Ever give a T as a gift?

Jonathan Rice

Arachnosquire
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Apr 4, 2006
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Well, in my one experience having done so, I judge thee to be a bad idea. My good friend and fellow artist Chloe showed great interest in tarantulas upon seeing mine. After several long conversations on the subject and many google image searchs later, I gave her a P.cancerides sling. That was about a year ago.

I never thought she'd kill it. In my experience they're hardy as hell! Eating machines! Do well in moist humid environments but can be kept alittle drier at times. She said it just stopped moving. No death curl, no pics, definitely wasn't molting. She admitted being very busy and not feeding it for 2 weeks but hmm..

I'm saddened by this whole experience because a close friend gives t's away all the time with great success. I've seen rare slings turn into sub-adults in the hands of witless wonders. I doubt I'll ever give any t's away. If someone is intrigued by tarantulas, I'll give them this website and tell them to search around.

Any of you give any t's away to newbies? What was the outcome? What was the species? What size and would you give a t to a newbie again?
 

Alice

Arachnoangel
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Sep 29, 2006
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well, i gave away two ts. one was a subadult rosehair, that molted into a male a year later and died about another year from then. :8o however, he had a good home and started a new addiction in the family - now they have about a dozen ts {D.

the other one was a juvenile m. robustum, and the new owner (not a total beginner, he already had 2 brachys) killed it within a few months. i wouldn't give him another t, but i certainly would give away ts again if i felt the person was really interested and responsible.
 

T-chick

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Feb 11, 2007
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I have given a few T's away but I have given them to experienced T keepers.
Although I am kicking myself for two things.
One, a P. cambridgei I gave away turned out to be female.. GRRRR, I sold the other cause it was a sub adult male...
Two, sent a C. Fasciatum, OBT and a small scorp to a very experienced T keeper, used Fed Ex ( Never never never again!!).. They kept the box an extra day in my city, instead of shipping it out.. then sent it to TN, then finally to its destination.. the C. Fasciatum died.
I paid for next day air, and did get a refund. but it was a night mare.
I recently gave three adult/ sub adult T's to a good keeper, with their enclosures, who was visiting in a nearby state, and was going back to Penn. Long road trip for them.
I won't send a sling but have sent juvies and sub adults to folks.. for free.

T-chick
 

mrsd

Arachnopeon
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May 10, 2007
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I gave one to my niece. And I have one for my other niece but they have loved spiders since they were little. And can't wait to learn more.
 

KJE

Arachnoangel
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Oct 21, 2004
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I have been the recipient of 3 free t's. Someone from the boards got me hooked on t's by giving me my first. I didn't kill any of them. Of course, I had already done a few months of research before aquiring the t. I think making someone do research before they get the t is the key.
 

LimaMikeSquared

Arachnobaron
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Mar 25, 2006
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Mystery Spider Competition

Me and my mum decided to play a game, as i decided i would gey her a sling for mothers day.

So what we did was buy each other a sling, take the labels off the pot. Then the first to ID they're sling would be taken out for and indian meal by the other person. We had to make sensible suggestions with evidence.

Mum is still trying to guess hers lol.

LMS
 

Arachnomaniak

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I'm still working on convincing my wife that inverts make great gift ideas for me :p The closest I've come is having her give me "birthday money" to go toward customer acrylic cages! You've heard the phrase "The way to a mans heard is through his stomach" for me it's "The way to Dave's heart is by giving him T's!" LOL

IMO, giving a T to someone as a gift is ok just as long as it's not a novelty item, and they know all about the care etc and you're confident that they're confident (if that makes sense) that they can successfully keep the animal.
 

Water spider

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Apr 24, 2006
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It's never a good idea to give an animal to a person as a surprise or if they have no idea how to take care of them.

If you know the person is responsible and willing to take care of it, then why not?

My family wouldn't know where to buy me a tarantula, or what kind I would like, but they have given me money as a birthday present and told me to use it to buy what I like, which in my case means spiders...
 

WyvernsLair

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My boyfriend likes giving me T's... :) says it's much cheaper for me to pick out spiders and him to buy them than it is for him to spend money on jewelry I would never use.
 

Nerri1029

Chief Cook n Bottlewasher
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I've given and received T's as gifts :)

I think that the person should be into the hobby prior or have expressed an obvious desire to be a T owner before considering giving a T as a present.
Otherwise I'd have given more T's away.
 

lunixweb

Arachnobaron
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one time I was going to give one juvie B auratum to my girlfriend but when I was on the way to her house I decided not to give her the T :) , I liked it and I kept it for me.. hehehe ;P now is a beautiful adult female :eek:
 

boatshow

Arachnopeon
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May 14, 2007
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Never given one away

I've never given one as a gift, but my parents got me a m.robustum sling and a 6" female t.blondi one year for my birthday.
 

Syngyne

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If anyone would like to give me a G.pulchra in order to answer yes to this thread, I will happily accept! >_>
 

Taceas

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May 12, 2006
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No, I really try to shy away from giving a gift of a live animal unless I know the recipient is experienced in how to care for it already.

But I did give a birthday gift to a friend of mine who was interested in getting a tarantula that consisted of: a 5 gallon tank, coconut substrate, water bowl, hidey cave, and The Tarantula Keeper's Guide book. :eek:
 

maxident213

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I have given a couple of interested friends Ts as gifts - in both cases they became quite enthusiastic about the hobby afterwards. It's a good feeling. :D
 

Nightshade

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May 3, 2006
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I got started keeping Ts because my friend gave me Desiderius (G. rosea).
So I gave her a B. vagans sling once it had grown up enough to be visible. She spoils it rotten.
I also gave my friends a B. albopilosum sling, at around 1.5". They're quite fascinated with it, even though it's first official act as their T was to build a wall of dirt in the mouth of it's hide and retreat behind it. They had asked me if they could try keeping a spider I had brought up, and they're both somewhat arachnophobic, so a smaller one was ideal.
I check in on it regularly (they're down the hall from my boyfriend) and if they should change their minds I'll gladly take it back.
 

Arachnokid 93

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Yes I have given a T away. it was to a friend of mine who was showing a good interest in inverts so he kept asking if I had any T's ''left over'' and soon I came into a deal that came with 3 Pterinochilus murinus
so I had already had one die on me don't know why. But found out last week it was a cruel joke he smashed it with a hammer a week after getting it
:eek: :mad: :evil: :embarrassed:
 

Jonathan Rice

Arachnosquire
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Apr 4, 2006
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Me and my mum decided to play a game, as i decided i would gey her a sling for mothers day.

So what we did was buy each other a sling, take the labels off the pot. Then the first to ID they're sling would be taken out for and indian meal by the other person. We had to make sensible suggestions with evidence.

Mum is still trying to guess hers lol.

LMS
Great game! :) Never heard it before and will never forget it! I love betting things like a dinner! It's a win/win situation because even if you lose, you're still full at the end of the day.


It's never a good idea to give an animal to a person as a surprise or if they have no idea how to take care of them.

If you know the person is responsible and willing to take care of it, then why not?
True. The friend I gave the P.cancerides (1" by the way) is very responsible in all meanings of the word. I guess I can't entirely blame her for the death. She feels extremely bad about it, and there were extenuating circumstances (the flu, finals, new bf).

Now that I think of it, I gave another good friend baby turtles for his birthday one year. I got him the complete package. A nice custom made cage complete with everything! A naturalistic setup, detailed caresheets, a book on turtles and the turtles themselves. All he had to do was feed them. Well, they're in turtle heaven now.. That was years ago. Let just say, I get him inanimate presents now.

In the end, I will always try to give away freebie t's to people who are already in the hobby. But I will be wary of giving to people who are merely interested in t's.. Because how can you measure their level of interest? Is it a fleeting interest? An impulse or something that will linger and develop into a passion?

 

Jonathan Rice

Arachnosquire
Old Timer
Joined
Apr 4, 2006
Messages
149
Yes I have given a T away. it was to a friend of mine who was showing a good interest in inverts so he kept asking if I had any T's ''left over'' and soon I came into a deal that came with 3 Pterinochilus murinus
so I had already had one die on me don't know why. But found out last week it was a cruel joke he smashed it with a hammer a week after getting it
:eek: :mad: :evil: :embarrassed:
Wow! I've been annoyed at my obts before (when I used to have them) but nothing that would deserve a swift stroke of a hammer!

So what's the next t you'll be giving him? :confused: haha..

 

atropos

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Dec 13, 2005
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My girlfriend got her first T's from me, first was a B. boehmei, later she got a C. fasciatum, B. vagans and a P. regalis. They're all doing really well.

So yeah I gave some T's away.
 
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