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Collection Growth. When to say when.

Thistles

Thistles

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Well, I like to use collection boom times to determine what I really love. I used to have a lot of Avics, but as much as I enjoyed them I have decided I'd prefer to dedicate the space and time to more OW tarantulas. I still have some Brachys and Grammos and other NW hairbeasts, but I'm thinning them out, too. I haven't ever completely called it quits, but I use times of reduction to thin out what I don't love as much in order to focus on what I like the best. I like to use a 2 Ts traded/sold to 1 T acquired to sort of ease the sting. I still get the thrill of getting a new spider, but I am also simultaneously reducing the numbers.

I thin out when I get overwhelmed, or I have a move coming up, or if I'm not able to give all the critters the attention they deserve. I had 23 snakes when I got very sick, and I rehomed all but 2. It's not that I didn't enjoy the snakes, but it wasn't fair to them to keep them when I myself was not well enough to devote the required amount of time.
 
MassExodus

MassExodus

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:mad:My problem is I just ordered 5 more scorpions..I seem to be lacking in self control..lol. Seriously though. That's it. -.- 3 of them don't count, its a sp I already own. And the other two are must haves. This is how I rationalize..
 
Casey K.

Casey K.

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MassExodus said:
I just took a proper count, after losing some males recently. 43 tarantulas, 27 scorpions, 7 species of roach colonies, and 3 Amblypygi. I have room for one more set of shelves in my bedroom, which will be my scorpion shelves. I kind of went scorp crazy and purchased all of mine in the last two months. Even though I know I'm out of room, I keep seeing specimens I want, and I keep buying them. Feeding and maintenance has started to be much more time consuming. I'm going to have to stop, as much as it pains me. So, since I already arranged it, I'm getting a shipment of 3 or 4 scorps and a freebie centipede next week, and then I'm calling it quits. There are MANY more bugs I want to keep and raise and breed, but it's becoming a bit too much. Several of the tarantulas listed are Giant slings, that will grow to require ten gallon tanks, at the least, some maybe 20 gal..I don't want to look too closely at that right now...:p Not to mention breeding projects with all of the different inverts. I'm very content with my bugs, so it's no big deal, the problem is controlling myself. It's very easy to say "One more won't hurt" until you say it several times. Is anyone else reaching that point in their collection? I just don't want my awesome hobby to become a burden, and the truth is my room makes me look like an invertebrate hoarder, with all the stacks of slings and mismatched enclosures. Even the tolerant people in my life are looking at me like "Jesus, enough man.." And then they oohh and ahhh over my animals..lol...
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I'm pushing around 400+ Tarantulas there, friend.....I know how you feel! I break my feedings down to 3 days a week. It's VERY time consuming, especially with slings. I always worry about one escaping (and it being the WRONG sp. that you'd want running loose in your house, lol). I've also learned it's much harder to catch lateralis the smaller they are!! That takes more time than feeding (trying to catch them). There are never enough T's. One day I want a warehouse full of every sp. of tarantula (females only)......that would be nice! :). Good luck to you! Oh, btw, there is no rehab for what folks like us have. We just accept the fact that we're invert addicts and move on to purchasing more.....:). It's a GOOD addiction to have. :)
 
MassExodus

MassExodus

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Casey K. said:
I'm pushing around 400+ Tarantulas there, friend.....I know how you feel! I break my feedings down to 3 days a week. It's VERY time consuming, especially with slings. I always worry about one escaping (and it being the WRONG sp. that you'd want running loose in your house, lol). I've also learned it's much harder to catch lateralis the smaller they are!! That takes more time than feeding (trying to catch them). There are never enough T's. One day I want a warehouse full of every sp. of tarantula (females only)......that would be nice! :). Good luck to you! Oh, btw, there is no rehab for what folks like us have. We just accept the fact that we're invert addicts and move on to purchasing more.....:). It's a GOOD addiction to have. :)
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Ahahaa, are you the devil? Lol. I now have many more scorpions than tarantulas:p Plus I just bid on a facebook auction for 20 more ;) And you're right. It is a good addiction. :D
 
Casey K.

Casey K.

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MassExodus said:
Ahahaa, are you the devil? Lol. I now have many more scorpions than tarantulas:p Plus I just bid on a facebook auction for 20 more ;) And you're right. It is a good addiction. :D
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Lol..nah, I'm an angel who's halo is held up by her horns..... I don't own any scorps. I used to but got out of them....although I wouldn't mind owning a few emperors, lol.
 
Phil

Phil

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MassExodus said:
:mad:My problem is I just ordered 5 more scorpions..I seem to be lacking in self control..lol. Seriously though. That's it. -.- 3 of them don't count, its a sp I already own. And the other two are must haves. This is how I rationalize..
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Never understood the American "math" and now @MassExodus has confused me even more.....lol Using his logic I have 1 daughter, the other 3 don't count as I already have one.....pmsl. only one marriage to pay for now..... yay! :D
Love the logic. Made me giggle that
 
Casey K.

Casey K.

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I don't even have a 100th of what I want or need, lol.....I believe there are over 900 sp. of tarantula (correct me if I'm wrong).....I need about 800 more of each individual sp lol....
 
Phil

Phil

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Casey K. said:
I don't even have a 100th of what I want or need, lol.....I believe there are over 900 sp. of tarantula (correct me if I'm wrong).....I need about 800 more of each individual sp lol....
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Now that would be one hell of a collection. You will deffo need your warehouse for all those lovely ladies......assuming you are still hell bent on surrounding yourself with estrogen as per an earlier post :)
 
Casey K.

Casey K.

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Phil said:
Now that would be one hell of a collection. You will deffo need your warehouse for all those lovely ladies......assuming you are still hell bent on surrounding yourself with estrogen as per an earlier post :)
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It's the best hormone to have!! ;):p Tell em', ladies!!!
 

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