How often should you feed a jumping spider?

The frequency for your jumping spiders varies on their age. A young jumping spider will eat up to three fruit flies per day, while an older spider may only eat one fly every seven days. Obviously this is a big difference and it seems like it could take quite a while to figure out how often your spider needs to eat—especially since it is fairly easy to overfeed your spider. It is against a jumping spider’s instincts to turn down a meal since they are unsure if another opportunity will present itself within the next day or so. This means that it is your job to ensure that your spider stays healthy and eats the perfect amounts.

With a spiderling, you should be fine to give it three or four fruit flies every other day. As it molts and grows, begin offering less flies and extending the time distance between the feedings. Within a few molts, you should be feeding your jumping spider one fly every two to three days. If you think your spider should go even longer without eating, you may find yourself waiting three to five days before offering your spider something to eat. 

As a general rule of thumb, the size of your jumping spider’s abdomen is key. If its abdomen is skinny, it needs to eat and drink, if it is swollen, your spider should probably not eat until it shrinks a little bit. If you go by that, and watch your spider’s movement and energy, you should actually be able to easily catch on whenever your spider needs to eat.