Why did you get into spiders?

[Joe1968]

this is a good thread, i enjoy reading peeps experinces.
well here mine.

in 1991 i was in the Army stationed in ft drum, ny. i took this girl to a movie called " the silence of the lambs" ( i know ...what a movie watch on a date) anyways if u remember, the killer has a cool terarium and collect exotics bugs. later on i went to a pet shop and got me a diff bug, a rose hair, i had to sneak it in at the Army barracks, i had to hide it when we have our daily room inspection by our company first sergeant , i was getting out in a few months anyway so i didnt care. i remeber at the time i was leaving, i have all my stuff all pack up in my tiny car and my T in his critter cage in the front seat with me. left NY, drove to Canada, cross Michigan, then to St Louis.

remember this is 1991 at that time the only available species is either a rose hair or a pink toe, at least that what i saw they have. internet wasnt born yet and theres no way i could find a cool species that i like, but i love my rose hair. i even remember saying "oh cool this one has a cute tiny hooks in the front leg" well u guess it , he is a he. well i still get to enjoy Harry for 6 months or so, then he died. then i got busy in college and all, then about the first week of this month, i went to a reptile store to get a pair of house geckos, i saw a cobalt blue and ended up buying it...i got addicted again , the bug bit, now i have 18 T's...i need to stop. i realized that i have forgoten how cool T's are.

 

[caligulathegod]

I've always liked spiders. Also, I've always loved Halloween and Horror. Up until a few years ago, I had 4 pirahnas. It was like having a horror movie right there in a fish tank. Very gruesome. Anyway, what kicked the spider thing into high gear was when I got my car, I wanted vanity plates of some obscure film I liked. I thought about a film that I'd seen recently called "Spider Baby". It was perfect. I got Spider Baby (or as close as I could get to it with 7 characters) on my plates and started collecting spider toys to keep in my car. Now I have about 20 spider toys in my car. I just got more and more obsessed with spiders. Eventually, my girlfriend got me a tarantula for my birthday and I was hooked. Now I'm up to 7.

 

[Keith Richard]

The king of shock rock, Alice Cooper released "Welcome to my Nightmare" back in 1975. The Vincent Price intro narritive to "Black Widow" got me hooked on arachnids...been fascinated ever since.

Thanks Alice!!!

 

[lta3398]

why I got into these great pets

I have always had a great fascination with all spiders and snakes. My parents didn't approve as my mother is still to this day deathly afraid of any snake and spiders WERE NOT much better in her book. I cannot explain why I love them so much, I just do. So now I am married with two young boys who share my fascination and love them as much as I do. We have five Ts at the moment, including my beloved A. Seemaani who is my avatar. I have had him the longest of all my Ts and he is my baby. I just think they are so beautiful and great pets!

 

[Pheonixx]

oddly my girlfriend wanted to get a T. and eacxh week she asked me "is today trantula tuesday?" i said no for about 3 weeks then she bought me two little avic. avic's. i was stoked cause these guys were so cool (then i got them home and got poop shot at me) but anyways now i have 5 T's and they are all pretty cool

 

[Ryan Bridgman]

Well as a child living in Australia I had bad experiences with spiders (got bitten by a red-back - f*cking hurt like hell) and that put me off spiders. When we moved to England I still had the fear despite the fact that no English spider will hurt you.

I got married 5 years ago and my wife is Thai, and in Thailand there are many bugs and big spiders and people aren't afraid of them. In fact, my wife loved bugs and kept pestering me to get a T. I kept saying no due to my fear. Well one day we were in a reptile store in camden and my wife saw a full grown T Blondi and again was pestering me to get it. I was like, 'no way you freak' but then my eyes wandered to a A.Seemanni and I was amazed at how darn cool it looked. So as a compromise I agreed to get the Seemanni. For the first night I felt uneasy having a T in my room, and it was very much the case that my wife was going to look after it. But then over the next few days I became more and more fascinated by the T, and she really grew on me.

So, about a month later I came home with a B.Smithi - again I just couldn't get over how incredibly beautiful the species is. 2 weeks later I returned home with a Curly Hair, then I got 2 mantises (man i LOVE mantises - any T owner wanting another really cool pet I wholly recommend mantises - it's like having your own pet alien). Now I was the person looking after the T's, doing maintenance and cleaning and I really think they are awesome creatures.

Yesterday I received my 4th T in the post, a Peruvian Greenvelvet courtesy of Virginia Cheeseman. This is my 1st 'baby T' (s/he is about half an inch) and I am really looking forward to raising it.

The funny thing is, I am no longer afraid of big spiders but I still won't go near anything with long spindly legs such as a harvestman, Daddy Long legs or Crane fly. Those just creep me out!

 

[LPacker79]

I blame my younger brother, Jeff.

A little history on Jeff: He's wrecked 5 cars due to drunk driving, he's cut his bottom lip off and required plastic surgery due to driving his car into a deep culvert, hit parked cars, went cruising through a cornfield and pulled back onto the road right in front of a cop, and he's managed to lose a fight with the garage floor. Throughout all of this, my mom just continued to buy him new cars. At age 20, Jeff lost his driver's license due to too many DUI's. He'll be 24 this month and has yet to get his license back. Why the history? Just to let ya'll understand the way my brother's mind works (or doesn't work).

November of 2002, the sunday before Thanksgiving. I wake up and come downstairs to find a T in a kritter keeper on the kitchen table. A little taken aback, I assume the creature belonged to Jeff's friend who had stayed the night. A few hours later and Jeff's friend wakes up. I comment on the T (something along the lines of it being cute if I recall correctly). The friend replies with "That's not mine, it's Jeff's." Oh hell, what has Jeff done now is all I can think of. So I start grilling the friend for information. Apparently, another friend of theirs had bought this T a few months before to scare girls at parties with. By all rights the spider should be dead. This "owner" and several of his friends have all dropped her, and by one account THREW her across a room because she bit him. Anyway, this kid didn't want her anymore and convinced my drunk brother to buy her from him.
So Jeff finally wakes up and doesn't remember buying the spider at all. What's more, he's terrified of her. Me, afraid that he would neglect her or worse, kill her, agrees to take her. Knowing absolutely nothing about tarantulas and never having thought of owning one, I immediately scour the internet in search of information. Of course, she is a G. rosea.
The next month I bought another G. rosea. The month after that I made my first online order. Now I have 70 something, all because of my brother.

Thanks Jeff!

 

[Tarangela]

I had an incredible fear of spiders when I was little. I just didn't like being near them, even though I thought they were very neat to watch-from a distance!

I started working a second job to help out at a local pet store that had a rose hair. It was very sad They had it in a small enclosure, w/ a HEAT light and that *jelly* looking stuff that was supposed to be water for the spider. It was constantly crawling around, trying to get away from the light.

A couple of weeks later, I decided to TAKE IT HOME and save it. It would have died! I was scared to even touch the deli cup it was in! I was really nervous.

That was back in 99

Here I am, SPIDER keeper, and the *weird one* in the community, w/ the *room of spiders* lol

I love each and every one of my little babies!!! And I learn something new everyday! I just had a versicolor lay an eggsac that will be duds, b/c she has never mated, LOL Anything can happen in that room!

I have over 40 right now, and $ is the only thing holding me back, doesn't it for all of us? lol

I have had one kid show, at a local middle shcool, last month. THAT was awesome, and just another chance to keep our future generation of kids on the spider's side!

Rock on!!

 

[bugga]

I used to freak out when a small ordinary house spider would come out of nowhere to land on my head or share a shower with me. One evening my husband and I were lounging around and spotted a spider on the wall. I had to wrestle him down so he couldn't capture the spider and tryb to torture me with it. He never really ever caught the spiders but he would have some fuzz or lint in his hands that I thought was the spider. Anyways I fear real quick.I ordered several tarantulas to sell in my shop.

I currently keep at home
female goliath
female rose grey
female red slate ornamental

I may bring home a female giant whiteknee, female indian ornamental

 

[DnKslr]

First I really had no interest in them accept when it's feeding time. I couldn't really have as many pets as i wanted due to financial reasons as well as personal reasons. Then I realized how many different kinds of Ts were available and my interest sky rocketed from there! Plus they don't need to have baths, they don't..... dig in the garden, poop on the carpet, pee on the carpet or furniture, make noise at 4 am, chew my favorite shoes, steal food from the table, shed on house guests, bite neighborhood children.... ok, well maybe they do the last two but hey, they probly a good reason.

 

[Adam]

Like some other people in this thread, I've been afraid of creepie crawlies my whole life. Spiders, insects, anything with more than 4 legs sent me into a panic attack and gave me shivers. While in college, I bought my first snake (I always loved snakes). While at the pet shop, I saw a regular A. avicularia in a small cage. At first I was really freaked out, but I asked if I could hold it despite that fear. She was nothing like I expected and I quickly fell in love with her. After a few months and a bunch of research I bought my first two Ts (B. vagans and B. albopilosum). They got me hooked and now I have 12 eight-legged friends.

The funny thing is, I'm still kinda creaped out about house spiders, some bugs and house centepedes. I'm a little braver now, being able to gently remove them and set them loose outside, but the fear is still there. At the same time, I love watching all of my Ts walk around and kill their meals. I guess I get the same kind of rush from keeping Ts as pets as people get from roller coasters. It's definitely an addiction. Well, that's my story

 

[RichardDegville]

For cash and subject matter for my website!!!
(just kidding LOL)

 

[cricket54]

When I was a little girl, I used to collect different bugs and spiders and keep them a while, then let them go. Years later one of my daughters wanted a pet tarantula and I told her if she saved up her own money she could get one. She got a "pink toe" of some kind that then molted and turned out to be a male. When he died, she was broken hearted so I bought her a B. smithi that was sold as a red leg back then. We had her for years and loved her. I think a neighbor kid hurt her because after he left, I found her ruptured and couldn't save her. Then a few yrs after that my son-in-law bought me a G. rosea for Christmas. He lived a few yrs then had his ultimate molt and died months later. So I bought another G. rosea and have had her 6 yrs or so. After that, I got a B. smithi for Christmas and my collection has grown from there. Even my husband is buying me some tarantulas sometimes, but he doesn't have much interest in them. My daughter who lives here, is very much into them and has started collecting some of her own. She is the little sister of the daughter that bought the first tarantula. So I have at least one person who shares my enthusiasim for them here. Her little girl is very interested too and I gave her one of my g. rosea slings. She likes to help feed the tarantulas with me.

Sharon

 

[lta3398]

Another message

I have already posted here as to why i keep my T's...but reading some of these others are great! My sister is DEATHLY afraid of cockroaches, but yet she will hold any of my T's. Go figure. My husband can live without them, but he keeps letting me buy them cuz I love them so much! Recently, we were looking at a sight that sells slings and he was actually commenting on how "neat" or"pretty" or "cool" these spiders were! I think we have another addict in the making!(he let me order two more right then!) He has to be getting used to them, at least...they all live in our bedroom!

 

[Vampire]

It all started.....

Well, it all started a few years ago....my Grandson loved the movie Eight Legged Freaks. We talked about it & I suggested that maybe he'd like a T as a pet.....well, we jumped in the car & went T shopping & he got his first T, B Smithi he named Cooly....we've all learned a lot since then and he now has 7 of them & I'm hooked on them!

 

[pitbulllady]

It's very odd-I got my first T way back in my college days, an adult B. Smithi from a pet shop-set me back a whopping ten bucks! I got it mainly because I'm just not into fish, and fish were the only animals we were allowed to keep in our dorms, but I figured a spider wouldn't make any tell-tale noise and would be easy to stash away in case the Hall Assistant came in for an inspection! It turned out to be a male of course, so I only had him a few months.

After graduating, I lost interest in spiders; in fact, I actually developed a fear of them! I got bitten by a Brown Recluse shortly after I got my first teaching job, and perhaps my experience with that incident really caused me to begin to fear spiders. There was actually a point at which I couldn't stand to look at the arachnids on display at reptile expos! Two of my friends were absolutely phobic about spiders, so perhaps a bit of them was rubbing off on me!

I came to a point, though, at which I realized that my fear of spiders was irrational, and went against the grain of what I have always tried to teach people about snakes, another animal which is so widely feared and loathed, for no good reason. I was determined to shake this fear, and began to consider getting another tarantula to help me get over it. When one of the kindergarten teachers offered me a very large Rosehair that her son had left in her care when he ran off and got married, I accepted it. "Honey", as her students had named this beast, wasn't exactly the best choice for helping someone get over a fear of spiders-this was one NASTY T, who would give you a defense display at the drop of hat and actually would chase my hand around her encloser while I tried to clean out her water dish! She did succede in sparking my interest/addiction, though, and soon the tarantula population at my house began to grow by leaps and bounds! I am now up to 13; some of them I handle, while others I leave alone except when it's absolutely necessary. I don't see this number as being stationary, and likely it will grow as my finances allow! Suffice it to say I got over my fear!

pitbulllady

 

[ithuriel]

a friend at work has two rosies and he brought a book in to show me. i was curious and can be a bit impulsive so i went out and purchased an indian ornamental and from there i went into double figures ive let the numbers decline recently though

 

[spyderguy1983]

As a child I always caught bugs and kept them in jars and such. I always liked spiders the best though because i could feed them all the other bugs I would catch . Anyways, I started wanting a T around age 12 but my mom never gave in. As soon as I moved out a I bought a G. Rosea and the rest is history.

 

[Mendi]

Arachnophobic due to brown recluse bite about 20 years ago... Wanted to overcome that and I have always been fascinated with spiders. I didn't have any problems with them until I was bit at 19, and though I never felt "irrational fear," I sometimes would get very nervous. Still do at times

Might never devolped this fear had bite treatment been anywhere near it is today... But I was several long months healing with a necrotic lession on my leg. Dealing with that daily made me want to stay far far away from spiders

I feel ok now, though some OW'ers cause the feelings to surface.

 

[mouse]

well the way i got into this was like this 1.i live in an apartment .. no cats or dogs unless with doctorsnote or over 65 years old
2. animals had to be in a cage... okay.. i bought rats... they told me i had too many... well they kinda multiplied...lol.
3. so when i got rid of the last one.. i needed another pet.
and since i had this fear of spiders... face your fear, cure it...so i got me a rosehair tarantula...now i want more.