Insects and Arachnids for Sale
Browse tarantulas, isopods, mantids and other invertebrates from keepers and breeders across the United States.
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Nothing is listed under insects & arachnids at the moment. New listings go up daily, and the reading below is worth doing before you buy anywhere. Search everything on the site.
Buying insects & arachnids: what to look at
Tarantulas, mantids, isopods and their neighbours are cheap to keep and easy to post, which is why most of this trade happens by mail. That moves most of the checks to questions asked before the animal is packed, and the last few to the doorstep when the box arrives.
Get the species name, the sex, and how the sex was decided
Common names are all over the place, so ask for the scientific name. For a tarantula the sex is most of the price: a female can live twenty years or more, and a mature male has a year or so left after his final moult. Sexing from a shed skin is reliable and sexing a live juvenile by eye is a guess, so a “confirmed female” should come with the moult, or a clear photo of it, and a seller who says “unsexed” is being straight with you.
Ask when it last moulted and when it last ate
A tarantula going into a moult stops eating, goes dull, and darkens on the abdomen, and it should not be shipped in that state or for a couple of weeks after, while it is still soft. For a mantis ask which moult it is on: buying at the third to fifth stage means it is past the fragile early ones, and a female will live longer than a male after the final moult. An animal that has eaten in the last fortnight and is not about to moult is the one to have in the post.
Look at the abdomen and count the legs
A shrivelled or wrinkled abdomen on a tarantula means dehydration. A bald patch on the abdomen of a New World species is from kicking hairs, which is normal, but a bald patch that has gone dark and shiny is a moult coming. A missing leg on a young tarantula grows back at the next moult and should knock something off the price. A mantis with a bent wing after the last moult is cosmetic, but front arms do not grow back on an adult.
For isopods and colonies, count and mixed sizes
A starter culture should be a mix of sizes, and ideally you can see tiny young in it, because that is proof the colony is breeding rather than a handful of adults scooped up together. Ask what substrate and moisture they have been kept on and copy it. A few small white mites in a culture are normal. A swarm of them is a culture in trouble.
Shipping is where it goes wrong
Ask the seller's live-arrival terms before you pay, and in extreme heat or cold have the box held for collection at the post office rather than left on a step. Ask whether a heat pack or cold pack is going in. And check your own state's rules first: some species need a permit, and some cannot cross a state line at all. The seller will not be the one holding the animal when that question comes up.
More on choosing a seller and reading a listing on the PetListings blog.