Ever fed a T another T?

[rob0t]

I agree with Londoner. No moral high ground here, but if you don't know what it died of no point in taking the risk.

 

[Amoeba]

One word: culling. Thinning the herd nahmsan?

 

[SuzukiSwift]

All this talk of culling is making me think of Stargate:Atlantis lol

 

[Ultum4Spiderz]

I fed a post death MM to my Aphonophelma Anax once, thats about it.
She is still healthy to this day and she bitten me once

 

[jakykong]

I'm in favor of culling a sac, particularly when the babies number in the high-hundreds to thousands.
<snip>
I think that's the difference between us as hobbyists as those who have one or two T's because they came across them and thought they'd be neat to keep, but don't view them as a pet the way most of us do.

Culling the sac makes sense to me; by caring for the Ts such that few (or none) of the spiderlings die, we're allowing otherwise weak genes to keep going. Which, really, isn't a huge problem for now - but in a few generations, when those genes are common, the tarantulas may be harder to care for (and impossible to reintroduce into the wild, if/when that becomes useful). But culling the sac isn't really feeding Ts to other Ts, it's more just letting nature take its course.

As to being a pet, personally, I think both: My tarantulas are pets, but they're not the same sort of pet as a cat or dog. More like a fish. I care for them either because they're interesting or because they're valuable, but not because of any ethical obligation (it is a bug, after all). Actually, I think this would be a very hard hobby to get into if you get emotionally attached easily, because tarantulas definitely can die (sometimes suddenly and for no apparent reason), and especially with a large collection, you're sure to have it happen at least a few times.

... I do agree, though, there are keepers who have one or two just because they're neat, and although I don't have any more emotional attachment to mine, I do put more work into caring for them. Wild-caught prey is cheap (in fact, free) and (in some cases) plentiful, so if you don't really care that much about keeping the T around, then it makes sense that it would look like an attractive option.

 

[GroseaMilo]

I wish I knew where some wild ones where specifically around me. I really want to get some more but I can't afford them right now. It's easy enough to get tanks to put them.. people give them away all the time, and if you know where the Ts are you could easily gather a few 'hides' for them to make them comfy.. I'd be down to care for some wild caught ones. I can't imagine having a perfectly healthy one and just feeding it to my rosea just cause. I think to have more would be MUCH cooler. Especially if it's an actual local species. :]

 

[Bugmom]

I wish I knew where some wild ones where specifically around me. I really want to get some more but I can't afford them right now. It's easy enough to get tanks to put them.. people give them away all the time, and if you know where the Ts are you could easily gather a few 'hides' for them to make them comfy.. I'd be down to care for some wild caught ones. I can't imagine having a perfectly healthy one and just feeding it to my rosea just cause. I think to have more would be MUCH cooler. Especially if it's an actual local species. :]

I have two wild caught ones at the moment. I care for them the same as I care for my bought ones. All my T's are fed purchased or raised feeders, never food from outside. Did I use to do that? No. The first two T's I had, years and years ago, were fed whatever I found to feed them. They did just fine. Now that these are not only my hobby, but investments in some cases, I'm far more careful in my care of them (you don't feed a T worth over $100 food if you don't know where it came from). Honestly it's more the monetary investment that stops me from feeding my T's bugs from my yard, as I've never used pesticides save for spot treatments for carpenter ants, and I highly doubt all the empty lots that surround me have pesticides on them, either. The probability is high that no harm would come to my T's, but it might to my pocketbook.

 

[GroseaMilo]

I have two wild caught ones at the moment. I care for them the same as I care for my bought ones. All my T's are fed purchased or raised feeders, never food from outside. Did I use to do that? No. The first two T's I had, years and years ago, were fed whatever I found to feed them. They did just fine. Now that these are not only my hobby, but investments in some cases, I'm far more careful in my care of them (you don't feed a T worth over $100 food if you don't know where it came from). Honestly it's more the monetary investment that stops me from feeding my T's bugs from my yard, as I've never used pesticides save for spot treatments for carpenter ants, and I highly doubt all the empty lots that surround me have pesticides on them, either. The probability is high that no harm would come to my T's, but it might to my pocketbook.

I definitely hear that even though my T only cost me 11 dollars and I still don't want to risk killing him from pesticides especially since I live in an apartment complex. Once I get my metallica I DEFINITELY wouldn't risk feeding them anything. Honestly, I don't even think I want to risk feeding her store bought.

 

[Anonymity82]

Not like tossed two live ones in with the intent of a death match. But perhaps one died for no apparent reason and you knew/had reason to believe it wasn't diseased or anything. Ever just fed the corpse to another T?

Dying of no apparent reason would be a giant red flag to be suspicious of disease.

I have heard of people using slings as feeders when they have too many.

 

[catfishrod69]

I more or less fed a mature male to a female once. He was way past his prime and unwilling to mate. So he had two options. He took the tougher one.

 

[cmcghee358]

I more or less fed a mature male to a female once. He was way past his prime and unwilling to mate. So he had two options. He took the tougher one.

That's ruthless, but it got a hearty laugh from me!

 

[Tarac]

That's ruthless, but it got a hearty laugh from me!

Agreed, there are "natural" formats in which this acceptable. On the other hand, death match just to see who wins is akin to dog fighting to me personally.

 

[jakykong]

Agreed, there are "natural" formats in which this acceptable. On the other hand, death match just to see who wins is akin to dog fighting to me personally.

In some ways, I agree; it seems to me that someone who wants to watch that sort of thing for the fun of it is probably a disturbed individual. But I would put the caveat that it's not immoral in the same way dog fighting is, because the tarantulas really don't have the capacity to suffer, insofar as it is reasonable to conclude. (Not trying to start that debate here. Please don't start that debate here. That's my conclusion from those debates all over the board's history.) Dogs definitely do suffer, so fighting dogs is clearly immoral; but fighting tarantulas? Not so much. Disturbed, but not immoral.

 

[GroseaMilo]

In some ways, I agree; it seems to me that someone who wants to watch that sort of thing for the fun of it is probably a disturbed individual. But I would put the caveat that it's not immoral in the same way dog fighting is, because the tarantulas really don't have the capacity to suffer, insofar as it is reasonable to conclude. (Not trying to start that debate here. Please don't start that debate here. That's my conclusion from those debates all over the board's history.) Dogs definitely do suffer, so fighting dogs is clearly immoral; but fighting tarantulas? Not so much. Disturbed, but not immoral.

Most def. Fighting dogs is a horrible practice. :[ I hate it.. some people. I wish we could do to the people who do that what they do to the dogs. <edit> televise and enjoy.

 

[poisoned]

In some ways, I agree; it seems to me that someone who wants to watch that sort of thing for the fun of it is probably a disturbed individual. But I would put the caveat that it's not immoral in the same way dog fighting is, because the tarantulas really don't have the capacity to suffer, insofar as it is reasonable to conclude. (Not trying to start that debate here. Please don't start that debate here. That's my conclusion from those debates all over the board's history.) Dogs definitely do suffer, so fighting dogs is clearly immoral; but fighting tarantulas? Not so much. Disturbed, but not immoral.

I don't imagine they would fight for very long time. Once one is bitten, it's pretty much over. It's just a matter of who attacks first.

 

[MarkmD]

I think its very wrong for dogs and T's fighting, mainly cause dogs never asked for it and the owner must be an idiot for making the dog suffer for his/her satisfaction(very disturbed individual), well for T's it's just not nice, they can hardly see to begin with and why waste the money when you can see it growing and enjoy it.

 

[jakykong]

I don't imagine they would fight for very long time. Once one is bitten, it's pretty much over. It's just a matter of who attacks first.

I would figure as much, but I don't really see how that makes dog fighting any less immoral.

I think its very wrong for dogs and T's fighting, mainly cause dogs never asked for it and the owner must be an idiot for making the dog suffer for his/her satisfaction(very disturbed individual), well for T's it's just not nice, they can hardly see to begin with and why waste the money when you can see it growing and enjoy it.

If you have the money to waste, it's just a question of your mental state. Do you enjoy watching this kind of thing? That's when it happens. (And it does happen; look on YouTube.) Like I said, it takes a certain disturbedness to enjoy inflicting injury on other creatures.

But we also have to remember that arachnophillia is SO much less common than arachnophobia. We like Ts, many (probably most) people see them as things to squish. I consider it a failure of the education process that more people don't recognize arachnids in general (and tarantulas in particular) as the mostly harmless, fascinating creatures that they are.

 

[poisoned]

I would figure as much, but I don't really see how that makes dog fighting any less immoral.

Topic is about Ts. I never said dog fighting is moral. It's disgusting.

 

[Tarac]

In some ways, I agree; it seems to me that someone who wants to watch that sort of thing for the fun of it is probably a disturbed individual. But I would put the caveat that it's not immoral in the same way dog fighting is, because the tarantulas really don't have the capacity to suffer, insofar as it is reasonable to conclude. (Not trying to start that debate here. Please don't start that debate here. That's my conclusion from those debates all over the board's history.) Dogs definitely do suffer, so fighting dogs is clearly immoral; but fighting tarantulas? Not so much. Disturbed, but not immoral.

I agree about it characterizing the attitude of the referee, but I don't think it's a question of suffering though. It's a question of needless deaths of animals that would otherwise have lived for the purpose of entertainment. They are captive animals, it's not chance encounter between two species in the wild. It is completely orchestrated, just like dog or cock fighting. With that in mind, the rules are different because by purchasing them you have made an unspoken (or sometimes even a spoken, signed agreement depending on the source and what animal you are dealing with) agreement to provide for them and look out for their well being to the best of your ability. Want to watch animals kill each other? Turn on the discovery channel and look for that same clip of the wildebeest heard crossing the river with the giant crocs in it that we've all seen 10,000 times.

I also think that the people who do this are obviously not arachnophobic or they would not have tarantulas in their possession to fight. They are simply the same type of demented adrenaline junkies that probably would fight dogs if it were legal and easier to be involved in.

 

[ViolenceFreak]

Speaking of fighting T's check out samurai spiders of japan on youtube its cool and the spiders usually dont get hurt.