New owner anxiety

[eggsbenedict]

So by this point from talking to so many experienced keepers I fully realize that my nearly constant worrying about my new T is kind of normal.

I admit I'd be far worse off without a support group such as here, It definitely helps to have the reassurance, but I'm wondering how y'all got to cope with it? I'm guessing it's just a matter of experience really.

 

[Arachnophobphile]

HA!!!!! I've suffered from severe arachnophobia since I was a little kid. Click on my username and you will see I joined December 2018. I didn't obtain my first tarantula until December 2019.

I actually started reading up on tarantulas in the beginning of 2018. It was just a fluke that it happened. I spent a long time researching. Once I became more educated on them I began losing a lot of my arachnophobia. I never purchased a tarantula first to use as a tool to tackle my phobia. To me that is wrong and puts the animal in harm's way if things go wrong.

However no matter how much reading you do the real experience actually begins when you have your first tarantula and your first rehouse.

Welcome to AB

If you haven't already read the link provided I highly recommend reading all of it.

Tarantula Information for Beginners (and More)

Below are some helpful resources. (Rather than having half a dozen or more pinned threads, which clutter the top of the board, we are pinning this index.) While the focus is on beginners, there are other threads on health and more advanced species that may be useful to more experienced keepers...

arachnoboards.com

 

[eggsbenedict]

Ahh I don't mean arachnaphobia, I just mean with regards to looking after it's wellbeing properly.

 

[Mustafa67]

So by this point from talking to so many experienced keepers I fully realize that my nearly constant worrying about my new T is kind of normal.

I admit I'd be far worse off without a support group such as here, It definitely helps to have the reassurance, but I'm wondering how y'all got to cope with it? I'm guessing it's just a matter of experience really.

What do you mean?

Ahh I don't mean arachnaphobia, I just mean with regards to looking after it's wellbeing properly.

As long as your husbandry is good, there is no need to worry.

 

[eggsbenedict]

What do you mean?


As long as your husbandry is good, there is no need to worry.

I've just heard that alot of people tend to worry about making husbandry mistakes etc. Based on advice I've had here my husbandry seems to be decent.

 

[Arachnophobphile]

Ahh I don't mean arachnaphobia, I just mean with regards to looking after it's wellbeing properly.

I figured that I was just giving you another perspective.

Read the link I provided and use the at the top of the homepage to search for answers on any questions you have.

 

[eggsbenedict]

I figured that I was just giving you another perspective.

Read the link I provided and use the at the top of the homepage to search for answers on any questions you have.

Just looking at it now, thx, it's very informative!

 

[Introvertebrate]

I've just heard that alot of people tend to worry about making husbandry mistakes etc. Based on advice I've had here my husbandry seems to be decent.

Forums are a double-edged sword. You get the advice, but you also hear the horror stories. Nine times out of ten, tarantulas die because someone screwed up. They'll never admit to that though. They'll say, "I did everything right and it still died."

 

[eggsbenedict]

Forums are a double-edged sword. You get the advice, but you also hear the horror stories. Nine times out of ten, tarantulas die because someone screwed up. They'll never admit to that though. They'll say, "I did everything right and it still died."

Just want to do whatever I can to minimize the risk of a screw up tbh

 

[Introvertebrate]

Just want to do whatever I can to minimize the risk of a screw up tbh

A year from now you'll look at your thriving tarantula and wonder what all the worrying was about.

 

[eggsbenedict]

A year from now you'll look at your thriving tarantula and wonder what all the worrying was about.

Given my predisposition towards overthinking that's more than likely true

 

[Introvertebrate]

Given my predisposition towards overthinking that's more than likely true

We share that characteristic.

 

[CentiPete]

I think it is completely normal for any person with an amount of empathy to worry about your pet and if I didnt have so many different other animals sitting is little glass boxes I would have gone much more crazy in the beginning.

I think what separates the spider community from say the dog or rabbit or even herp community, is that spiders dont give easily digestible feedback for new owners and the consensus for many issues seems to be when you see the problem - its most likely already too late!

I see a similar form of anxiety in the forums for aquaristics. We have little way to see how our setup is going to impact our pets as most critical factors are invisible and need to be tracked over time and approaches to achieve the same goals vary a lot and the same facts can lead to very different setups looking to recreate the desired conditions.

You tweak something and have to wait two weeks or even more to see any effects, if you are lucky, with spiders we are often talking months of waiting. The feeling of being powerless to bring any change to the system is what is making you feel nervous.

This leads to some aquarians changing their water every two weeks and arachnophiles to get a new spider every two weeks, apparently ;D

 

[eggsbenedict]

I think it is completely normal for any person with an amount of empathy to worry about your pet and if I didnt have so many different other animals sitting is little glass boxes I would have gone much more crazy in the beginning.

I think what separates the spider community from say the dog or rabbit or even herp community, is that spiders dont give easily digestible feedback for new owners and the consensus for many issues seems to be when you see the problem - its most likely already too late!

I see a similar form of anxiety in the forums for aquaristics. We have little way to see how our setup is going to impact our pets as most critical factors are invisible and need to be tracked over time and approaches to achieve the same goals vary a lot and the same facts can lead to very different setups looking to recreate the desired conditions.

You tweak something and have to wait two weeks or even more to see any effects, if you are lucky, with spiders we are often talking months of waiting. The feeling of being powerless to bring any change to the system is what is making you feel nervous.

This leads to some aquarians changing their water every two weeks and arachnophiles to get a new spider every two weeks, apparently ;D

I used to keep freshwater tropical fish, and yeah, it would often take a long time for me between getting new fish in. Had to be frequently be monitoring the nitrate levels and pH. The supplier I got my fish from was very good actually as they wouldn't sell any before testing the water quality themselves. They were reputable.

 

[Andrew Clayton]

So by this point from talking to so many experienced keepers I fully realize that my nearly constant worrying about my new T is kind of normal.

I admit I'd be far worse off without a support group such as here, It definitely helps to have the reassurance, but I'm wondering how y'all got to cope with it? I'm guessing it's just a matter of experience really.

I kept T's for years before I even found this site, going off pet store advice and stuff, was not good. Lost a few T's due to bad husbandry. Then found this site and lurked for about a year and a half to 2 years researching all the species I had then and getting the husbandry down to a tee, then made an account nearly 5 years ago now. Were all still learning if we knew it all we probably wouldn't be on here. You're right though having this support network from the start puts you on the front foot, you will begin to notice things in no time and be able to contribute to other new comers with you're experience. It all just takes time.

 

[eggsbenedict]

I kept T's for years before I even found this site, going off pet store advice and stuff, was not good. Lost a few T's due to bad husbandry. Then found this site and lurked for about a year and a half to 2 years researching all the species I had then and getting the husbandry down to a tee, then made an account nearly 5 years ago now. Were all still learning if we knew it all we probably wouldn't be on here. You're right though having this support network from the start puts you on the front foot, you will begin to notice things in no time and be able to contribute to other new comers with you're experience. It all just takes time.

Yeah I've been wanting to get a t for years now, so I've been doing research on and off for a while, thought it would make sense to join a community of experienced keepers to get more perspectives.

 

[fcat]

Knowledge is power. I’m serious. The more you research HERE and nowhere else, you will feel more in control.

I don’t remember seeing any posts about this, so what experienced keepers did you ask?

You have to stay away from Facebook and Reddit

I've just heard that alot of people tend to worry about making husbandry mistakes etc. Based on advice I've had here my husbandry seems to be decent.

 

[eggsbenedict]

Knowledge is power. I’m serious. The more you research HERE and nowhere else, you will feel more in control.

I don’t remember seeing any posts about this, so what experienced keepers did you ask?

You have to stay away from Facebook and Reddit

Tbh I've been reading material on here mostly, even before I set up an account. Also been researching from tarantula collective and toms big spiders.

 

[fcat]

The former only wanted to find a way to make money off tarantulas and quit his day job. He is no pioneer, he just recycles information but makes a profit off of it. The fb page he promotes is a dumpster fire of ignorance and negligence. That’s on him and his “admins”

The latter is a literal teacher by profession who loves the animals so much he wanted to share the wealth of information. For free.

You’ll find a lot of praise here when it comes to the Toms.

 

[eggsbenedict]

The former only wanted to find a way to make money off tarantulas and quit his day job. He is no pioneer, he just recycles information but makes a profit off of it. The fb page he promotes is a dumpster fire of ignorance and negligence. That’s on him and his “admins”

The latter is a literal teacher by profession who loves the animals so much he wanted to share the wealth of information. For free.

You’ll find a lot of praise here when it comes to the Toms.

I've found Toms articles and videos on looking after tarantulas to be very informative and helpful. Produces alot of good material for beginners.

Thankyou for info about tarantula collective, I'll avoid in the future. Ngl I did find some of his videos annoying but was kind of difficult to avoid as he it seems to constitute alot of the content on tarantula keeping.