Beginner wanting to know as much as possible!

Vanisher

Arachnoking
Old Timer
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My fiancé asked me awhile ago (because now all I talk about is Tarantulas) how many T’s was I planning on having... I kind of laughed and said “all of them.” Lol. I can’t even think of how many I’d “one day” like to have! But I just love spiders. Eventually I want different species of Wolf Spiders (my first true love), Widows, a couple Recluses. Not to mention centipedes, scorpions, millipedes. Haha. I’m just gonna have to buy a separate trailer to keep everything one day!

But I think what I love about this hobby is there’s so much to learn. It’s not a “one fits all.” Arboreal is different than terrestrial that’s different from fossorial. Different parts of the world, different behaviors. I just love it! And my kids love spiders (don’t worry, the room I plan on keeping my T has locks so my kids can’t get in there, definitely wanted to make sure my kids & the T are completely safe).
So, when do you planning of getting your first? Keep us updated
 

Erica Danielle

Arachnosquire
Joined
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Took my Adv Chemistry class to Southern Colorado to see the Tarantula Migration last fall. View attachment 333430
We saw 100 to 150 tarantulas and several species of wolf spiders with legspans as big as the palm of your hand.

Great experience for the students, awesome fieldtrip.

10/10 will do again
So, where can I sign up for classes?! That’s awesome! That’s definitely, definitely a goal of mine. To take the kids around and show them different spiders and insects. They’d love it and I would definitely love it!

That’s just awesome. I swear I would’ve paid more attention in school had we been doing awesomeness like this lol.

So, when do you planning of getting your first? Keep us updated
Honestly, I was aiming for Christmas, then I felt like I needed to research more. Then my birthday, same thing. Now Valentines Day is coming up and I’m super hoping for one then. So over the next couple days, I’m hoping to get the materials together for the enclosure and then post it and make any adjustments needed and then once I feel like everything is good to go, then I’ll be getting one. So maybe around Valentines Day through the beginning of March. That’s what I’m aiming for. As long as I don’t keep telling myself “you need to know more first.” Lol.

Please tell me what life is like as the Crazy Spider Family in a couple of years. I feel like it’s super common for one person to be into it and everyone else tolerate/humor it, but for all of you to be invested...
It’s kind of nuts because me and my fiancé used to be terrified of spiders. Couldn’t stand the thought of them being in the house. But then when my son was about 2, he started liking spiders a lot. So I thought that’d be a good way to teach him different things (colors, animals, counting, so on). So we’d get the toy spiders and count or whatnot. Then we started watching insect/arachnid documentaries. I started following those ID/enthusiast groups on FB then I was hooked! Ever since thats been one of our bonding times is looking at local spiders, researching facts about them, taking pictures and so on. I probably would’ve always been scared of them had he not became interested. So I owe my hobby/budding addiction to my kids. Lol.
 

Colorado Ts

Arachnoangel
Joined
Oct 16, 2019
Messages
831
So, where can I sign up for classes?! That’s awesome! That’s definitely, definitely a goal of mine. To take the kids around and show them different spiders and insects. They’d love it and I would definitely love it!

That’s just awesome. I swear I would’ve paid more attention in school had we been doing awesomeness like this lol.
8638DAD8-6430-4597-8D6E-07396A9271DF.jpeg
We brought back a couple females and males. My Biology students got to see them mate, as well as the Adv Chemistry class. The students researched how to breed tarantulas, set up the enclosure and tested their process.

Each female was bred at least twice, with insertion being recorded at least once each time.

The females have just come out of torpor and begun feeding. So, hoping for egg sacs in the next couple weeks...then we get to experiment with making an incubator, hatching slings and raising them.

My student aids are a bit apprehensive about the prospects of feeding baby spiders. I think they’ll live
 

Erica Danielle

Arachnosquire
Joined
Jan 28, 2020
Messages
55
View attachment 333465
We brought back a couple females and males. My Biology students got to see them mate, as well as the Adv Chemistry class. The students researched how to breed tarantulas, set up the enclosure and tested their process.

Each female was bred at least twice, with insertion being recorded at least once each time.

The females have just come out of torpor and begun feeding. So, hoping for egg sacs in the next couple weeks...then we get to experiment with making an incubator, hatching slings and raising them.

My student aids are a bit apprehensive about the prospects of feeding baby spiders. I think they’ll live
That’s so cool! I hope all goes well & Im sure your students really appreciate such an invested teacher. I really do think that’s awesome! I’ve read from different people on Facebook and so on how they’re trying to teach kids, their students and so on about having respect for even the smallest organisms (or bigger in respect to T’s lol). I think that’s awesome and what I’m trying to do with my kids. So far me, my fiancé, my Mom, his Mom and his Grandma went from “Eww, it’s a spider, kill it” to “Awww, it’s a spider. What kind is it? I want to know more.” So I think that’s awesome. Being able to see people go from “Eww, spider” to wanting to know more and sending pictures asking questions (even though I’m maybe like level one compared to most people here who are level 100 on spider/arachnid/insect knowledge). But I REALLY want to keep studying and learning so maybe one day I can be where a lot of you guys are.

I won’t overwhelm the thread (no more than I already have) with all the photos. But this past summer I was able to observe and photograph a LOT of Wolf Spiders with their slings. No matter how many times I’ve seen it, it’s always just as amazing as the first.
 

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viper69

ArachnoGod
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Dec 8, 2006
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17,851
Awesome, thank you for this! I’ll definitely keep an eye out so I can get more familiar with what to look out for.


My fiancé asked me awhile ago (because now all I talk about is Tarantulas) how many T’s was I planning on having... I kind of laughed and said “all of them.” Lol. I can’t even think of how many I’d “one day” like to have! But I just love spiders. Eventually I want different species of Wolf Spiders (my first true love), Widows, a couple Recluses. Not to mention centipedes, scorpions, millipedes. Haha. I’m just gonna have to buy a separate trailer to keep everything one day!

But I think what I love about this hobby is there’s so much to learn. It’s not a “one fits all.” Arboreal is different than terrestrial that’s different from fossorial. Different parts of the world, different behaviors. I just love it! And my kids love spiders (don’t worry, the room I plan on keeping my T has locks so my kids can’t get in there, definitely wanted to make sure my kids & the T are completely safe).
Wolf spiders are cool because their eyes glow at night when hit with light.

If you get into other 8 legged friends— def get jumping spiders- the largest species in the world is larger than some small adult Ts
 

Colorado Ts

Arachnoangel
Joined
Oct 16, 2019
Messages
831
Wolf spiders are cool because their eyes glow at night when hit with light.

If you get into other 8 legged friends— def get jumping spiders- the largest species in the world is larger than some small adult Ts
My plan for next fall is to collect a group of wolf spiders for bringing back in the classroom for display and study. I'd like to see their breeding cycle, 1st hand.
 

Erica Danielle

Arachnosquire
Joined
Jan 28, 2020
Messages
55
Wolf spiders are cool because their eyes glow at night when hit with light.

If you get into other 8 legged friends— def get jumping spiders- the largest species in the world is larger than some small adult Ts
Me and my kids do this almost every night in the summer! And Jumping spiders! How could I forget to add jumping spiders! :p My ultimate goal (one day, maybe) is to travel the world and photograph/observe different species of spiders and insects around the world. Just need to start robbing banks now.:rofl: (Kidding, kidding!)

The light from Wolf Spider eyes comes from specialized cells in the eyes which refract light which helps them to use minimal light from the moon/stars to be able to see at night... right? Do you have a short, “For Dummies” explanation for this? Sorry I’ve gotten so far off topic everyone! I love talking about spoods... and most people aren’t into this topic so I’m loving the conversations lol.
 

viper69

ArachnoGod
Old Timer
Joined
Dec 8, 2006
Messages
17,851
Me and my kids do this almost every night in the summer! And Jumping spiders! How could I forget to add jumping spiders! :p My ultimate goal (one day, maybe) is to travel the world and photograph/observe different species of spiders and insects around the world. Just need to start robbing banks now.:rofl: (Kidding, kidding!)

The light from Wolf Spider eyes comes from specialized cells in the eyes which refract light which helps them to use minimal light from the moon/stars to be able to see at night... right? Do you have a short, “For Dummies” explanation for this? Sorry I’ve gotten so far off topic everyone! I love talking about spoods... and most people aren’t into this topic so I’m loving the conversations lol.
It’s quicker if you google itself than rely on someone in this case.

They are cells, but they form a specialized tissue.
 

Erica Danielle

Arachnosquire
Joined
Jan 28, 2020
Messages
55
It’s quicker if you google itself than rely on someone in this case.

They are cells, but they form a specialized tissue.
I’ll do that!

Thanks for all the information everyone & correcting my misunderstandings! If I have any more questions (other than posting the setup enclosure to get feedback) I’ll ask! Anyone else who reads who believes there’s anything else I should know, please let me know!
 

SonsofArachne

Arachnoangel
Joined
Dec 10, 2017
Messages
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0
Anyone else who reads who believes there’s anything else I should know, please let me know!
This is not so much a husbandry thing as a human nature thing, but most new keepers (including me when I was new) go through a lot of anxiety at first when their T's molt. Just remember this a normal thing, and while bad molts can happen they are rare - assuming the T is being for properly cared for. I have a large number of T's but only have had one bad molt, and it survived (but did lose a rear leg in the process).
After the molt you will see your T sitting in all sorts of weird positions, sometimes with some or all of their legs under their body - this normal, your T's not dying. In fact this jokingly referred to "tarantula yoga". It's just something they do while their exoskeleton hardens.
Since you are really well researched for new person you may already know this, but I thought better put it out there in case you didn't.
 

Erica Danielle

Arachnosquire
Joined
Jan 28, 2020
Messages
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0

This is not so much a husbandry thing as a human nature thing, but most new keepers (including me when I was new) go through a lot of anxiety at first when their T's molt. Just remember this a normal thing, and while bad molts can happen they are rare - assuming the T is being for properly cared for. I have a large number of T's but only have had one bad molt, and it survived (but did lose a rear leg in the process).
After the molt you will see your T sitting in all sorts of weird positions, sometimes with some or all of their legs under their body - this normal, your T's not dying. In fact this jokingly referred to "tarantula yoga". It's just something they do while their exoskeleton hardens.
Since you are really well researched for new person you may already know this, but I thought better put it out there in case you didn't.
This is one reason I’m super glad I’ve taken the time to read through some of the forums. (Mostly looking at the threads pertaining to T. albos, bad molts, beginner with questions, feeding, so on). But it’s helped me see what a lot of (especially first time keepers) worry about and have anxiety about. Which I completely know is different than actually being in the situation but at least I feel a little bit more aware.
 
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