What Inspired You to Get into Tarantulas?

[Vanessa]

I have always been a 'bug' person and always advocated for our native spiders.
Almost 20 years ago, a friend called me and begged me to 'rescue' a very neglected G.rosea (now porteri) that she had seen in a horrible pet shop. I didn't even know people kept them and I had no idea what I was doing.
Fast forward to today... tarantulas aren't sold in pet shops anymore (Horray!), that horrible pet shop chain has since closed down due to animal welfare initiatives (Horray!), and I have a house full of big spiders (Horray!).

 

[Ratmosphere]

You can read my story in the link below.

http://arachnoboards.com/threads/how-did-you-get-into-keeping-invertebrates.288969/

 

[nicodimus22]

You can read my story in the link below.

http://arachnoboards.com/threads/how-did-you-get-into-keeping-invertebrates.288969/

 

[Ungoliant]

It's because the thread is in The Watering Hole. To access this board:

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3. Where it says "The Watering Hole," check the box labeled "Join."
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[nicodimus22]

It's because the thread is in The Watering Hole. To access this board:

1. Scroll to the top right corner of the site and hover over your user name.
2. Click Preferences.
3. Where it says "The Watering Hole," check the box labeled "Join."
4. Click Save Changes at the bottom of the menu.

It may take a while for this change to take effect. You may even need to log out and log back in.

Thanks!

 

[Stella Maris]

I had a mystical experience with a male jumping spider (Phidippus audax). I named him Frederick. He looked up into my eyes and stared deep into my soul. I was fascinated by his glancing up at me. Then I let Frederick go outside.

There was also a female garden spider who built her web above our sliding door. I named her Seraphina. Every night during a period of one week she would completely remake her web. Then a week later she was nowhere to be seen. When she "left" I was sad.

From then on I fell in love with arachnids especially tarantulas. Now I want more arachnid friends.

 

[tAngents]

Well, a few things inspired me.

My arachnophobia for one. For as long as I can remember I've been scared of spiders. It was to the point where I couldn't sleep if I knew there was one in the bedroom, or take a shower until the bathroom was clear of them. My first husband and I had a 27-foot cabin cruiser boat that we had to sell because of spiders. The marina and boat was so full of spiders, I was petrified and could never relax while we were on it. We'd just be chilling in the cabin listening to music and as soon as the sun would start to go down, all these thick-bodied spiders would come out and start weaving webs everywhere, and big fuzzy black "mini tarantulas" would dart across the deck and furniture. Fast forward to more recently: my current husband and I moved into a house that is more full of spiders than any house I've ever known. I spent the first couple years here killing all the ones that made their way into the house. Couldn't bug bomb the place because I'm sensitive to chemicals and I have geckos that would have to be moved out for the day which would just be stressful for them.

After my grandma was diagnosed with terminal cancer last May, I started to really try to change my mind about spiders. Thought really hard about how ridiculous it actually was that I'm so scared of them. I started relocating them outside instead of killing them. My grandma always had a great respect for all critters. She saved hundreds of wild animals in her lifetime and set them free after nursing them back to health. She was fascinated by the cellar spiders that would build webs in her bathroom and she wouldn't let anyone kill them. Plus, they caught the flies that were attracted to the kitty litter in the bathroom. At family events at her house, she'd always remind everyone not to hurt "her spiders". Sometimes you'd go to wash your hands and one of the cellar spiders would be in the sink. I'd wad up a piece of toilet paper and use it to shoo the spider out so I could wash my hands because she would know if one got killed--she would notice it was missing (they were usually mating pairs, apparently). When she died, I wondered what I could do to honor her and feel better about all my senseless spider murder so I bought Nope, my G. sp. Northern Type. I think my Grandma would like her. Nope has definitely helped me to relax about spiders. Now when I see them in the house, they don't even both me. I even have my own collection of cellar spiders hanging out in my bathroom. They kill the ants that come in during the spring!

TLDR: Arachnophobia and my grandma's love for all creatures inspired me to get my T.

 

[Arachne97]

Well I was 10 years old and was looking for a ball python in an exotic pets forum. Then I saw that one of the breeders had a list of animals for sale. None of them were known to me. I read the ad and I wondered "what on earth is a gbb? What the hell is a brachypelma smithi." So i looked them up on google and thought that they looked pretty cool. I researched about tarantulas, got interested, and bought an Lp sling after a few months.