What’s going to happen to this hobby?

[Smotzer]

Sitting here bored at work thinking about the hobby, and tarantulas. And this thought ran through my mind.

what’s going to happen to this hobby after this surge of popularity on social media? What’s going to become of all these tarantulas that the social media/ mass public is buying up?

The reason I bring this up, is that most of my life, until I joined AB, I hardly knew anyone else, in my high school, or in college, and afterwards, in plenty of different towns and states, who was as interested in invertebrates as I was or who kept them. And this was mainly before the times of mass social media and tarantula YouTube?
It was always the select few who had a shared true fascination.

But what’s going to happen with all the people who buy them who are just doing it, because of a fad and something to look cool about? Is the hobby going to crash a little after this fad dies down? Or are these people truly invert lovers?

 

[DomGom TheFather]

Hopefully, people like you and I will be buying lots of cheap spiders.

 

[Poonjab]

They’ll get bored, post them on Craigslist, and I’ll continue to buy them for dirt cheap. Nothing I enjoy more than swindling people out of their unwanted T’s on Craigslist. I’m being serious. I’ve talked people down on price or gotten them for free.

 

[Smotzer]

Hopefully, people like you and I will be buying lots of cheap spiders.

Amen to that!!! Maybe it’s a blessing for us actual hobbyists in disguise!? I won’t tell

They’ll get bored, post them on Craigslist, and I’ll continue to buy them for dirt cheap. Nothing I enjoy more than swindling people out of their unwanted T’s on Craigslist. I’m being serious. I’ve talked people down on price or gotten them for free.

Speaking of check out this add I saw today on CL. Made me chuckle. What a description....

And yeah I always check once a week to see if theres any up.

 

[Poonjab]

Speaking of check out this add I saw today on CL. Made me chuckle. What a description.... View attachment 361137

And yeah I always check once a week to see if theres any up.

There is a person in my area who has been trying to sell what appears to be a mature female g.rosea for $80 with enclosure. The enclosure is like a 10 gallon tank with egg cartons and hardly any sub. I don’t want another one, but I’m tempted to offer him $20 for the T and tell him to keep the crap setup. Reason for selling: she needs to be handled more and not getting enough handling/love anymore

 

[Smotzer]

she needs to be handled more and not getting enough handling/love anymore

Oh jeeeeeez

There is a person in my area who has been trying to sell what appears to be a mature female g.rosea for $80 with enclosure. The enclosure is like a 10 gallon tank with egg cartons and hardly any sub

egg cartons for like a hide? or like a egg carton playground and decorations? either way thats bad....

Tell them youll take it for 20 and youll handle it every single day and youll even give it lots of kisses, it will be so loved hahahah. They might give it away if you tell them all that.

What was your best, steal of a deal of CL? I saw someone trying to get rid of their entire collection like 20 T's, but with no asking price for the lot or individually.

 

[Poonjab]

Oh jeeeeeez

egg cartons for like a hide? or like a egg carton playground and decorations? either way thats bad....

Tell them youll take it for 20 and youll handle it every single day and youll even give it lots of kisses, it will be so loved hahahah. They might give it away if you tell them all that.

What was your best, steal of a deal of CL? I saw someone trying to get rid of their entire collection like 20 T's, but with no asking price for the lot or individually.

Yeah, egg carton looks like it’s probably for hide. Or they just throw it in with all the crickets on it? Hard to say from pic.

my absolute steal was my h.pulchripes that came with a emperor scorpion. Both FREE. She wanted $20 for an Asian Forrest scorpion, that I found out after was actually an emperor, which is what I was going to pick up. Got there, and she’s like you want the h.pulchripes too? I was like naw... don’t have the cash to buy it. Long story short, she’s like if they go to a good home, you can have them. Was like... they are going to the best home haha.

I should note the h.pulchripes was like 2+ inches when I got it. So.... yeah.... absolute steal.

 

[Smotzer]

Yeah, egg carton looks like it’s probably for hide. Or they just throw it in with all the crickets on it? Hard to say from pic.

my absolute steal was my h.pulchripes that came with a emperor scorpion. Both FREE. She wanted $20 for an Asian Forrest scorpion, that I found out after was actually an emperor, which is what I was going to pick up. Got there, and she’s like you want the h.pulchripes too? I was like naw... don’t have the cash to buy it. Long story short, she’s like if they go to a good home, you can have them. Was like... they are going to the best home haha.

I should note the h.pulchripes was like 2+ inches when I got it. So.... yeah.... absolute steal.

Wow! That’s is a absolute steal if I’ve ever heard of one!! An emperor and a H. pulchripes for free you lucky dog!

 

[Uial]

I still don't think there are that many people in the hobby jet. I'm based in Germany and most T people I see on social media are from the UK or America. I've been to a convention here and it was kind of crazy that there are this many people interested in it, but it still wasn't that big of a convention, the food market in my town is bigger.

But I think you also have to differentiate between people that have Ts as their main hobby, those who have like 80 of them and have all these exotic ones and have an extra room for it, and filthy casuals like me who have like 9 NWs and can't get any more because of room and landlord constrains. Also lets be honest, if I could get more I'd still only get Nw terrestrials because they are my faves.^^

I've met two people in real live who have had T, one guy mentioned he had a few pokies but got rid of them because he lost interest? That just seems so crazy to me, they are pets, living things, but then again I also don't know how people can abandon their dogs...
and a Girl who has two and these are living in appalling conditions really, one Brachypelma and a Rosie and after I've seen how they live I don't think anything can kill these species. Her reasoning is "They are still alive so my husbandry can't be that bad." but yeah.. I got off track.

Anyway I think these big Tarantula tubers and collectors will probably continue to do it, if there continues to be money in it, and yeah in these last few years many new ones popped up but the audience continues to be there.. I don't really think it's a fad, I just think the hobby gets bigger as more people hear of it. And as it gets bigger we hear of more people doing things wrong, but that what happens with every hobby, as new good people come in there will inevitably be a few bad ones. But if the cash stream dies the people who like to do it will continue to do so, and those that only did it for the cash will move on to new things, and sure there will be some big collections dissolving, but I think most of the people in the hobby are those that only have a few if any T's and they will continue to keep them probably like people keep fish and hamsters.

But maybe my perspective is wrong and everyone here has 100 T's and I'm the only lame one. We could probably do a poll to see what the average T count per person is^^
That's just my two cents tho, as a casual T keeper.

 

[CommanderBacon]

I really don’t see what you’re seeing. The internet has made it so the hobby is more visible and more accessible to people. Of course, as more people become exposed to it, they’ll be come interested in it. I’ve already sucked a few people in within my group of friends.

I don’t see it as some sort of fad, but the inevitability of exposure and acceptance making traditionally “weird” and esoteric hobbies more mainstream. I think we’ll see more casual keepers as a result, and imo that’s fine. Not everyone needs to have 50 spiders. And people will cycle in and out of the hobby as they have always done, but it will be in greater numbers, since more people will be keeping.

 

[jrh3]

Sitting here bored at work thinking about the hobby, and tarantulas. And this thought ran through my mind.

what’s going to happen to this hobby after this surge of popularity on social media? What’s going to become of all these tarantulas that the social media/ mass public is buying up?

The reason I bring this up, is that most of my life, until I joined AB, I hardly knew anyone else, in my high school, or in college, and afterwards, in plenty of different towns and states, who was as interested in invertebrates as I was or who kept them. And this was mainly before the times of mass social media and tarantula YouTube?
It was always the select few who had a shared true fascination.

But what’s going to happen with all the people who buy them who are just doing it, because of a fad and something to look cool about? Is the hobby going to crash a little after this fad dies down? Or are these people truly invert lovers?

This is nothing new. I have not seen a recent boom in popularity. It come and goes tbh. I do think the hobby is growing though.

Inverts have always been my favorite.

 

[Royalty]

I think it has a good and bad sad. With more people and more information out there, people may start taking better care of their t's. On the flipside more people might impulsively buy then get "bored" of them.

With "PetTubers" out I think this has already affected the reptile hobby. People treat these as temporary thrills and do not consider that it is a long commitment. Their care can be a bit more finicky than t's but you see many cases of neglect. I think people just do not care about them as much as a cat or dog so they just want to dump them when it becomes inconvenient or they are just bored of them.

 

[Ic4ru577]

Greater demand with steady supply will lead to increase in prices. Basic economy. Good news for breeders. Not so for the rest

 

[aprilmayjunebugs]

As a new "hobbyist" myself, who just a couple years ago never would have dreamed that spiders of all things would be my new obsession, I think it's a good thing. Of course there will always be people who get into it for the wrong reasons that may not take proper care of them or worse, there is always the concern that new laws could come into play because some numb nuts got themselves bit or stung. I think the bigger question here what impact us as hobbyists can have in the general public since 98% of them are terrified and repulsed by our pets. One of my dreams with raising these unconventional companions is that I can hopefully one day change a few minds by educating them on their preconceived notions and maybe, just maybe, they will see the insect and arachnid world a bit differently. One can only hope though.

 

[Kichimark]

I was at my LFS today and chatted with the owner for a bit. He actually has a good selection of Brachypelma's in the 2-3 inch range at what I would consider good prices. He even let me take a look over of his B. boehmei and picked up a possible female.

Anyway, lots of folks coming in and purchasing different tanks/supplies for new lizards or upgrading. Apparently with lots of things still closed, he has seen increased demand due to the boredom some folks have. But, he gives great advice and will explain to them the husbandry for what they are interested in.

A few did look at me looking over the T's and some were repulsed by the T's while others thought they were cool. Told him if anyone brings in their T's if they get bored to give me a call.

 

[kingshockey]

sad as it is to say there probably will be lots of ts that die from neglect or get let loose to die someplace thier not evolved to survive etc.

 

[Arachnoenthusiast]

Sitting here bored at work thinking about the hobby, and tarantulas. And this thought ran through my mind.

what’s going to happen to this hobby after this surge of popularity on social media? What’s going to become of all these tarantulas that the social media/ mass public is buying up?

The reason I bring this up, is that most of my life, until I joined AB, I hardly knew anyone else, in my high school, or in college, and afterwards, in plenty of different towns and states, who was as interested in invertebrates as I was or who kept them. And this was mainly before the times of mass social media and tarantula YouTube?
It was always the select few who had a shared true fascination.

But what’s going to happen with all the people who buy them who are just doing it, because of a fad and something to look cool about? Is the hobby going to crash a little after this fad dies down? Or are these people truly invert lovers?

I'm guessing that there will be plenty of ts up for grabs when people realize they dont want them

 

[Smotzer]

so they just want to dump them when it becomes inconvenient or they are just bored of them.

this is kinda what I was referring to in the original post!

 

[Kitara]

Amen to that!!! Maybe it’s a blessing for us actual hobbyists in disguise!? I won’t tell


Speaking of check out this add I saw today on CL. Made me chuckle. What a description.... View attachment 361137

And yeah I always check once a week to see if theres any up.

WeeeeEEEEEeell since you're checking in my backyard. Let me know if there's anything I need to look at LOL!!

Unfortunately, the OP kinda makes me think of all the chicks and bunnies that are purchased at Easter and then dumped when they're no longer cute or people realize they actually require care. I worked in animal rescue in NJ and so many people get puppies in breeds they're not familiar with and don't properly train/care for them. At best they get released to the shelter, but a lot of times they just get dumped to just fend for themselves. What's sad about the inverts is that I can imagine inexperienced people just releasing them. "They're bugs. They'll be fine." Someone posted in here about releasing their T. I don't remember the reasoning.

 

[Kichimark]

....What's sad about the inverts is that I can imagine inexperienced people just releasing them. "They're bugs. They'll be fine." Someone posted in here about releasing their T. I don't remember the reasoning.

There is a lot of truth behind that and I didn't even think about that till I read your message. I remember years back someone posted on another forum a picture of a red diamondback rattlesnake (Crotalus ruber) in an area where they are not found. That actually lead to a few of us (herpers) visiting the area (a small natural area visited by lots of bikers/hikers) to see if we can find it. The chance of that type of snake traveling around 60+ miles through a major city from the edge of where they are found is none and most likely just dropped off by someone who didn't want it anymore.

Imagine being out and about and out comes walking along some mature male B. boehmei? That would get me excited BUT also sad since it is a non-native and releasing animals because you don't want them anymore is just wrong and cruel.