Former Arachnophobes

[Paul1126]

From the UK.
I despised the common house spiders, I think this came from my mam, who use to chase my dad around with the top of tomatoe pretending it was a spider.

I always had an interest in bugs and use to keep pill bugs, discovered that tarantulas are widely available, moved out and decided that I would care for tarantulas and true spiders.
I no longer fear the common house spider.

 

[Minty]

Some great stories, thanks for sharing.

 

[Aaronsp10]

I was terrified of spiders, and if im being honest they still frighten me a bit. My girl used to stick my car keys in her G. Rosea enclosure to ensure i wouldnt be getting them. About a year ago i got a P. Muticus sling and things have spiralled out of control since.. I now have over 250 of these hairy monsters and dont know what id do without them

 

[Orionoid]

I used to be so scared of spiders that I would fall over if one surprised me (I don't know why I have this reaction when I'm scared; I'm like a fainting goat). Given how many spiders found their way into my various apartments, this was not sustainable. I looked into how to overcome arachnophobia and ended up WAYYYY overshooting it and now I think they are adorable and fascinating. I didn't actually get any T's while I was still afraid of spiders, though.

 

[ArachnoHazard]

I never had a phobia or anything but I did have an “omg kill it!!” Instant response whenever I saw a spider of any sort. When I was 19 (I’m 27 now, for comparison), I walked into a pet store to buy feeders for my snake and they had an A. avic for sale and I remembered thinking “oh my god how cute”. My roommate at the time was NOT okay with us keeping a large spider in the house, so that was vetoed almost immediately.

Fast forward a few years, and I have my own place, alone, and I realize I’ve started letting spiders live in my home. I stopped moving them outside, and I’m not sure when that happened. While my ex was okay with that, he was not okay with tarantulas the one time I brought it up and made it clear he’d refuse to move in if I had one.

Fast forward a few more years and my current boyfriend who lives with me is slowly warming up to the idea of a T. He knows my rules about letting the spiders in our house be and he actually thinks it’s adorable when I talk and chat with the spiders in the corners of our apartment. Or dangling from the ceiling. Or wherever they happen to be.

Basically, I went from being super creeped out by spiders to thinking they’re absolutely adorable and I want them aaaaall.

 

[RonnyT]

I was terrified of spiders, and if im being honest they still frighten me a bit. My girl used to stick my car keys in her G. Rosea enclosure to ensure i wouldnt be getting them. About a year ago i got a P. Muticus sling and things have spiralled out of control since.. I now have over 250 of these hairy monsters and dont know what id do without them

250 tarantulas in a year, wow that's crazy.

 

[Joey B]

I had a tarantula when I was a kid. I remember seeing him at the local pet store & begging & pleading with my Mom to let me get him. She said no but I kept on & on and she eventually said I could get him if I saved my money. What she didn't know was that I already had it saved up. haha It was a Mexican Red Knee & I had her for about 5 years but after I graduated HS I just kind of lost interest and a lady I worked with always had an interest in them so she took her in & she lived another 5 or 6 years. So that's been years ago & over the years I'd occasionally think I'd like to get another. About 2 months ago I started researching and decided on a GBB sling. I had her for less than a week before I had ordered a Giant White Knee & a Brazilian Black. Not long after that I had a Pink Salmon Birdeater and another Mexican Red Knee. And my latest is a Brazilian Blue. They're all little tiny things except for the Blue which is about 3". I'm currently looking for a mature tarantula (I really want a large female Brazilian Black) so I can have something to display (& maybe hold on occasion) until these tiny things grow up.

(& yes, I used common names bc I can't spell the species name & it's too late for me to Google. haha)

 

[Deb60]

Lol we will let you of for not using the Latin names , what I’ve done is on each of my set ups is both the Latin and common names . Trouble is I can never say the Latin names properly! Even if I’m writing them down.

250 tarantulas in a year, wow that's crazy.

What , and I thought my 50 in 21 months was a lot . I’m happy with this number , and never find it a chore with the time I care for them , but 250 wow , I’m thinking maybe that would be to many for me.

 

[louise f]

Wow, THAT’S how you got your first T? You just got even cooler.

@cold blood is the coolest. <3

 

[Pseudo]

Speaking from my husband's experience, he had to accept I wanted one as a pet. He grew to love my Avic avic and saw they are more of...pets rocks than anything. Mix it with his love of animals, and he has been mostly over it since. He still has a picture of my Avic avic as a background on his phone after he was shipped off to a breeder.

 

[ExArachnophobeOnTheLoose]

I’ve noticed that a lot of people on here are former arachnophobes (nothing wrong with that btw). I’m curious, what made you say “I want a big hairy spider as a pet,” and how did you overcome the initial fear of having a tarantula as a pet?

I’ve never really been an arachnophobe, but I think it’s really interesting that some of you guys met your arachnophobia head on and bought a t (and now have a collection in the double/triple digits)

I don't know how it happened but about half a year ago I started lurking on forums and watched videos of various spiders (They somehow transformed from "spawn of Lucifer himself" to "look at that cutie "....gotta say that I bought my B. Albo almost a month ago and I didn't regret it at all

 

[Lokee85]

They somehow transformed from "spawn of Lucifer himself" to "look at that cutie

I think that point came for me when I Googled pics of " baby spiders" and found pics of EWLs, baby jumpers, and 1i T slings. That was my first "OMG how cute" moment.