Were you previously an arachnophobe?

[TGod]

Also why do you think people are afraid of spiders despite them mostly being very unlikely to kill you?

 

[ChiefinOnSomeSkunk]

No, but I was previously afraid of feeders such as Dubias, Crickets, and Mealworms. I think individuals are afraid of certain animals by the way individuals around them acted when they were younger. Such as if your mother or father was afraid of them and made a big deal out of them being a pest and nasty, then you would think the same.

 

[basin79]

Also why do you think people are afraid of spiders despite them mostly being very unlikely to kill you?

Been in love/fascinated with spiders since ever I can remember.

Fear is a learned behaviour so at a guess most fears have been passed down from parents whether knowingly or unknowingly.

Of course with humans there's also a lot of ignorance and believing anything they read too.

 

[mack1855]

No....I was never afraid of spiders.However,hamsters scared the crap out of me back in the day(50 years ago).I will take a bite from a T any day over a hamster bite.
And don't even ask about homicidal lovebirds.

 

[BoyFromLA]

I actually (still do) have araneophobia.

It is a bit different than arachnophobia. Rather than fearing for spiders, instead, it is fearing for spiderwebs, webbings.

 

[basin79]

No....I was never afraid of spiders.However,hamsters scared the crap out of me back in the day(50 years ago).I will take a bite from a T any day over a hamster bite.
And don't even ask about homicidal lovebirds.

I myself have a Senegal parrot so..........

 

[mack1855]

I myself have a Senegal parrot so..........

I came to realize I was not a bird guy early in my youth.My short lived bird husbandry ended up with a very irritated peach-faced lovebird,who
wanted to do me bodily harm.
Thankfully my mother bonded with it.

 

[basin79]

I came to realize I was not a bird guy early in my youth.My short lived bird husbandry ended up with a very irritated peach-faced lovebird,who
wanted to do me bodily harm.
Thankfully my mother bonded with it.

Pandora loves me, a little too much and if I try to lie down, speak on the phone etcetera I get told off.

The nose bite I got for trying to explain it was bedtime when I put her away.

I share my house with many family members and Pandora is responsible for all the bites apart from playing fighting with Typhon (dog).

 

[The Grym Reaper]

Nope, always found them fascinating tbh. As for why people are terrified of them, blame the media, I live in the UK, there is not a single species of spider here that has medically significant venom yet every year the gutter press here go on like Steatoda nobilis or Segestria florentina are going to shank your family half to death and then defecate in the wounds for the lulz.

 

[basin79]

Nope, always found them fascinating tbh. As for why people are terrified of them, blame the media, I live in the UK, there is not a single species of spider here that has medically significant venom yet every year the gutter press here go on like Steatoda nobilis or Segestria florentina are going to shank your family half to death and then defecate in the wounds for the lulz.

Oh definitely. And of course there's the annual "monster spiders coming to invade your house" when they're reporting on male house spiders.

Honestly should be illegal how the red tops portray animals.

 

[LD50]

I've never been afraid of tarantulas or spiders. I kept black widows when I was 9 and have always been interested in arachnids so it was always natural for me to gravitate towards tarantulas.

 

[l4nsky]

I was arachno-indifferent, neither fearful or interested.

 

[Tarantuland]

I went through phases between afraid of them and not. I wouldn’t kill them, but had a brief stint of arachnophobia as a kid after a movie made them seem way more dangerous. When I first started keeping, I would shake like crazy during rehousings. Especially my first OW which was an Obt sling. A few weeks ago I did 2 dozen rehousings without issue, half of them OW.

 

[spideyspinneret78]

No, but I was previously afraid of feeders such as Dubias, Crickets, and Mealworms. I think individuals are afraid of certain animals by the way individuals around them acted when they were younger. Such as if your mother or father was afraid of them and made a big deal out of them being a pest and nasty, then you would think the same.

Definitely. As a young kid I would catch them, let them crawl on me, etc. When I was around 8 or so my older cousin panicked and flipped out when she saw a cellar spider in the bathtub and ever since then I was absolutely terrified of them until just a few years ago.

 

[jc55]

I was at one point and time as a child but i believe that was from being bitten by one and my mothers reaction to the bite as it was red and swollen and then thinking they were all going to bite me but it i got over that when i purchased my first tarantula as a young adult and realized it was all for nothing.

 

[Smotzer]

No never was afraid of spiders always fascinated by all insects/invertebrates predominantly starting with all the Lepidoptera, but I tell you nothing can make me momentarily wig out more than at night walking face first unknowingly into a spider web and face being covered in web ugh. No matter how much I love them that feeling will always get me......

 

[Craig73]

I myself have a Senegal parrot so.......... View attachment 382715 View attachment 382716

Dude I feel you. I have two ciaque parrots and every now and then they are not keen to go back in the cage and will have a scrap with me. Maybe twice a year...mostly hormones raging.

 

[MrGhostMantis]

No....I was never afraid of spiders.However,hamsters scared the crap out of me back in the day(50 years ago).I will take a bite from a T any day over a hamster bite.
And don't even ask about homicidal lovebirds.

I had a homicidal lovebird...not fun...

 

[Lukitari]

I watched the movie Arachnophobia when I was 2 years old and afterwards was absoly terrified of spiders. It was a paralyzing fear but through Tolkien (I used to listen to audiobooks before I could read) I eventually grew interested in spiders and by the time I was 7 I was in love with them. I was still terrified of spiders and could never even think about touching one but at the same time they were definitely my favourite animal.

I didn't get over my fear until I got my first T.

 

[ccTroi]

No never was afraid of spiders always fascinated by all insects/invertebrates

nothing can make me momentarily wig out more than at night walking face first unknowingly into a spider web and face being covered in web ugh. No matter how much I love them that feeling will always get me......

you know how i feel!