Why did you get into spiders?

[Garficro]

I LOVE big spider!!
but i creep out when i see black widow or something like that!

I just love animals! I have 2 dogs(American staffordshire terrier, and yorkshire terrier) 2 piranhas, and one T( G rosea) ! :worship:

 

[P.Murinus]

The first spider my bf and I got was...a G. rosea... of course... lol
We originally wanted to get a B. smithi, but when we got to the store the next week, it was gone. We took the bus across to the other side of the city, and bought Terra, who is a G. rosea. I was complelty terrified of spiders... COMPLETELY... so my bf bugged and bugged... after getting kinda bored with Terra, we got 3 P. murinus slings from a friend for free. The cute little fireballs are about the size of a quarter right now, I named them Diablo, Squishy and Fester. They are still in jars. A while later... My bf befriends Sheri... We get an A. geniculata, named Rane. She eats like a little piggy, but lately shes webbed herself up in her pot and hasnt been eating... moulting soon maybe. About a month later, my bf buys a G. pulchra and an A. avicularia for me for christmas!!! yay... I named the pulchra Dracula (its fangs look WAY too big for its mouth since it moulted, weird) and the avicularia is named Monkey. Its cute little mouth looks like a heart! and today!!! My bf and I decided it was time for a scorpion, we took the bus across town again, big surprise, Pettraders didnt have a scorpion, back across town again, we went to Petland, talk to Kane, who seems to NEVER go home, we got a 3.5" Emperor scorpion, she is now named Baal and is getting accustomed to its habitat right now... and we saw a tiny little A. seemani, Kane said it has recently came in from being shipped and had nearly frozen, she isnt eatting and looks dehydrated and her abdomin is tinier than her carapace... we are worried and are going to put her in icu tonight, hopfully she pulls through.. there is an even tinier one still at petland in worse shape... Sheri!! rescue it!! Its at the petland on Regent Ave. In two weeks we are getting our first pokie... for $40!!!! thats good right? I hope so... wow... thats a long post...


Edit: the seemani is looking better, I misted her and she seems to be moving around more.

 

[HaloMiles]

I got mine to get over my severe arachnophobia. Funniest thing is, my very first "pet" was a spiderling. I feared spiders very much, but I found them fascinating at the same time. I got my little Rosie about a month ago, and since then, I've been fascinated with all kinds of spiders.

 

[Faunya]

Bottom line, I grew up in a pet store...

From the time I could walk, I was always in the shop, taking customers by the hand and giving them a tour of the animals...ALL of the animals.

In my one bedroom apartment, I have 17 tarantulas, 1 blue tongue skink, 1 adult male bearded dragon, 4 bettas, and a Senegal parrot...oh, and I'm not allowed to have pets! :}

Right now, I'm big on low maintenance animals that I can leave for a weekend without worrying too much about...with the exception of my bird, I have just that.

The Tarantulas, though...I'd had them before, and my new boyfriend fell in love with my GBB...instantly, the collection started growing again.

 

[Greg Wolfe]

The fever...

Excellent topic! Kudos.
To make a long story short, my family went to the Florida Everglades National Park one sultry hot summer. Upon entering the park I saw a huge Agriope spider sitting on her 6 foot radial web. Transfixed and awed I stood there for a good 15 mintues until my father shook me from my trance and had to pull me away from her. That's when it happened.
I knew... the fever commenced.
I purchased my first tarantula in 1977, a Bracypelma smithi. I sneaked her past my mom and up into my bedroom where I let her crawl all over me.
She was my first love! Anna...
Since then I have collected, bred, etc.

 

[joe8421]

i've been keeping Scorpions for years in fact before go into Tarantulas ,and once i did a exchange of scorpions ,i exchange a rare scorp into a current one ,he should pay me 20 euros plus ,but that man didn't give me the money ,instead of that,he send me a Ts t.murinus

 

[Waryur]

I worked as a security guard at the st. louis zoo for a summer. I started hanging out in the insectarium because it was air conditioned, and found the T's. I fell in love with the P. regalis and when i went back to college i told my roomate that we were getting a T. Started with a B. boehmi but he died over winter at my roomates house. I took a break from T's and now im right back in it and very happy.

 

[rwfoss]

I've always been fascinated by things that scare me, and tarantulas have always been at the top of that list. Almost two years ago, I decided to try to get over the "heart pounding" reaction that I got when looking at a tarantula. I started looking at websites every day, looking at pictures and reading about tarantulas. It wasn't long before I wanted one.

The problem was my wife, who was terrified of spiders - she couldn't even say the word. We got scorpions instead (as she was fine with them). After about a year, she too decided enough was enough, and decided to get over her own fear. A few weeks later, we were taking a "therapy walk" through the tarantula section of a local pet shop.

"That's one's pretty. Oooh, that's kind of neat. Hey, look at that one." Pretty soon, she was fixed on a Grammostola rosea they had. The guy took it out, we both held it, and the rest is history.

That was early July of this year. We now have 23 tarantulas, and she is quickly becoming an expert handler!

Rick

 

[bugs4life]

I actually used to be terrified of spiders. I started reading up on them, hoping to get over my fear by learning about them. Then I just got fascinated! I only have one T so far, but hopefully getting another one soon, maybe as soon as this weekend!

 

[Crimsonpanther]

Went over to my buddies house(Matty J) and looked at his new strange pet that he had bought....A TARANTULA ! After seeing it and standing in its awe...i started to do some massive research ..Found my new love TARANTULA's Then i fianlly came to a pet store here in Norfolk, Ontairo that had a Tarantula...Rose Hair...i looked at my girl and said im buying it......She replied"The only way you can buy it is if you hold it "
Me having done all the research just told the pet store guys to let me hold it and so i did and everyone just stood back in amazment......i replied " what its a rose hair ? ?"And so since then ive bought 9 more and my girl is keeping me capped at ten.... but ill sneek them in one way or another !!! Think she'll notice a colbalt blue LOL :clap:

 

[FOX]

My 7 year old son started me off a few months ago. He has a really wiered fascination with tarantulas. Sonny (my son-yes thats his name) had been nagging me since early on in the year for a smithi, when i asked him what a 'smithi' was he said, ''oh mum, dont you know anything'' thats when he came out of his bedroom with 4 tarantula books & started realing off all these scientific names

When i looked into thier husbandry & new he does have a gift for animals i decided to buy him one, that was our first- a rosie. Seeing that T crawl all over him & the way it acted i was just overwelmed,, that was a couple of months ago now & the rest is history, we now have 5 T's with another 2 on order & plenty more on santas wish list.

They are fabulas better than cats n dogs, in fact best animal we've ever owned & believe me i've had quite a few over my life time.
Still love my horses though. :}

 

[Jmadson13]

I started out with my first Tarantula a P. cancerides at eight years old. I've always loved alternative pets but I think this decision was fueled by the desire to freak my mother out. I soon followed through with a P. murinus and some G. rosea's the collection has grown since then.

 

[8 legged freak]

ALWAYS!! been into animals especially inverts!! it was around christmas time.. had £40, saw a chilean rose for £20, saw a tank and heater etc. for £20... asked my mum and she said yes i could have it i now have 6.. hopefully getting another one around christmas time.. hopefully a GBB or pokie..

 

[Pennywise]

Probably the Last thing I would normally do.

About 10 years ago at the the Breeders Reptile expo when my son was 7
and I was, well younger we saw a table with a guy selling tarantulas, I
think they were B Smithi. Only catch was the adult display T wasn't for
sale. He showed us the 1/2" spiderlings and told us the story on how to
raise one to be an adult. It sounded like too much of a project so we passed
on it.
We were more into instant gratification so as I remember we bought a Borneo
Blood pYthon.
Last (2004) Daytona expo we looked at adult T's but I was looking for a
male Veiled Chameleon which we bought.
In June 2005 we decided to surf on line for spiders and found lots of good
data on them. 2 weeks later I ordered 4 Juvies (not tiny slings) and we
started off. Now we are hooked but we won't go crazy because of limited
space. It's a great hobby and you get over your hangups about bugs
quickly. Another reason might be I have been feeding our chameleon
crickets for over a year so keeping T food available is easy. It is also
a collecting hobby you can get into pretty cheaply if you don't set your
sights on the pricey stuff right away.

 

[Lil Red Legs]

Gifted with a G. aureostriata several years ago. Three inches grown together , an unbelievable 2 years past his last molt, and two breedings survived later, hes living out his retirement on a bed of crickets as the Head Spider In Charge in my home.

 

[Scott C.]

I used to hate spiders. My first two T's were scorpion food. The second, a G. rosea, lost most of his legs, and I started to feel bad so I caged him. I came home one day, and there was a stunning mature male T with all it's limbs on. I was hooked from there.

 

[Ishkabibble]

Hmmm... never noticed this thread before. Got my first T, a Rosehair, from a girlfriend for my birthday. got rid of the girlfriend, kept the T. Good choice there, never regretted it. Got a new Female friend, and now have 46 T's, a few snakes, frogs, and a spoiled Rat. Lifes not bad.

 

[Anubis77]

I don't know why I got into T's. But I started getting interested in them 4 years ago. But back then I couldn't manage to get one. So 4 years later and I went to the Tucson Reptile Show. Wanted to maybe pick up a royal python or kingsnake but decided to hold up on that since I saw the arachnids being sold. Krazy 8's was there. So after 3 or 4 hours of standing around and deciding on a T, I chose G. aureostriata. Never regretted it. I'm also getting a L. parahybana in a few months. This is a very addictive hobby.

 

[P. Novak]

ive been into Ts since i was 5 or 6 years old, everytime we went camping id bring one home, they died months after must have been mature males. so about 4 months ago i decided to buy some Ts since these kept dying off(didnt know the mature male thing yet just thought they were dying off cause they were sick or old) so i bought one from a pet store which was a rosie and loved it ever since! i havent gone back camping yet but i will and ill try and find some females to take home and maybe you guys can identify on what kind it is! so now i have 7 Ts and 2 scorps! i love em all!!!!!!

 

[fangsalot]

when i was 10 i got my 1st T(im 28 now) it was a chilean rose(pretty much the only T available in pet stores at that time)i loved it soo much,but ever since then all ive seen in pet stores is chileans and zebra legs and i wasnt diggin it.then, i got a computer and everything changed.i saw all the new and different species available! i went nuts,paypal all the way!!!i got the coolest spiders now(and a vinegaroon and a scorp)and i dont think its over~!!!! swiftinverts.com, here i come!!!!!!