what have you done in this hobby?

[Tindalos]

so ive been wanting to take this whole tarantula hobby to a new level.
what i mean is spread awareness,get more experienced, and just get whole lot involved in general. i was thinking about becoming an arachnologist. im in my last year in highschool and i want this (tarantulas) to be my life after im done.
what organizations can i join, society, clubs, or get involved with other keepers in my area.

So my questions are;
how do i get more involved?
and groups i can join that don't require a credit card or check?( im paranoid about money and i believe in cash only.)
where can i go or do to learn more?( taxonomy, sexing, the whole nine yards.)
how can i get more people involved?

and what have you done for this hobby?( for example getting someone into tarantulas, or make tutorials, and even smaller stuff like preventing a little 8 year old with no experience/knowledge and buying an OBT for his first T)

even small stuff.

what do you consider as expanding the hobby?

so my main question besides inquiring what i can do, is what is your contribution to this hobby?( no matter how small or what it is-you define the contribution.)

 

[Lilmetalallyson]

well im only 16, so i don't know much about the professional stuff, i like spreading awareness, just telling people about them, so many people have misconceptions about them, and in my experience just telling people simple facts about them is enough to get people at least interested.
idk. i hope this helped at least i little.

 

[Tindalos]

well im only 16, so i don't know much about the professional stuff, i like spreading awareness, just telling people about them, so many people have misconceptions about them, and in my experience just telling people simple facts about them is enough to get people at least interested.
idk. i hope this helped at least i little.

this is exactly what im looking for,
what are some of others people contributions.
through this info i hope i can figure what i can do.

the little things can lead to some of the biggest things out there.

 

[nhdjoseywales]

from time to time i take spiders to work to walk around and do a show and tell with people. sounds odd i know, but people i work with have given me a few spiders and snakes and noone seems to have a problem with me doing this. being the IT guy i walk around all over anyway so i just pick days where i dont have a lot going on and it works out pretty good. I figure i have exposed about 150 people to T's that would have otherwise never actually seen one or known anything about them.

 

[8by8]

Arachnologist? Not to many of those I would guess. Thats one of the many degrees im contimplating I want to work towards, but something with animals(not a vet). Have you found any good schools yet?

 

[codykrr]

not to come crashing down on hopes and dreams, but there arent to many jobs for arachnologists...

but, my contributions ive made besides awareness of them and educating the people in my life about them is as follows.

i have documented parisitic flies in tarantulas(which im currently in the midst of getting made into an artical along with some professors help)

i am helping organize another bug hunt here in missouri.

the rest is still pending.

 

[8by8]

Yeah Cody is right, not too many jobs, probably not the best pay either. But like he said he studied parasitic flies, there is something out there you could do with all kinds of cool critters. Or you could take your T's to work, all my shipments are sent to my job.

 

[Megan]

I think it is awesome you have found such a passion with tarantulas. As others in this thread have stated, it may be hard to go into a specific field like arachnology right away.

However, if that is where your true passion is, I would definitely be looking into attending a university. To keep all of your doors open, I would major in biology (or even biology education). You will probably be able to find others who have similar interests [for example, my university offers an entomology course] and perhaps start an arachnid club. To really be able to find a job in arachnology, you would most likely go on to get a master's degree and, subsequently, a PhD narrowing your focus down to what you most love, arachnids and then narrowing it down even further to a very specific aspect of arachnids.

If you're looking to stay in-state for college, I would look into colleges within your state that have good biology programs with entomology courses offered. If you have the option of going out-of-state, then you can really look into those colleges that have professors doing arachnid research or that have well-developed entomology programs.

Here's an interesting page highlighting some areas of research that arachnologists are studying now: http://www.arachnology.be/pages/Scientists.html

The cool thing about getting a PhD would be that you could be hired by a university to teach courses and do research, which would help you spread your passion to others.

As far as my contributions, I just got my first tarantula so it has been simple things like raising awareness among friends and such..

 

[scottyk]

i am helping organize another bug hunt here in missouri.

If it happens after mid April, count me in. A job offer I couldn't refuse has me moving to Springfield, MO in about six weeks.

To the OP, and anyone else who cares. I've been working on collecting information on US native tarantulas, which seem under appreciated in the hobby, and under studied in the wild. I'm also working on acquiring responsibly collected breeding stock to get some captive bred slings into the hobby. Both have been slow going so far, but I'm hopeful that once my kids get a bit older I'll have more time for it. Patience is a virtue, especially in this hobby

 

[Exo]

I've discovered that slings can live off of fish flakes, for whatever that's worth.

 

[Sky`Scorcher]

Just turned 18 and i'm already doing small powerpoint presentations around my
university. Mostly, in groups i am associated in and it was out of their curiosity. :razz:

Heck, I even plan to make it my business model some time in the future.


In my class I got about five people in to the hobby and let me tell you, they have learned well from me :clap:


Sometime it even makes me wonder why I didn't go for entomology and specialize in spiders as my course. :}

That'd be awesome

 

[splangy]

Megan is exactly right. Get your degree in Biology. If you really want to do research on arachnids, you need to work yourself up to a Ph.D., but you can't be terribly picky at this point. If you tell a graduate school that you ONLY want to do research in arachnids, you may be limiting yourself... Keep things broad now so you don't run into a wall later.

Do what you need to do to get the Ph.D. in.... entymology... ecology.... sociobiology.... whichever you can find. You dont' necessarily want to jump right into a Ph.D. in arachnology. Once you have the Ph.D. then have at it with the research!

From my experience.... entymology seems to be the largest dept that overlaps with arachnology (entymologists commonly switch over and do research on mites and spiders and things like that). I haven't seen as much of herpetology overlapping to do arachnology (strange as that may sound). But both entymology and herpetology are good bets. But again... don't get too specific until later. Keep it at a general Biology for now!

Hope that helps!

 

[Tindalos]

well thanks for all the input, well i can get into any university i want as long as they have ROTC. well i think it is crazy( in a good way) what have everyone been doing. all my questions have been answered except is there any society i can be a part in utah? also
not only did i create this thread to have some questions answered
but also for everyone to share their stories
and so far has been great

so thanks.

 

[thevez2]

At a minimum, you should consider joining the following:

American Tarantula Society
American Arachnological Society
British Tarantula Society
British Arachnological Society
International Society for Arachnology

Other ones to consider joining:
Australia Tarantula Association
Sonoran Arthropod Studies Institute

The above groups all have great publications that you will learn a lot from.

You could also join the Utah Bug Club, although their focus seems to be butterflies, you could work to expand that.

I'd highly recommend starting a tarantula club of your own in Salt Lake. I am in the military and move every few years. I have started up groups at my last 2 bases. I also look for opportunities to spread knowledge about tarantulas at schools, libraries, and community centers. I am giving a presentation this weekend to an estimated 100 person crowd on base.

I have also created a reference page of the most useful links, beginner info, and scientific papers posted online. It is located in my signature as "Quest for knowledge"

 

[xhexdx]

is there any society i can be a part in utah?

You can check here:

http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/forumdisplay.php?f=41

 

[thevez2]

If you start a group you can use the Wasatch Reptile Expo in October 2010 as a way to network, distribute info to folks, and recruit members.

 

[Rockstarpets]

well thanks for all the input, well i can get into any university i want as long as they have ROTC. well i think it is crazy( in a good way) what have everyone been doing. all my questions have been answered except is there any society i can be a part in utah? also
not only did i create this thread to have some questions answered
but also for everyone to share their stories
and so far has been great

so thanks.

There is not one in Utah... yet. I am currently working on creating one, so I will keep you updated, it is a few months in the future however. Also, One of the BEST things I've done for awareness is outreach. I often do shows to schools, scouts, etc. where I take and educated about inverts and snakes and it really helps the long term health of the hobby. Hook em young I say!

 

[super-pede]

I take some of my T's and pedes around to schools (preschool,K-8)and teach kids about how tarantulas/inverts are not to be feared but to be respected and how they are very amazing creatures that need our help.I do this often,you don't usually get paid but seeing the kids faces is enough to make you happy.

 

[gumby]

You can also ask to volenteir at the hogal zoo. I tried that once but got shut down. I wasn't asking for pay I just wanted to help but no one ever got back to me.

 

[Rockstarpets]

You can also ask to volenteir at the hogal zoo. I tried that once but got shut down. I wasn't asking for pay I just wanted to help but no one ever got back to me.

In my experience that is a bit of a waste of time. I did the same thing and hounded them to no avail.