So many couples on here collect together

[Deliverme314]

And i think that is fricken awesome... My girl is sick at the sight of my tiny slings... We are fairly serious... just over two years and are at the point where we may move in together in about a year. She has made it very clear that MAYBE she would be able to live with on or two... but not the dozens I want to keep. I understand where she is coming from. She shouldnt have to live with something that makes her uncomfortable... but damn... let me just say you guys are lucky. But whats more important...? The girl I hope to spend my life with or my T's... her obvisouly but I will miss the guys I raise in the meantime if we stand the test of time and get a place in a while.

 

[rosehaired1979]

I wasn't big on Ts at first. I wasn't arachnophobic just I never kept Ts or any type of spider. My husband (Spyderfangz) got me into them and i love the ones I have. I think maybe in time your girl friend will get used to them in time more and more.

 

[Lopez]

Myself and Lostkat. It makes things so much easier when bulk ordering (many European dealers do multiples of 3 at reduced prices) so we get one for me, one for her etc. Also comes in handy when males mature, there's more chance that we can use them between us. She prefers arboreals in general, I like Poecilotheria and Asian terrestrials.

 

[Tim R.]

Maybe you can have a seperate spider room she never has to enter.

 

[Deliverme314]

Originally posted by Tim R.
Maybe you can have a seperate spider room she never has to enter.

Yeah ... I tried that. "It would still be my house too... why should there be a room in OUR house that I cant go into? Why would i want that devoted to YOUR spiders..." etc blah blah... she says its the idea of "she knows they are there" even if she never see's them. Long before I got into T's my dream has been an exotic pet shop... before it was going to be mainly exotic fish... I always assumed that T's/reptiles etc would be present but that I would need someone else to handle them. But now that I am getting into them it makes me want it even more. I am working towards my CPA... but hate corportae america. I would love to use my passion for analysis, my own business and the freedom/responsibility that goes with it and my absolute love for the odder creatures of the world to make a living. This means that over the next 5 years I need to become at least an intermediate keeper... begin breeding and keeping lots of species... I dont see how that will possible I mean... if she and I make it... I have to put her above anything else(except God of course) in my life... Looks like I may be stuck doing Cost Analysis for the corporate machine for the rest o' my days...

oh, and I sincerley doubt that her fear/hate of inverts will go away... so once again let me say. I HATE YOU ALL no... but you are damn lucky

 

[indigoeyes]

Yah, Inuleki and I. Our relationship progressed rather quikly, and we moved in together after only a month and a half! After about a year and a month of being together, I told him I wnated a Tarantula. We got a Gramm rosea. Then, he found this site and realised just how many species there are. We placed an order of four from Swift; two for him, two for me. The ordering usually goes about like that, and we split the freebies. (Except the Haplopelmas, those are ALL his!) We are now up to 35 and counting, with a possible breeding project soon!

I got him into the hobby, but he got me into the "collecting." My only advice, you are probably already doing. Just try to educate her on Ts. Take her with you when you go to buy more. Let her pick out one "for her." Ask her opinion when ordering. I think the more you try to involve her, the more accepting she will be. And once she realises just how important they are to you, and that they are a HUGE part of your life, she may be more tolerant of them for your happiness.

Good luck!

 

[mebebraz]

ahhh, lets get back on track here people...which is really more important.....the woman.......or the more important t's......sorry, the t's????:?

 

[stu]

heh heh, yeah, my better half doesnt like my invert collection either

Saying that, she is quite cool about it - as long as she knows none can escape and I dont do any feeding/maintenance when shes around its cool.

Thing is - my wish list is getting so long now Im gonna end up with a lot more before the end of the year and as I keep them in our living room Im gonna quickly run out of space - I KNOW she will not allow me to keep anything in the bedroom.... hmm, maybe an extension on the house is needed?

Hopefully she will be cool with it - I think she is slowly coming round to the idea and I got her to read the TKG which she found interesting

Maybe someday Ill buy her her own T.

cheers,

Stu.

 

[Code Monkey]

Originally posted by Deliverme314
I HATE YOU ALL no... but you are damn lucky

You're just going to have to leave her

I suppose I'm a good example of why there are advantages to starting young. I'd been keeping some tarantulas for several years before I even met my now-wife, and we knew each other for four years before we became a couple. Although I doubt she expected that it would ever explode into 60+ slings & Ts (I didn't either ), she certainly can't pull the "I hate spiders" card out now.

The centipedes and roaches are a whole other matter...

 

[Deliverme314]

Originally posted by Code Monkey
You're just going to have to leave her

I suppose I'm a good example of why there are advantages to starting young. I'd been keeping some tarantulas for several years before I even met my now-wife, and we knew each other for four years before we became a couple. Although I doubt she expected that it would ever explode into 60+ slings & Ts (I didn't either ), she certainly can't pull the "I hate spiders" card out now.

The centipedes and roaches are a whole other matter...

Hmmm... not that thi is surprising... the concensus seems to be... T's>girl friend

haha...

Indigoeyes, I wish she would even look at the sites with me... I showed her what my lil monsters will look like when they are full grown... "WHY WOULD YOU WANT THAT!? WHY????!!!"

She is a little girly... but the thing that gets me is she is incredibly into sciences. She was a physics/english major at UVA and now declasifies nuclear weapons... an INCREDIBLY smart, generaly open minded girl... but I guess the girly girl has out done her love of science/exploration etc on this one... in other words... education doesnt get past the "get those freaking things out of eye sight from me"... oh I told her I want a pede... showed her some pics... her reaction to that was about ten times worse than the T's

 

[stu]

lol - deliverme

Yeps, I may be slowly talking her round to at least accepting the T's but there is NO way I will ever make her accept my Pedes

She is pretty mad about me keeping those - I now have 7 of them living with us - she thinks im mental.

Good luck convincing her anyway

Stu.

 

[Code Monkey]

Originally posted by Deliverme314
oh I told her I want a pede... showed her some pics... her reaction to that was about ten times worse than the T's

The first visible pede I got was an adult Vietnamese giant (I had some smaller pedelings but they blended in nicely among the slings). I was keeping it in a 5 gal. on a file cabinet right behind her computer desk. I actually got away with it for almost a week before it was trying to climb the sides of the tank one night when she looked back (she had just assumed it was yet another spider tank). I about got skinned (and had to move it to my desk immediately) =D

Fortunately, my love of pedes is nothing close to my love of spiders and she will tolerate a scant few pedes. She doesn't like the millis either (it's the whole "worm" thing) but can't find much to really put her foot down on a bunch of hippy inverts that eat our left-over and spoiling veggies.

She actually *almost* likes spiders which is what makes it work.

 

[MrDeranged]

Buy her an A. versicolor sling and your problem will be solved. The trick is to get them hooked as well and I've never seen any spider make a girl like them like A. versicolor slings. I think it must be the blue or something....

Scott

 

[greensleeves]

Originally posted by mrderanged
Buy her an A. versicolor sling and your problem will be solved. The trick is to get them hooked as well and I've never seen any spider make a girl like them like A. versicolor slings. I think it must be the blue or something....

Scott

I agreed. Of course I was always easier to convince. Ts never bothered me, but I never really was like "Wow" either.

Then I saw pinktoes, specificially versicolors, and I fell totally in love - though seeing Midwest Art's adult male geroldi was what made me know I had to have one.

Greensleeves

 

[Code Monkey]

Originally posted by mrderanged
I've never seen any spider make a girl like them like A. versicolor slings.

Yep, my wife thinks they're cute - doesn't want one herself, but she will actually watch one moving about with some degree of actual interest.

 

[conipto]

Like Chip, I got my most recent woman after the T's. If they go in knowing about it, they can't really complain about it later. She's shot down my pede-collecting ideas pretty well though.. But I should mention, it was the tarantulas that got her in the door the first night.

"So, I had a good time"

"Yeah, me too"

"Hey, wanna see my tarantula collection?"

"Sure"

"It's right over here.. in my bedroom..."

The rest, as they say.. is history

On the other topic, She seems to always forget about the versicolor when she's looking at them. "Wow, I didn't know that one was so blue!" and then her attention goes right back to the big black Haplopelma. That's the only one I've ever caught her looking at when I'm not around. I think it's mostly because she ate her boyfriend. Women get a kick out of things like that.

Bill

 

[Kaos]

Me and my girlfriend also collects together. In the beginning of the week she got a Haplopelma Sp. And on wednesday i mangaed to pursuade her to let me buy a centipede, Scolopendra Cingulata?. She was a bit scared of pede's and i truly learned to respect it when i realized how incredibly fast it is, but now we both find it a beatyfull an fascinating creature.

 

[darkeye]

2 words:

Dump
Her

Sounds a little harsh, but if she does not love you enough to consider YOUR feelings in the matter, or try to work out a compromise, then the stark reality will be you sneaking your pets into the basement/garage/whatever just to have them. There are LOTS of women in the world, I am sure there is one out there for you that actually LIKES tarantulas.

My wife did not like the idea at all, but she was willing to TALK about it. After some time, we agreed to try one. I added #'s 19, 20, and 21 yesterday. And my wife helped pick them out. She doesn't love them herself, but she does see my point of view and is willing to appreciate the beautiful things they are. (From a distance )

Dump her. Save your future. Find a woman you can love, and who will love you back.

best of luck.

 

[Tangled WWWeb]

I met my wife (Infinity) around the same time that I began collecting T's. She loves T's now, but won't let me get any centipedes either. I find our shared interest in T's to be problematic at times though. For example, I often buy a number of slings in hopes of getting a particular gender and selling the surplus, but she becomes attached to them. I have also proudly reached the end of a reptile/invert show without buying a single thing- only to find her with 2 new pets. I think it may be beneficial to have at least one sane person in the relationship!

 

[roylemom]

My first one, my husband thought was pretty cool, to give to the kids. Second one, I got that eyeball look as I told him our daughter REALLY wants it. The third one, the kids went and bought as a gift...before telling him.(they are sooo good.LOL) And when I bought the 4th one, his comment was "I give up, but if one gets loose, I'm going to spray raid throughout the place! Now he says if we want to breed, just rent a little shop to do it in.