- Joined
- Apr 28, 2009
- Messages
- 72
I have read about people getting into the hobby as a way of facing their fears of spiders. Has anyone here gone through this type of tarantula therapy?
I ask because I have a good collection of Ts, scorps, and just beginning a centipede collection, and my girlfriend has nightmares about all of them. I love my Ts and she respects that (we're on the same level due to the fact that she has rats, another misunderstood creature) but she is still afraid.
I have started with the idea of curiosity being the opposite of fear, so when there is something interesting like a molt, weird behavior, active burrowing, or webbing, I'll share with her and she'll watch it with me. She seems to enjoy the webbing the most so I find she will get the most out of watching the P murinus or C cyaneopubescens. She has admitted that the A diversipes is pretty and picked the N chromatus as her favorite, so there is some hope.
I also bought a red phase G rosea sling that I have named as her spider (that I will take care of for her), since it is a pink spiderling. She said it was cute and gave it the name Magenta.
I don't like handling my Ts unnecessarily, but I know which ones I can take out and how they generally react. I haven't tried to take them out around her yet out of respect for her fear, but eventually it may be a good step for her. My main concerns here are the unexpected... I dont want a dead T.. also even the most docile Ts can bite, which would ruin any progress with this therapy.
We're also a step in the right direction concerning spiders in the house. She stopped killing them after a drunken conversation (I don't remember at all) where I was sad about the spiders just trying to make a living in our house after a hard day of work helping us get rid of pest bugs only to have us squish them lol
So anyway, tldr, my gf has arachnophobia and I have a T collection. Progress is being made, but there is still a long way to go. Any advice? Any experiences with T therapy?
I ask because I have a good collection of Ts, scorps, and just beginning a centipede collection, and my girlfriend has nightmares about all of them. I love my Ts and she respects that (we're on the same level due to the fact that she has rats, another misunderstood creature) but she is still afraid.
I have started with the idea of curiosity being the opposite of fear, so when there is something interesting like a molt, weird behavior, active burrowing, or webbing, I'll share with her and she'll watch it with me. She seems to enjoy the webbing the most so I find she will get the most out of watching the P murinus or C cyaneopubescens. She has admitted that the A diversipes is pretty and picked the N chromatus as her favorite, so there is some hope.
I also bought a red phase G rosea sling that I have named as her spider (that I will take care of for her), since it is a pink spiderling. She said it was cute and gave it the name Magenta.
I don't like handling my Ts unnecessarily, but I know which ones I can take out and how they generally react. I haven't tried to take them out around her yet out of respect for her fear, but eventually it may be a good step for her. My main concerns here are the unexpected... I dont want a dead T.. also even the most docile Ts can bite, which would ruin any progress with this therapy.
We're also a step in the right direction concerning spiders in the house. She stopped killing them after a drunken conversation (I don't remember at all) where I was sad about the spiders just trying to make a living in our house after a hard day of work helping us get rid of pest bugs only to have us squish them lol
So anyway, tldr, my gf has arachnophobia and I have a T collection. Progress is being made, but there is still a long way to go. Any advice? Any experiences with T therapy?