random thought process

Lolita

Arachnoknight
Joined
Jan 9, 2011
Messages
185
So i've been looking over old threads lately because i'm bored and have the abstract free time to randomly look over old threads like a nerd. And one thing i've noticed is a lot of conversation about how spiders feel pain and how owners tend to care about their spiders to the point of freaking themselves out about molts not eating ect (ahem guilty sometimes) so i thought it might be interesting to share views and opinions on the subject.

Personally i know spiders don't feel pain the way we do but my views are their lives are just as important to them as ours are to us so seeing any spider or any animal for that matter suffer kinda makes me sad (yes i feel bad for the feeders i feed my spiders and reptiles too), also even if it's true they don't feel pain i still think there should be more laws in place about spider abuse (i've heard a lot of well i don't want this spider anymore i'm gonna squish it or put it out in the snow typically with rosies) because as i said earlier their lives are important to them, just because we're the most intelligent creature on earth doesn't make their biological imperatives any less important than ours we simply have rational thought and emotions as well as instict where they have just the instict so even if they don't feel pain and their brains are tiny part of me feels like they feel like their failing their instincts when they don't pro-create before ultimately passing away.

As far as them having feelings and emotions go: am i naive enough to say i believe my spiders love me and genuinely care about me as their owner as say my dog does? No i'm not. It's like i keep trying to tell my friend who's bound and determined to "tame" his A. seemani that i had given him she's a beautiful spider (i was slightly intimidated by her attitude and would distract her with food everytime i watered her) but she's instinctual and their temperments are hard wired into them just like i've never heard of a cuddly OBT some spiders natures are just more aggressive than others and no matter how many times you try to hand tame your spider (he's been bitten by her i think 16 times now in the like 2 month span he's had her) it wont work (i'm not trying to get into a handling debate here though just so everyone knows) because they don't give a flip about us sometimes their calm sometimes their not anytime your sticking your hand in a tarantula enclosure with them in there whether to change water or pull out bolus's you run a risk of randomly making your instinctual pet mad as hell and thats a risk we run keeping pets like that (just like everytime i stick my hand in my tokay gecko tank i know theres a high risk of getting bit). But on the other hand if my favorite tarantula died right now i'd cry not because of the investment i spent (although being out money always sucks) but also because I myself am human i do use my emotions and i do love my spiders they're my little arachno babies and i've become attached to each one whether it likes to make random burrows or sit there in the corner doing nothing 27 each one has it's own unique personality. To me it's not that our spiders get attached to us they rely on us to feed and care for them yes but i don't think they realise this they probably just go "oh look theres something i can eat wiggling in the corner thats awesome" but at the same time it is hard not to try and imagine them loving us and caring about us in the way they do. Does it make it harder on the owner to imagine them feeling the same way? definitely but i personally like my little musings about my spiders.

okay sorry for my rambling hopefully that makes sense to someone other than me.
 

Fran

Arachnoprince
Old Timer
Joined
Nov 8, 2007
Messages
1,533
There are many debates about this matter.

I love my tarantulas,I even talk to thm some stupid stuff when they do something that I find funny, but sadly they do not have sense of their own existance the way we do.

Therefore, they cant feel sorrow if they are being misstreated or starved or thown into a pile of snow, as you menction.

They are primitive and simple animals. They dont recognize you, they dont enjoy the handling,they cant be tame.
We are giving them personalities that in fact they do not have.But thats the magic of it and thats why we keep them.

you just need to get your facts straight.

And about "laws against neglecting tarantulas"..I mean...I dont really know how to answer to this one. Animals have rights, but for God sakes...lets not go overboards specially when we have people dying every second due to reasons a bit more importan to fix.
 

Chris_Skeleton

Arachnoprince
Old Timer
Joined
Jan 31, 2010
Messages
1,309
There are many debates about this matter.

I love my tarantulas,I even talk to thm some stupid stuff when they do something that I find funny, but sadly they do not have sense of their own existance the way we do.

Therefore, they cant feel sorrow if they are being misstreated or starved or thown into a pile of snow, as you menction.

They are primitive and simple animals. They dont recognize you, they dont enjoy the handling,they cant be tame.
We are giving them personalities that in fact they do not have.But thats the magic of it and thats why we keep them.

you just need to get your facts straight.

And about "laws against neglecting tarantulas"..I mean...I dont really know how to answer to this one. Animals have rights, but for God sakes...lets not go overboards specially when we have people dying every second due to reasons a bit more importan to fix.
I like this post. :)
 

Lolita

Arachnoknight
Joined
Jan 9, 2011
Messages
185
I know the facts i'm aware the don't feel pain or process things in the way we do. But also that people have opinions on how much of the facts they take into account. I do believe they have different personalities otherwise everyone of the same species would act exactly the same they each have their own unique quirks like i have a couple B. Boehmei's one likes to kick hairs at everything that moves the other one has never kicked hair but wont hesitate to run over to you and rub it's hairs off on your finger if given the chance i see those things as quirks.

I never once claimed that they had emotions or enjoyed handling or anything of the sort simply said that i enjoy loving them and that i would be sad to see anything bad happen to them because i enjoy my little guys would it be cool if they loved us back yeah it would but they don't their just little spidery critters they exist to complete their natural biological imparatives.

As far as the abuse thing yes i do think their should be protection for abusing them just like with any animal people take into their home as their charges. I've seem people keep T's in moldy enclosures and when it's brought up they go "oh well it doesn't matter they don't feel pain so if they die whatever" maybe it's just my years of taking in injured and abused reptiles but i kinda think there should be laws in place to make sure any animal we keep as pets has some sort if protection from abuses but thats just me.
 

Fran

Arachnoprince
Old Timer
Joined
Nov 8, 2007
Messages
1,533
i kinda think there should be laws in place to make sure any animal we keep as pets has some sort if protection from abuses but thats just me.

That already exists. Animal rights. If you are seen neglecting animals in general, you could be penalized.
Now, to make specific laws about the care of our tarantulas? I mean, I dont quite get it. ( :rolleyes: We shouldnt even have them in the first place)
Not to change the subject but what amuses me is that some people is all for those sort of things yet they complain when they have to pay with taxes for medical bills for other people, for example. It doesnt make sense. :confused:
Dont you think there are bigger things to fix first?



About the personalities...They dont have personalities. They are guided by instinct but of course every individual behaves within a pattern of differences, they are not robots.
But thats as far as it goes.
 

Lolita

Arachnoknight
Joined
Jan 9, 2011
Messages
185
That already exists. Animal rights. If you are seen neglecting animals in general, you could be penalized.
Now, to make specific laws about the care of our tarantulas? I mean, I dont quite get it. ( :rolleyes: We shouldnt even have them in the first place)
Not to change the subject but what amuses me is that some people is all for those sort of things yet they complain when they have to pay with taxes for medical bills for other people, for example. It doesnt make sense. :confused:
Dont you think there are bigger things to fix first?



About the personalities...They dont have personalities. They are guided by instinct but of course every individual behaves within a pattern of differences, they are not robots.
But thats as far as it goes.
well my friend who's a federal forestry officer said that those laws don't really affect inverts and the only way someone would be penalized for anything T related would be if they had a venomous old world loose around kids or other people who wanted to press charges for endangerment. Yes i think there are other things that needs focuss but this is also i hypothetical conversation and i'm not really a political person so i try to avoid getting into goverment conversations but yeah i don't mind paying taxes either i've been doing it for a couple years and it's not a big deal to me it's part of our goverment i live with it.

and as far as the personality thing goes thats actually what i was trying to say you just worded it better but my point was each one is slightly different i just used personalities and a descriptive word cause i couldn't think of a better one to use at the time and half way through writing my original post a family crisis came up so i'm sure my post didn't convey the thought i was trying to put out

---------- Post added at 05:02 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:00 PM ----------

Anthropomorphism is a mental condition caused by the projection of human emotion(s) into the thoughts, feelings, and motives of anything non-human, ie, Tarantulas.

or you can click below...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthropomorphism
Umm i wasn't saying they have human emotions my point although now that i've reread my post was rather poorly conveyed was a lot of times when our pets get sick or something you you have a MM for instance and you know it's gonna die it's hard to be rational about it and go oh well it's just a spider because as humans we can easily get attached to them i know some people don't but i can't help naming my tarantulas and caring about them as my pets.
 
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