Other hobbies that give you an edge

[Sana]

I recently read something somewhere that has led me to look at my other hobbies and what could possibly benefit me as a tarantula keeper. Oddly enough, I realized that one of my other hobbies is likely giving me an edge when dealing with my spiders. Tai chi. Sounds a little strange but as a form of exercise and meditation, tai chi is teaching me to move slowly and deliberately. It's helping my balance, coordination, and patience. I'm noticing myself following the movements of the various forms while caring for my tarantulas. Sounds a little bit strange as I'm typing it, but what other hobbies have you guys found that contribute to your abilities as a keeper? What qualities would you consider to be most important for keeping tarantulas?

 

[pyro fiend]

well i dont do tai chi, tho i debated on it..but i do help a few other people with herps,, he has many venomous animals and when i started working with him i wa sonly allowed to move little constrictors, with slow, precise movements. if i did it too fast hed take the hooks, put them back, and make me start again with a diferent animal [as each have their own personality].. in a way its similar to your tai chi but not knowing the forms and i dont do any sun salutation or crouching tiger, fluffy panda type stuff [joke no offence intended]


i also feel art in a way helps me.. i like to draw as well as admire art.. so as it may be hard to spot brown sling in a brown cage.. it comes a little more natural to me [except when that blasted P.camb hid behind the foam wall -.-] and my slow diliberate moves from handling hot herps also apply to my drawing, long smooth strokes, very deliberate and well thought actions XD

but then again im considered the crazy person in my family, so i may be way off lmao

 

[awiec]

I grew up on a farm, which taught me the valuable skills that you need to be able to read and react if for some reason a 1,000 pound animal gets pissed and decides to go on a rampage. I also kept and caught wild spiders for fun so that is a more direct line to tarantula keeping; after chasing after a wolf spider threw poison ivy and various thorny bushes you learn how to swiftly guide your tarantula to where YOU want it to go.

 

[pyro fiend]

I grew up on a farm, which taught me the valuable skills that you need to be able to read and react if for some reason a 1,000 pound animal gets pissed and decides to go on a rampage. I also kept and caught wild spiders for fun so that is a more direct line to tarantula keeping; after chasing after a wolf spider threw poison ivy and various thorny bushes you learn how to swiftly guide your tarantula to where YOU want it to go.

awiec wins..threat over we can all go home now...lmaooo jk but oh yea i bet, i never thought of it that way i used to help out on farms but now many animals got out of hand there besides the little goats who loved to headbut XD

 

[awiec]

awiec wins..threat over we can all go home now...lmaooo jk but oh yea i bet, i never thought of it that way i used to help out on farms but now many animals got out of hand there besides the little goats who loved to headbut XD

Goats are a handful, they are smart, strong and very stubborn. Though I had the most trouble with the geese, we had a guard goose named Gus and he did his job very well...too well at times.

 

[LythSalicaria]

I used to work with a dog groomer who did grooming for the local humane society as well as regular clients - as such, I worked with dogs and cats with a wide range of personalities on a daily basis. Working with a 150 pound rottweiler and a 3 oz. Tarantula is obviously different in a lot of ways, but both activities require the same mind-set - keeping calm, slow, deliberate movements, and above all being prepared for anything. Doesn't matter whether it's a lunging, angry dog or a bolting, frightened T - panic isn't going to help you in either situation.

I also loved catching snakes when I was a kid; I'd take on garters, grass snakes and once even a big hulking Northern water snake (Nerodia sipedon). This has helped me mainly because it taught me early on how to deal with being bitten - that thrashing about and screaming like a banshee is counterproductive, that the only thing you can do is keep calm and wait for them to let go. And that coming home nursing several bloody snake bites is a good way to give your mother a heart attack.

 

[Bill Myers]

I think my years of experience with breeding large beetles has helped me immensely when it comes to taking care of tarantulas.

Proper housing, food, humidity, temperature, maintenance, etcetera have been major factors over the years in breeding beetles, all of which have translated quite well into rearing and maintaining happy tarantulas.

 

[gobey]

Shark diving.

Awareness/reflex.


What I need to dial down is husbandry.

I'm a powerlifter too. So concentration???

 

[awiec]

Shark diving.

Awareness/reflex.


What I need to dial down is husbandry.

I'm a powerlifter too. So concentration???

You could always just earn the respect of your spiders through sheer intimidation. I'm a small girl so I am swift, the less time I give the spider to decide it wants to flip out the happier both of us are

 

[louise f]

im considered the crazy person in my family

Welcome to the club. now you know how i feel. hehehe

 

[archaeosite]

I, too, was a critter-catcher as a kid. I would catch fish, beetles, snakes, lizards, and cats all the time.

What has helped me most in keeping tarantulas is patient research. I'm a science student so I spent a lot of time reading technical documents. Then, on my time off, I read them about spiders.

 

[IHeartTs]

I love to go shooting and waterski. I also have a lot of laboratory experience thst started as a hobby when I was young. I think they require a lot of confidence, practice, knowledge and the ability to anticipate things. Helped a lot with retaining information, research and working with more defensive species. Critical thinking and practice is so important for keeping tarantulas

---------- Post added 03-22-2015 at 02:05 PM ----------

I, too, was a critter-catcher as a kid. I would catch fish, beetles, snakes, lizards, and cats all the time.

What has helped me most in keeping tarantulas is patient research. I'm a science student so I spent a lot of time reading technical documents. Then, on my time off, I read them about spiders.

High five science student! Me too. Don't you just love those lengthy scholarly articles? Lol

 

[awiec]

I love to go shooting and waterski. I also have a lot of laboratory experience thst started as a hobby when I was young. I think they require a lot of confidence, practice, knowledge and the ability to anticipate things. Helped a lot with retaining information, research and working with more defensive species. Critical thinking and practice is so important for keeping tarantulas

---------- Post added 03-22-2015 at 02:05 PM ----------



High five science student! Me too. Don't you just love those lengthy scholarly articles? Lol

I'm in graduate school, I have to read all sorts of peer reviewed studies every week and then talk about them.

 

[IHeartTs]

I'm in graduate school, I have to read all sorts of peer reviewed studies every week and then talk about them.

Thats awesome! For what if you dont mind me asking? Its brutal. I'm only in a post bacc program so it's like half grad school but we do have to read a lot of studies and discuss them. I'm applying for fall 2016 in like august. Not looking forward to the weekly peer reviewed studies. Lab rotations will be interesting though.

 

[awiec]

Thats awesome! For what if you dont mind me asking? Its brutal. I'm only in a post bacc program so it's like half grad school but we do have to read a lot of studies and discuss them. I'm applying for fall 2016 in like august. Not looking forward to the weekly peer reviewed studies. Lab rotations will be interesting though.

I'm at Michigan State in the Plant Breeding, Genetics and Biotechnology Program, I work in the USDA Sugerbeet Unit. I enjoy it though, I learn something new everyday and everyone in my unit is very laid back and think's my spider hobby is hilarious.

 

[IHeartTs]

I'm at Michigan State in the Plant Breeding, Genetics and Biotechnology Program, I work in the USDA Sugerbeet Unit. I enjoy it though, I learn something new everyday and everyone in my unit is very laid back

PhD or masters? Oh genetics. I've been doing some work in that since it applies to everything and its pretty necessary knowledge but it's not my thing. So props to you on that. I'm actually extracting DNA from gel electrophoresis bands we made for azotobacter tomorrow. That's good! School is even more stressful when people are serious about everything all the time.

 

[Poec54]

Having a large collection of venomous snakes taught me discipline when working with wild animals, and the ability to stay calm under pressure.

 

[gobey]

You could always just earn the respect of your spiders through sheer intimidation. I'm a small girl so I am swift, the less time I give the spider to decide it wants to flip out the happier both of us are

I've got a few that'll never be intimidated by me lol.

 

[awiec]

PhD or masters? Oh genetics. I've been doing some work in that since it applies to everything and its pretty necessary knowledge but it's not my thing. So props to you on that. I'm actually extracting DNA from gel electrophoresis bands we made for azotobacter tomorrow. That's good! School is even more stressful when people are serious about everything all the time.

Masters, I don't want to be in school longer than I need to and I plan to go into industry anyway, though I spend most of my days watering plants. It's a breeding program so you really can't do anything without being able to breed up populations of plants to actually study. I'm currently working on a project where we are measuring sugar content using HPLC, I just dissolve things in ethanol and centrivap things, the lab tech gets to do the hard stuff.

 

[IHeartTs]

Masters, I don't want to be in school longer than I need to and I plan to go into industry anyway, though I spend most of my days watering plants. It's a breeding program so you really can't do anything without being able to breed up populations of plants to actually study. I'm currently working on a project where we are measuring sugar content using HPLC, I just dissolve things in ethanol and centrivap things, the lab tech gets to do the hard stuff.

I don't think anyone does lol. I considered industry but it's not for me. Is it a 2 year program? Bet that thesis is gonna be a blast haha. I've never done any chromatography since our lab is an undergrad lab. Lucky lab tech lol. I gotta find either a temporary job or a summer or winter program that does ELISA or RT-PCR because I desperately need that on my CV. That's really awesome though!! what kind of jobs are there for your degree?

---------- Post added 03-22-2015 at 06:14 PM ----------

Masters, I don't want to be in school longer than I need to and I plan to go into industry anyway, though I spend most of my days watering plants. It's a breeding program so you really can't do anything without being able to breed up populations of plants to actually study. I'm currently working on a project where we are measuring sugar content using HPLC, I just dissolve things in ethanol and centrivap things, the lab tech gets to do the hard stuff.

I don't think anyone does lol. I considered industry but it's not for me. Is it a 2 year program? Bet that thesis is gonna be a blast haha. I've never done any chromatography since our lab is an undergrad lab. Lucky lab tech lol. I gotta find either a temporary job or a summer or winter program that does ELISA or RT-PCR because I desperately need that on my CV. That's really awesome though!! what kind of jobs are there for your degree?