive ground, a thin layer is enough. This silk serves multiple purposes: it reinforces the structure, helps the spider detect vibrations from approaching prey or predators, and keeps the interior at a more stable humidity level than the outside air.
The finished burrow typically has a single entrance and runs roughly straight down, sometimes with a slight curve or a wider chamber at the bottom. Some species add a thin silk “door” across the entrance, though true trapdoor construction is more common in related spider families than in tarantulas themselves.
Arboreal Silk Retreats
Tree-dwelling tarantulas are often more active and visible than their ground-dwelling relatives, and their silk work reflects that energy. These species web extensively, sometimes coating large sections of bark or branches in dense silk. The retreat itself is usually a tube or funnel shape where the spider rests during the day, positioned so it can detect vibrations from insects walking nearby.
Some arboreal species build their retreats in natural crevices, like gaps in bark or abandoned bird holes, and simply line the interior with silk. Others construct freestanding structures entirely from webbing, anchored to branches or leaves. These silk tubes can be surprisingly sturdy, lasting for months if undisturbed. The spider typically sits at the entrance or just inside, legs resting on trip lines that radiate outward.
Egg Sacs Inside the Nest
Female tarantulas use their shelters as nurseries. After mating, a female spins a flat silk mat on the floor of her burrow or retreat, deposits her eggs onto it (sometimes hundreds at once), and then wraps the mat into a sealed sac. The eggs are sticky and clump together, which makes it easier to bundle them into a single package.
The silk of the egg sac protects against physical damage, dehydration, overheating, and predators like ants. The female guards the sac closely, often refusing to eat for weeks. She may rotate or reposition it to regulate temperature and humidity. After the spiderlings hatch inside the sac, they stay put through their first molt, feeding on their remaining yolk. They eventually cut their way out using their tiny fangs, possibly aided by silk-dissolving fluid. In tarantulas and related species, the young may linger near the mother for several days to weeks before gradually dispersing.
This is the one phase of a tarantula’s life where the shelter truly functions like a nest in the traditional sense: a protected space built and defended specifically for raising offspring.
Finding a Tarantula Burrow Near Your Home
If you’ve spotted what looks like a tarantula burrow in your yard, it’s probably a round hole roughly the diameter of a quarter to a half-dollar, possibly with a thin silk lining visible at the rim and a small pile of excavated dirt nearby. These burrows are most commonly found in dry, undisturbed areas: along fence lines, under woodpiles, near old sheds, or in overgrown garden beds.
Tarantulas are shy and prefer to avoid people. They choose spots with cover, so stacks of boxes, fallen trees, old lumber, and dense vegetation all make attractive real estate. If you’d rather not share your yard with them, clearing debris, trimming back overgrowth, and removing abandoned structures reduces the appeal. When temperatures drop in fall, tarantulas sometimes seek warmth inside homes, entering through gaps in foundations or doorways.
Wild tarantulas shouldn’t be handled. They don’t recognize humans as anything other than a threat and may flick urticating hairs (fine, irritating barbs from their abdomen) at your face or deliver a defensive bite. If you need one relocated, a container slid gently over the spider and a piece of cardboard slipped underneath works for a careful, calm person. For burrows you’d rather not have on your property, a pest control professional can assess the situation and remove the spider safely without harming it.
Why “Nest” Isn’t Quite the Right Word
Most tarantula shelters are better described as retreats or burrows than nests. A bird’s nest is purpose-built for reproduction. A tarantula’s burrow or silk tube is a permanent home, used for resting, hunting, molting, and sheltering from weather year-round. The spider may live in the same burrow for years, sometimes its entire adult life, which for females can stretch beyond 20 years in some species. Males, by contrast, typically abandon their burrows once they mature and begin wandering in search of a mate, often dying within a year or two of their final molt.
The burrow becomes a nest only temporarily, when a female seals herself inside with an egg sac. The rest of the time, it’s simply where she lives: a silk-reinforced tunnel perfectly sized to her body, with trip lines at the entrance to alert her when dinner walks by.