How can I convince my mother to get me my first tarantula?

[Niffarious]

My mother is extremely arachnophobic. I had to wait until I moved out, and I accepted it with grace - she was kind enough to allow me all kinds of critters, every reptile under the sun etc. Just no spiders.

If you cannot convince her, if she is like my mother, for example, accept it and wait. To sneak one in is extraordinarily disrespectful. Those of you who actually did that...I can't tell if you're lucky or not. Great they reacted pleasantly, but a poor lesson to teach a child.

 

[prairiepanda]

I think the biggest problem the OP might encounter, should they follow all the advice here, is that they want their mother to get the T for them...seems like the rest of us have been successful only by buying tarantulas with our own money.

 

[Cydaea]

To OP: How does your mother feel about T's (or spiders in general)? Is she phobic, indifferent, or interested? "I hate spiders' usually means "I'm afraid of spiders" , they're 'gross' or 'nasty' usually means "they scare me"*. If you're not sure how she feels, try and find out by showing her some youtube videos. People here post videos here all the time of feedings, interesting/funny behavior, etc. Just watch a few on your computer and invite her to come see, "look how cute/fascinating/funny this Tarantula is!" and see what her response is. If it's negative, you can try (subtly) to change her mind by telling her different tidbits of info here and there, but be honest. Don't go telling her they're the cutest fluffiest most harmless creatures ever that wouldn't hurt a fly because you know that's not true.

If her reaction is neutral to positive, that's when you can tell her what they're like as pets. But don't tell her yet you want one. Again, wait for her reaction. If it's again positive, that's when you can tell here you'd like to have one.

That's how I would do it. But I never had to do anything like that, I've been bringing home all kids of bugs ever since I was little so this was kind of expected from me.

* my experience

 

[Munch]

Robc and Jon3800 feeding videos.

 

[Hawk]

honesty is the best policy

Agree 100%! OP: I wouldn't suggest doing anything other than 100% full honesty. If your mother suggest that you cannot own one, do not go out and buy one, it is after all her house & her rules and she is your mother so that would be disrespectful if you did so.

Anyways, I originally wanted another snake (my first one got loose because of my cat, and my mother flipped out) and my mom really dislikes snakes and did not want me to get one, but we made a bet if I got good grades I could get one, so I got good grades and decided, after researched, that I wanted my first T. After I told my mom that I wanted a tarantula, she was relieved that there wasn't going to be a snake in the house.

Moral of the story is, find out what animal your mother hates, and work down from there. And make a deal like I will do all the house chores if...(blah blah blah).

 

[PrettyHate]

Prove yourself responsible, and capable of owning a pet. There are many ways of doing this but doing chores etc. only because you want something, and then stopping after you get it, isnt proving that you are a responsible person who should be in charge of owning another living thing. I cant even count the number of times the parents would come into the pet stores where I worked trying to get rid of a pet that their kid wanted so badly, only to get tired of it, and stop taking care of it. Or, their child got a T, didnt realize that it could live for 20+ years (think G. rosea female), and then move out of the house and cant/wont bring it with them.

Do your research about the type of T you want, show your mom what you have learned. If you dont have enough money to buy one yourself and pay for everything required to properly take care of it, think up a way to earn money. Most parents, if not scared of the animal, dont want their kid to get one because they know that down the road they are going to end up being stuck having to care for it on top of everything else they already do.

 

[EightLeggedFreaks]

Well, you could always move out.

 

[Bongo Fury]

... Most parents, if not scared of the animal, dont want their kid to get one because they know that down the road they are going to end up being stuck having to care for it on top of everything else they already do.

+1.
My vote is to respect your mother's wishes, wait until you have your own place. If, by then, you still want a T there won't be anything stopping you.