I don't... "get" Tarantulas.

[xulixzo]

So, this is something I've never understood, and after having spent some time reading through the boards, the stance is only reinforced in my mind.

What is the appeal of tarantulas?

I don't want to insult your hobby (he says before insulting your hobby) but... It just seems boring. You can't really handle or interact with them, They're extremely finicky & dumb (I've seen so many stories on here of Ts killing themselves because they tried to climb away from suboptimal substrate & falling, or trying to burrow towards a heat mat and dying, or having slightly off humidity and deathcurling, etc.), and you can't form any sort of meaningful bond with them since they're only capable of seeing you as "food, threat or perch." It seems like you're spending years of your life catering to the exact needs of a one-sided relationship. Why?

For reference, I keep jumping spiders. They're relatively easy, they're fun to watch & handle, and they're not a massive time investment. Kind of the opposite of Ts. To me, the only two things Ts have over jumpers is lifespan and size. Oh, and this is a completely subjective low-blow, but 99% of Ts I've seen are just... ugly.

So what's the point?

 

[KaroKoenig]

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. You just fell for the big-eyed manga style cutie face of jumping spiders. It happened to simpler minds than yours .

 

[xulixzo]

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. You just fell for the big-eyed manga style cutie face of jumping spiders. It happened to simpler minds than yours .

Right, and me saying Ts are ugly is 100% personal bias, and amounts to absolutely nothing meaningful in the overarching conversation, no argument there.

The rest of the text is still wholly unaddressed, though. "Ts are ugly and therefor bad" shouldn't be the main takeaway.

 

[Xharyel]

Hi there.

I believe we all have different reasons for being in the hobby and probably like different aspects of tarantulas keeping. So I won't speak for others but for myself.
First of all, since you're not in the hobby yourself, you seem to have some misconceptions about it, especially about the time needed for maintenance, etc. It doesn't require much time, you just feed, moisten the sub and you're basically done. I spend wayyyyy more time doing maintenance for my fish than my tarantulas. So it's perfect for me as I don't have much time because of my work.

In regards to the one sided relationship, I say, doesn't this apply to a lot of other pets? I mean, my fish don't care about me either, and yet, a lot of people are keeping them. Same goes for other inverts, some reptiles, etc. If I want a bond with my pet, I'd get a dog, which I already have.
So why do we collect this kind of "display pets"? For me, it's for multiple reasons, the main one being I find their looks attractive and their behavior interesting to watch.

Just look at the colors of a Dolichothele diamantinensis, Theraphosinae sp. panama or Harpactira pulchripes, they're amazing. There's a lot to observe as well, the way some tarantula dig, they do their burrows (for fossorials), they do their web castle, they groom themselves, they molt, they hunt etc.

All in all, it's one big experience for a minimal cost and time. Food is basically free (you either have a colony or buy feeders whenever you need them, and they're cheap), no need to clean much as they're clean animals and that's about it.
You might read many weird/bad stories but it's because people who experience these kind of stuff tend to have more exposure, because if everything is going well, why should we post about, right?

In the end, it's all subjective and you seem to have a lot of preconceptions about the hobby. Hope my opinions clears some of your concerns/doubts.

 

[ConstantSorrow]

Hi there.

I believe we all have different reasons for being in the hobby and probably like different aspects of tarantulas keeping. So I won't speak for others but for myself.
First of all, since you're not in the hobby yourself, you seem to have some misconceptions about it, especially about the time needed for maintenance, etc. It doesn't require much time, you just feed, moisten the sub and you're basically done. I spend wayyyyy more time doing maintenance for my fish than my tarantulas. So it's perfect for me as I don't have much time because of my work.

In regards to the one sided relationship, I say, doesn't this apply to a lot of other pets? I mean, my fish don't care about me either, and yet, a lot of people are keeping them. Same goes for other inverts, some reptiles, etc. If I want a bond with my pet, I'd get a dog, which I already have.
So why do we collect this kind of "display pets"? For me, it's for multiple reasons, the main one being I find their looks attractive and their behavior interesting to watch.

Just look at the colors of a Dolichothele diamantinensis, Theraphosinae sp. panama or Harpactira pulchripes, they're amazing. There's a lot to observe as well, the way some tarantula dig, they do their burrows (for fossorials), they do their web castle, they groom themselves, they molt, they hunt etc.

All in all, it's one big experience for a minimal cost and time. Food is basically free (you either have a colony or buy feeders whenever you need them, and they're cheap), no need to clean much as they're clean animals and that's about it.
You might read many weird/bad stories but it's because people who experience these kind of stuff tend to have more exposure, because if everything is going well, why should we post about, right?

In the end, it's all subjective and you seem to have a lot of preconceptions about the hobby. Hope my opinions clears some of your concerns/doubts.

This pretty much summed it all up better than I could.

OP - I bet if you hang around here long enough with your mind open and even spend some time around real tarantulas in real life, you'll come around and see what amazing little creatures they are. Watch a T. albopilosus or A. seemanni bulldoze its enclosure. See the colors of a P. metallica or a C. versicolor. You'll figure out the appeal.
It's not that different from people with aquariums.

 

[xulixzo]

Hi there.

I believe we all have different reasons for being in the hobby and probably like different aspects of tarantulas keeping. So I won't speak for others but for myself.
First of all, since you're not in the hobby yourself, you seem to have some misconceptions about it, especially about the time needed for maintenance, etc. It doesn't require much time, you just feed, moisten the sub and you're basically done. I spend wayyyyy more time doing maintenance for my fish than my tarantulas. So it's perfect for me as I don't have much time because of my work.

In regards to the one sided relationship, I say, doesn't this apply to a lot of other pets? I mean, my fish don't care about me either, and yet, a lot of people are keeping them. Same goes for other inverts, some reptiles, etc. If I want a bond with my pet, I'd get a dog, which I already have.
So why do we collect this kind of "display pets"? For me, it's for multiple reasons, the main one being I find their looks attractive and their behavior interesting to watch.

Just look at the colors of a Dolichothele diamantinensis, Theraphosinae sp. panama or Harpactira pulchripes, they're amazing. There's a lot to observe as well, the way some tarantula dig, they do their burrows (for fossorials), they do their web castle, they groom themselves, they molt, they hunt etc.

All in all, it's one big experience for a minimal cost and time. Food is basically free (you either have a colony or buy feeders whenever you need them, and they're cheap), no need to clean much as they're clean animals and that's about it.
You might read many weird/bad stories but it's because people who experience these kind of stuff tend to have more exposure, because if everything is going well, why should we post about, right?

In the end, it's all subjective and you seem to have a lot of preconceptions about the hobby. Hope my opinions clears some of your concerns/doubts.

You have some good points here, I think. To be honest I don't really get fish either, (there's this one foxtrot comic strip that really encapsulates my thoughts on them. The punchline is something along the lines of "they're great for studying because after watching fish for half an hour, even Geometry seems interesting.") I guess I just don't get the appeal of the "look don't touch" pets as a whole.

I can't argue with you about their behavior being interesting, at least. For me personally that isn't enough of a selling point to justify the space and upkeep, though, especially for an animal that's inactive for most of the time.

Maintainance being low-effort is new to me. I mean, I would imagine it varies with species, but I assumed that a universal effect is that Ts put themselves in dangerous situations if they're unhappy. If they really are just fire and forget once you have the enclosure set up, that makes me feel a little better about it.

 

[ThatJaneLady]

Tarantula keeping started for me over a decade ago and when I was a teenager it was just "cool." Truth be told, I was terrified of all spiders but I learnt a few of the scientific names and the small subtle differences between species. It became fascinating and I learnt to respect, not fear my new pet.
As an adult, facing No Pet rentals left me petless until I got back into Ts. No one complains about jars of dirt. No noise. No damage to property. They take up very limited space.
Now I find myself still fascinated and learning species, still loving my low maintenance pets and growing each day towards being The Crazy Tarantula Lady of the neighborhood.

 

[WolleWolf]

Keeping over 2decades T´s, when you realize the beauty of the creatures and fell in love, there is no way back. And the hobby is blessed with so many different species (terrestrial, fossorial, arboreal, colors, shapes, XXXX species, OW, NW, giants, dwarfs, arid, tropical, highland, lowland, calm T´s, very defensive T´s), there is so much to experience.

A full grown T is majestetic creature, also growing up slings or juvis is also fun, though much patience is needed. One or two slow growing slings can be pretty boring, that is one reason, why the most have a good mixed collection.

And these are animals which live so reclusive in the wild and we are able to keep them. And if we are able to keep these animals, we should do this with as much passion as possible.

 

[The Grym Reaper]

For me they're the perfect pet, they're cheap to buy/house and there's no vet bills, they don't take up much space, they're extremely low maintenance, they don't require constant attention (which suits me just fine), they make almost no noise at all, they don't leave hair everywhere, they don't break stuff, there's a ton of gorgeous species available, and they're fascinating to watch when they're actually doing stuff.

They're extremely finicky & dumb (I've seen so many stories on here of Ts killing themselves because they tried to climb away from suboptimal substrate & falling, or trying to burrow towards a heat mat and dying, or having slightly off humidity and deathcurling, etc.)

All of these things are the result of incorrect setups or bad husbandry so it's more a case of dumb humans than dumb tarantulas.

Maintainance being low-effort is new to me. I mean, I would imagine it varies with species

Not really, there are people who love to unnecessarily overcomplicate tarantula keeping (chasing specific humidity numbers or mucking about with pointless stuff like drainage layers/misting/etc.) but the fact is that they are all ridiculously low maintenance once you cut through all the guff that's out there. I have 60+ tarantulas and maintenance takes a few minutes each morning (granted, my feeding schedules are set up in such a way that I just feed a few of them each day, and other maintenance is done on an "as-needed" basis).

 

[Neonblizzard]

T's usually die from bad husbandry, not so much them killing themselves from being dumb.

Too much fall distance - bad husbandry

Heat matt under enclosure - bad husbandry

Lack of moisture for moisture dependant species - Bad husbandry

If you put a heat lamp on a snake enclosure with no thermostat and it cooks. That's not the snakes fault.

That aside, one of the best things about them is the really quite simple husbandry, the comparatively little space they need and overall ease of care. I accept that not being able to interact with them like a conventional pet might make them less appealing to someone who wants that from a pet.

But i think the type of person who buys a T is generally someone who wants a little bit more of a slow burning buddy that isn't quite as demanding and less hands on. I personally find T keeping every bit as rewarding and interesting as any other pet

 

[8 legged]

It seems like you're spending years of your life catering to the exact needs of a one-sided relationship. Why?

And what do you do with your time? Write such posts?
Over time you will learn that we humans are different - that means we have different preferences, interests and cognitive abilities ;-)

 

[Neonblizzard]

For me they're the perfect pet, they're cheap to buy/house and there's no vet bills, they're extremely low maintenance, they don't require constant attention (which suits me just fine), they make almost no noise at all, they don't leave hair everywhere, they don't break stuff, and they're fascinating to watch when they're actually doing stuff.



All of these things are the result of incorrect setups or bad husbandry so it's more a case of dumb humans than dumb tarantulas.



Not really, there are people who love to unnecessarily overcomplicate tarantula keeping (chasing specific humidity numbers or mucking about with pointless stuff like drainage layers/misting/etc.) but the fact is that they are all ridiculously low maintenance once you cut through all the guff that's out there. I have 60+ tarantulas and maintenance takes a few minutes each morning (granted, my feeding schedules are set up in such a way that I just feed a few of them each day, and other maintenance is done on an "as-needed" basis).

Agreed! People looooove to make it so much complex than it actually is.

1. Reasonable sized enclosure
2. Dirt
3. Hide
4. Waterbowl
5. Spider
6. Maybe something to climb on if arboreal

Tah dah

 

[vicareux]

Its like collecting pokemon
Gotta catch 'em all

I personally prefer pets with no emotional bonds. I like setting up micro-worlds for animals that are not aware that theyre closed in a box. Seeing their behaviour through that box is like watching a wildlife documentary in person.

Also am i the only one imagining David Attenborough's voice describing the actions of T's while watching them or should i take meds?

 

[The Grym Reaper]

Agreed! People looooove to make it so much complex than it actually is.

1. Reasonable sized enclosure
2. Dirt
3. Hide
4. Waterbowl
5. Spider
6. Maybe something to climb on if arboreal

Tah dah

I mean, there's basically only a few ways to set them up;

- Terrestrial (enough sub to burrow if they want/hide/water dish)
- Heavy-webber (however much sub is needed for that species/hide/anchor points/water dish)
- Fossorial (deep sub/hide/water dish)
- Aviculariinae arboreal (minimal sub/vertical bark or branch/elevated plant cover/water dish)
- Non-Avic arboreal (enough sub to burrow if they want/vertical bark leant into corner/low-mid level plant cover around bark/water dish).

And only a few ways to keep the sub;

- Dry
- Slightly moist (usually achieved by overflowing the water dish and repeating when it dries out)
- Moist (Basically just ensuring the deeper layers of sub don't fully dry out for long periods)

Every species you keep will be a combination of setup type and sub moisture, that's basically all there is to it.

 

[Smotzer]

I mean, there's basically only a few ways to set them up;

- Terrestrial (enough sub to burrow if they want/hide/water dish)
- Heavy-webber (however much sub is needed for that species/hide/anchor points/water dish)
- Fossorial (deep sub/hide/water dish)
- Aviculariinae arboreal (minimal sub/vertical bark or branch/elevated plant cover/water dish)
- Non-Avic arboreal (enough sub to burrow if they want/vertical bark leant into corner/low-mid level plant cover around bark/water dish).

And only a few ways to keep the sub;

- Dry
- Slightly moist (usually achieved by overflowing the water dish and repeating when it dries out)
- Moist (Basically just ensuring the deeper layers of sub don't fully dry out for long periods)

Every species you keep will be a combination of setup type and sub moisture, that's basically all there is to it.

Bada bing bada boom. Nailed it!

 

[WolleWolf]

they don't take up much space, they're extremely low maintenance

I forgot this massiv point. You can go for weeks away and nothing will happen! That is a very big plus, you can leave T´s alone for weeks with a bowl fresh water, well fed ect).

 

[viper69]

So, this is something I've never understood, and after having spent some time reading through the boards, the stance is only reinforced in my mind.

What is the appeal of tarantulas?

I don't want to insult your hobby (he says before insulting your hobby) but... It just seems boring. You can't really handle or interact with them, They're extremely finicky & dumb (I've seen so many stories on here of Ts killing themselves because they tried to climb away from suboptimal substrate & falling, or trying to burrow towards a heat mat and dying, or having slightly off humidity and deathcurling, etc.), and you can't form any sort of meaningful bond with them since they're only capable of seeing you as "food, threat or perch." It seems like you're spending years of your life catering to the exact needs of a one-sided relationship. Why?

For reference, I keep jumping spiders. They're relatively easy, they're fun to watch & handle, and they're not a massive time investment. Kind of the opposite of Ts. To me, the only two things Ts have over jumpers is lifespan and size. Oh, and this is a completely subjective low-blow, but 99% of Ts I've seen are just... ugly.

So what's the point?

So what’s your point, besides listing all the things you don’t like??

Not here to convince you

Some of what you listed is not due to “dumb” animal, but instinct.

And lastly humans are the DUMBEST animals on the earth, so who would want to be interested in you??

 

[LucN]

Easy to keep, more fascinating than fish (IMO), costs peanuts to feed compared to other animals. Add to that a lifespan that extends a decade at the very least and you have an animal that will accompany you throughout a good chunk of your life. No noise, no smell and no vet bills are other pros with them. The "no interaction" bit is hardly what I would consider a con. They're just not meant to be handled, like fish. Once in a while, I'll take a peek at their enclosures and will find them wandering about, grooming or laying down web. They're so different from conventional pets and that's part of the appeal for a lot of us.

 

[WolleWolf]

And lastly humans are the DUMBEST animals on the earth, so who would want to be interested in you??

Earth & sea pollution, capitalism at its finest, explotation (rape) of the nature... Very ironic to call other creatures as dumb, while we have a super brain and do as humanity often the harmful things!

 

[Frogdaddy]

I don't get people that don't get tarantulas.