What got you into tarantulas?

[Jess S]

Hey everybody, I'm curious to know what got you into keeping T's? Were you the kid who liked playing with bugs, or did you (like me) start out arachnophobic?

Also, do you like and are you as comfortable around true spiders as you are with your T's? And if not, why not?

Cheers everyone for taking the time to read this. Really interested in hearing from every one of you.

 

[PanzoN88]

The phobia

True spiders don't bother me anymore, I'm not raising any, but raising tarantulas has opened me up to all non tarantulas

 

[Jess S]

The phobia

True spiders don't bother me anymore, I'm not raising any, but raising tarantulas has opened me up to all non tarantulas

That's great. I'm not 100% over it yet like it sounds you are but maybe 80%. I definitely feel more fascination than fear now though.

 

[PanzoN88]

That's great. I'm not 100% over it yet like it sounds you are but maybe 80%. I definitely feel more fascination than fear now though.

I had no idea how many tarantulas I would end up with (over 50 soon)

 

[m0lsx]

A chat with my wife about someone I use to know years ago when I was working in civil engineering. He use to do a lot of rescue stuff for snakes which were his thing. He had a degree in Herpetology & a licence to keep venomous snakes. He was very fussy about who he would let near his snakes, but if he liked you, you could learn a lot from him.

I had no problems with helping with the snakes, but much preferred helping with the other bits & pieces that the RSPCA etc often turned to him for help with. Tarantulas being my favourite.

My wife said I should get one, but I said, I knew nothing about them. But I knew enough to know they were a hobby & not just a pet. And like our 1950's motorbike, you have a T to care for it properly, not just to say you have it. But I also said I have some Birthday money left that I had not spent.

Several weeks of reading later. I tried to get a T off someone on Gumtree who was down sizing their collection, but he messed me around. So I then got my MM Phormictopus cancerides from someone else on Gumtree, for £25 including a fully set up Exo Terra Terrarium. I saw him as a way of starting off easily & learning.

 

[Enn49]

I was an arachnophobe. My 2 sons spent years trying to persuade me to let them have one and I always said no. I kept and bred shakes for many years so I was used to caring for exotic pets so when my eldest son came home to help me look after my elderly Mum I eventually gave in and let him buy a T. He bought a juvie P. vittata and I found her fascinating much to my surprise so I decided to buy one for myself in the hope it would help me get over my fear, I jumped in at the deep end and got myself a juvie OBT.
The fascination grew and grew so I now have 100+.
I no longer flinch if a T choses to run onto my hand but I'm still not completely over my dislike of spiders loose in the house although I no longer fear them the way I used to.

 

[Jess S]

A chat with my wife about someone I use to know years ago when I was working in civil engineering. He use to do a lot of rescue stuff for snakes which were his thing. He had a degree in Herpetology & a licence to keep venomous snakes. He was very fussy about who he would let near his snakes, but if he liked you, you could learn a lot from him.

I had no problems with helping with the snakes, but much preferred helping with the other bits & pieces that the RSPCA etc often turned to him for help with. Tarantulas being my favourite.

My wife said I should get one, but I said, I knew nothing about them. But I knew enough to know they were a hobby & not just a pet. And like our 1950's motorbike, you have a T to care for it properly, not just to say you have it. But I also said I have some Birthday money left that I had not spent.

Several weeks of reading later. I tried to get a T off someone on Gumtree who was down sizing their collection, but he messed me around. So I then got my MM Phormictopus cancerides from someone else on Gumtree, for £25 including a fully set up Exo Terra Terrarium. I saw him as a way of starting off easily & learning.

I have a feeling that if you were my neighbour I could listen to you all day, you've done so many interesting things. It's great that your wife is supportive of your new hobby. She'll probably be encouraging you to get more and more .....

 

[Jess S]

I was an arachnophobe. My 2 sons spent years trying to persuade me to let them have one and I always said no. I kept and bred shakes for many years so I was used to caring for exotic pets so when my eldest son came home to help me look after my elderly Mum I eventually gave in and let him buy a T. He bought a juvie P. vittata and I found her fascinating much to my surprise so I decided to buy one for myself in the hope it would help me get over my fear, I jumped in at the deep end and got myself a juvie OBT.
The fascination grew and grew so I now have 100+.
I no longer flinch if a T choses to run onto my hand but I'm still not completely over my dislike of spiders loose in the house although I no longer fear them the way I used to.

It must have been a special OBT to help you get over your fear. You've proved that repeated exposure is the key to overcoming a phobia. I bet your son would never have believed what a collector you'd become back then when you were saying, 'No way'!

 

[Enn49]

It must have been a special OBT to help you get over your fear. You've proved that repeated exposure is the key to overcoming a phobia. I bet your son would never have believed what a collector you'd become back then when you were saying, 'No way'!

She was very special, she's the one in my avatar, and never gave me any trouble.
My son wishes now that he hadn't set me off

 

[m0lsx]

I have a feeling that if you were my neighbour I could listen to you all day, you've done so many interesting things. It's great that your wife is supportive of your new hobby. She'll probably be encouraging you to get more and more .....

I am lucky, I have loved radio & motorbikes since I was at school & her grandfather was also a life long motorcyclist & active member of the Vintage Motor Cycle Club & her great grandfather was a radio amateur. So both of my main hobbies are part of her family & now this too.

 

[Jess S]

I am lucky, I have loved radio & motorbikes since I was at school & her grandfather was also a life long motorcyclist & active member of the Vintage Motor Cycle Club & her great grandfather was a radio amateur. So both of my main hobbies are part of her family & now this too.

Looks like you were made for each other!
My late dad loved his motorbike. I used to love it as a kid when he'd take me on a road trip.
I watched a film with Antony Hopkins about an Indian motorbike a couple months ago, and enjoyed it much, much more than I thought I would. Can't remember the name of it now but you might know the one I mean.

 

[m0lsx]

Looks like you were made for each other!
My late dad loved his motorbike. I used to love it as a kid when he'd take me on a road trip.
I watched a film with Antony Hopkins about an Indian motorbike a couple months ago, and enjoyed it much, much more than I thought I would. Can't remember the name of it now but you might know the one I mean.

My motorbike is a small single seated Police bike & where the pillion (passenger,) would sit, is where the Police put the radio. I have fitted my bike with a fully working period correct Pye radio which I have modified to operate on an amateur radio frequency which I can thus legally use.

The Anthony Hopkins film was called The worlds fastest Indian. And it's very close to the real Burt Munro story, on which it is based.

The following is not my bike, but the correct model & mine too has the metal pannier boxes & no front fairing.

The Bike is a Velocette LE, LE = Little Engine & being watercooled, it is a very quiet bike. So much so that the Police found they could often arrive at crime scenes unheard.

 

[MassExodus]

In short, a jumping spider became my free roaming friend and I started watching YouTube videos of spiders. I still say Phidipus audax have more personality than any spider I've ever seen.

 

[Jess S]

In short, a jumping spider became my free roaming friend and I started watching YouTube videos of spiders. I still say Phidipus audax have more personality than any spider I've ever seen.

I want to hear more about this jumping spider! I really want one. I keep telling my kid that we'll go hunting for one soon. I'm sure there's some about in South Wales but not the really cool species like you get in the US.

 

[MassExodus]

I want to hear more about this jumping spider! I really want one. I keep telling my kid that we'll go hunting for one soon. I'm sure there's some about in South Wales but not the really cool species like you get in the US.

Well, his name was Harry and he lived in the corner of my kitchen, and he would take moths out of my hand that I grabbed off the porch light. I would hold the by the wings and when he saw them kicking their legs, he would jump about six inches and take them He got quite fat and after 7-8 months he dissapeared

 

[Jess S]

Well, his name was Harry and he lived in the corner of my kitchen, and he would take moths out of my hand that I grabbed off the porch light. I would hold the by the wings and when he saw them kicking their legs, he would jump about six inches and take them He got quite fat and after 7-8 months he dissapeared

Sounds like Harry was living the good life with you! Can understand you getting fond of him, they are endearing little spiders

 

[NukaMedia Exotics]

A new pet store opened up by me a lil over 2 years ago with reptiles, scorpions, frogs, and a few tarantulas. I for some reason was like hmmm these animals are pretty interesting like they're not local to me so I'd never really seen a tarantula or scorpion but maybe once. I bought an Asian Forest scorpion thinking tarantulas were lame (the only people I knew who had one were hoes lol) then I looked them up and saw all the different species and it was a wrap.

 

[Jess S]

I bought an Asian Forest scorpion thinking tarantulas were lame (the only people I knew who had one were hoes lol)

 

[InternetSwag]

Interesting thread.

For me, definitely been an arachnophobe most my life. Used to go ewww spider and kill it same with bugs.
Feel pretty bad about that now though.
A friend got a few tarantula slings and I started to get curious. Started watching videos from darkden. Learned that nobody has died from tarantulas ever and got spider obsessed for like two weeks watching documentaries.

Got, uh, 8 slings now. 2 were free though.

I still struggle a bit though. I was handling a Roach and it ran onto my hand and I freaked a bit and tossed it.

Then after I was like eh. Stupid it's a Roach can't hurt you at all.

 

[InternetSwag]

Well, his name was Harry and he lived in the corner of my kitchen, and he would take moths out of my hand that I grabbed off the porch light. I would hold the by the wings and when he saw them kicking their legs, he would jump about six inches and take them He got quite fat and after 7-8 months he dissapeared

How old do jumping spiders get