Hobby Dying Down

[Nightstalker47]

Anybody noticed that things have slowed down a bit, or is it just me?

 

[ConstantSorrow]

Maybe because people aren't trapped in their houses anymore?

 

[moricollins]

Anybody noticed that things have slowed down a bit, or is it just me?

Examples? This is a very broad statement.

 

[jrh3]

Anybody noticed that things have slowed down a bit, or is it just me?

I had down sized a great bit because I was working so many hours from covid shortages, but now I am slowly accumulating more.

 

[Liquifin]

How specifically? It seems normal to me.

 

[Matt Man]

it took a big boost during the pandemic. I wouldn't call it dying down, more of a settling

 

[birdonfire]

The pet shelters are filling up too. Nobody seems to understand what responsibility is.

 

[Edan bandoot]

Winter is starting here in Canada which means shipping because expensive or impossible for some animals.

 

[viper69]

Anybody noticed that things have slowed down a bit, or is it just me?

Same here

 

[HeartBum]

I've seen more "new member" posts in the past couple of days than in the year since I joined

 

[Liquifin]

Same here

How so? Things have changed, but I don't know if it has slowed down.

 

[viper69]

How so? Things have changed, but I don't know if it has slowed down.

I remember when the dealers had new species regularly or their was updated more frequently.

 

[l4nsky]

Supply chains haven't been re-established yet. The variety available should go back up in the next few years, but I can't say the same for the hobbyists that started during the pandemic.

 

[Nightstalker47]

Less going on, not as much activity or talk around the hobby. Guess this varies by location.

 

[QuinnStarr]

This is something everything goes through. A rise, a plateau, and then a fall.

For example, I babywear - which is a self explanatory word but, for anyone who doesn’t know, It’s using some sort of wrap or carrier to literally wear baby on your front or back. Just for some context, woven wraps and many Asian style carriers (among others but Asian-style are the ones I am fond of) can be used from newborn to infancy and many clear through toddlerhood. I could wear my 12 year old in my woven wrap and she would be totally safe. I digress.
Anyway, there’s a brand of carrier called Tula that was once at its pinnacle. I currently own a Tula print that, in the prime days of the brand, would’ve sold for $1500 or more because of the rarity of the print. Unfortunately, Tula’s popularity took a fall and now I’d be lucky to get someone to buy it for $25, which is a lot less than the $200 I paid for it.

To equate that to the point of this post, something happened to Tula that made it rise and fall like that - which I feel is the same thing happening with T’s. Covid made it rise because people were stuck at home with absolutely nothing to do for months on end. So, they explored a new interest.

I co-owned a Rosea with my father for over 20 years and never got a new one after it passed. I didn’t get very much into it because I was young when we got it and was (still am) petrified of anything with more than four legs. I started feeling the itch to get another during Covid - however I opted out of it because I didn’t want this living creature to become a side effect of the pandemic. I try to have common sense in areas like that but many people don’t.

So, it’s very likely that owning T’s became a temporary hobby for people with nothing else to do and, now that the world is opening up again, they’ve lost interest. It’s sad to lose people in such an interesting and educational hobby - but it’s even sadder for the spiders who may have been rehomed multiple times and are stressed beyond belief. Or even that have been dumped outside to fend for themselves in climates that aren’t native to them.

It’s nature for popularity of things to rise and fall. I think the best thing to do in these situations is to appreciate the enthusiasts who stay and send all the well-wishes to the spiders that are no longer interesting to the rest of the owners.

I held off on buying another until I was better educated, did some research into the best species for me and my interests, made sure that it wasn’t a fleeting feeling because I was locked away with nothing to do, and now I’m here - and planning to be here for a long time, barring any unforeseen circumstances that may require rehoming my T’s.

Edit: The upside to this is that, by rehoming the T’s they lost interest in, hopefully people are finding new owners that actually care for the animal and are willing to put the time and effort into learning - which could very well be why you’re seeing so many new members in this forum without the demand from breeders and suppliers.

 

[dragonblade71]

Not sure if this is related to the topic at hand but Ive noticed a dramatic increase in the prices of tarantula spiderlings. I admit I haven't looked at the prices of slings for a number of years but I seem to remember that you could buy them really cheaply in the past. I looked at sling prices just recently on different sites and they are a bit on the steep side - at least here in Australia. They seem to go for about AU$40 - $50 or thereabouts. I regret not getting some Ts in the past when they were cheaper.

I know that some people buy three slings or a similar number to increase the chance of getting a female. At today's prices, I think that's just too expensive for me to do.

 

[Yigzatoth]

Maybe, but not a dramatic slow down, at least in europe. The dealers are still getting rare species every now and then, but as expected in a couple of months it's winter so less shipping etc. On another note with the end of covid19 lockdowns/bigger vaccination percentages life is returning to normality, as such some people that were locked at home have eventually lost their interest.

 

[Ian14]

The pet shelters are filling up too. Nobody seems to understand what responsibility is.

Not in the UK. In fact the smaller privately run centres are resorting to working with charities in Spain, to bring over strays from there to rehome in the UK.
I have nobidea as to what happened with cat and dog prices in the US, but here, they soared due to covid. Kittens that used to be £20 each are now £200. Puppies? What were £150/200 are now £2000. You cannot get a puppy, even a mongrel, for under a grand. Which in turn means that people are a lot less likely to just hand them in for rehoming.
In terms of inverts, I've notices that UK dealer stockists have become less varied, a result of Brexit.

 

[LucN]

I have noticed the influx of new members over the last year since Covid began, not everybody stuck here though. As @QuinnStarr mentionned, many were in it temporarily because they got bored staying at home with little to do. If anyone gets into Ts for seeing activity out of them, they are in for a major dissapointment. I believe that any animal you acquire should be kept unless you are absolutely incapable of caring for them any further, such as suddenly becoming blind to give a drastic example. I dread the thought of anyone releasing a tarantula in their area. If a predator doesn't get it, the cold of winter will claim them. I have passed a couple of Ts to other people in the beginning when I got slightly over my head and had a bit more than I could handle. Never again. Any T that I acquire here on out will stick with me until they die of either a bad molt or old age.

 

[RezonantVoid]

Things have slowed down here a bit too, it's been about 2 weeks now since a new species of mygalomorph was added to someone's stock list