Two keepers check every animal.
Animals are held, fed, hydrated, and observed in our care before they ship. We do not dropship live animals. We do not flip animals we have not personally housed.
Home
Big Z's HQ
About Big Z's Habitats and Arachnids
Big Z's is run by two keepers in Phoenix, Arizona, USA. Mr Big Z has kept eight-legged and many-legged animals for years. Mrs Big Z is a practicing dog and cat veterinarian who looks over every animal that comes through. Together we sell live scorpions, tarantulas, spiders, centipedes, millipedes, isopods and clean-up crews, plus enclosures, supplies and care guides. Every animal has a Spice rating from 1 to 5 so you can match it to your experience. This page also covers how we run the shop and the rules every customer agrees to before ordering.
This page describes Big Z's operations and summarizes our rules. It is not a substitute for our binding Terms of Service, Refund & Return Policy, Shipping Policy, and Privacy Policy. Where this page summarizes a policy, the policy itself controls.
Weather-aware shipping. Mon-Wed only.
Live animals ship only on days that put them at a carrier facility no longer than necessary, and only when the forecast at origin, destination, and the hubs in between is safe. Holds are free.
Message Big Z anytime.
Every order includes a free care guide PDF, and you can message Big Z with care questions for as long as you keep inverts. This is educational support, not veterinary advice.
Section 1
Who we are
Big Z's Habitats and Arachnids ("Big Z's", "we", "us") is a sole-proprietor invertebrate business based in Phoenix, Arizona, USA, run day to day by the two of us, Mr Big Z and Mrs Big Z. We built the shop around care. Getting an animal is the easy part. Keeping it well for its whole life takes good information, so that is where we put our time.
Every species we sell comes with a Care GuideZ, and the guides live in a browsable library written in plain language: substrate, humidity, temperature, feeding, molting and warning signs. The guides are free, and we keep adding to them with keeper notes from customers, new resources and the references we used, so you can check our work. We would rather over-explain than send an animal home with a keeper who isn't set up for it.
Contact: bigzshna@gmail.com. We answer messages within one business day under normal load, and sooner on Spice 4 and Spice 5 questions.
Section 2
How we operate
Sourcing
We work with USA breeders, trusted wholesale invert shops and carefully acclimated wild-caught sources. The catalog includes both captive-bred (CB) and wild-caught (WC) animals, and listings note which where we know it.
Packing
Every live order is packed for its route. We use insulated boxes, secure containment, padding sized to the animal, and heat or cold packs when the forecast calls for them. The Live Arrival Guarantee on our LAG page is the binding version of what packing covers and does not cover.
Ship windows
Live animals ship Monday through Wednesday so they are not sitting at a carrier facility over a weekend. Orders placed late in the week ship the following safe day. Weather holds are free, communicated by email, and never void the LAG. Waiving a recommended hold or pack does.
Section 3
The Spice Rating
Every live animal on the site carries a 1-to-5 Spice rating. The rating is our opinion of how demanding or hazardous the animal is to keep, combining venom or urticating defense, speed, defensiveness, husbandry difficulty, and tolerance for keeper mistakes.
- Spice 1: Kid Friendly.Forgiving, no medically significant defense, suitable as a first invertebrate.
- Spice 2: Beginner.Easy husbandry, mild defense at most, fine for a careful first or second invertebrate.
- Spice 3: Intermediate.Stronger defenses or stricter husbandry; the keeper should know the basics.
- Spice 4: Advanced.Medically significant venom, fast speed, or strict husbandry. Adult, experienced keepers only.
- Spice 5: Extreme.Medically significant venom, high escape risk or both. For adult, experienced keepers with a secure enclosure ready. Message Big Z anytime to have your setup checked, before or after you order.
The Spice rating is guidance, not a safety guarantee.
Every invertebrate is an individual; any of them can bite, sting, kick hairs, or cause an allergic reaction. You are responsible for researching the species and for your own household's safety. See Terms of Service §3.
Section 4
Rules every buyer agrees to
Placing an order from Big Z's is an agreement to the rules below and to our Terms of Service. These are short summaries. The policies linked at the end of this page are the binding versions.
- Age.You must be at least 18 to buy a live animal, or you must have a parent or legal guardian who places the order, accepts responsibility for the animal, and agrees to these rules. We may decline orders where age cannot be reasonably verified.
- Legality is on you.You confirm before you order that the species is legal to own, import, and house at your delivery address. Some invertebrates are restricted by state, county, or city, and many cannot ship to Hawaii. Orders refused, seized, intercepted, or returned for legal reasons are not covered by the Live Arrival Guarantee, and reshipment is the buyer's cost.
- Enclosure ready.You agree to have a safe, escape-proof, climate-appropriate enclosure ready on the day of delivery. Do not order an animal you have nowhere to put.
- Receive the package.Someone must be available on the first delivery attempt or you must select "Hold for Pickup" and collect the same day. See the full conditions on our LAG page.
- Assumption of risk.Keeping invertebrates carries inherent risks: bites, stings, venom reactions, allergic reactions, escapes, and property damage. By buying a live animal you knowingly assume those risks for yourself and your household. See Terms of Service §5.
- Care Guides are educational, not veterinary.Our PDFs and DM support are general husbandry information. They are not a substitute for an exotics veterinarian or for your own judgment.
- No reselling our content.Our Care Guides, photos, and listing copy are ours. Do not republish or resell them without written permission.
- Acceptable use.Do not use the site to break the law, infringe anyone's rights, scrape or attack the site, or misrepresent yourself. We may refuse or cancel orders at our discretion, including for resale, suspected fraud, or hostile behavior toward Big Z.
Section 5
Liability, disclaimers, and the limits of our promise
We stand behind our animals up to the moment the carrier delivers them. After that, the animal, and its risks, are in your care. The following is a plain-English summary of the limits of our liability; the binding language is in our Terms of Service §§5, 12, 13.
Assumption of risk after delivery
Once the animal is delivered, you accept all risks of keeping it, including bites, stings, venom or allergic reactions, escapes, and property damage. Big Z's is not liable for injury, illness, or property damage that arises after delivery, to the fullest extent permitted by law.
"As is" outside the LAG
Except for the Live Arrival Guarantee, the site, products, and content are provided "as is" without warranties of any kind. We do not guarantee temperament, lifespan, color, size, sex, or breeding outcome.
Cap on liability
Our total liability on any claim relating to an order is capped at the amount you paid for that order. We are not liable for indirect, incidental, special, or consequential damages, including lost time, missed events, or veterinary bills.
Indemnification
You agree to indemnify Big Z's for claims arising from your violation of our rules, your violation of applicable law, or your handling or housing of an animal after delivery.
Section 6
Governing law & jurisdiction
Your order, your use of this site, and any dispute arising from either are governed by the laws of the State of Arizona, without regard to its conflict-of-laws rules. The state and federal courts located in Maricopa County, Arizona will have exclusive jurisdiction, except where applicable consumer-protection law provides otherwise.
We do not ship outside the United States. Some species cannot legally ship to certain states or municipalities, and the buyer is responsible for confirming legality before ordering. See Shipping Policy and Terms of Service §4.
We may update this page and our policies. The version posted at the time of your order applies to that order.
Section 7
Policy index
Every rule on this page is backed by one of the documents below. If anything here conflicts with the document it references, the document controls.
PageLive Arrival GuaranteeThe full LAG: conditions, claim window, remedies, what voids it.PolicyRefund & Return PolicyLive animals (all sales final + LAG), Supplies returns, digital products.PolicyShipping PolicyWhere we ship, processing times, weather holds, receiving the animal.PolicyTerms of ServiceEligibility, legality, assumption of risk, liability caps, governing law.PolicyPrivacy PolicyWhat we collect, how we use it, your rights.PageContact Big ZPre-order questions, DOA claims, husbandry support.
Last updated May 2026. Big Z's Habitats and Arachnids reserves the right to update this page and our policies.