How did your tarantulas get their names?

violetsun5

Arachnopeon
Joined
Dec 17, 2017
Messages
15
I don't name all of mine (there are too many) but of the ones that are named:

Bitey mc<rudeword>hole: She's an hmac, no points for guessing how she got her name.

Balbo: Someone saw me tag my b. albo that on instagram and thought it was his name...well it is now

Rosa: Rose hair

Nope: A Seemanii. Was named this because that's what my husband said before I brought her home as my first T. It suits her.

Satan: My second A Seemanii, named due to sentiment for the first

Ghost: P Regalis, my second T, just thought it was a good name

Hank: OBT, idk it just happened
 
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Teal

Arachnoemperor
Old Timer
Joined
Jan 11, 2009
Messages
4,096
I cannot even remember the origins of most of my T names... of our 100 or so spiders, 2/3rds or so have names so far. We'll just randomly come up with names while feeding or doing maintenance. Some have themes - My partner's B. vagans are Creole, Mardigras, Jambalaya, and Bayou. Our P. metallicas are Potato, Spud, and Russett... then there are some that are just random - Ostrich (T. stirmi), Coffeebac (P. lugardi), Kitty (A. hentzi), Arnold (A. chalcodes), Ballet (S. cal)... the list goes on lol
 

Ashlynn Rose

Arachnosquire
Joined
Apr 25, 2018
Messages
101
Most of my pet names come from movies, books, or TV shows. I'm just a huge nerd.

Venom: I went to see Venom a week before I got my A. genic, and that little black and white sling is a cranky thing that eats everything in sight.
Samuel: He was sold as a female, and I named him Samantha. He turned out to be "Samuel."
Facehugger: She's a huge LP, and my friend and I love Aliens.
Martouf: fingernail-sized A. chalcodes. I love Stargate. Sam, above, was named after Samantha Carter from the show until he ruined the name by hooking out.
Rosalee: G. rosea. She's named after Rosalee from the TV show Grimm.
 

WildSpider

Arachnobaron
Joined
Jul 14, 2018
Messages
465
Most of my pet names come from movies, books, or TV shows. I'm just a huge nerd.

Venom: I went to see Venom a week before I got my A. genic, and that little black and white sling is a cranky thing that eats everything in sight.
Samuel: He was sold as a female, and I named him Samantha. He turned out to be "Samuel."
Facehugger: She's a huge LP, and my friend and I love Aliens.
Martouf: fingernail-sized A. chalcodes. I love Stargate. Sam, above, was named after Samantha Carter from the show until he ruined the name by hooking out.
Rosalee: G. rosea. She's named after Rosalee from the TV show Grimm.
I love Stargate! One of my favorite shows if not my very favorite show of all time. I love naming my pets after movie, book, and T.V. characters too. Maybe ten years ago, I watched Macgyver because it had Richard Dean Anderson in it so I named my rabbit Macgyver. I've name some of my other animals after scientists and astronomical objects but it's still my favorite to go with TV/movie characters.

I named my T Gro. If it's a girl, it'll be a Norwegian name. If it's a boy, the spelling will change to Gru and it will be named after Felonius Gru :p.
 
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Minty

@londontarantulas
Joined
Feb 2, 2018
Messages
488
I name them after people I like, usually. Dave, Bob etc...
 

chanda

Arachnoking
Old Timer
Joined
Jun 27, 2010
Messages
2,229
Most of my spiders are unnamed, but there are a few exceptions:

"Rosie" - an adult female Chilean Rose Hair (sold as G. rosea - but I'm pretty sure she's actually G. porteri) She was named by my students - and when a bunch of 6- and 7-year-olds suggest a name for a Rose Hair tarantula, it will be Rosie 99% of the time. They will, of course, believe that they are being incredibly creative and orginal - and who am I to disabuse them of the notion? This is, after all, the age when their favorite stuffed toys inevitably have names like Ducky (a duck), Pandy (a panda), Foxy (a fox) etc.

"Surly Temple" - an adult female B. albopilosum. She was my first T, raised from a tiny sling that would have fit on my fingernail with room to spare. Like many noobie keepers, I walked into my first expo asking "What kind of tarantula would be the best one that I can hold?" I have since learned better (fortunately NOT through any unfortunate accidents or injuries to my pets!) but in the early days, when she first got near her adult size, I would occasionally hold her (maybe 3 or 4 times, total) - and she was quite docile and cooperative, walking slowly from hand to hand or just sitting on my palm, never throwing a threat posture or kicking hairs. Then she hit a moody phase, where she wanted nothing to do with me and would throw threat postures or kick hairs if I opened the cage to feed her or fill her water dish. (I did not try to hold her doing this phase. Even when I did hold her, before the attitude change, it was only if she did nothing to indicate that she'd rather be left alone.) The sudden mood shift (which she has since outgrown) plus the common name of "Curly Hair" was what earned her that name.

"Big Bertha" - an adult female T. stirmi. I was doing a bug and spider presentation for a friend's son's birthday party. One of the first guests to arrive - a little girl of maybe 5 or 6 - was terrified of bugs in general and spiders in particular. She was watching fearfully as I was bringing in the cages and setting up - so I invited her over to meet some of them. I made up the name on the spot because giving something a name - particularly an innocous-sounding name like Bertha - can demystify it for children and make it seem less threatening. I introduced the little girl to Bertha - who was, of course, safely locked in her cage - and pointed out just how much bigger the girl was than the spider, and that the spider was much more frightened of her than she was of the spider. We talked a little about how Bertha behaved, what she ate, where she came from - and by the time the other guests arrived, not only was the girl no longer afraid to come see the bugs and spiders - but she even held a few, like the hissing cockroaches and beetles! Her dad later emailed me that the experience had made a huge difference for his daughter and really helped her to get over her fears.

"Jethro" - a good-sized (possibly sub-adult) suspect-male Pamphobeteus sp. Ecuador "Purple Bloom." When I got him a couple of years ago, he had one wonky fang that was going sideways, over the top of his pedipalp. I hoped that when he molted it would correct itself - but it has not. He has now molted three times in the past two and a half years, and that fang is still going sideways. He does alright, taking down crickets and eating with only one functioning fang, but he does look rather odd when you look at him up close. Somebody suggested that it looked like he had "hillbilly teeth" - hence the name Jethro.

tarantula bad fang 2.jpg Pamphobeteus sp Ecuador eating.jpg
 
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Ashlynn Rose

Arachnosquire
Joined
Apr 25, 2018
Messages
101
I love Stargate! One of my favorite shows if not my very favorite show of all time. I love naming my pets after movie, book, and T.V. characters too. Maybe ten years ago, I watched Macgyver because it had Richard Dean Anderson in it so I named my rabbit Macgyver. I've name some of my other animals after scientists and astronomical objects but it's still my favorite to go with TV/movie characters.

I named my T Gro. If it's a girl, it'll be a Norwegian name. If it's a boy, the spelling will change to Gru and it will be named after Felonius Gru :p.
I can't believe you like Stargate! I could probably count the number of people I've met who like Stargate on one hand. Well, I guess I haven't met you, but... whatever. That show is definitely my go-to for pet names. If I ever got a Heteroscodra maculata or maybe another genic, I would name it Todd.
 

WildSpider

Arachnobaron
Joined
Jul 14, 2018
Messages
465
I can't believe you like Stargate! I could probably count the number of people I've met who like Stargate on one hand. Well, I guess I haven't met you, but... whatever. That show is definitely my go-to for pet names. If I ever got a Heteroscodra maculata or maybe another genic, I would name it Todd.
Todd would be perfect, lol :rofl:!
 

Ashlynn Rose

Arachnosquire
Joined
Apr 25, 2018
Messages
101
Todd would be perfect, lol :rofl:!

I've met at least one other person who likes Stargate. He was my kinda my highschool crush :embarrassed:, haha.
My brothers don't understand my love for Todd. Now that I think of it, Wraith names would be perfect for tarantulas. Hmm... Now I need more tarantulas to name. :)

Love your signature, too.
 

WildSpider

Arachnobaron
Joined
Jul 14, 2018
Messages
465
My brothers don't understand my love for Todd. Now that I think of it, Wraith names would be perfect for tarantulas. Hmm... Now I need more tarantulas to name. :)

Love your signature, too.
Here's a pic of Todd a friend of mine sent me before :D.
user_14624855_1256943844588_www_kepfeltoltes_hu_.jpg

Todd being my favorite wraith, I think Michael is my favorite wraith hybrid :p.
 

Minty

@londontarantulas
Joined
Feb 2, 2018
Messages
488
Most of my spiders are unnamed, but there are a few exceptions:

"Rosie" - an adult female Chilean Rose Hair (sold as G. rosea - but I'm pretty sure she's actually G. porteri) She was named by my students - and when a bunch of 6- and 7-year-olds suggest a name for a Rose Hair tarantula, it will be Rosie 99% of the time. They will, of course, believe that they are being incredibly creative and orginal - and who am I to disabuse them of the notion? This is, after all, the age when their favorite stuffed toys inevitably have names like Ducky (a duck), Pandy (a panda), Foxy (a fox) etc.

"Surly Temple" - an adult female B. albopilosum. She was my first T, raised from a tiny sling that would have fit on my fingernail with room to spare. Like many noobie keepers, I walked into my first expo asking "What kind of tarantula would be the best one that I can hold?" I have since learned better (fortunately NOT through any unfortunate accidents or injuries to my pets!) but in the early days, when she first got near her adult size, I would occasionally hold her (maybe 3 or 4 times, total) - and she was quite docile and cooperative, walking slowly from hand to hand or just sitting on my palm, never throwing a threat posture or kicking hairs. Then she hit a moody phase, where she wanted nothing to do with me and would throw threat postures or kick hairs if I opened the cage to feed her or fill her water dish. (I did not try to hold her doing this phase. Even when I did hold her, before the attitude change, it was only if she did nothing to indicate that she'd rather be left alone.) The sudden mood shift (which she has since outgrown) plus the common name of "Curly Hair" was what earned her that name.

"Big Bertha" - an adult female T. stirmi. I was doing a bug and spider presentation for a friend's son's birthday party. One of the first guests to arrive - a little girl of maybe 5 or 6 - was terrified of bugs in general and spiders in particular. She was watching fearfully as I was bringing in the cages and setting up - so I invited her over to meet some of them. I made up the name on the spot because giving something a name - particularly an innocous-sounding name like Bertha - can demystify it for children and make it seem less threatening. I introduced the little girl to Bertha - who was, of course, safely locked in her cage - and pointed out just how much bigger the girl was than the spider, and that the spider was much more frightened of her than she was of the spider. We talked a little about how Bertha behaved, what she ate, where she came from - and by the time the other guests arrived, not only was the girl no longer afraid to come see the bugs and spiders - but she even held a few, like the hissing cockroaches and beetles! Her dad later emailed me that the experience had made a huge difference for his daughter and really helped her to get over her fears.

"Jethro" - a good-sized (possibly sub-adult) suspect-male Pamphobeteus sp. Ecuador "Purple Bloom." When I got him a couple of years ago, he had one wonky fang that was going sideways, over the top of his pedipalp. I hoped that when he molted it would correct itself - but it has not. He has now molted three times in the past two and a half years, and that fang is still going sideways. He does alright, taking down crickets and eating with only one functioning fang, but he does look rather odd when you look at him up close. Somebody suggested that it looked like he had "hillbilly teeth" - hence the name Jethro.

View attachment 290022 View attachment 290023
I also have a Big Bertha.
 

SonsofArachne

Arachnoangel
Joined
Dec 10, 2017
Messages
961
My G. pulchra is named prissy because of her former hated of water, it doesn't really fit anymore. After two molts she now loves water, and her water dish.

My T. stirmi is named Sweetpea because of her loving nature. Whenever I put a dubia in her enclosure the first thing she does is give it a big hug and a kiss:angelic:.

The rest of my inverts remain anonymous.
 
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