will you introduce your children and/or nieces and nephews to the invertebrate keeping hobby

in the title

  • yes

    Votes: 138 95.8%
  • no

    Votes: 6 4.2%

  • Total voters
    144

docwade87

Arachnoknight
Joined
Mar 11, 2019
Messages
225
I will most definitely introduce my children to invertebrates, reptiles, and how important every species plays such a vital role in our ecosystem. I am excited to help them understand and respect nature and everything that comes a long with it.

My family is already used to it but doesn’t necessarily like everything but respects everything more.
 

Newspidermom77

Arachnopeon
Joined
Apr 29, 2019
Messages
3
My children are really interested in the hobby since I got my B. Albopilosum. My 5 year old daughter wants one so I told her she can "help" me to care for mine and learn so that when she's bigger she can have one of her own. She says she really wants a Cyriocosmus Elegans (I wonder why? ) My 11 year old son was the person who egged me on to get my first tarantula! I was trying to be grown up and sensible, think about it properly (dithering ) and he stood beside me chanting "get it, get it, get it" I've just ordered my second, and they're all really excited about this one too!
 

Nickjuliaschick

Arachnopeon
Joined
Nov 28, 2016
Messages
4
My two kids are 4 and 2, they both love everything about the hobby. Granted they are too young to do much more than look, but I include them when I can. They help out while taking care of my feeder bugs, and like holding meal worms especially. My wife who used to be very against spiders, now has a couple of her own and even defends spiders when other friends or family talk about how disgusting they are.
 

Hoxter

Arachnoderp
Joined
Dec 29, 2018
Messages
287
I'm not planning to have children but if the plan doesn't work out, I'll introduce them to my collection and make sure they know the cool side of the hobby. At first it's better to show people how fascinating it can be to keep tarantulas and after they are in... well, it will be hard to get out.
For now I'm working on my mom and grandparents and introducing them to the tarantulas. Everyone was against me keeping them however there's a change. It's gotten to the point where they can ask on their own how my Ts are doing. Talking about rescuing almost dead T helped a lot as they can learn how fragile tarantulas can be. I can't wait to see their first meeting with ones in my collection, that might be interesting.
 

Andrea82

Arachnoemperor
Joined
Jan 12, 2016
Messages
3,686
My daughter at first was enthusiastic about my 'Mr. Skinny Legs' spiders, but that has subsided substantially. Unless someone else is coming over to take a look, then she will be like she owns them :p
When I did a presentation for her group of boyscouts she also helped me and was (in her way) lecturing others about what they eat and how many legs they have and stuff like that. :smug:
 

SuzukiSwift

Arachnoprince
Old Timer
Joined
May 29, 2012
Messages
1,208
I have already used one of my G.porteri and A.avics as examples in my mums classroom multiple times, the kids love them. My mum has a class tarantula too, before it was a B.smithi but now they have a C.versicolor.

Sometimes as a treat she will take her class to my house and I’ll show them my collection, show them moults, explain their anatomy, moulting process, etc. I’ve had a lot of kids that were afraid of spiders lose their phobia, it is so incredibly rewarding.

My daughter is only 1 right now but I show her my collection already (from a distance for now of course ;))
 

Rigor Mortis

Arachnobaron
Joined
Nov 7, 2018
Messages
498
I don't have nieces or nephews but I have plenty of young cousins and family friends with small children who I am indoctrinating. My cousin's 4 year old daughter loves my spiders and always asks for photos and videos of them. In fact my spiders have quite a few young fans! It's amazing how most little kids I encounter aren't afraid of them in the least.
 

Andrea82

Arachnoemperor
Joined
Jan 12, 2016
Messages
3,686
I don't have nieces or nephews but I have plenty of young cousins and family friends with small children who I am indoctrinating. My cousin's 4 year old daughter loves my spiders and always asks for photos and videos of them. In fact my spiders have quite a few young fans! It's amazing how most little kids I encounter aren't afraid of them in the least.
You just wait until they have started school... The fear will be indoctrinated then. My daughter was absolutely fascinated by my spiders, no fear whatsoever. Then she began attending school. She now goes 'eeeeewwww' like the rest of the girlie girls in her class.
:shifty:
 

The Seraph

Arachnolord
Joined
Sep 14, 2018
Messages
601
Absolutely. Mine already is interested in arthropods and when I seem her responsible enough I plan to buy her a tarantula of her own.
 

Rix11

Arachnopeon
Joined
May 27, 2019
Messages
5
When I was in the classroom, I fostered my love of Ts. My excitement became contagious and my students were in love. Some of my students were originally from Mexico, Brazil or Peru so sometimes they recognized a species we had in class. Even my greatest T haters couldn't hate the cutest slings. They would enjoy watching them move around, grow, molt and learned about a whole new life cycle in the process. We never handled them and I explained that they are like goldfish beautiful to watch but not made to cuddle. The students were assured that the Ts couldn't get out and none of them were ever forced to come close to a tank to watch. I would even have animal ambassadors who would take them with me to visit other classrooms during our breaks in the day at the end of the year. This way my students would be teaching other students and I would be there to add support. It was fun and I learned a lot as well.
 
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Mini8leggedfreak

Arachnoknight
Joined
Dec 21, 2017
Messages
270
I’ve heard some people in my family telling my nephew that bugs are bad. Like hornets.
I just said no they’re not bad but they don’t like to be played with.
I don’t think it’s good to tell a kid that bugs are bad. I’ll definitely introduce him(and my own kids, someday) to the hobby
 

DancingHare

Arachnopeon
Joined
May 21, 2019
Messages
15
Yep, the 14 year old is already interested when I told him that I was getting one. He's not the most responsible kid though so I'm not sure about letting him have his own yet.
 

patrick nimbs

Arachnoknight
Joined
Feb 17, 2019
Messages
152
I would not recommend a child under the age of 15 to keep either a venomous spider, tarantula or large centipede species with individuals exceeding 10 or more centimetres!! Children are more susceptible to the venom of these animals than other people however, if the child is over the age of 7 and they have the appropriate knowledge and skills, they may keep these invertebrates, but you MUST supervise the children when they are feeding the animals or even in the vicinity of the collections (or animal since not every hobbyist would have more than one animal). That is just my recommendations and my rules if I were to have kids myself.
 

Colorado Ts

Arachnoangel
Joined
Oct 16, 2019
Messages
831
My interest in this hobby is/has been contagious.

I took my Adv Chemistry students to see the 2019 Tarantula Migration in southern Colorado. We arrived home at 2:00 in the morning, and I'm still getting students that I don't know, coming in and talking with me about the trip. It was pretty cool seeing so many tarantulas in their natural environment.

My grand kids are very enthusiastic about this hobby as well. The oldest one wants to be a YouTube star, and tell people about tarantulas like Tom Moran, Dark Den and Tarantula Collective. He talks about a few others, but those are the ones that I hear repeated the most.

When I work with the tarantulas, both of them are right there, totally engaged, totally enthralled and enjoying quality time together.
 

Eukio

Arachnosquire
Joined
Nov 10, 2019
Messages
50
Partly the reason I got into the hobby was due to my child actually. Allow me to explain: I already had interest in tarantulas. Now my child expressed an interest in tarantulas. Imo, getting a dog is a bad idea. My child is young. A dog is a huge responsibility for a child, and children typically lose interest in their pets over time. I really don't have interest in caring for a dog. A tarantula, however, is an animal I do have interest in, and they are easy to care for. So, we got into the hobby, and now we have 10 with another on the way. Of course, my child lost interest in them, but he knows about their basic care, anatomy, etc. He still, of course, gets excited when one molts or a new one gets added to the family. It is something he may wish to pick up on in the future when he is more responsible. Heck, I don't even care if he wants to take 1 or 2 of mine when he is a bit older and shows he is responsible enough to care for them.

I have also volunteered to allow my G. porteri to be a classroom pets of sorts in my son's classrooms under the rule that no one touches or bothers her. I use to have a science teacher that kept all sorts of pets in his classroom, and I respect that it fostered some genuine interest toward some of the animals he kept from some of his students. This is a tarantula that has never had any defensive behavior, such as biting or threat poses (if you touch her, she just scoots over a few steps), mind you, and something that is easy to care for: give her some water, and you are good to go. Of course, it wasn't approved because of the students have a phobia of spiders.
 
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Colorado Ts

Arachnoangel
Joined
Oct 16, 2019
Messages
831
Partly the reason I got into the hobby was due to my child actually. Allow me to explain: I already had interest in tarantulas. Now my child expressed an interest in tarantulas. Imo, getting a dog is a bad idea. My child is young. A dog is a huge responsibility for a child, and children typically lose interest in their pets over time. I really don't have interest in caring for a dog. A tarantula, however, is an animal I do have interest in, and they are easy to care for. So, we got into the hobby, and now we have 10 with another on the way. Of course, my child lost interest in them, but he knows about their basic care, anatomy, etc. He still, of course, gets excited when one molts or a new one gets added to the family. It is something he may wish to pick up on in the future when he is more responsible. Heck, I don't even care if he wants to take 1 or 2 of mine when he is a bit older and shows he is responsible enough to care for them.

I have also volunteered to allow my G. porteri to be a classroom pets of sorts in my son's classrooms under the rule that no one touches or bothers her. I use to have a science teacher that kept all sorts of pets in his classroom, and I respect that it fostered some genuine interest toward some of the animals he kept from some of his students. This is a tarantula that has never had any defensive behavior, such as biting or threat poses (if you touch her, she just scoots over a few steps), mind you, and something that is easy to care for: give her some water, and you are good to go. Of course, it wasn't approved because of the students have a phobia of spiders.
My child got me into the hobby as well. I left for several years and now I'm back.
 
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