Insane

[CrypticRealism]

So lately..Alot of randoms who come across my T, in public, ask me if whether or not she's defanged..
What kind of a barbaric idiot would defang these poor critters?..is this even possible?..I'd believe so..according to some..petshops are known for doing this?..the process must be excruciatingly terrible..
Deranged idiots..:?
If ones afraid of a T's fangs then they shouldn't even be interested in purchasing any at all.. morons and their "I want to be cool but wont get over my cowardness" mentalities.

And I doubt I'm the only one who feels this way.. it's only been about a week of owning my G.rosea but I've grown unbelievably fond of her..to the point where some jerk said he wanted to kill her the other night and I responded with "..then I'd have to kill you".
SKHDKJSHDKJHSihatetools

end rant/

 

[eight leg goth]

i know what you mean most of the people in my year at skool have found out about my t. some ask about whether ive had it defanged and others say they want to squash it.
in the end one person asked whether id defanged it and i said "i'll defang it if i can rip out all your teeth without anesthetic" to that they said theyd squash it if they saw it so i said id breakn every bone in there body then stamp on their head. they soon got the message and walked off.
morons:evil:

 

[Vermis]

Sheesh, calm down! I've had plenty of people ask me about defanging my tarantulas. They just don't know. It's not one of the seven deadly sins, m'kay?
If you're their closest connection to tarantulas or other spiders, it's an opportunity to provide at least a little education - i.e. why defanging tarantulas is not a very good idea. It'd be a little bit better than reinforcing their generally negative view - and turning you into the 'creepy obsessed spider guy' - by offering broken teeth, or death threats.

As for threats against your spiders... well, yeah. They're morons. I'm guessing it's some kind of hormone-driven macho thing, to kill the deadly beast? But remember: if you like enormous spiders, you're the exception to the rule. You don't have to like the responses, but don't be surprised by them.

Lastly, I've never heard of pet shops 'defanging' tarantulas. I would've thought they'd know that much about the stock they order in (I mean, I know some know next to nothing about exotic pets, but that still allows for a tiny bit of knowledge and/or common sense. I hope.). If they did, I guess they'd soon stop because it might be hard to sell dead tarantulas.

 

[cheetah13mo]

Actually, I would say these people are not idiots. However, they are ignorant. I've seen plenty of TV and articles on Asian ways of life and it is very common to eat tarantulas over there. There is some of that is South America too. Before they fry em up or cook them or do what ever, they are defanged so they don't bite down and hurt themselves. They are defanged for eating, not for pet keeping, and that's exactly what I would say.

 

[Sheri]

It's just a common misconception that comes from two origins.

The first is that many people believe that a bite from a tarantula is capable of killing a human.

The second is that venomous snakes are occasionally surgically altered to have their venom glands removed. (Most herpetologists do not agree with this).

And, in the case of snake charmers, cobras will sometimes have their fangs removed, resulting in the eventual death of the animal.


Your best bet is to use the opportunity to educate, rather than assualt them.

 

[eight leg goth]

i do try to educate the people i just forgot to mention that i only threaten the people after they ask me the same question time after time after time even after i've told them what defanging the creatures can do. and ive had some laugh at it.
but i had to laugh yesterday i took an exuvium in to show my mate as hed been round to see my t a few times but it refused to come out of hiding and some of the people who had threatened my t wanted to see what we were looking at and when they saw it they ran away.

 

[FOOTBALL FAN]

i know what you mean most of the people in my year at skool have found out about my t. some ask about whether ive had it defanged and others say they want to squash it.
in the end one person asked whether id defanged it and i said "i'll defang it if i can rip out all your teeth without anesthetic" to that they said theyd squash it if they saw it so i said id breakn every bone in there body then stamp on their head. they soon got the message and walked off.
morons:evil:

you need to chill out

 

[Elytra and Antenna]

I like the "You only defang a tarantula if you're planning to eat it" answer.
Many animals can have their claws removed, venom glands removed, wings clipped and skunks can be made not to smell. I think if you clipped a tarantulas fangs it would not be able to feed, but if it survived they'd grow back at the next molt anyway. Anybody with firsthand experience?

 

[cheetah13mo]

Everyone just relax. Theres just nothing you can do except to talk to people in a calm manner to educate them. They are not going to be receptive to any attitude. These animals are not something most people want to know about anyway. If they'll listen, calmly educate them, if not, move on and find someone who will listen. This is a relatively new hobby and we all have to have some patience while we all learn more.

 

[cheetah13mo]

Anybody with firsthand experience?

I have an A. seemanni that broke one of it's fangs (not sure how yet) and it hasn't eaten in a while. If it won't eat before too long, I'll crush up a cricket and put it right on her mouth. I've had to do this before and they'll usually take it then. We'll see.

 

[Talkenlate04]

I have had many people ask me if my Ts were defanged. And as mentioned above they just dont know.

As for the broken fang issue........ If one is broked I find that the T can still manage on its own. But yes they will regenerate that loss on the next molt.
I had several smithi that decided they were going to try and bite the metal screen top and I watched one break its fang once...... I am not sure why it tried so hard to get out that day.... Its the only day she ever ventured up there.
But on the next molt she was fine and everything was intact.

 

[rYe]

Everybody I work with knows of my "exotic" collection (check my profile) and I get those questions all the time. I also get the "I wanna squash it" or "Let's cook it" response, I usually make some form of extra crispy T joke then attempt to set the image of T's right. Sometimes they'll listen and sometimes they won't, if they won't whatever there not the one's keeping the little guys. The one's who do listen usually become fascinated with them. I've actually just got one of my friends who lives next door to decided to order a sling along with some T's I'm getting (splitting shipping with me .) Of course for every one person who like to hear about the T's there's another five who won't even step foot in my house.

 

[Derek W.]

Pretty much everyone that knows I have a T has asked me if it's defanged. But as many others have already said, it is a really great oppurtunity to educate people on T's. I think we have to expect people to be ignorant about them, since so many people are afraid of or hate spiders for no reason at all. But if we can convince them to respect these animals that have been around since long before us, and that will be around long after we are gone, then I think we are doing a pretty good job.

 

[patexan]

An employee of a pet store asked me if I was having my tarantula defanged....

 

[bushbuster]

Ask 'em if tey take the "swim" out of their fish! lolol

 

[Ephebopus.M]

i dont show off my babies to any one really... i have, but they were friends who was in the hobby themselves... occasionally i show them to guests that come over but ive never had that ignorant comment in my life, they were very interested.....

 

[FOOTBALL FAN]

to be honest I can hardly believe it what a stupid thing to ask but stamping on someones head is a bit OTT

 

[Leiurus87]

When people say things like that i shrug and walk off. You cant change peoples dumb opinions sometimes, even with education. As for him stamping on someones head, sure his language might be agressive, but maybe its just defensive bluster and i dont think we have a murderer in out midst ;-)

 

[Laceface]

MY friends are just confused as to why I like Ts..mainly because a month ago I was terrified of anything 8 legged ...Ive had a lot of the "Is it defanged?" comments, and just explain that that would be pointless, and most likely result in her dying- not what I want.

My brother also does the "Can we squish her?" Again, I just get him interested with "Wanna watch her catch a cricket?" And for the next half hour hes amazed watching her eat, and byebye mean thoughts ^^

 

[Selenops]

I usually talk about inverts with people who love them too but occassionally with friends I have that into similar subjects like say movies or DVD collecting. Sometimes this particular interest will come up presented as an educated personal passion or curio.

Alot of people are born with an innate hatred, fear, or ignorant perception of "BUGS" who sadly may never discover the wonders of the invertebrate kingdom. I am careful to avoid that.