Caring for an animal ISN'T a hobby.

[RezonantVoid]

This is exactly what I was looking for!

If only it applied to the "invertebrate hobby" as a whole, ay, there's the conundrum.

Thanks,

Arthroverts

Inverteculture. Now you can keep anything from caterpillars to even giant cephalopods and that term will still cover you!

"You seriously keep tarantulas??? What kind of freak are you?"
"Im an inverteculturist. Get with the times dude"

Think im gonna trademark this

 

[Arthroverts]

Inverteculture. Now you can keep anything from caterpillars to even giant cephalopods and that term will still cover you!

"You seriously keep tarantulas??? What kind of freak are you?"
"Im an inverteculturist. Get with the times dude"

Think im gonna trademark this

Yes!

Not if I can do it first!

Thanks,

Arthroverts

 

[basin79]

Cheers for all the replies again. I've had a read and re-read and I appreciate your interpretations.

Now whilst I still absolutely hate the term I can see that those that use it (why I oatta) do so in a way that isn't how it seems in my head.

@chanda i actually like your reasoning with the whole learning about tarantulas and reading books.

 

[Rhino1]

It's how you look at it mate, whether it's a derogatory term or not, it's the situation that defines the term.

"What's your hobby?"
-Um, I collect toenails and keep em in this here jar.
OR
-I have a small herd of champion dairy goats that I milk each day.

One requires no commitment and is gross the other had to be done 365 days a year

Tarantula enthusiust? Or spider fancier?
Let's start up a magazine and we can call it "The Tarantula Fanciers Gazette"

 

[Danthevine4432]

I am a hobbyist myself. And I’m loving it. I don’t see a problem using the word hobbyist.

 

[basin79]

It's how you look at it mate, whether it's a derogatory term or not, it's the situation that defines the term.

"What's your hobby?"
-Um, I collect toenails and keep em in this here jar.
OR
-I have a small herd of champion dairy goats that I milk each day.

One requires no commitment and is gross the other had to be done 365 days a year

Tarantula enthusiust? Or spider fancier?
Let's start up a magazine and we can call it "The Tarantula Fanciers Gazette"

 

[Kitara]

Next up..... captivity.

 

[Reezelbeezelbug]

I agree that terms and the emotions around those terms can really color your experience. I personally struggle internally a lot with "owning" pets and eating meat to a degree, but it doesn't mean I don't do either. One term I use is "cage" instead of "enclosure" because enclosure sounds to me like some extravagant setup that fully mimics the real world. Cage is more applicable imo to 4" cube versions of the real world and it shifts my focus to "I know I'm holding this animal hostage, how can I make this the best possible cage for them?" Also it's fewer syllables

 

[Royalty]

I like the term hobby because besides keeping them I like to learn about where they come from, different species, collecting them. For my other pets like my cat, I do research into care of course, but I do not really do much research on cats nor consider it much of an interest. Some people may consider breeding cats their hobby tho most breed as more of an income situation.

There are a lot of other "hobby" activities that often take place when keeping tarantulas such as building terrariums. Some places do have suitable enclosures but for many keepers you usually have to learn how to at least adjust things to better suit tarantulas.

I think keeping tarantulas itself is not the only aspect to the "hobby" since it includes many other aras as well. I think people that keep one or two as pets would not consider themselves hobbyists.

 

[scooter1685]

In all seriousness, my spiders don't care if I use the term "hobby" or not. They care about that as much as they care about the names I give them. As for whether a person likes or dislikes my use of the term, that's their problem.

I kept and bred boas for years, and some of them were my pets for well over a decade. I spent time with them, cared for them, and was depressed for weeks when my first boa passed away. I literally cried in the vet's office when he told me. I still referred to keeping and breeding reptiles as a hobby.

This seems a bit like the discussion I had with a patient who disliked the term "kids" as applied to human children. She insisted that "kids" should only refer to baby goats, and children were far more valuable. While I agree that my children are more important than baby goats, at least to me, I still often refer to them as my kids. If some people are irritated by that, that's just more reason for me to avoid conversations with them.

 

[viper69]

Okn


Are you actually being serious? You're comparing growing vegetables to caring for a live animal because of a few words that define a "hobby"?

Strange.

There's a lot that goes into growing certain plants etc. People who grow veggies, some of them know a lot of ecological SCIENCE, far more than I do. I grew veggies, and I didn't know as much as they did.

Also, bonsai trees-- pretty one of my favorites, but I can't see myself trimming the trees and the other work that goes into it. Just like a bonsai owner may not care to check up on slings etc

Just different interests. I don't see hobby as a bad word. It's probably the most useful word to use for those NOT in they hobby hah.

Just showing you a different point of view.

 

[dangerforceidle]

"What's your hobby?"
-Um, I collect toenails and keep em in this here jar.
OR
-I have a small herd of champion dairy goats that I milk each day.

One requires no commitment and is gross the other had to be done 365 days a year

Hey now, have you ever tried to maintain labels on a toenail collection? And what if the toenails you collect don't solely belong to you? The challenge of collecting them is very high.

No commitment... SMH.

 

[viper69]

In all seriousness, my spiders don't care if I use the term "hobby" or not. They care about that as much as they care about the names I give the

They do care, I think the fact they haven't told you yet speaks volumes about your likely tyrannical behavior around them.

 

[ErikElvis]

I don’t see taking care of dogs or cats as being a hobby but I do see invertebrates and lizards as being a hobby.

 

[mjzheng]

I kind of see what you're saying. I personally get specific with when I define hobbies .

I usually say "I keep tarantulas " or "I own dogs" but I define my hobbies themselves as the specific actions I do under the umbrella of ownership . For example, my dog hobby is training and competing in bite sports; and my T hobbies are photographing them, researching species, and enclosure building. Yes they're all parts of ownership, but they feel more hobby-like vs just standard care lol.

I don't consider owning a dog a hobby , but maybe specific things you do are hobbies. I don't consider owning a T a hobby , but collecting them and other stuff are

 

[Venom1080]

Sure, I get you on this, but I could never step on my collection. So with facing the would you rather question, I'm being the contrarian and picking the third 'neither one' option. Thanks.

Neither could I. Hyperbole.

 

[Colorado Ts]

Recent developments...breaking news

Seems we now live in a society where people find it fashionable to look for reasons to be offended.

...well then....BE OFFENDED.

 

[basin79]

Recent developments...breaking news

Seems we now live in a society where people find it fashionable to look for reasons to be offended.

...well then....BE OFFENDED.

You're miles out.

 

[Liquifin]

I'm impressed as to how the word "hobby" got taken out of context by different perspectives.

Idk about you lot but im in the tarantula business

Really? Then doesn't that apply to anyone who successfully bred a T. before? Or is there a standard?

 

[basin79]

I'm impressed as to how the word "hobby" got taken out of context by different perspectives.


Really? Then doesn't that apply to anyone who successfully bred a T. before? Or is there a standard?

To be fair I think it's only me who sees the term as a massive insult to keeping living animals.

ALTHOUGH after reading the replies I do see this is a "me" problem. I get this alot.