Baby spiders (spiderlings) eat tiny live prey: springtails, flightless fruit flies, mites, and pinhead crickets. Before that, they live off the yolk they carry inside their bodies, usually until their first molt outside the egg sac. Spiderlings in the wild catch whatever small insects they can find.
First Days: Living on Yolk
Newly hatched spiders stay inside the egg sac for days to weeks. They get energy from leftover yolk and do not hunt yet. After the first molt, they leave the sac, spread out, and start looking for food. Many species disperse by releasing a thread of silk and “ballooning” away on the wind.
What Spiderlings Eat
- Springtails: tiny soil insects that are an ideal starter food, especially for pet spiders.
- Flightless fruit flies: the most popular food for pet jumping spiderlings and many other small species.
- Pinhead crickets: for slightly bigger spiderlings.
- Mites, aphids, and gnats: common wild prey for web-building babies.
Prey should be no larger than the spiderling. Offer a few every couple of days and remove anything left behind.
Do Spider Mothers Feed Their Young?
Almost all spiders do not feed their young. There are a few exceptions. One jumping spider, Toxeus magnus, has been found to feed its babies a milk-like fluid for several weeks. Some social spiders feed their young by regurgitating food. For the great majority of spiders, babies hunt on their own as soon as they leave the sac.
Cannibalism Among Siblings
Spiderlings of many species will eat each other when crowded. If you hatch an egg sac, separate the babies into small containers soon after their first molt, give each a bit of moisture, and feed each one individually.
Feeding Tips for Pet Keepers
- Use a small, ventilated container with a moist corner for humidity.
- Culture springtails or flightless fruit flies so you always have tiny food ready.
- Keep the enclosure clean. Mold and old prey can harm small spiders.
- Do not feed a spiderling that is preparing to molt. It will hide in its silk and ignore food.
Related reading: what tiny spiders eat and what to feed a jumping spider.
Bottom Line
Spiderlings eat springtails, flightless fruit flies, mites, and pinhead crickets once they leave the egg sac. They need prey smaller than themselves, and most hunt alone from day one.
