Cringy tarantula videos

[corydalis]

The packaging of these slings certainly leaves something to be desired, so it's not all on the two guys in the video, but still, I feel like there is a better method to doing this. Maybe if ExoticsLair put the camera down and actually helped, his friend wouldn't have slings running all over? Also, I just could not watch all the way through. Sigh.

Not to mention this one. This is some new level of negligence.

 

[Cherri]

cringe

Uh oh. She asked what I meant by cleaning my spiders enclosures.

 

[Andrea82]

Uh oh. She asked what I meant by cleaning my spiders enclosures.

She has a couch. For her spider. Not sure if cute or cringey. But she puts that couch with the spider on her couch and doesn't look back. What the heck?

 

[Cherri]

She has a couch. For her spider. Not sure if cute or cringey. But she puts that couch with the spider on her couch and doesn't look back. What the heck?

What's more cringey is her handling the spider to put on the couch for views.

 

[EtienneN]

I used to like TarantulaKat before she had clickbait “all about handling” style videos. Now seeing her treat her H. chilensis like toys just makes me sad inside.

 

[EtienneN]

Not to mention this one. This is some new level of negligence.

What the hell kind of weird magic genie lamp did he have in there? He honestly seems really annoyed about everything and that’s so off putting. But seriously the rock in there too?! That’s crazy.

 

[50centipede]

It makes me sad seeing a lot of people keep tarantulas or other venomous creatures only to show off how "brave" they are and get public attention.

 

[Asgiliath]

I used to like TarantulaKat before she had clickbait “all about handling” style videos. Now seeing her treat her H. chilensis like toys just makes me sad inside.

Agreed. She does a lot of handling which ya know, sets a bad example for those interested in entering the hobby.

 

[Asgiliath]

No CC so I’m not sure what’s going on but this looks...not good.

 

[ThatsUnpossible]

EL again. But the cringe comes from his friend this time.

 

[Rigor Mortis]

You know, I used to watch EL's videos because I liked seeing OW spiders that I will likely never keep. Then I realised his husbandry sucks and he's just in it for the notoriety and I stopped.

 

[corydalis]

You know, I used to watch EL's videos because I liked seeing OW spiders that I will likely never keep. Then I realised his husbandry sucks and he's just in it for the notoriety and I stopped.

Same here. I used to like his older videos, despite of the questionable husbandry, he was much more informative, also his expressions were more laid-back/natural.

 

[The Seraph]

No CC so I’m not sure what’s going on but this looks...not good.

Poor things. Also, there are captions, at least for me. You are not missing anything important.

 

[Feral]

I never thought of myself as a masochist... until I read all the way through this thread. But here I am, at post #874.

Has anyone seen Tarantula Kat's recent breeding video? Ugh.
She wasn't watching the breeding at all, totally doing other things. She forced the male into the female's enclosure. And to top it off, he was eating the whole time. (Admittedly, she acknowledged her mistake there. But not the other two mistakes.)

But the way she wasn't even paying attention to the tarantulas made me wanna scream!
Ugh! She's lucky that male isn't dead!

Pretty cringy.

[Edit- I always try to stay much more positive than this. I probably shouldn't have said anything, I just feel so bad for that almost-lunch male or any other animal she puts in that position... To me, it's obvious endangerment. If she keeps doing that, someone is going to end up unnecessarily dead. So I felt like I had to speak up.]

 

[Brachyfan]

The thing with these cringey vids from Kat and EL is that they are purposefully cringey. Neither are trying to be educational like Tom Moran. It is entertainment first and foremost.

The big knock against these channels is that inexperienced keepers would see these videos and think that is how to do things. I would respond to that by saying anyone that listens to one video and thinks that is the bible for care shouldn't be in the hobby. Take the tarantula keepers bible (Stan Shultz) for example. At the time of publication it was probably the best book you could get. Now, years after the fact it is pretty outdated in a lot of ways. Some great info on building enclosures but also things like A (C) versicolor should be kept really damp.

When I decided to get into the hobby I watched every video I could find. A lot of DD and EL. Did I learn from them? YOU BET! I learned that OBT'S are not for me and some things about containment during rehouses. Did I get my care info from these channels? Not so much. I talk to breeders for that.

I think the outrage for some of these channels is unfounded. No one is perfect and we all make mistakes. The thing that TK, DD and EL do well is fess up to their mistakes so others can learn.

I think if your attitude is monkey see monkey do then this hobby is not for you. But I encounter people everyday that start their journey as noobs and seek out the correct info. Pretty much everyone on this forum!

 

[Feral]

The thing with these cringey vids from Kat and EL is that they are purposefully cringey. Neither are trying to be educational like Tom Moran. It is entertainment first and foremost.

The big knock against these channels is that inexperienced keepers would see these videos and think that is how to do things. I would respond to that by saying anyone that listens to one video and thinks that is the bible for care shouldn't be in the hobby. Take the tarantula keepers bible (Stan Shultz) for example. At the time of publication it was probably the best book you could get. Now, years after the fact it is pretty outdated in a lot of ways. Some great info on building enclosures but also things like A (C) versicolor should be kept really damp.

When I decided to get into the hobby I watched every video I could find. A lot of DD and EL. Did I learn from them? YOU BET! I learned that OBT'S are not for me and some things about containment during rehouses. Did I get my care info from these channels? Not so much. I talk to breeders for that.

I think the outrage for some of these channels is unfounded. No one is perfect and we all make mistakes. The thing that TK, DD and EL do well is fess up to their mistakes so others can learn.

I think if your attitude is monkey see monkey do then this hobby is not for you. But I encounter people everyday that start their journey as noobs and seek out the correct info. Pretty much everyone on this forum!

I get what you're saying, I really do, and I appreciate it. The role model thing is one aspect, yes. But this case is also about mistreating animals. I edited my post to add on about why I spoke up... I usually try to stay much more positive than this kind of thing, but to me it was such obvious endangerment that she should absolutely be called out for it. No one should get away with endangering their animals, even outside of the role model aspect.

That poor male is damned lucky to be alive.
But if she keeps doing that, tarantulas are going to end up unnecessarily dead.

 

[Brachyfan]

I get what you're saying, I really do, and I appreciate it. The role model thing is one aspect, yes. But this case is also about mistreating animals. I edited my post to add on about why I spoke up... I usually try to stay much more positive than this kind of thing, but to me it was such obvious endangerment that she should absolutely be called out for it. No one should get away with endangering their animals, even outside of the role model aspect.

That poor male is damned lucky to be alive.
But if she keeps doing that, tarantulas are going to end up unnecessarily dead.

I agree about endangerment whole heartedly and appreciate your viewpoint!

My comment was adressed to the entire thread and not the recent TK vid. Yes, the male was eating so that pairing wouldn't have worked. But the comment about her not watching the tarantulas might not be as bad as it seems. It is an edited video so no real time feed. Do you know where the females enclosure was? If it was right there where she was feeding the other ones she could be keeping an eye on it. I personally have a rule that I only work on one tarantula at a time so my reaction time is there in any scenario. Also the male did have an escape route and it's enclosure was right there.

Breeding any tarantulas presents the risk of one getting eaten be it the female eating the male (common) or a much larger male eating the female. I would bet money that anyone who breeds has had this occur. That is tarantulas doing their thing.

I don't put that in the same category as mistreatment or severe husbandry errors.

 

[Arachnophoric]

I never thought of myself as a masochist... until I read all the way through this thread. But here I am, at post #874.

Has anyone seen Tarantula Kat's recent breeding video? Ugh.
She wasn't watching the breeding at all, totally doing other things. She forced the male into the female's enclosure. And to top it off, he was eating the whole time. (Admittedly, she acknowledged her mistake there. But not the other two mistakes.)

But the way she wasn't even paying attention to the tarantulas made me wanna scream!
Ugh! She's lucky that male isn't dead!

Pretty cringy.

[Edit- I always try to stay much more positive than this. I probably shouldn't have said anything, I just feel so bad for that almost-lunch male or any other animal she puts in that position... To me, it's obvious endangerment. If she keeps doing that, someone is going to end up unnecessarily dead. So I felt like I had to speak up.]

With the bigger T channels, I've noticed a disturbing lack of caution when it comes to pairing, where the tubers in question busy themselves with something else instead of being a responsible keeper and monitoring the Ts because "it takes too long". It's one thing with Poecis when they can literally take the whole day and tend to be very tolerant of each other, but a whole other ballgame with Ts with a rep for being hard on males like GBBs. Extra points when the keeper has had the female kill the males in the past. Or just sitting there being a proverbial jerk-off that's too busy joking around and as a result watches a male get munched when if they'd been at the ready (and maybe used a tripod instead of having one hand occupied with a phone 24/7...), they'd have had plenty of time to intervene and save the male.

Perhaps I'm mistaken here, but I'd been under the impression that even though it's a completely natural part of tarantula behavior for females to cannibalize the males, it's our jobs as keepers to try and have the male's back when we send him in to "take that hill"...

 

[Feral]

OH, okay, I understand now that it was specifically the TK video you were referring to, but all "tarantula tubers" collectively. I see what you're saying, I get it now.

It is an edited video so no real time feed. Do you know where the females enclosure was? If it was right there where she was feeding the other ones she could be keeping an eye on it. I personally have a rule that I only work on one tarantula at a time so my reaction time is there in any scenario.

I think that is an excellent rule, and the only responsible way to work with animals in my opinion. Good on you!

I'm sorry if I seem ranty, it's not directed at you. I just get sad on the tarantulas' behalf. I have such a soft spot for mature males, this kinda thing always gets me. And the normalization of an unaccepted behavior, doubly so.

.....

Yes, the video is edited, and the two enclosures were in the room (but who knows if she stayed in the room during cuts). But as far as multitasking, it's pretty clear- She specifically said she was going to do other rehouses and feedings while they were together. Then, at 8:03, she says "We rehoused my Aphonopelma auratum, we fed both of the tarantulas that molted, preserved my Aphonopelma chalcodes mature male... and [they're] still... doing nothing!" And she didn't even mention cleaning out the one old enclosure and setting it back up again. And then she says she's going to clean up. (Which, she doesn't keep her spoods or her substrate in her living room so she'd have to leave the room to put them back. I hope to bleep that she called someone else in to watch the paired Ts while she did that! But I'm guessing she didn't, based on her replies.) And additionally she's filming the whole time, a whole other level of distraction! And then finally she checks back in with them and THEN notices that he's eating and removes him.

I mean, she wasn't even watching closely enough to see he was chewing on at snack until after all that time had passed.

In watching a second a third time to make sure, i still think it's pretty obvious that she is giving them minimal attention, at the very best.

Her response to me on YT was that everybody else multitasks, some people cohabitate them for days, and they were both well-fed so they wouldn't attack. Yeahno. We all know that's laughable. And then her next response was a bunch of nonsense stuff like how other breeders multitask so it's okay, how pulchripes are too chill to attack during mating, how she researched and talked to experienced keepers so she knows what shes doing, and that I need to learn more. Yeahno. Funny stuff.

 

[dangerforceidle]

I'm so sad about this.

@petkokc I can't believe you continued and put the remaining spiders into new communal setups. These are living creatures.

15 in each setup to begin just months ago (2?), and now down to 7 and 4! 53.3% and 73.3% loss.