It's a Cheap Hobby

[GPulchra]

With the restrictions I have, this is the cheapest, easiest, and definitely most fun hobby. Right now, I have 5 tarantulas in amazing-quality acrylic cages. Most are slings, but one is an adult. How much money did I choke over, you ask? Considering that I have 5 new pets that will gradually grow in beauty, value (not like I'm going to sell them, though), and excitement...not much. Not even $350. That's including shipping, cages, tarantulas, miscellaneous decorations, and feeding. Some, well, most people talk about how it's a growing addiction. Although, I love each and every one of my Ts. Now I have a life-lasting memory, many new pets, reusable high-quality enclosures (for future pets), a ton of knowledge about Ts, and pictures of them from (hopefully) every stage of their lives.

 

[Crysta]

wait till you get past the 10t mark it will start to get expensive, because you wont be able to stop ;p

 

[GPulchra]

wait till you get past the 10t mark it will start to get expensive, because you wont be able to stop ;p

HA! No, I'm done. Hands-down. I want that T. Blondi from tarantulahomes, the T. Apophysis from petcenterusa, I would kill for one of Kenthebugguy's A. Mintrax, I see so many deals on the ad section of the site that I would buy in a minute if I could, but I just have no more room left and my parents are fed up with my spending. Remember, it's 5 mouths to feed! regardless of whether they have mouths or not (I need to take that up with the TKG, I'll probably skim through the anatomy section after this post). This, the whole 5-tarantula 1-gecko on a table thing, is likely all I will be able to keep. No matter how badly I would want a new T, even if I have a proper enclosure and everything, I would not be able to et it. This could get out of hand if I had that power, but again- I've got restrictions. I may as well appreciate my Ts all I can.

 

[JC]

I envy your self control. This hobby is running wild in my home. :wall:

 

[GPulchra]

I envy your self control. My this is running wild in my home. :wall:

Believe me, nothing to do with self-control. I gradually "adapted" to my limit.

 

[edesign]

wait till you get past the 10t mark it will start to get expensive, because you wont be able to stop ;p

So you're saying I lucked out when I maxed out at 9 and after that my entire invert collection slowly dwindled away? I was just one T away from being forever addicted? lol PHEW!!!!

 

[Jacobchinarian]

my parents cut me off at 7 but ill try to get 3 baby p murinus if i can. Its adicting like coffey. I feel weard without getting any more.

 

[GPulchra]

my parents cut me off at 7 but ill try to get 3 baby p murinus if i can. Its adicting like coffey. I feel weard without getting any more.

Hah, lucky you've got 7. Just 1 Theraphosa and I'd be done.

 

[BigJ999]

Im selective about what T's i buy i research a lot before i buy. P.metallica is certainly on my list as are a few other pricy one's.

 

[Offkillter]

First it started as one,then five.Then I told my wife "Tarantulas have eight legs so I should at least get eight.".After eight I said "Well my lucky number is eleven so of course I need eleven." Now At sixteen I've come to the realization that both of our children were born on the twenty second so.........................

 

[2oCHEVYo0]

I have 9 T's now and have (hopefully) stopped for a good while. I have bought 10 enclosures (4 of which are to temporarily house my brothers) all the substrate, bark, and other goodies. Basically everything needed and more and spent probably around $340... Not too bad in my opinion, leaves me some money to buy some good quality enclosures when they get bigger.

 

[Fran]

The hobby is as cheap as you want to make it.

I just bought a 40G breeder tank with a humidifier, dirt, moss etc..
$200 on the spot.

Again, as fancy as you want to go

 

[Tokendog]

Yeah, but this is one of the few hobbies that is also a relatively safe investment in my opinion.

You won't make a living off of it, but you should be pretty capable of making at least what you put in to it in terms of purchasing Ts. This is of course as long as you are capable of keeping them alive.

I've had 2 slings die on me and that was my fault and years ago. I own 20 Ts at the moment, a few of them slings, etc. and I bought them all for reasonable prices by watching the forums and seller websites.

As these guys grow up, especially my female Ts, they will go up in value. The bigger these guys get, the more they cost.

A 20$ sling can become a 80-100$ adult female.

A 20$ sling who turns out to be a male will still be worth more than $20.

Tupperware enclosures cost nothing when compared to the supplies you'd have to purchase in other hobbies. Substrate last forever in an enclosure as long as you keep it clean and do regular maintenance.

Enclosures are reusable. Wood is reusable. Bowls are reusable.

Crickets are relatively inexpensive. Breeding and raising roaches, once established, cost nothing more than some fruit here and there or make your own roach chow. You can even sell the feeders to recoup some of your loses as the roaches will usually and almost most definitely breed at a rate far higher than what your Ts can consume...

This isn't even including if you decide to attempt to breed a T, even an easier T to breed, and then sell the slings off for dirt cheap. You're still only out the cost of the original female T, a male if it cost you any thing, and the vials which are all re-usable.

To me it just seems that if I decided to get out of this hobby today, I would pretty much break even or make a slight profit in most areas...especially considering that if I took all the enclosures, cork board, food items, bowls, etc. as a loss, and sold my roach colony which I paid 20$ for 4 years ago and got 100 dubia is now numbering in the thousands and I could sell them in packs of 100 for what $20 a set? I'd recoup my loss right there.

Of course it would take time but it's nice to know the things I am buying, feeding, housing, etc. are all going up in value every single time they molt.

 

[whitewolf]

I remember saying that at one time. I think I could have bought a house with what I've spent, gave away to friends to get them started, and traded over the last couple of years. :? What is this self control you speak of.

 

[Tokendog]

I remember saying that at one time. I think I could have bought a house with what I've spent, gave away to friends to get them started, and traded over the last couple of years. :? What is this self control you speak of.

I'm not as generous as you, I guess. I run a business so I have a cost-benefit, risk-reward perspective on most things.

 

[Fran]

Im on this hobby since 1995 with NO OTHER INTEREST that the hobby itself.

We, my wife and I, have a pretty good full time job, thank god, which is what matters to me when it comes to earn the money to make a good living.

The hobby for me is simply that, a hobby. Thats why sometimes I take the time and joy to give a nice present T to someone I like. I dont expect anything in return. In fact, it adds a lot of extra work to keep them
nice and healthy.

I preffer to send someone I like a nice T they never had or to spent 300 dollars on a great looking enclosure than to drop money in booze or tobacco.

 

[GPulchra]

Im on this hobby since 1995 with NO OTHER INTEREST that the hobby itself.

We, my wife and I, have a pretty good full time job, thank god, which is what matters to me when it comes to earn the money to make a good living.

The hobby for me is simply that, a hobby. Thats why sometimes I take the time and joy to give a nice present T to someone I like. I dont expect anything in return. In fact, it adds a lot of extra work to keep them
nice and healthy.

I preffer to send someone I like a nice T they never had or to spent 300 dollars on a great looking enclosure than to drop money in booze or tobacco.

It's like stamp collecting, except more amazing and you can spend more time on it. If I got a new T, it wouldn't be like getting a new dog (I don't want another dog). It would be like, "Yeah! A new T!" This is a great hobby that can be done at home and it's a shame that so many people don't recognize theraphosids as what they are because they claim to be "arachnophobic". Screw that- if someone was a real arachnophobe, that would mean that they would remove all hiding spots and furniture with flaps from their house. A phobia is not being slightly squeamish of something, it's a disorder. To most people, spiders are slightly gross. I don't blame them, I'm not much of a spider fan myself. Give anything 4 pairs of legs and even a drop of usable venom and I can almost guarantee that some people won't like it. But tarantulas are much more than that. Call me biased, but if I can't find one in my backyard then it's something I could keep as a pet. Personally, I don't think of them even closely like true spiders. My Pulchra doesn't even web, and my A. Metallica is so furry (yeah, I said furry, sue me) that I could pet it- but dear lord help me if I ever tried. I could spoil a spider with fancy cages and overkill decor, but I could look at it and it would still be something that I see crawling around my house that I have stomped on before. Ts have a distinctive look that can be compared to mammals when the bodily details are not magnified, and that is why I can look at them more like mammals or animals than bugs. My point is that it's hard to find people that would even think about owning a T because they don't know them like I do, but T's are great fun and something to look forward to when coming home. Always offering surprises, exciting each feeding, one of the cheaper hobbies because of the time it is able to give, and pretty simple. The reason why people can't control buying them is because they are, well, part of an irresistible drool hobby. Take stamp-collecting, for instance. If a person saw one of the first stamps ever made in mint condition for dirt-cheap, they would buy it ASAP. In my situation, my stamp-book is full, but I can try to find the space for another. I wouldn't be fine with just one stamp-book, but it's the fact that tarantulas are more appealing and active that makes my collection size bearable for now.

 

[codykrr]

Like fran said, its as cheap as you want it to be.

I know I have well over 4 grand sitting on one side of my room.

While they are defiantly cheaper than my other two addictions(cigars and guns) this can be pricey. especially when you go dropping 200 or more on one T. Or 600 for a pair.

I will say, at least you can break even SOME of the time with sales, and trades though.

 

[Alex G]

My approach to keeping animals in the herp/invert hobby is this; keep your numbers of actual living things down, and devote time and money into making the animals beautiful enclosures that you'd be proud to display. The 'ick' factor for people creeped out by my snake, or my T's, or (for some reason?) my geckos is greatly reduced when they see them in a beatiful cage, rather than a shoebox.

 

[JC]

It's like stamp collecting, except more amazing and you can spend more time on it. If I got a new T, it wouldn't be like getting a new dog (I don't want another dog). It would be like, "Yeah! A new T!" This is a great hobby that can be done at home and it's a shame that so many people don't recognize theraphosids as what they are because they claim to be "arachnophobic". Screw that- if someone was a real arachnophobe, that would mean that they would remove all hiding spots and furniture with flaps from their house. A phobia is not being slightly squeamish of something, it's a disorder. To most people, spiders are slightly gross. I don't blame them, I'm not much of a spider fan myself. Give anything 4 pairs of legs and even a drop of usable venom and I can almost guarantee that some people won't like it. But tarantulas are much more than that. Call me biased, but if I can't find one in my backyard then it's something I could keep as a pet. Personally, I don't think of them even closely like true spiders. My Pulchra doesn't even web, and my A. Metallica is so furry (yeah, I said furry, sue me) that I could pet it- but dear lord help me if I ever tried. I could spoil a spider with fancy cages and overkill decor, but I could look at it and it would still be something that I see crawling around my house that I have stomped on before. Ts have a distinctive look that can be compared to mammals when the bodily details are not magnified, and that is why I can look at them more like mammals or animals than bugs. My point is that it's hard to find people that would even think about owning a T because they don't know them like I do, but T's are great fun and something to look forward to when coming home. Always offering surprises, exciting each feeding, one of the cheaper hobbies because of the time it is able to give, and pretty simple. The reason why people can't control buying them is because they are, well, part of an irresistible drool hobby. Take stamp-collecting, for instance. If a person saw one of the first stamps ever made in mint condition for dirt-cheap, they would buy it ASAP. In my situation, my stamp-book is full, but I can try to find the space for another. I wouldn't be fine with just one stamp-book, but it's the fact that tarantulas are more appealing and active that makes my collection size bearable for now.