Whats up with exotics lair?

[neens]

First post here so I hope its alright to ask this.
I've been lurking on the AB for a while now since I have nothing else to do at work at the moment. I've only had one T for the past 2-3 years, Lasiodora parahybana (pink salmon birdeater), she was a gift from a family friend and I've really enjoyed her. I'm looking to dive deeper into the keeping world and starting a collection. I've been wondering why there is a distain here for exotics lair. I've watched a few of his videos but he's honestly cringy, so I'd just like some experienced keepers opinions as to why he's problematic.

 

[BoyFromLA]

Well, this topic occasionally brought up.

It is much better just to send him direct message to his YouTube channel and ask him, than asking here for third parties opinions.

 

[Edan bandoot]

First post here so I hope its alright to ask this.
I've been lurking on the AB for a while now since I have nothing else to do at work at the moment. I've only had one T for the past 2-3 years, Lasiodora parahybana (pink salmon birdeater), she was a gift from a family friend and I've really enjoyed her. I'm looking to dive deeper into the keeping world and starting a collection. I've been wondering why there is a distain here for exotics lair. I've watched a few of his videos but he's honestly cringy, so I'd just like some experienced keepers opinions as to why he's problematic.

A lot of the husbandry he does is risky for the sake of entertainment, I think that's the problem people have

 

[Almadabes]

When he was a smaller name, his videos were much tamer. His overall demeanor was much more humble - now he's kind of loud and obnoxious all the time. That being said, his husbandry has never been great and he does some risky things for the sake of entertainment like using only 1 hand to do maintenance, Slapping the tops of enclosures, etc.

I also saw his recent OBT rehousing and... yeah that was really bad.
People make mistakes - but I don't think people with common sense and planning could mess up THAT bad.

His T's are very defensive - and while I'm not usually one to say "that enclosure is too small" - I do think his current setups leave little room for the Adult T's to feel secure - so of course they're a bit ornery.

With his current popularity, he's basically like every other YouTuber that's blown up thanks to gen Z - "DON'T CALL ur TARANTULA AT 3 AM CHALLENGE - Gone sexual!" As someone who's been on YT for a looooong time - this turns me off cause I just hate when people give in to clickbait and sensationalism for views over making good content. It's a problem with the whole platform that's gotten worse over the years, but we're not here to discuss that.

It is much better just to send him direct message to his YouTube channel and ask him, than asking here for third parties opinions.

He will be among the first things new keepers see, so I think it's fair for an online group of Tarantula keepers to express their opinions on him. Whether or not we want to accept it - he is a "public figure" in this hobby and should be subject to our criticism.

It would be nice to get his side of the story and see if he's willing to better his practices for the sake of new keepers. But with his current popularity, he is not likely to respond or address the concerns - that I'm sure he is aware of.

 

[Matt Man]

Because to the majority of folks here, he's a kook more concerned with his ratings / hits than he is with husbandry.
Because he makes a load of mistakes and bad info that in the long run, endangers the animals

 

[nicodimus22]

It is much better just to send him direct message to his YouTube channel and ask him, than asking here for third parties opinions.

Couldn't disagree more. Arachnoboards is the best source of good tarantula information on the internet. There are many experienced keepers here that have a combined knowledge of hundreds of years of keeping tarantulas. Youtube is pretty much a joke when it comes to good information on Ts, except for Tom Moran. They're almost all clickbaity channels that use the tarantulas to get attention and make money.

 

[thatdadlife619]

Bad husbandry. Pretty sure he has lost t’s in the past due to it, and makes cringey videos acting confused why his C. darlingi died in swampy substrate.

 

[0311usmc]

Couldn't disagree more. Arachnoboards is the best source of good tarantula information on the internet. There are many experienced keepers here that have a combined knowledge of hundreds of years of keeping tarantulas. Youtube is pretty much a joke when it comes to good information on Ts, except for Tom Moran. They're almost all clickbaity channels that use the tarantulas to get attention and make money.

You missed his point, he ment to ask exotic lair himself rather than ask people here for what they think about exotic lair and his husbandry. Better to ask exotic lair himself why he does what he does than ask a bunch of people on AB. Boy from LA is on our side and wouldn't go anywhere else but AB for information.

 

[Arachnoenthusiast]

The problem is his husbandry isnt. The whole premise of his channel is views. Not care of the critters. I watched 2 of his videos getting into the hobby, and it took about 15 minutes of research to realize he wasn't in it for the animals.

 

[nicodimus22]

You missed his point, he ment to ask exotic lair himself rather than ask people here for what they think about exotic lair and his husbandry. Better to ask exotic lair himself why he does what he does than ask a bunch of people on AB. Boy from LA is on our side and wouldn't go anywhere else but AB for information.

He meant 'ask Exotics Lair what he thinks of his own husbandry?'

Why would...oh, never mind.

 

[Ic4ru577]

I do think that the whole things are staged. There is no way he can have friends acting like a jackass. My 10 yo son finds his videos fun. From all the youtuber, he is the most “entertaining” according to my son. For husbandry, I only refer to Mr Moran

 

[Stormsinger]

Well for starters, about 40% of his screwups and difficulties managing his Ts would go away if he would just put the flipping camera down and use two hands like a normal person. He does dumb stuff like get his arachnophobic friends to rehouse old worlds, and he doesn't do research so he makes tons of preventable mistakes in his husbandry (his recent OBT rehouse and OBT euthanasia videos are glaring examples of this). Combine all that with the fact that he has a massive audience that thinks he knows all things tarantula, and now you might see why he is disliked.

 

[Rigor Mortis]

Basically what everyone else has said. I liked the discussions members had on this thread about tarantula youtubers in general. Not to mention some of us think he bought a replacement C. darlingi to pass it off as a miracle save from death when the one he had died.

 

[vancwa]

He makes me nervous.

 

[The Grym Reaper]

About the politest way I can put this is that he's an obnoxious little cringe-goblin who spouts misinformation and antagonises his animals for the sake of getting those viral views.

 

[Robert Marley]

About the politest way I can put this is that he's an obnoxious little cringe-goblin who spouts misinformation and antagonises his animals for the sake of getting those viral views.

Judging by his latest video, I assume he makes all his Tarantula purchases from crack heads? Seriously how can you get that many poorly shipped packages, unless you’re seeking it or setting it up for views?

 

[BillsSpider]

I just get irritated when he antagonizes his T's by doing things he knows is going to irritate them, and then he starts in with the "Why you so mean?" It's not mean bruh, you scared the <edit> out of it

 

[Chris73G]

There´s nothing wrong with a more entertaining than educational approach in general, as long as the animals are still properly taken care of.
That exotics lair-dude just crossed the line between "recording a mistake which happenend in spite of good intentions and preparation" and "artificially creating bad situations just for sensation again and again".

 

[Matt Man]

Okay folks, let's look at this in detail. In most cases these aren't live broadcasts / podcasts, these are edited / curated content. Personally if I was making videos, the takes where I screw up would be deleted so that everyone watching would think I was dang near perfect. That's just my ego, and I would CHOOSE to show near flawless content. Choice is the key thing here, the maker is choosing what to broadcast, what they show is a decision. So what do we know 1) lots of screw ups and 2) some shady friends, so these are choices. So then ask "What motivates these choices that are unbecoming of the host?" and the only logical answer is "Sales"

 

[waynerowley]

Dark Den has gone the same way. Just not quite the levels of carelessness and foolishness (yet).