The "Good" & the "Bad" about tarantula keeping.

[Ancistrus]

In your experience so far, what are some of the good and the bad things about keeping tarantulas?
I'm assuming that the good out-weighs the bad, otherwise we would not be here right?

 

[magouilles]

In your experience so far, what are some of the good and the bad things about keeping tarantulas?
I'm assuming that the good out-weighs the bad, otherwise we would not be here right?

only "bad" thing is I can't go on vacations for very long bc I also own true spiders and they require more food and just general care than my ts

 

[birdonfire]

I am poor.

 

[vicareux]

The only downside would be potential stressful rehouses.
A small amount of animals that can be kept as pets are risky to house in as spiders are, due to their speed.
Everything else is super nice about them, super simple to keep and are cool

 

[greeneyedelle]

I am poor.

I've yet to encounter a rich tarantula hobbyist, and I can't tell if that's weird or not

 

[Craig73]

Bad -
Rehousing would be on the top of my list. Followed by bolting, hair kicking and threat posing. Pretty much anything that will raise my anxiety through the roof.

Good -
Enjoyable and relaxing to look at and easy to care for. Hard to stay in a funk when you have pretty T’s to admire. We also listen to Madonna’s Vogue song and you would be surprised how good they are at it, like naturally gifted. Some strike a pose way too early, but love them anyways.

 

[greeneyedelle]

Good things: It's an enriching hobby. Never gets old, there's always something interesting happening like a new tarantula is available, someone molted, someone stopped eating. I compare it to keeping plants; You feed, you water, it grows. This plant just happens to have eyes, legs, fangs. Instead of returning the gift of life with oxygen and the occasional flowering, tarantulas (some of them) return the gift of life--and money--with entertainment and bad attitudes. It's a delight.

Bad things: On the flip side, it's addicting and expensive and no one in your life really understands the appeal, so you're floating on an island of solitude surrounded by giant, fuzzy, venomous spiders and a bunch of internet strangers in the same position, all whilst trying to explain to your mom that it's not like your emo phase, no, you won't grow out of it, she'll just have to accept you the way you are, proceeding to go about dropping lesser insects into enclosures with a macabre sense of satisfaction and an unhealthy excess of self-awareness.

 

[DomGom TheFather]

Spiders are awesome but the hole in you isn't even spider shaped.

 

[magouilles]

Good things: It's an enriching hobby. Never gets old, there's always something interesting happening like a new tarantula is available, someone molted, someone stopped eating. I compare it to keeping plants; You feed, you water, it grows. This plant just happens to have eyes, legs, fangs. Instead of returning the gift of life with oxygen and the occasional flowering, tarantulas (some of them) return the gift of life--and money--with entertainment and bad attitudes. It's a delight.

Bad things: On the flip side, it's addicting and expensive and no one in your life really understands the appeal, so you're floating on an island of solitude surrounded by giant, fuzzy, venomous spiders and a bunch of internet strangers in the same position, all whilst trying to explain to your mom that it's not like your emo phase, no, you won't grow out of it, she'll just have to accept you the way you are, proceeding to go about dropping lesser insects into enclosures with a macabre sense of satisfaction and an unhealthy excess of self-awareness.

i felt those downsides wayyyy too hard stop this right now i dont like it :c

 

[greeneyedelle]

Spiders are awesome but the hole in you isn't even spider shaped.

Any chance we can get this in a bumper sticker?

 

[DomGom TheFather]

Any chance we can get this in a bumper sticker?

If you can sell one, i get a cut.

 

[Wolfram1]

only downside are the feeders, not all my friends are fans of roaches and to be honest if i could keep the bins outside my flat that would be awesome.

 

[pongdict]

only downside are the feeders, not all my friends are fans of roaches and to be honest if i could keep the bins outside my flat that would be awesome.

It took some convincing for my wife to let me start keeping Ts again. I know she will never let me keep roaches in the house. I feed my Ts mealworms.

 

[LucN]

The good : Entry into the world of one of the most misunderstood animals out there. Huge array of sizes and colours. Relatively easy to maintain as long as you use common sense.

The bad : Like anything, too much of a good thing can become bad. It's incredibly easy to get sucked in by the variety. Soon, you find yourself with more animals that you had space for.

Also, it seems to be a magnet for "idiocy". Too many people get into them to show off without even looking into the actual care needs of the animals. The mentality that they need to prove their worth to social media by acquiring the most expensive or most "aggressive" just so they can get recognition from strangers, it boggles my mind.

Edit : I should add that an overwhelming number of people that I described above generally won't bother coming here. They'll just do the utmost basic research or none at all using extremely outdated/useless caresheets.

 

[viper69]

In your experience so far, what are some of the good and the bad things about keeping tarantulas?
I'm assuming that the good out-weighs the bad, otherwise we would not be here right?

Your responsible for another animal’s life.

I've yet to encounter a rich tarantula hobbyist, and I can't tell if that's weird or not

I have

for my wife to let me

that’s your problem- you may need v2.0!

 

[pongdict]

that’s your problem- you may need v2.0!

Lol, yeah. Where can I find V2.0? Jokes aside, my wife is very arachnophobic and she let me start keeping Ts again! Thats something. When we met I had already quit the hobby. So this is all a first for her. She is slowly starting to be okay with it. At first she didnt even wanna be in the same riom as the Ts! Yesterday she watched me feed them.

 

[QuinnStarr]

The Good:
It’s a chance to educate others.
It’s like having the Discovery channel in your house.
You get to keep undesirables away by telling them you keep spiders as pets.
There’s literally a spider for any taste - colorful, active, slow, dull, fast or slow growing, etc.
You can completely forget they exist for two weeks and they don’t die.

The Bad:
People routinely threaten to murder your pets.
You might get bit if there’s an accident or slip up.
It’s addictive and gets expensive.
There’s so much misinformation out there that people have ridiculous misconceptions about what you actually DO with a tarantula.
Legal issues - I’ve never heard of a litter of Dalmatians being held at the border from being brown boxed.

 

[Jonathan6303]

Good side
Very easy to keep, beautiful to look at, don’t require a lot of attention.
Bad side
WHY DO I ALWAYS WANT MORE!!!!!

 

[Edan bandoot]

I've yet to encounter a rich tarantula hobbyist, and I can't tell if that's weird or not

Rich people don't brag about spiders on internet forums, except for me of course.

 

[greeneyedelle]

If you can sell one, i get a cut.

Expected delivery is December 21st, pictures to follow