Question time! Share with me about the people who hate your love of invertabrates.

[klawfran3]

I usually hear it from herp enthusiasts, or other exotic pet keepers. I think it's meant to be a respectful way of telling me they find my primary pet hobby "icky," but they still appreciate my enjoyment and passion for it.

to me it doesn't sound too respectful. it seems like another way of saying "your animals are disgusting and you should know it." which is kind of sad.

At my highschool I am commonly referred to as "the bug boy" and am always the one to get any animals or bugs out of the classroom. That's always fun because sometimes a jumping spider or two are in the class and I get a free new pet. A lot of the times, however, "bug boy" it usually a poke or insult to me to try and get me roused. I honestly like the ring of the nickname and respond happily to it.

 

[Merfolk]

Not very precise on the point , but I saw a woman yell at her daughter because she didn't express fear upon seeing T and reptiles. Like, a real woman MUST crawl up a table upon
seeing a mouse or else she is a lesbian or a butch. Reading psycho stuff, I figured out that since men's life are far less dangerous than the old times, women instinctively exaggerated their phobic response in order to look more vulnerable, thus more desirable. A woman that displays no fear or phobia is sometimes frowned upon in some circles...

 

[pyro fiend]

my gf hates my T's shes ok with scorpions but not the T's :: she refuses to come over to my house to see me..i told her today i have 5 more T's coming in wed she said "...its official shell never live in the same house with my animals now... if she seen one shed get some raid.."[im paraphrasing because there was alot of *'s in what she really said] so i asked if it ment were over.. she got upset X( but long story short shell be over tomorrow "but im not touching any of those ***** things i dont want them out of their cages" XD im an a-hole :3

 

[ieatkats]

I had my grandaughter over for the weekend. Her other grandparents dropped her off . After entering the t room she said omg gotta get out of here. Not a big deal some people cant handle them its cool. A few days after dropping the grandbaby back off srs shows up at our door. The fricking lady called child services on us because of her fear of spiders. Mind you my t room has a deadbolt and most of the cages have locks. All the ones that dont are up high enough on shelves that my 5 kids nor my 5 month old grandaughter that cant even walk can get to them. Some people i swear!

 

[dfarks]

Nobody hates me for it....because noone knows they are there.
Well 2 people do, but my roommates don't and my mom doesn't and my childhood friends don't. I have secret spiders ::
I think i'll tell them after i graduate and move out...what a great surprise amirite!

 

[Oumriel]

Had been going out with a guy for a while when I had him over for the first time for movies and dinner. My daughter found a cricket that had gotten loose and she asked who she could give it to. I told her and the new guy perked and asked to see what she was feeding. He was making guesses all the way to the room: geckos? bearded dragon? what does she have?. (I converted my walk in closet to a T room to maintain heat.) He walked in and saw her dropping the cricket in the OBT sling's enclosure who of course wrestled with it before settling down to eat. Glanced at the other 13 sling and 2 juvenile enclosures and walked out. He stayed for dinner but made an excuse to not see the movie so he left early. We texted on and off for another week or so but he pretty much quit responding so meh. Im moving back to Arizona in the fall anyway.

 

[Beary Strange]

Had been going out with a guy for a while when I had him over for the first time for movies and dinner. My daughter found a cricket that had gotten loose and she asked who she could give it to. I told her and the new guy perked and asked to see what she was feeding. He was making guesses all the way to the room: geckos? bearded dragon? what does she have?. (I converted my walk in closet to a T room to maintain heat.) He walked in and saw her dropping the cricket in the OBT sling's enclosure who of course wrestled with it before settling down to eat. Glanced at the other 13 sling and 2 juvenile enclosures and walked out. He stayed for dinner but made an excuse to not see the movie so he left early. We texted on and off for another week or so but he pretty much quit responding so meh. Im moving back to Arizona in the fall anyway.

Bluh good riddance I say. You should introduce your Ts first as a screening method. :3

 

[persistent]

That would be a very strange fetish. Wouldn't be surprised if there was someone out there who got some sort of perverted rush from them crawling about.

Some time ago there was a guy on this forum who liked to test urticating hairs on his "junk" to see which species was the worst.

 

[pyro fiend]

Some time ago there was a guy on this forum who liked to test urticating hairs on his "junk" to see which species was the worst.

aah i i dont even want to try and remember thatone!!! LALALALALLALAA [lol]

 

[JZC]

Not very precise on the point , but I saw a woman yell at her daughter because she didn't express fear upon seeing T and reptiles. Like, a real woman MUST crawl up a table upon
seeing a mouse or else she is a lesbian or a butch. Reading psycho stuff, I figured out that since men's life are far less dangerous than the old times, women instinctively exaggerated their phobic response in order to look more vulnerable, thus more desirable. A woman that displays no fear or phobia is sometimes frowned upon in some circles...

How'd that go?:unsure:

 

[Micrathena]

No ones ever really been terribly rude or anything. The most I've gotten is people telling they're afraid of spiders or saying they "can't do" tarantulas.

Yeah, I don't really mind that. They're just stating their opinions in a polite, non-aggressive manner, and I can respect that (as long as they respect my spiders).

---------- Post added 05-05-2014 at 01:09 PM ----------

Just some ideas for possible retorts to the ubiquitous, "If that gets out I swear I'll kill it":
"If that (point to child or pet) gets out I swear I'll kill it."
"Get out of my house."
"Get out of my face."
"Get out of my life."
"That 'bug' is my best friend. Certainly closer than you."
Or just say nothing. Ever again.
By the way, I have never been unfortunate enough to have to test these, but if anyone tries them please tell us how it went.

 

[TLover007]

Had been going out with a guy for a while when I had him over for the first time for movies and dinner. My daughter found a cricket that had gotten loose and she asked who she could give it to. I told her and the new guy perked and asked to see what she was feeding. He was making guesses all the way to the room: geckos? bearded dragon? what does she have?. (I converted my walk in closet to a T room to maintain heat.) He walked in and saw her dropping the cricket in the OBT sling's enclosure who of course wrestled with it before settling down to eat. Glanced at the other 13 sling and 2 juvenile enclosures and walked out. He stayed for dinner but made an excuse to not see the movie so he left early. We texted on and off for another week or so but he pretty much quit responding so meh. Im moving back to Arizona in the fall anyway.

Ya not a big loss... my fiance was not very exited when i got my first curly sling... she now owns I think 7 of her own Ts... my point is if he doesnt like your hobby and cant accept it after a while... tell him to go marry with someone with 100 cats

Im crazy... and I Love Ts!!!!

 

[LordWaffle]

to me it doesn't sound too respectful. it seems like another way of saying "your animals are disgusting and you should know it." which is kind of sad.

At my highschool I am commonly referred to as "the bug boy" and am always the one to get any animals or bugs out of the classroom. That's always fun because sometimes a jumping spider or two are in the class and I get a free new pet. A lot of the times, however, "bug boy" it usually a poke or insult to me to try and get me roused. I honestly like the ring of the nickname and respond happily to it.

You're taking it way out of context and too personally. (I'm not speaking of your own experiences, but your response to mine). I am 6'3'', have blue hair, am loud (as a few board members can attest), swear like a pirate wishes he could swear, have tattoos, 8 facial piercings, and am pretty thoroughly educated. Having tarantulas is hardly my defining characteristic. When people say they can't do it, we're in a discussion of exotic pets and it's generally from a position of admiring that I can rather than being dismissive. They're taking responsibility for their own hangups, rather than saying "you are icky" or "your spiders need to be smashed" In the end though, it doesn't matter wat they think anyway.

This thread is solely about negative experiences. If we made one with positive experiences I'd have much much more to say. In my twenty years associated with tarantulas, and shorter time having a personal collection/breeding stock I can say I have helped taken away the stigma from at least a dozen people and have encouraged and "convinced" three to begin owning their own. One of which recently branched into Old World tarantulas, and another of which used to flat out be afraid of spiders and use the words "I just don't like them?" Next time a thread like that comes around I will have a ton to say.

 

[Tivia]

I am extremely new to owning a T as I just got my first (a GBB sling) about a month ago. I've not gotten too many negative comments, yet. Only a few "Ew" and "Gross" comments when I post a pic of the little bugger on FB. I understand that Ts aren't for everyone and I'm ok with that.
I recently ended a long term relationship, so I really like the idea of introducing my T to any potential dates as a screening method!

 

[BobGrill]

My grandma.

 

[pyro fiend]

I am extremely new to owning a T as I just got my first (a GBB sling) about a month ago. I've not gotten too many negative comments, yet. Only a few "Ew" and "Gross" comments when I post a pic of the little bugger on FB. I understand that Ts aren't for everyone and I'm ok with that.
I recently ended a long term relationship, so I really like the idea of introducing my T to any potential dates as a screening method!

seems very important to do that nowadays. i got most of mine in secret and noone knew about them, i ddint see a reason too. then one day my now 'gf' asked y i had to stay up til 3 one day [i work nights] to sign for a package. told her scorpions and a tarantula.. now she refuses to even sit on my front porch and they are in beck of my house XD lol

and ofcourse the bug-bomb threats XD

 

[klawfran3]

seems very important to do that nowadays. i got most of mine in secret and noone knew about them, i ddint see a reason too. then one day my now 'gf' asked y i had to stay up til 3 one day [i work nights] to sign for a package. told her scorpions and a tarantula.. now she refuses to even sit on my front porch and they are in beck of my house XD lol

and ofcourse the bug-bomb threats XD

that's pretty rude though... threatening to "bug bomb" your animals.

 

[pyro fiend]

that's pretty rude though... threatening to "bug bomb" your animals.

ikr lol youd think id of chased her around the house.. the only time she "seen" one was when my albo sling came in with scorps shes like "pff i know you didnt get those what did you realy get.." so i made an unboxing vid. sent it and clear pics to her and thats the ONLY time shes seen them [1inch b.albo and iv got 3 other T's including a 4"+ rosie in my room] and she thinks itl[the albo] kill her or something XD refuse to tell her how big they all are or how big the L. parahybana and L. difficilis i have coming in will get ;P

 

[Tivia]

Pyro fiend, sorry to hear about your gf having issues with your T's and scorpions. I'm pretty upfront with people about the animals I own and my passion for them. If a guy were to have an issue, he wouldn't be around long. They don't need to share my passion (although that would help!) but they need to respect that it is a big part of who I am.
I'm sure I'll encounter negativity at some point, it's inevitable, so I'm taking notes on the best ways to react!

 

[Storm76]

Bluh good riddance I say. You should introduce your Ts first as a screening method. :3

Doesn't work - I speak from experience, lol!

Aside that, friend of mine learned I kept T's, said she'd never visit me again. Long story short after her husband had helped me with getting some enclosures and the A. minatrix home one day, her curiosity got the best of her, she came over and I showed her around. Aside the fact that they're all in my bedroom and the first sentence was "Ugh - and you can SLEEP with these in the room?" - I brought her as far as letting one of my Euathlus sp. "red" walk on her. She found it ok, told her kids - a few time after I had 3 kids, her husband and herself over here. Went for feeding time, was fun. There's a threat with a full report on here actually

Besides that - a lot of people have stopped calling, mailing, visiting after they learned about it. I don't care - as long as I can keep my Tarantulas.

My neighbors know about them, aren't "happy" about it, but since there never once was any kind of accident, they even accept the packages that usually have a new T inside with no problem