The Animal Science Lab here at Tech recently got a spooky new addition. The picture above is of the new female jumping spider, Jackie, recently brought to the lab by none other than Hanna, the small animal care teacher. Jackie is a regal jumping spider, purchased from PetSmart, and her species is found on every continent except Antarctica. Yes, that does mean they are native here, and in fact, you can find them all over the place. Most people get their pet jumping spiders from outside in the wild.
These spiders are slowly becoming very popular pets, especially among the weird-pet community. They are known for their playful, curious personalities and high intelligence. They love to climb and jump–as one could assume by the name. These sweet little creatures can actually recognize their owners through impeccable eyesight as well as sharp memory! Part of the reason they are such great pets is because of the fact that they can recognize and learn to feel safe with you. They are one of the easiest pets to care for, another factor to their popularity. They require at least a 4x4x6 cage, but preferably bigger. Their cage needs lots of things to climb on, a good substrate layer on the bottom, and to be misted daily, along with a small water bowl. They eat fruit flies and are arboreal creatures, meaning they need lots of room to climb. 
This new spider is named Jack-O-Lantern (Jackie), inspired by her purple metallic fangs and orange, similar to a Jack-O-Lantern, on her lower abdomen. She also has some beautiful hair above her eyes that resembles adorable little eyelashes. She is twelve millimeters in length, about the size of a fingernail, but very cute nonetheless. Female jumping spiders have those beautiful purple fangs, while male spiders have green or blue ones. Another interesting fact about female jumping spiders is that they weave hammock-like webs that they lounge in.
We are incredibly excited to make her feel at home and welcome her to the lab and animal rotation of care. A new little crawly addition was exactly what we needed here.
