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Exotic 🕷

72 detailed guides covering history, temperament, care, health, and training for every exotic pet.

Exotic
72 shown
Tarantula

Tarantula

Tarantulas are large, hairy spiders kept as exotic pets.
Madagascar Hissing Cockroach

Madagascar Hissing Cockroach

The Madagascar Hissing Cockroach (Gromphadorhina portentosa) is a large wingless…
Stick Insect (Phasmid)

Stick Insect (Phasmid)

Stick insects are masters of camouflage - twig-like, leaf-like, or moss-like ins…
Praying Mantis

Praying Mantis

The Praying Mantis is a predatory insect kept by enthusiasts for its fascinating…
Hermit Crab

Hermit Crab

Hermit Crabs are a frequently mis-housed pet - small crustaceans sold cheaply at…
Giant African Land Snail

Giant African Land Snail

The Giant African Land Snail (Achatina species) is one of the largest land snail…
Emperor Scorpion (Pandinus imperator)

Emperor Scorpion (Pandinus imperator)

The Emperor Scorpion (Pandinus imperator) is one of the largest scorpions in the…
Giant African Millipede (Archispirostreptus gigas)

Giant African Millipede (Archispirostreptus gigas)

The Giant African Millipede (Archispirostreptus gigas) is one of the largest mil…
Regal Jumping Spider (Phidippus regius)

Regal Jumping Spider (Phidippus regius)

The Regal Jumping Spider (Phidippus regius) is a tiny, charismatic invertebrate …
Vinegaroon

Vinegaroon

Vinegaroons, also called whip scorpions, are harmless arachnids kept as calm, lo…
Isopods

Isopods

Isopods are small terrestrial crustaceans - the familiar "roly-poly", "pill bug"…
Rhinoceros Beetle

Rhinoceros Beetle

Rhinoceros beetles are large, horned beetles of the subfamily Dynastinae, prized…
Leaf Insect

Leaf Insect

Leaf insects are among the most remarkable camouflage artists in the animal worl…
Ant Farm

Ant Farm

An ant farm - properly called a formicarium - is a living exotic pet: you keep a…
Tailless Whip Scorpion

Tailless Whip Scorpion

The tailless whip scorpion (order Amblypygi) is one of the most alien-looking pe…
Mexican Red Knee Tarantula

Mexican Red Knee Tarantula

The Mexican Red Knee Tarantula is the classic beginner tarantula - a slow-moving…
Chilean Rose Hair Tarantula

Chilean Rose Hair Tarantula

The Chilean Rose Hair Tarantula has introduced more people to the hobby than any…
Greenbottle Blue Tarantula

Greenbottle Blue Tarantula

The Greenbottle Blue Tarantula (GBB) is the most colorful spider in the hobby - …
Pink Toe Tarantula

Pink Toe Tarantula

The Pink Toe Tarantula is the hobby's classic tree spider - a fuzzy black arbore…
Brazilian Black Tarantula

Brazilian Black Tarantula

The Brazilian Black Tarantula is the hobby's 'black lab' - a velvet-black, excep…
Curly Hair Tarantula

Curly Hair Tarantula

The Curly Hair Tarantula is the teddy bear of the spider world - covered in wool…
Regal Jumping Spider

Regal Jumping Spider

The Regal Jumping Spider is the pet the internet fell in love with: a fingertip-…
Bold Jumping Spider

Bold Jumping Spider

The Bold Jumping Spider is the backyard jumper made famous by its white 'smiley'…
Orchid Mantis

Orchid Mantis

The Orchid Mantis is nature's most beautiful ambush: a mantis shaped and colored…
Ghost Mantis

Ghost Mantis

The Ghost Mantis is a dead leaf come to life - a small, ornately ragged mantis w…
Giant Asian Mantis

Giant Asian Mantis

The Giant Asian Mantis is the big, bold, classic praying mantis - up to 9 cm of …
Spiny Flower Mantis

Spiny Flower Mantis

The Spiny Flower Mantis packs the hobby's boldest artwork onto 4 centimeters of …
Dairy Cow Isopod

Dairy Cow Isopod

The Dairy Cow Isopod is the gateway bug of the isopod craze - a large, fast-bree…
Rubber Ducky Isopod

Rubber Ducky Isopod

The Rubber Ducky Isopod is the crown jewel of the isopod hobby - a round little …
Powder Orange Isopod

Powder Orange Isopod

The Powder Orange Isopod is the workhorse of bioactive terrariums - a quick, pro…
Asian Forest Scorpion

Asian Forest Scorpion

The Asian Forest Scorpion is the glossy black tank of the scorpion hobby - a big…
Desert Hairy Scorpion

Desert Hairy Scorpion

The Desert Hairy Scorpion is North America's giant - a sand-yellow, dark-backed …
Green Star Polyps

Green Star Polyps

Green star polyps (GSP) are the classic starter coral - a purple mat that erupts…
Zoanthids

Zoanthids

Zoanthids ('zoas') are button-like colonial polyps in wild neon colours that ree…
Mushroom Coral

Mushroom Coral

"Mushroom coral" is a trade nickname, not a species.
Kenya Tree Coral

Kenya Tree Coral

The Kenya tree coral is a soft, bushy, tan-to-brown 'tree' that sways in the cur…
Toadstool Leather Coral

Toadstool Leather Coral

The toadstool leather is a big, sculptural soft coral shaped like a mushroom cap…
Pulsing Xenia

Pulsing Xenia

Pulsing xenia is the coral that seems to breathe - feathery polyps that rhythmic…
Colt Coral

Colt Coral

The colt coral is a soft, rubbery, finger-branched coral - a bushy tan-to-grey '…
Hammer Coral

Hammer Coral

The hammer coral is one of the most popular large-polyp stony (LPS) corals - a f…
Torch Coral

Torch Coral

The torch coral is the showpiece of the Euphyllia family - long, luminous tentac…
Frogspawn Coral

Frogspawn Coral

The frogspawn coral rounds out the Euphyllia trio - a dense cluster of tentacles…
Candy Cane Coral

Candy Cane Coral

The candy cane (or trumpet) coral is one of the best beginner LPS corals - fat, …
Duncan Coral

Duncan Coral

The Duncan coral is a friendly, fast, beginner LPS - clusters of daisy-like poly…
Acan Lord Coral

Acan Lord Coral

Acan lords ('acans') are collector LPS corals - fleshy, jewel-toned encrusting c…
Favia Brain Coral

Favia Brain Coral

Favia (and its maze-patterned cousin Platygyra) are the encrusting 'brain' coral…
Plate Coral

Plate Coral

The plate (or disc) coral is unusual - a single large free-living polyp shaped l…
Montipora

Montipora

Montipora is the gateway small-polyp stony (SPS) coral - hardier and more forgiv…
Birdsnest Coral

Birdsnest Coral

The birdsnest coral is another beginner-friendlier SPS - delicate, needle-thin b…
Acropora

Acropora

Acropora is the summit of the reef hobby - the fast-growing, jaw-droppingly colo…
Ricordea Mushroom Coral

Ricordea Mushroom Coral

Ricordea is a soft coral mushroom (order Corallimorpharia), and like all corals …
Rhodactis Mushroom Coral

Rhodactis Mushroom Coral

Rhodactis mushroom coral is a soft coral - a colonial invertebrate animal (a cni…
Discosoma Mushroom Coral

Discosoma Mushroom Coral

The Discosoma mushroom coral is a soft coral - an animal, not a plant, and speci…
Clove Polyps

Clove Polyps

Clove polyps (genus Clavularia) are a hardy soft coral, not a plant - each is a …
Finger Leather Coral

Finger Leather Coral

The Finger Leather Coral is a soft coral - a colonial marine animal (a cnidarian…
Blastomussa Coral

Blastomussa Coral

The Blastomussa Coral (often shortened to "blasto") is a large-polyp stony (LPS)…
Lobophyllia Coral

Lobophyllia Coral

Lobophyllia (frequently grouped with the closely related Symphyllia and sold as …
Scolymia Coral

Scolymia Coral

The Scolymia, often called a "scoly," is a large-polyp stony (LPS) coral - a ree…
Goniopora Coral

Goniopora Coral

Goniopora, commonly called flowerpot coral, is a large-polyp stony (LPS) coral -…
Bubble Coral

Bubble Coral

Bubble Coral (genus *Plerogyra*) is a large-polyp stony (LPS) coral, and like al…
Stylophora Coral

Stylophora Coral

Stylophora, often sold as cat's-paw or club-finger coral, is a small-polyp stony…
Pocillopora Coral

Pocillopora Coral

Pocillopora is a small-polyp stony (SPS) coral - a colonial reef-building animal…
Montipora Digitata

Montipora Digitata

Montipora digitata, usually just called digitata or finger Montipora, is a small…
Pavona Coral

Pavona Coral

Pavona, sold in the hobby as cactus coral, lettuce coral or potato-chip coral, i…
Hydnophora Coral

Hydnophora Coral

Hydnophora, known in the hobby as horn coral or velvet horn coral, is a small-po…
Porites Coral

Porites Coral

Porites, sold as finger coral, jewel coral or most often as "Christmas tree worm…
Cyphastrea Coral

Cyphastrea Coral

Cyphastrea is a small-polyp stony (SPS) coral - a colonial animal (a cnidarian),…
Leptastrea Coral

Leptastrea Coral

Leptastrea is a small-polyp stony (SPS) coral - a colonial animal (a cnidarian),…
Psammocora Coral

Psammocora Coral

Psammocora, known in the hobby as sandpaper coral or cat's-paw coral, is a small…
Turbinaria Scroll Coral

Turbinaria Scroll Coral

Turbinaria, sold as scroll coral, cup coral or pagoda coral, is a stony coral - …
Astreopora Coral

Astreopora Coral

Astreopora, usually sold as star coral or porous star coral, is a small-polyp st…
Echinopora Coral

Echinopora Coral

Echinopora, sold as hedgehog coral or (for the plating species) tiered or lettuc…

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