Best Jumping Spider Food: Top Picks for Your Spider

Jumping spiders are tiny, bold, and surprisingly intelligent hunters. If you've got one as a pet, you already know they watch you back with those big, curious eyes. But feeding them right? That's where a lot of new owners get confused.

The good news: jumping spiders aren't picky eaters. They're active predators that'll go after almost any live prey they can overpower. The trick is knowing which foods are nutritious, safe, and the right size.

This guide covers the best jumping spider food options — from fruit flies to roaches — so you can build a feeding routine that keeps your spider healthy and thriving.

What Do Jumping Spiders Eat in the Wild?

In the wild, jumping spiders eat whatever they can catch. That includes flies, mosquitoes, small moths, beetles, and other insects. They're visual hunters — they stalk prey like tiny cats, creeping close before pouncing with incredible accuracy.

They don't spin webs to catch food. Every meal is earned through active hunting. This means your captive jumping spider still has that hunting instinct, and feeding live prey is the most natural and enriching way to keep them fed.

Captive diets should mirror what they'd find in nature as closely as possible. Variety, appropriate prey size, and live movement are the three pillars of a good feeding routine.

The 5 Best Foods for Jumping Spiders

Not all feeder insects are equal. Here's a breakdown of the best options, ranked by how practical and nutritious they are for pet jumping spiders.

1. Fruit Flies (Drosophila)

Fruit flies are the gold standard for small jumping spiders — especially juveniles and spiderlings. Flightless fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster or D. hydei) are easy to culture, nutritious, and perfectly sized for young spiders.

Why they're great:

• Flightless varieties are easy to manage — no escape artists in your home
• Soft-bodied, so spiders eat them with ease
• Available in two sizes: D. melanogaster (tiny, for spiderlings) and D. hydei (larger, for small adults)
• Simple to culture at home with a starter kit

The downside? Fruit flies alone don't offer a complete nutritional profile. Always gut-load your cultures or dust the flies with a calcium supplement before each feeding session.

2. Crickets

Crickets are probably the most widely available feeder insect you'll find. They're a great staple choice for adult jumping spiders, especially larger species like Phidippus regius.

Live feeder crickets come in several sizes. Pinhead crickets work well for juveniles, while small or medium crickets suit most adults. A good rule of thumb: the cricket should never be larger than the spider's abdomen.

Why they're great:

• High in protein
• Easy to find at pet stores and online
• Active prey that triggers your spider's natural hunting drive
• Available year-round in many sizes

One warning: Crickets can bite back if left uneaten overnight. Always remove any live prey that your spider ignores after 30–60 minutes. A cricket that's hungry and stuck in an enclosure can stress — or even injure — your spider.

3. Mealworms

Mealworms are a convenient option, but you'll want to use them in moderation. They're higher in fat than protein, which makes them a better occasional treat than a daily staple.

That said, jumping spiders tend to love them. The wiggling movement triggers the hunting response immediately, and they're easy to store in the fridge for weeks without much upkeep.

Good uses for mealworms:

• Enticing a picky feeder that's refusing other prey
• Offering extra calories to an underweight or recovering spider
• Convenient backup when you've run out of other feeders

Important: Stick to the larval stage. Mealworm beetles have strong mandibles and can injure your spider if left in the enclosure.

4. Waxworms

Waxworms are the candy bar of the feeder insect world. They're soft, fatty, and jumping spiders go absolutely wild for them.

Feeder waxworms are perfect as an occasional treat, but they shouldn't be a regular part of the diet. Too many waxworms can lead to obesity, which puts real stress on the spider's organs and shortens its lifespan.

Best use case: Offer waxworms once every two weeks as a treat, or use them to coax a fasting spider back into eating after a molt.

Think of waxworms the same way you'd think of fatty treats for any other pet — loved by the animal, fine occasionally, but not meant to be every meal.

5. Dubia Roaches

For larger jumping spiders, Dubia roaches are one of the most nutritionally complete feeder insects available. They're high in protein, relatively low in fat, and have a solid calcium-to-phosphorus ratio that benefits long-term health.

Small nymphs (¼ inch or smaller) work well for medium to large adult jumping spiders. They don't chirp, don't smell, and are easy to maintain in a small container at home.

Why they're excellent:

• Excellent nutritional profile — arguably the best of any common feeder
• Don't escape easily or bite back
• Easy to gut-load for extra nutrition
• Long shelf life when kept at room temperature

The one downside: they're not always small enough for tiny jumping spiders. For spiderlings and juveniles, stick to fruit flies until your spider is big enough to handle small nymph roaches.

Feeding by Spider Size

Not all jumping spiders are the same size. Prey size matters a lot — an oversized insect can stress your spider or even cause injury. Here's a quick reference:

The golden rule: Prey should never be larger than the spider's abdomen. When in doubt, go smaller — a slightly undersized prey item is always safer than one that's too big.

How Often Should You Feed Your Jumping Spider?

Jumping spiders have a faster metabolism than most reptiles, but they don't need food every single day. A good schedule depends on the spider's age:

• Spiderlings: Every 1–2 days
• Juveniles: Every 2–3 days
• Adults: Every 3–4 days

Always remove uneaten prey after an hour. It's also completely normal for jumping spiders to stop eating before a molt. If your spider goes off food and seems sluggish or is sealing itself in its web sac, don't panic — just wait. They'll usually resume eating within a few days after the molt is complete.

Never try to force-feed a spider that's preparing to molt. It's not an emergency, it's just biology.

How to Feed Your Jumping Spider

Feeding a jumping spider is actually one of the fun parts of keeping them. Here's how to do it right:

1. Use feeding tongs to gently place prey near the spider — or simply drop feeders into the enclosure
2. Feed during the day — jumping spiders are diurnal hunters, so morning or midday works best
3. Watch the hunt — they stalk, they creep, they pounce. It's genuinely entertaining to watch
4. Remove uneaten prey within 30–60 minutes to avoid stress
5. Don't disturb a fasting spider — if they're not eating, they usually have a good reason

For spiderlings, use a small soft-bristle paintbrush to gently nudge fruit flies in their direction if they're not finding prey on their own.

Gut-Loading and Dusting Your Feeders

Live prey alone isn't always nutritionally complete. Two extra steps can make a big difference in your spider's long-term health.

Gut-loading means feeding your feeder insects nutritious foods 24–48 hours before offering them to your spider. For crickets and roaches, use leafy greens, carrots, sweet potato, and commercial cricket food. The idea is simple: a well-fed feeder insect passes those nutrients on to your spider.

Dusting means lightly coating feeder insects with a calcium or vitamin supplement powder just before feeding. Reptile calcium powder works well here. A light dusting every 2–3 feedings is usually sufficient.

Both gut-loading and dusting are especially important for growing spiderlings and breeding females, who have higher nutritional demands.

Will Jumping Spiders Eat Dead Insects?

Sometimes — but it depends on the individual spider. Some jumping spiders will accept freshly killed prey if it's wiggled convincingly with feeding tongs. Others will refuse anything that isn't actively moving.

Live prey is always the better option. The movement triggers the spider's natural hunting instinct, which is not only more satisfying for them but also provides mental enrichment. A spider that has to stalk and catch its food is a happier, more behaviorally fulfilled spider.

If you need to use pre-killed prey as a backup (for travel or emergencies), try wiggling it with tongs. If your spider isn't interested after a few attempts, remove it and try again with live prey at the next feeding.

Can Jumping Spiders Eat Fruit or Other Plant Foods?

No — jumping spiders are obligate carnivores. They need live insect prey to get the protein and nutrients they require. They don't eat fruit, vegetables, seeds, or processed foods.

There are occasional reports of jumping spiders sipping nectar or plant liquids in the wild, but this is incidental hydration, not a nutritional behavior. In captivity, focus entirely on appropriately sized live feeder insects.

For hydration, you can mist one wall of the enclosure lightly every few days. Your spider will drink water droplets directly. Don't use open water dishes — small spiders can drown in even shallow water.

What to Avoid Feeding Your Jumping Spider

Some prey items can actually harm your spider. Here's what to skip entirely:

• Wild-caught insects — may carry pesticides, parasites, or pathogens from treated gardens
• Fireflies (lightning bugs) — toxic to many invertebrates; never feed these
• Ants — can bite aggressively and release formic acid, which can harm your spider
• Oversized prey — anything larger than the spider's abdomen poses a real injury risk
• Mealworm or superworm beetles — strong mandibles can hurt or kill your spider
• Insects from unknown sources — always buy captive-bred feeders from reputable suppliers

Sticking to captive-bred feeder insects is the single best thing you can do to protect your spider from illness and injury.

Building a Complete Feeding Rotation

The healthiest jumping spiders get variety in their diet. Here's a sample weekly rotation for an adult spider:

Variety ensures your spider gets a broader range of nutrients. It also keeps feedings interesting — jumping spiders are curious, intelligent animals. Different prey items move differently and provide genuine mental enrichment.

For a complete breakdown of enclosure setup, handling, and general health, check out our Jumping Spider Care Guide: Housing, Feeding & Handling Tips. If you're still deciding whether a jumping spider is the right pet, our guide on jumping spiders as pets covers everything from personality to lifespan to what to expect as a first-time keeper.

Feed consistently, vary the menu, keep prey appropriately sized, and your jumping spider will stay active, healthy, and endlessly entertaining.