Dumbest Advice From People Who Don't Own Ts?

Mitchel

Arachnosquire
Joined
Sep 29, 2018
Messages
123
What's the dumbest advice you've gotten from someone who doesn't own a T? I'm pretty sure a lot of us have come across people who think they know everything about tarantulas because they read a Wikipedia article about a B. smithi once, or something along those lines.

The dumbest "advice" I've ever gotten, was that someone tried to argue with me that tarantulas are the same basic care as a leopard gecko (they had never owned a T in their life, and, not surprisingly, only had reptiles).

Needless to say, there a SO many ways in which caring for a tarantula is different from caring for a Leo.
 

Anoplogaster

Arachnodemon
Joined
Jan 15, 2017
Messages
675
I thought about adding that, but then it doesn't also include the "step on it", "squish it", "mush it", "shoot it", "feed it to something else", etc. bunch.
All the same mentality, I think. As long as it’s a conformingly uncreative, meme-worthy statement, it’s likely to spill from the mouth of anyone who collects “likes” from any social media source.
 

cigarlover

Arachnopeon
Joined
Apr 9, 2017
Messages
2
All the same mentality, I think. As long as it’s a conformingly uncreative, meme-worthy statement, it’s likely to spill from the mouth of anyone who collects “likes” from any social media source.
Don’t be too upset with those people. I used to be one of them and terrified of spiders. I had nightmares that would wake me up from a dead sleep. As a fighter and private contractor violence is my business and one of the 2 things I was afraid of in this world was spiders. I now have 4 I care for and no longer am afraid of them and for the last 3 years no more nightmares at all. I don’t like being afraid of anything and my T’s have a great home :D
 

Anoplogaster

Arachnodemon
Joined
Jan 15, 2017
Messages
675
Don’t be too upset with those people. I used to be one of them and terrified of spiders. I had nightmares that would wake me up from a dead sleep. As a fighter and private contractor violence is my business and one of the 2 things I was afraid of in this world was spiders. I now have 4 I care for and no longer am afraid of them and for the last 3 years no more nightmares at all. I don’t like being afraid of anything and my T’s have a great home :D
Well, real phobias are a different story. Most of our society believes they are arachnophobic, when really they are mostly just creeped out by spiders. That creeped out feeling is often learned, and cultivated through myths and misunderstandings. I’m not one to tell folks what they should and shouldn’t be afraid of. But when that fear results in senseless killing, that’s when it upsets me. When an innocent organism is sentenced to death just because of what it happens to be, I can’t help but notice that the fear has evolved into more of a directed hatred.
 

cigarlover

Arachnopeon
Joined
Apr 9, 2017
Messages
2
Well, real phobias are a different story. Most of our society believes they are arachnophobic, when really they are mostly just creeped out by spiders. That creeped out feeling is often learned, and cultivated through myths and misunderstandings. I’m not one to tell folks what they should and shouldn’t be afraid of. But when that fear results in senseless killing, that’s when it upsets me. When an innocent organism is sentenced to death just because of what it happens to be, I can’t help but notice that the fear has evolved into more of a directed hatred.
I agree but with fears just remember !!!! That’s like telling someone not to be afraid of heights lol They’d have a death grip from hell no matter what you said.
 

MintyWood826

Arachnobaron
Joined
Jun 16, 2018
Messages
401
I agree but with fears just remember !!!! That’s like telling someone not to be afraid of heights lol They’d have a death grip from hell no matter what you said.
But heights aren't alive so you can't kill them. I used to be afraid of spiders, but I think people should at least learn to not senslessly kill (or ask someone to kill) a completely harmless animal.
 
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Garetyl

Arachnoknight
Joined
Mar 15, 2019
Messages
203
'Release it into the wild, it will be happier there'.

I live in Canada. These are not native species. At best, they'd die, at worst we'd suddenly have tarantulas messing up our ecosystem.
 

Mitchel

Arachnosquire
Joined
Sep 29, 2018
Messages
123
Don’t be too upset with those people. I used to be one of them and terrified of spiders. I had nightmares that would wake me up from a dead sleep. As a fighter and private contractor violence is my business and one of the 2 things I was afraid of in this world was spiders. I now have 4 I care for and no longer am afraid of them and for the last 3 years no more nightmares at all. I don’t like being afraid of anything and my T’s have a great home :D
What irritates me the most about people who tell me to kill my spiders, or who say they want to kill my spiders themselves, is that they are my PETS. My FAMILY. Like, you wouldn't want me to say that I wanted to kill your dog, why would you say that about my spiders? Yes, it's a natural human instinct to fear spiders and snakes and various other "dangerous" animals. I understand that. But the minute you say that you're going to murder my pet, that's when I stop putting up with you.

Not advice, but being asked if I keep them all together as if they should be able to be kept communally.
Yeah, I've gotten that a lot too, lol. Not the dumbest thing I've been asked, but a dumb question nonetheless.
(Someone asked me if tarantulas drank water once, and I was like "Yes???" What kind of question is that??)

But heights aren't alive so you can't kill them. I used to be afraid of spiders, but I think people should at least learn to not senslessly kill (or ask some to kill) a completely harmless animal.
I can understand arachnophobia to an extent. Some of it is embedded in our DNA, but I agree that a lot of it is mostly learned. Comparing spiders to heights is a bit nonsensical, as, like you said, heights aren't sentient like spiders are.

I hate to sound like a stereotypical vegan, but all animals have the right to life, and all animals feel. I've tried to explain to people multiple times, that just because spiders don't express their feelings in the same way dogs and cats do, doesn't mean that they don't experience feelings. So, I can't really say that I'll tolerate people who threaten to kill my pet, or who tell me to kill it, myself.

If someone tells me "hey, I don't like spiders, can you not talk about them around me?" That's one thing. I'm perfectly happy not talking about spiders around people who are uncomfortable with it. But when someone says "Ew, kill that thing" it really gets my blood boiling, because at that point, they're just disregarding your feelings.

All the same mentality, I think. As long as it’s a conformingly uncreative, meme-worthy statement, it’s likely to spill from the mouth of anyone who collects “likes” from any social media source.
Maybe throw in a little "XD" or "LOL" or all caps for emphasis, and you got yourself a typical arachnophobic meme:meh:
 
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Anoplogaster

Arachnodemon
Joined
Jan 15, 2017
Messages
675
What irritates me the most about people who tell me to kill my spiders, or who say they want to kill my spiders themselves, is that they are my PETS. My FAMILY. Like, you wouldn't want me to say that I wanted to kill your dog, why would you say that about my spiders? Yes, it's a natural human instinct to fear spiders and snakes and various other "dangerous" animals. I understand that. But the minute you say that you're going to murder my pet, that's when I stop putting up with you.
Isn’t that interesting? How keeping a relatively harmless spider is weird, but walking around with a 100-pound carnivore on a leash is perfectly normal. Here’s the thing: I used to be afraid of dogs as a child. I was bitten in the rear at a very young age. So I understand fear. But I grew to love dogs eventually. And now I can’t see myself living without them!

Just for the record though, many more people have died in the jaws of canines than from an arachnid bite:troll:
 

moonstarfc

Arachnopeon
Joined
Nov 30, 2018
Messages
20
Isn’t that interesting? How keeping a relatively harmless spider is weird, but walking around with a 100-pound carnivore on a leash is perfectly normal. Here’s the thing: I used to be afraid of dogs as a child. I was bitten in the rear at a very young age. So I understand fear. But I grew to love dogs eventually. And now I can’t see myself living without them!

Just for the record though, many more people have died in the jaws of canines than from an arachnid bite:troll:
I also used to be afraid of dogs as I was attacked by one when I was a little kid. I do sometimes feel anxiety if I see a large dog jumping, but for the most part, I'm okay around dogs now.

The dog did much more damage to me than a tarantula bite ever would, yet I've never believed people should kill dogs.

I thought as the most "intelligent" organisms, we should all be capable of higher level thinking!
 

Enrgy

Arachnosquire
Joined
Mar 16, 2018
Messages
135
"Keep it in something bigger and it'll get even bigger" - aunt Eloise 2019
 
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EtienneN

Arachno-enigma
Joined
Jul 15, 2017
Messages
1,038
True story, I used to be the absolute worst arachnophobe on the planet. It took literally almost dying in a car wreck to literally physically change my brain chemistry and realise spiders were not just okay or all right but downright amazing. But even at my worst, I would Never have suggested to someone who had spiders to kill them. My thoughts just don’t work that way. Weird thought though: if more people experienced what I did, more people would have a greater understanding and appreciation of Nature.
 

MintyWood826

Arachnobaron
Joined
Jun 16, 2018
Messages
401
Isn’t that interesting? How keeping a relatively harmless spider is weird, but walking around with a 100-pound carnivore on a leash is perfectly normal. Here’s the thing: I used to be afraid of dogs as a child. I was bitten in the rear at a very young age. So I understand fear. But I grew to love dogs eventually. And now I can’t see myself living without them!

Just for the record though, many more people have died in the jaws of canines than from an arachnid bite:troll:
I'm afraid of dogs, but I can still appreciate the good looks of some breeds, even though it's not just fear but also dislike. I had a bad experience with one at a very young age and being around very poorly trained dogs hasn't helped.

However, I care about them like I do animals in general. And there was one neighbor's dog I really liked. I miss her even though I couldn't interact very well because of my discomfort.

Society has it sadly set in stone that it's normal to dislike arthropods and that killing them is nothing. Some people don't even understand that they're animals too.
 

purplephilia

Arachnolurker
Joined
Jul 18, 2017
Messages
15
Don’t be too upset with those people. I used to be one of them and terrified of spiders. I had nightmares that would wake me up from a dead sleep. As a fighter and private contractor violence is my business and one of the 2 things I was afraid of in this world was spiders. I now have 4 I care for and no longer am afraid of them and for the last 3 years no more nightmares at all. I don’t like being afraid of anything and my T’s have a great home :D
I'm bordering on being phobic of roaches (including dubia). They freak me out a whole lot. So it's pretty awesome when I'm scrolling through Instagram and see people posting their awesome dubia colonies :D. But I don't say anything at all, I just keep scrolling. It's possible to be afraid of spiders and not be a douchebag who thinks it's funny to say "ewww!" or "kill it with fire". That's awesome you got over your fear - I recently got some dubia for my geckos and after I watched them eating some food I gave them I'm a little less scared of them now lol.

I haven't gotten any bad advice yet, but my dad keeps pestering me about how tarantulas would be a lot cooler if you could keep multiple in one enclosure. At least he listens to what I tell him and doesn't insist on thinking they're lonely and need friends. ;)
 
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