I hired a guy, "Angel" at work in late June this year. His first day at the office, he walked by my desk and froze in his tracks at the sight of my B. smithi molt that is in a 3x3" display cube before slowly retreating. He had a lot of questions for me when I got in. "Is it alive? Where did you get it? Are you sure it's not alive? What if it gets out? You don't have any live spiders here, do you?"
It took him a few weeks to gather the courage to stand within a foot of it, face to carapace. Over the next few months, he had gathered more courage around spiders. He told me that he couldn't even look at a picture of a spider without freaking out on the inside, much less walk by one in the parking lot.
Angel had seen pictures of my Ts and expressed interest in one of my other C. fasciatum slings and said to hold on to it for him until he's ready to buy a T. He said it will help him to get over his fear of spiders if he had one as a pet. He had also been talking to my new receptionist (also an arachnophobe) and they have been checking out pictures of Ts online during the slow part of the day up at the front desk. They both said that although they don't like spiders, that the B. smithi is a beautiful spider.
I told Angel that I was working on a trade with a breeder to send him a couple of MMs I had and that I would probably get a couple of B. smithi in return. I got the B. smithi on Saturday and brought one in yesterday. It was only about 1.5", but it had some coloring to it. Not adult coloring, but getting there. Angel made the jump to the next level and bought it from me! He had done plenty of research prior to buying it, so I was comfortable with him taking it home. He's really fascinated by it. I think by this time next year, he'll have a larger collection than me.
It took him a few weeks to gather the courage to stand within a foot of it, face to carapace. Over the next few months, he had gathered more courage around spiders. He told me that he couldn't even look at a picture of a spider without freaking out on the inside, much less walk by one in the parking lot.
Angel had seen pictures of my Ts and expressed interest in one of my other C. fasciatum slings and said to hold on to it for him until he's ready to buy a T. He said it will help him to get over his fear of spiders if he had one as a pet. He had also been talking to my new receptionist (also an arachnophobe) and they have been checking out pictures of Ts online during the slow part of the day up at the front desk. They both said that although they don't like spiders, that the B. smithi is a beautiful spider.
I told Angel that I was working on a trade with a breeder to send him a couple of MMs I had and that I would probably get a couple of B. smithi in return. I got the B. smithi on Saturday and brought one in yesterday. It was only about 1.5", but it had some coloring to it. Not adult coloring, but getting there. Angel made the jump to the next level and bought it from me! He had done plenty of research prior to buying it, so I was comfortable with him taking it home. He's really fascinated by it. I think by this time next year, he'll have a larger collection than me.
