Arachnids for a career

[Matt Man]

you will either wind up in academia, a zoo (if you are lucky) but more likely living in the central valley of CA and working for Big Ag.

 

[Benjaminn]

It’s not really quick cash either, so one would need to be patient. You will spend hundreds and thousands of dollars on shipping supplies, tarantulas, cages, and food for everyone before you see any kind of income. Overwhelming is an understatement for most people lol. In networking, I mean talking to breeders here, and going to reptile shows, getting to know people and hopefully build a strong trust with. That way you can use those people to do business with, meet new clientele, and even ask for tips, and amswer questions. I did check out your website, i like it. It’s like a biography kind of, what do you plan on doing with your page?

I don't really plan on doing anything specific with my site. I guess a few reasons for it would be, I want to have QR codes on each enclosure so when you scan it you'll come to a page for that specific species with a 30 second informational read about them and maybe how I care for it so if I were to be injured or unable to attend to them then someone just needs to scan it and read how to care for it while I'm gone.

I will also post how I care for certain species that I have raised up from sling to adulthood multiple times, like the one I've already made on P. murinus.

I do also plan on posting my breeding reports on there as well post pictures of my collection as I dislike using forums, and even more so with social media, but that is about it. I think its a good idea for anyone to have a website especially if you've got a strong opinion or passion about something, and its not like it is a difficult task to make one and learn basic HTML/CSS.

 

[Matt Man]

I know numerous people who earn decent livings in the T trade. Of note: You will be traveling a lot going from show to show

 

[Ian14]

I have lost count of the number of 16/17/18 year olds with a passion for exotic animals, be that herps, inverts, birds, mammals or fish, who dream of making their hobby their career.
The grim reality is this.
It ain't gonna happen.
Unless you want to spend your working life as either a very low paid zoo worker, very low paid animal charity worker, or equally low paid researcher in a university, this dream is just not going to materialise.
Zoo work is tedious and monotonous.
You will be far better keeping your hobby as just that. Your hobby.
Well paid careers in exotic animals are nigh on non existent.

 

[Crazyarachnoguy]

I have lost count of the number of 16/17/18 year olds with a passion for exotic animals, be that herps, inverts, birds, mammals or fish, who dream of making their hobby their career.
The grim reality is this.
It ain't gonna happen.
Unless you want to spend your working life as either a very low paid zoo worker, very low paid animal charity worker, or equally low paid researcher in a university, this dream is just not going to materialise.
Zoo work is tedious and monotonous.
You will be far better keeping your hobby as just that. Your hobby.
Well paid careers in exotic animals are nigh on non existent.

I was one of these teenagers lol! It’s not impossible, but difficult.

 

[Liquifin]

I don't really plan on doing anything specific with my site. I guess a few reasons for it would be, I want to have QR codes on each enclosure so when you scan it you'll come to a page for that specific species with a 30 second informational read about them and maybe how I care for it so if I were to be injured or unable to attend to them then someone just needs to scan it and read how to care for it while I'm gone.

I will also post how I care for certain species that I have raised up from sling to adulthood multiple times, like the one I've already made on P. murinus.

I do also plan on posting my breeding reports on there as well post pictures of my collection as I dislike using forums, and even more so with social media, but that is about it. I think its a good idea for anyone to have a website especially if you've got a strong opinion or passion about something, and its not like it is a difficult task to make one and learn basic HTML/CSS.

@Benjaminn You're still quite young, so you shouldn't overthink things like these just yet. But you should be considerate of potential careers if you're willing to take the years.

My Opinion, Experience, and Insight on Those Wanting to Enter the Tarantula Market:

You don't have to agree with everything I say, but there is some validity to the things I'm going to say.

I will not teach you the market and business because I'm very picky about it and who I chose to pass knowledge too. So this is just a heads-up.

In terms of the tarantula breeding and market. A lot of people are getting these unrealistic expectations going into the market, driven by passion and not on reality. Many new people who transition from keeping tarantulas as a hobby to breeding and entering the market will most likely never succeed long-term and anyone who does should embrace for a possible chance of failure. I've seen it from time and time again how much passion there was at the beginning and how little there was going out of it.

It doesn't make sense to me if you're already making "decent" profit within I'd say the first five years of going in. I know people always ask me: Why 5 Years? And why not any lower or higher in terms of years?

I always say five years, because it's the usual transition of years that I see if you have the potential to be successful or not. In any form of exotic pet trade, whether it be ball pythons, leopard geckos, tarantulas, etc. It takes an absurd amount of time, dedication, and skill. And yes, it will take years as no one just becomes successful overnight with the exotic pet trade. Everyone needs to realize that exotic pets are very niche, and even more so with tarantulas. So the market is very limited.

Most people who are tarantula breeders/vendors/sellers cannot make ends meet, which is why they have actual jobs and only do tarantulas as a side or secondary business (me included). A lot of these tarantula vendors and breeders are just normal people like you and me. I know some vendors who are literally living a nomadic lifestyle selling tarantulas from show to show and barely come back to their own homes because they're trying to make ends meet.

I keep seeing new breeders being misguided by the belief of more breeding= more slings= more money. And that simply just isn't the case. An example is that I have 8-10 female C. versicolors, but I choose not to breed them because I know it will be a nightmare just to get rid of the slings. Or with OBT's as I own like 10 maybe 12 females right now, but it's obvious that OBT's are a hard sell since they're so commonly available. The idea I'm trying to make is that more slings is just more of a hassle to take care of and sell. And no, it will not be easy to sell anything that commonly saturated in the market. It will cost more money to care and feed them if you cannot sell them away on time, causing money deficit long term.

I believe anyone has potential to be a great tarantula breeder/vendor/seller. But it doesn't mean everyone or anyone will be successful or even can be. I know I sound harsh, but I'm trying to be as realistic as possible because this stuff can take years of your life from you. This isn't like 10-15+ years ago when people did it for fun and then they suddenly became successful. The legendary long-time tarantula breeders such as Tom Patterson, Kelly Swift, Todd Gearheart, etc. started in a time where it was very small and anyone could start and flourish successfully. Now it's too saturated and with more tarantula breeders there is a TON of more competition, not-to-mention reptile breeders selling tarantulas as well. All business is a competition and you have to beat them if you are going or coming into the tarantula market space. This is why I don't do retail, because it's a nightmare of a competition to do so.

I strongly advise to avoid tarantula breeders/vendors who gives off false encouragement such as "keep going and you'll make it". Because those do hurt people. They won't say it because it's true, they'll say those things because it's what you want to hear. And when people say things you want to hear, you'll like them more. So essentially it wouldn't be putting money in your wallet. It would be putting money in my wallet, which is why I won't say those kind of things when it comes to the tarantula market/business.

I can go on days talking about how niche, complex, and challenging the tarantula market truly can be. But I will say this again from last time: "The people who are going to succeed in this are the ones who are more dedicated, more passionate, and more hard-working than anyone else in the entire hobby and are willing to risk years of their lives doing so."

 

[DaveM]

I notice that @Liquifin is 21, and @Benjamin is 16. Liquifin's plan is that 5 years should be telling, which is the difference in their ages.

@Benjamin, perhaps this is your future self speaking back to you, a helpful sort of Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come.

However, he speaks of how things were 10-15+ years ago, so maybe he started much younger than you or is a great student of this hobby's history.

You know you're really young when a 21-year-old calls you still quite young. Good luck!

 

[Liquifin]

I notice that @Liquifin is 21, and @Benjamin is 16. Liquifin's plan is that 5 years should be telling, which is the difference in their ages.

Has nothing to do with age difference. It has more to do with progression within a time frame.

However, he speaks of how things were 10-15+ years ago, so maybe he started much younger than you or is a great student of this hobby's history.

There is very few people who know of this hobby's history in terms of tarantula breeders, sellers, and vendors. We should always acknowledge the efforts of those that came before us. Because without their contributions, the hobby wouldn't be the same as it is today.

 

[DaveM]

Has nothing to do with age difference. It has more to do with progression within a time frame.

Sure, no dispute there. My meaning was that, "OP, this might be yourself in 5 years, speaking back to you."

 

[kingshockey]

chase your dreams

 

[ATPikachu]

As a teacher, I'm going to say chase your dreams, absolutely, but remember that failures, path changes and redirections are a huge part of life. You only fail when you give up. There will always be doors open for those who work hard, have a goal and are realistic in their expectations. Xx

 

[Introvertebrate]

As a realistic individual, I would say base your career on the job market. You can always play with critters in your spare time.

 

[catboyeuthanasia]

As someone who went into academia, I would say that it's good to be flexible. If you are engaged and persistent enough, you can definitely have lots of success researching arachnids. However, you will have to sacrifice a lot of things to do so. Keep in mind that this is only my experiences academia in an unrelated field, maybe things are different in entymology. Here's some of what I have encountered:

• Physical health: you will need glasses earlier in life if you choose to do research. Luckily, academia is getting a lot better and regulating stress and overwork now, so you can definitely get a degree whill taking it easy
• Mental health: Again, overwork is becoming less of an issue, but it is till an issue. There are a lot of bad actors in academia, heck, I even know one who works with arachnids! (https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-02156-2) Are you willing to tolerate working with unsavory people who you can do nothing about because they have tenure?
• Financial reasons: no matter where you go, you will be underpaid. Post- docs and grad students will make a lot less than similarly skilled/hard working people in other fields. For reference, I'm doing a pHD in astronomy and make ~$40,000 a year (which is on the high end for a grad student) and my friend who went to work for Amazon after graduating with the same physics bachelors makes ~$150,000. If I take a postdoc, I will be making maybe double my current pay, and maybe after several years if I get lucky, I will land a professorship that makes ~$100,000 starting out.
• Job security: good news is that when you are doing a degree, you have a very secure job for 5ish years. If you land a tenure track professorship, you will have great job security. Bad news is that there is a lot of luck that goes into having there be a vacant position in the exact thing your research is about.
• Hot topics: will you research a subject you are more interested in, or a subject that will get you published easier? Maybe take a more data analysis/machine learning approach with your research to become more employable outside of academia after you graduate.
• Relationships: this is a big one, and it completely blindsided me when I went into academia. It is difficult to maintain a relationship when you plan of becoming a researcher. Let's say you meet someone in undergraduate studies. To get into grad school, you will probably need to apply to multiple institutions across your country and maybe others. Then, 4-5ish years later, you'll need to apply for a post doc. That's another 2-3 years in a different country. Your partner might not want to uproot their life and move only to have to move again in 2 more years. After you finish the post doc, you may need to apply for more post docs and professorships that, chances are, are in different states/countries! So that's even more uncertainty and moving. You'll be in your early to mid 30s at this point, and for many people, this is the time they would want to settle down. There are couples who have made it work, but this is an infamous problem that have taken many people (myself included) out of academia

I know I sound pretty negative but you can truly get a lot of fulfillment from doing research into your topic of interest. You will be working on the cutting edge of knowledge, studying something you really care about. Lots of people have made careers our of niche subjects. Also, you can leave academia and do an industry job, and still walk away with a lot of transferable skills (data analysis, self-directed work, coming up with proposals, etc.) Academia does have a lot of problems, but it is not the hopeless money hole some people make it out to be. You can do research and contribute to arachnid knowledge outside of academia though!