Arachnophobia?

EulersK

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@EulersK I'm not trying to be defensive, at least I didn't want it to look this way. I just feel like qutting hobby is the easiest thing to do and I never in my life want to take the easiest path to anything.
I mean, people have offered the best advice available. Well, actually, your only two options. Either quit entirely or switch to slower NW species. What is it that you look for in a spider? Size? Color? Disposition?
 

Exoticas

Arachnopeon
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Chris, I always enjoy talking to people that are enjoying same stuff that I do :D But at this point I feel like I'm being considered as a newbie and that i had to prove that my fears had nothing to do with my capability to provide spiders. I really appretiate everyone's time and I'm not a drama guy, but I just felt like only one guy truly understood what I was saying. :D
 

Exoticas

Arachnopeon
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@EulersK Or there is the 3rd option to stick to my OW's. I've had a lot of NW's, but I am a OW's guy. I love H.Macs or Ceratogyrus sp. in general. Why? Well I don't know, thats the answer I would love to know myself. I just like OW's
 

Chris LXXIX

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Chris, I always enjoy talking to people that are enjoying same stuff that I do :D But at this point I feel like I'm being considered as a newbie and that i had to prove that my fears had nothing to do with my capability to provide spiders. I really appretiate everyone's time and I'm not a drama guy, but I just felt like only one guy truly understood what I was saying. :D
My point is simple: if you can 'catch cup' an E.murinus, indeed not high strung like certain OW's, sure, but still a NW that needs a bit of respect since they tend to be on the 'nervous' side, I don't see where the problem is, my man. From what I was able to read so far (English isn't however my first language) I had the impression that you couldn't do something like that.

You just need to do the same (even if I, on a personal level, love to use a bit larger containers) with OW's. Just remaining always careful.

To have a bit of 'adrenaline' rush, one moment (especially with certain Theraphosidae) is normal, yes even for those with years of experience under the belt but definitely different than a 'fear of rehouse' at 360°, no?
 

EulersK

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@EulersK Or there is the 3rd option to stick to my OW's. I've had a lot of NW's, but I am a OW's guy. I love H.Macs or Ceratogyrus sp. in general. Why? Well I don't know, thats the answer I would love to know myself. I just like OW's
Then... I'm not quite sure what you hoped to accomplish with this thread. I'm definitely lost at this point.
 

Exoticas

Arachnopeon
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My point is simple: if you can 'catch cup' an E.murinus, indeed not high strung like certain OW's, sure, but still a NW that needs a bit of respect since they tend to be on the 'nervous' side, I don't see where the problem is, my man. From what I was able to read so far (English isn't however my first language) I had the impression that you couldn't do something like that.

You just need to do the same (even if I, on a personal level, love to use a bit larger containers) with OW's. Just remaining always careful.

To have a bit of 'adrenaline' rush, one moment (especially with certain Theraphosidae) is normal, yes even for those with years of experience under the belt but definitely different than a 'fear of rehouse' at 360°, no?
It is different, my friend, but even tho I have a hard time catching them sometimes It is mainly because I am so damn afraid to fully open the lid. I'm much more confident using a paint brush tactic to make them move into the cup.
 

Venom1080

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if youre scared of getting tagged, thats normal... if youre plain scared at the possibility of being tagged, and its stressing you out, then theres a problem. i think everyone uses a paintbrush to get them into a catch cup...
 

D Sherlod

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I would think the first step would be to figure out exactly what it is that puts you on edge with T's. An arachnophobic has a fear usually so strong they could not be in the same house nevermind room as them.
Your anxiety maybe over the possibilitie of a bite or an escape.
I personally dont do OW because a bite could mean loss of several days work or worse. If i loose days at work my family suffers. So that apprehension keeps me from getting them.
Your anxiety could be rooted in something similar.
Did your anxiety get worse when you stepped up to Ow.
Knowing the cause is most of the battle.
Good luck
 

Exoticas

Arachnopeon
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All in all, I think that it is fear/lack of confidence mainly because of my anxiety over the possibility of them escaping
 

EulersK

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All in all, I think that it is fear/lack of confidence mainly because of my anxiety over the possibility of them escaping
Tarantulas are very fast... in small spaces. Once they hit open land, you'd be surprised at just how slow they are. Do your maintanence and rehousings in the middle of a wide open floor. I still do that for 100% of my rehousings.

Case in point. Of all things, I was rehousing my juvie H. maculata. It was ungodly fast in the enclosure, my eyes couldn't keep up. Well, she eventually bolted out of the enclosure and onto the floor. She began to scurry, and it wasn't even close to being a challenge to drop a catch cup over her. Over the span of a few inches, yes, they may as well teleport. But over the course of a couple feet? Nah, they're very slow bugs. Pretty sure my roaches are faster than most tarantulas.
 

Exoticas

Arachnopeon
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Maybe I would be more confident If i had wide open floor in my house. There are tons of stuff everywhere and I REALLY don't want T's to get under them.
 

Jeff23

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I'll make one last comment.

If you are only worried about them escaping then you need to examine whether they are trying to escape. Get yourself an outer tub and place a container in it in the middle of a room with space. Have your catch cup equipment ready. Open the container and verify each one still wants to stay in the enclosure.

If they are happy they usually have no motivation to leave the enclosure (at least that is true for almost all of mine). None of my tarantulas try to escape. I own over 100 (mostly slings and juveniles but over 10 adults). I could actually walk off for several minutes and come back and every one of them would be very likely still in their home (except for my E. sp. red and E. sp tiger which both patrol the entire enclosure constantly and have high curiosity levels). Maybe a MM would be more apt to walk as well.
 

Exoticas

Arachnopeon
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Well I guess I'll do just that then. Thanks everyone for your time and attention I appretiate that. Wish you all luck! *brofist*
 

Nightstalker47

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Tarantulas are very fast... in small spaces. Once they hit open land, you'd be surprised at just how slow they are. Do your maintanence and rehousings in the middle of a wide open floor.
They can be much faster then people realize, I do all my rehousings in a large 55 gallon aquarium that is completely empty, this has been especially useful for my large centipedes. That way if it bolts somehow you have time to catch it, and it's unlikely it will find its way out.

It is different, my friend, but even tho I have a hard time catching them sometimes It is mainly because I am so damn afraid to fully open the lid.
if you provide a good hide for your Ts it will be much more likely to flee there then leave it's enclosure into unknown ground. You could also get yourself an aquarium to do your feeding and rehousings in, if you can afford it. Im sure it would be reassuring for your anxiety right?
 

boina

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I don't want to come over all brain doc here, but there is a technique from behavioural therapy that might possibly be helpful and it goes like this:

Make two columns on a piece of paper. In column one you write one point you are afraid of. In column two you write a rational response why that's not really something you'd need to be afraid of. Use "You" in column 1 and "I" in column 2
Example:
1: You should be afraid that your T's will get out and run away.
2: That's highly unlikely. I know that T's will not deliberately leave their nest to just run around for fun.

and so on. Devide your general fear in subpoints as small as possible and address them separately. Make experiments like the one suggested above about leaving an enclosure open in a controlled environment to prove to yourself that T's don't just run away for fun. Don't do it all in one day, but spread it out and re-read it if you feel too stressed out again.

Don't know if this will work for you, but it's something that's often done in therapy for phobias.
 

nicodimus22

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Maybe I would be more confident If i had wide open floor in my house. There are tons of stuff everywhere and I REALLY don't want T's to get under them.
One option in that case is to do transfers in the bathtub (with the drains plugged, of course, and the shower curtain on the inside.) If they bolt, they can't really go anywhere.
 

Moakmeister

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Maybe someone has already answered this, but you definitely do not have arachnophobia. Arachnophobia is a psychological disorder that causes an extreme, volatile fear of spiders. If a person with arachnophobia sees a spider on the wall, they will begin screaming and hyperventilating. They will be unable to function and go into a state of complete panic. If they are flipping through a book and they flip to a page with a picture of a spider on it, they will throw the book across the room in shock and horror. Phobias can even cause heart attacks if the object of the phobia is present for too long.
TL;DR if you have any ability to interact or watch spiders whatsoever you are not an arachnophobe.
 

boina

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Maybe someone has already answered this, but you definitely do not have arachnophobia. Arachnophobia is a psychological disorder that causes an extreme, volatile fear of spiders. If a person with arachnophobia sees a spider on the wall, they will begin screaming and hyperventilating. They will be unable to function and go into a state of complete panic. If they are flipping through a book and they flip to a page with a picture of a spider on it, they will throw the book across the room in shock and horror. Phobias can even cause heart attacks if the object of the phobia is present for too long.
TL;DR if you have any ability to interact or watch spiders whatsoever you are not an arachnophobe.
Sorry, but no. What you are describing is an extreme phobia. There are lighter cases. A phobia is anything that causes significant distress and impairment and does not seem rational to others. And there is actually a form of therapy called "flooding" where a person is exposed to his/her phobic stimulus for a prolonged time. What happens is, that after a while (and this while can range from minutes to hours) the body's reaction runs out and the person is quite calm and generally cured of the phobia. They don't get a heart attack.
 
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