If you've spent any time on spider social media (yes, that's a thing), you've almost certainly seen a Phidippus regius. They're the poster child of the jumping spider hobby, and honestly, they earned it. Big, curious, and about as close to "interactive" as an arachnid gets.
I got my first regius about three years ago after keeping tarantulas for a while. Completely different experience. Tarantulas sit in a corner and occasionally remind you they exist. A regius will track you across the room with those massive anterior median eyes, tilt its head, and sometimes leap onto your hand uninvited. It's hard not to feel like there's something going on behind those eyes.
What makes them "regal"
P. regius is the largest jumping spider most keepers will ever own. Females can reach 15-22mm in body length, which doesn't sound like much until you see one in person. Males are smaller and typically jet black with white markings on the abdomen and often iridescent green chelicerae. Females tend to be grey or tan with lighter patterning, though colour varies a lot between individuals and localities. Some colour forms show reddish tones.
They're native to the southeastern United States, primarily Florida and parts of the Caribbean. In the wild they live on trees and walls, hunting by sight rather than building webs. They do produce silk, but it's for building retreats (little hammock-like sacs they sleep in) and safety draglines, not for catching prey.
Keeping them in the UK
The main challenge with regius in British homes is temperature. These are subtropical spiders. They want 22-28C during the day, and most UK houses sit around 18-20C for much of the year. A small heat mat on the side of the enclosure sorts this out. Don't heat from above (desiccation risk) and avoid bottom heating with spiders, as it can overheat the substrate. Plug it into a thermostat. Unregulated heat mats get dangerously warm.
Enclosure-wise, they need vertical space. A front-opening arboreal enclosure of about 20x20x30cm is good for an adult. Front-opening is better than top-opening because reaching in from above mimics a predator approach and tends to startle them. Cross-ventilation is important to keep the air moving and prevent mould.
Decorate with cork bark, small branches, and silk or live plants. They'll build their retreat sac at the highest point in the enclosure, usually in a corner or tucked behind a piece of cork. Leave it alone when you can. It's their bedroom.
Humidity and water
Aim for 50-70% humidity. Mist one side of the enclosure lightly every couple of days. They drink from water droplets on the glass or on leaves, not from a water dish. Let the other side of the enclosure dry out between mistings. Stagnant damp air plus poor ventilation equals mould, and mould in a spider enclosure is bad news.
Don't mist the spider directly. It sounds obvious, but with slings especially, a water droplet can actually trap them. Mist the walls and decor, not the animal.
Feeding
Regius are enthusiastic hunters. Watching one stalk and pounce on a fly is genuinely entertaining. Feed appropriately sized live prey every 2-3 days:
- Slings: Drosophila melanogaster (flightless fruit flies)
- Juveniles: D. hydei (larger fruit flies), small crickets
- Adults: blue/green bottle flies, crickets, small mealworms, small dubia roaches
The general rule is prey no bigger than the spider's abdomen. Remove anything uneaten after a day. If your spider stops eating, don't panic. Pre-moult fasting can last weeks and is completely normal. Trying to force-feed a pre-moult spider is pointless and stressful for both of you.
Lifespan and sexing
Females typically live 1-2 years, sometimes pushing towards 3 in ideal conditions. Males have shorter lives, often 6-12 months after reaching maturity. They mature faster and tend to decline fairly quickly once adult. This is worth knowing before you get attached to a male.
Sexing juveniles is tricky until they're a few instars in. Males tend to develop darker colouration earlier, but it's not reliable until they're sub-adult. An experienced keeper or a decent macro photo can usually confirm sex from about the fourth or fifth instar by looking at the pedipalps (males develop bulbous palpal tips as they approach maturity).
Handling
Regius are one of the few spiders where "handling" is a realistic word rather than a polite fiction. Most will walk onto an open hand without much coaxing once they've settled in. Keep sessions short, stay calm, and handle over a table or bed, not standing up. They can and will jump, and a fall from height onto a hard floor can injure or kill them.
Never handle during or just after a moult. Their exoskeleton is soft and vulnerable, and even gentle contact can cause damage. Give them at least 48 hours post-moult before picking them up again.
Are they right for you?
If you want an invertebrate that actually seems to notice you exist, regius are hard to beat. They're forgiving of minor care mistakes, they don't need much space, and their feeding response is genuinely fun to watch. The main downsides are the short male lifespan and the need for supplemental heating in UK homes.
They're a proper beginner spider. Not "beginner" as in boring, just forgiving enough that small mistakes won't immediately cost you an animal.