- Messages
- 6
- Location
- PA (USA)
Hey All-
Wanted to say hi. Nice to see I found a forum that I can get some information on my pet which really was dumped in my lap but like anyways.
Actually my tarantula is named "Cuddles" - ok, wanted to name it "Gunna-Bite-Cha" (going to bite you). Different ends of the spectrum I guess in the way of the name decided. I actually hate spiders and scared to death of them mainly because I don't know enough about them and always afraid I will get bitten and die.
So how did I end up with a spider for a pet when normally I like dogs and cats. The story goes like this. I had a housemate a few years back who wanted to get a tarantula as a pet. He said he had one before but it died and wanted to get another. I told him I don't mind but if I find it walking around the house I will step on it (wouldn't really). So about 3 days after he got it I was walking by the bathroom and screamed because out of the corner of my eye I saw the darn thing crawling up the baseboard just above the floor. I told him to come get it and put it back in the tank (55 gallon). Needless to say he looked for something to pick it up with. Yup, he was scared to death to handle it. So carefully we put it back in the tank and he put the lid on.
As time went on (a few weeks) I asked him if he tried handling it. NOPE he replied firmly. OK, so buy it and not learn about it and handle it to become comfortable with it. So, me Mr. "I Hate Spiders" got up enough nerve to pick it up by gently grabbing it around his body. So I now broke my fear by some degree, well at least with this spider because I read up on it and knew unlikely I would DIE if bitten.
Over time my housemate refused to handle it. He would always say he would try but never did. Weeks to months and almost a year later and he still did not want to handle it and by this time I was handling Cuddles like a pro. No fear. Let her (think it is female) sit on my chest and watch TV with me, when it is cold she likes to crawl down between my arm and my chest and "cuddle" to stay warm. She gets a little curious sometimes and likes to crawl around the room too much and too fast so I end up chasing after her.
To make a really long story shorter, because I am sure by now you may be getting bored of my story, my housemate ended up getting tired of caring for her and I ended up feeding her and making sure she was ok. Every morning I would say good morning and good night later in the day. My housemate just totally forgot he had it and could care less about it. The only time he cared at all was when someone came over and he wanted to show her off; other than that she did not exist.
My housemate moved out and told me to keep her because he had no place for her. So I inherited a pet. He didn't care about her anyway. So I have grown accustom to her now. Not too many people want to handle her though when they come over, and I try not to have too many handle her so it does not scare her. I have only been bitten once by her. When my friend was handing her back to me she moved a bit and it startled her so while she was crawling onto my hand I guess she felt she was about to fall and used her legs to hang on but also one of her fangs which she sunk into my finger. I was able to tell she only used it to hang on and not to bite me. It pinched a bit but I did not die; my finger got a bit numb in the exact area for a few days. Other than that she has never hurt me or anyone else that has handled her.
So that is the story about how I ended up with a tarantula being scared to death of spiders.
Thanks for reading.
"Poppa" Cuddles
Wanted to say hi. Nice to see I found a forum that I can get some information on my pet which really was dumped in my lap but like anyways.
Actually my tarantula is named "Cuddles" - ok, wanted to name it "Gunna-Bite-Cha" (going to bite you). Different ends of the spectrum I guess in the way of the name decided. I actually hate spiders and scared to death of them mainly because I don't know enough about them and always afraid I will get bitten and die.
So how did I end up with a spider for a pet when normally I like dogs and cats. The story goes like this. I had a housemate a few years back who wanted to get a tarantula as a pet. He said he had one before but it died and wanted to get another. I told him I don't mind but if I find it walking around the house I will step on it (wouldn't really). So about 3 days after he got it I was walking by the bathroom and screamed because out of the corner of my eye I saw the darn thing crawling up the baseboard just above the floor. I told him to come get it and put it back in the tank (55 gallon). Needless to say he looked for something to pick it up with. Yup, he was scared to death to handle it. So carefully we put it back in the tank and he put the lid on.
As time went on (a few weeks) I asked him if he tried handling it. NOPE he replied firmly. OK, so buy it and not learn about it and handle it to become comfortable with it. So, me Mr. "I Hate Spiders" got up enough nerve to pick it up by gently grabbing it around his body. So I now broke my fear by some degree, well at least with this spider because I read up on it and knew unlikely I would DIE if bitten.
Over time my housemate refused to handle it. He would always say he would try but never did. Weeks to months and almost a year later and he still did not want to handle it and by this time I was handling Cuddles like a pro. No fear. Let her (think it is female) sit on my chest and watch TV with me, when it is cold she likes to crawl down between my arm and my chest and "cuddle" to stay warm. She gets a little curious sometimes and likes to crawl around the room too much and too fast so I end up chasing after her.
To make a really long story shorter, because I am sure by now you may be getting bored of my story, my housemate ended up getting tired of caring for her and I ended up feeding her and making sure she was ok. Every morning I would say good morning and good night later in the day. My housemate just totally forgot he had it and could care less about it. The only time he cared at all was when someone came over and he wanted to show her off; other than that she did not exist.
My housemate moved out and told me to keep her because he had no place for her. So I inherited a pet. He didn't care about her anyway. So I have grown accustom to her now. Not too many people want to handle her though when they come over, and I try not to have too many handle her so it does not scare her. I have only been bitten once by her. When my friend was handing her back to me she moved a bit and it startled her so while she was crawling onto my hand I guess she felt she was about to fall and used her legs to hang on but also one of her fangs which she sunk into my finger. I was able to tell she only used it to hang on and not to bite me. It pinched a bit but I did not die; my finger got a bit numb in the exact area for a few days. Other than that she has never hurt me or anyone else that has handled her.
So that is the story about how I ended up with a tarantula being scared to death of spiders.
Thanks for reading.
"Poppa" Cuddles
