Tarantulas are sluggish, will not bite unless provoked, and are not poisonous. However, the bites of tarantulas can be quite painful since the fangs are large and cause considerable mechanical damage to the victim. Many tarantulas have a dense covering of stinging hairs on the abdomen to protect them from enemies. These hairs can cause skin irritation for humans. Most tarantulas that are desirable as pets have a bald spot on the abdomen and do not have stinging hairs.
Tarantulas usually live in burrows in the ground.
These burrows may be dug by the spider or may be those abandoned by rodents. The tunnels are lined with silk and form a webbed rim at the entrance which conceals it. The females deposit 500 to 1000 eggs in a silken egg sac and guard it for 6 to 7 weeks. The young spiders remain in the burrow for some time after hatching and then disperse by crawling in all directions. Tarantulas do not occur in colonies since they do eat each other.