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Message: <blockquote data-quote="DewDrop" data-source="post: 61392" data-attributes="member: 4217"><p>People with the big collections, that are not selling are breeder contacts, to loan males and study, they don't handle the tarantulas they study them and care for them. No one worries about them hoarding instead of hobby because they are contacts. It is the keepers like, oh.. say.. like me.. Who have the tarantulas as pets, the wonder extends to. Do we handle, what do we use, what do we like, what do we know, how many do we have, do we have limits set, etc.. Which is great that the wonder is there and all, but personally the tarantulas are like living decorations that add an ambiance to the residence. We get attached. The tarantulas are like comapnions or friends, like a potted plant. Whereas a lot of people collecting do not get attached. The tarantula hobby is husbandry and science based on business surrounded by law and ethic for a great many people. So while we collect a few for the fun, for the attachment and joy and just over all the great lives we can give them and the quality enhancing they give to ours, the laughs and attachment, it doesn't take patting the tarantula often or picking it up. They are something to view that is fun if you can see and if you cannot they are great to study. These hobbyists and breeders who get the tarantulas to us, care, they don't want us getting poked by a hair or bitten, because they are sharing their very livelihood with us that we buy. We are a part of that. That is where the communication between seller and consumer ceases and the study continues for them. They might handle these spiders before selling them and want a buyer to be able to handle the non-aggressive ones so it is safer for their customers. So not handling them once in awhile is like wasting their time. No one is obligated to pick up a spider and let it walk on their hands or even consider it tame. But they are pets. The ones who are not aggressive and not likely to bite, are gonna get handled, it is just the way it is. If I get one from a breeder and they say, don't handle it, I am not gonna handle it. I might want an orange bitey thing, but I am not going to get one only because the reaction of it's bite is documented as harsh. I like it's attitude. I am not the only one in the residence who might handle a spider, I just cannot take that risk. When it comes to handling, there are some you can and some you cannot, If science suggests that it stresses the spider to handle, then no, I won't. I get what studies I can, nothing new right now. Maybe later. Then again, I don't breed and am not going to ever have more than a dozen tarantulas at any one time and never two of the same kind but opposite gender. So a male Tarantula given the time it takes for them to mature and the value to sustaining the hobby they are, would be a complete waste depending on the CITES status, as a pet. Personally I only want the females as pets, the longer life span is what I am hoping for.</p></blockquote><p></p>

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