Were you previously an arachnophobe?

[christinas]

I was most of my life after I walked face first into a spiderweb as a child.

 

[Xharyel]

At first I wasn't, then suddenly became one because of a movie I watched as a kid, I forgot the title, but it was terrifying (and ridiculous lol)... It was something about giant spiders laying eggs inside humans... Then they hatch inside of them, they wanted to conquer the world or something...

But yeah, for the most part I was scared of them, then I grew more and more interested in inverts in general until it became a hobby at some point.

 

[viper69]

No

 

[ConstantSorrow]

The only creatures that truly scare me are people.

Oh, and ticks. Those things are disgusting.

 

[LucN]

Thankfully, never had the fear. Always had a fascination as a kid. I used to catch orb weavers and set them up in mason jars with sticks to allow for anchor points. That didn't last long. I do recall having caught a small jumping spider and a crab spider. Have rarely seen the former since, never witnessed the latter again. Keeping Ts only intensified my interest and passion. I could see myself enjoying some Hogna sp or Phiddipus sp at some point.

 

[neens]

True spiders creep me out and I want nothing to do with them. I'll scream if I see one in the house. Tarantulas don't have the same effect though. I remember my kindergarden teacher had a T and a scorp in his classroom and they never bothered me, now I have two T's haha.

 

[shushu]

I definitely would never have called myself an arachnophobe i think. Tarantulas never really creeped me out, mostly just intrigued me. I mostly get a chill down my spine from flying insects and things with long thin legs such as crane flies and harvestmen... Still not used to them.

 

[curiousme]

When I was in 4th grade, living in Guthrie, Oklahoma I witnessed something that terrified me. A group of wandering A. hentzi males and it seemed like there were 100s, but was probably dozens. The whole field was moving with them and I dropped my bike in the middle of the road and ran to a neighbor's who took me back and he stomped on them. I have kicked myself over the situation many times since I got into Ts. I wish I wouldn't have been scared and just enjoyed the experience, but no, it fostered in a severe fear of spiders, tarantulas specifically. That is until my ex-husband introduced me to the hobby and I came to appreciate their beauty. Then I handled my A. metallica and fell in love.

 

[RoachCoach]

I was one of those basic people that got scared of the word brown recluse. Then I lived with hundreds of them. I caught a couple, then read books on them. Then I realized I was boogey monstered by the pest control lobby and I can easy free handle my collection of like 80 recluse in all life stages without an extra heartbeat. Your boogeyman probably is profiting off you being scared of what you don't know. Tell him to kick rocks and educate yourself. i.e. camel spiders. Boogeyman. Then I saw them chase patients out of the automatic doors in the ER at 3am and they stole my heart. Don't let them boogeyman you.

 

[CommanderBacon]

Spiders never bothered me but I really can’t deal with roaches well. I’m more inclined to like my dubias, but I can’t deal with other species unless they look like isopods.

 

[sasker]

Yes, I was. In my case, I was bitten by a house spider when I was very little. I was, and am, always very interested in small critters, which I grabbed without hesitation. Being tired of this irrational fear of spiders, I purchased a B. emilia as my first. This cured my phobia.

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

Not everything is a life or death situation. I have a 'fear' of hot stoves, even though I know putting my hand on one will not end my life. Most people have a healthy fear of spiders, that is, they will not touch them to avoid unpleasant experiences (from a small unpleasant pinch from a house spider, to a life-threatening experience from a black widow bit). Also, if you know that some spiders are dangerous, but you don't know which ones are, it would be best to careful around all of them.

Irrational fear, I think, stems mostly from misinformation and lack of knowledge. But I am not a psychiatrist

 

[Iamconstantlyhappy]

Never had a fear of spiders. I find roaches absolutely disgusting and refuse to use them as feeders.

 

[sasker]

I find roaches absolutely disgusting

Face your fear and keep them as pets

Seriously, though. Try to find a species that you don't find so repulsive. Not all species look like 'typical' roaches. When you keep them, you might discover that they are actually quite intriguing. I quite like to watch them go about their business, cleaning themselves, showing territorial behaviour etc. Eventually they meet an unhappy end in the fangs of my Ts, though, but still...

 

[Metallattorney]

Not particularly. I did not like finding them in places they should not have been, but they never really bothered me. I started becoming fascinated with them some time around my early teens when I first saw jumping spiders. It has gradually increased from there.

 

[Arachnophobphile]

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

Holy popcorn batman....that's some nasty damage.

Is it wrong for me to hate most birds......you know....the ones that poop on your car, home, you?

I love birds of prey though as they eat those pooping birds.

 

[Arachnophobphile]

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

This topic comes up alot on AB.

You'll discover that many members had/have arachnophobia before they became a T keeper, myself included.

 

[LaughingLunatic]

Still am, to an extent. The common european house spider creeps me the heck out. Thank goodness I moved to the States, lol. I'll take my spiders big and hairy, thank you very much. Tarantulas are beautiful, elegant creatures to be admired and in awe of, not like those.... those.... spawns from hell.

 

[Rozwyrazowana]

I've never been an arachnophobe, but my sister-in-law is. She says that her greatest fear is a small spider crawling into her nose or ear, so tarantulas are less scary for her than regular house spiders.

 

[Jzornes29]

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 worked at a local pet store for 5 years and in that time got bit by hamsters significantly more than anything else in the store.

 

[starlight_kitsune]

As a kid I was terrified. Then when I was like 13-14 someone told me about making "the deal" which is basically where you find the biggest, scariest looking spider and declare them the king/queen and make a deal where you won't kill spiders anymore unless you're bitten or something. Idk why but it helped a lot lol. Then I started learning more and more about them, got a macro photo coffee-table type book from the library and became obsessed.

I learned to be scared of them from my dad. I'm trying to raise my son to not be. So far so good, but he might learn to be once he gets to school.