I was totally oblivious to the fact that I had contracted this disease on the far side of the Pacific, and bringing it home, I shelved it next to my alphabetized disorders. Eventually my disorders were reshelved as the disease spread; the shelves had to be organized and reorganized. I had never witnessed a disease that held such fascination, such beauty. And it consumed me.
Why did you get into spiders?
- Thread starter Grael
- Start date
I've got pretty similar to a lot of people on here. I was a complete arachnophobe. Even a tiny house spider would freak me out. Probably because I walked through a doorway in our barn, right through a spiderweb, the entire size of the door, look up, GIANt spider. Freaked me out, that was a couple years ago. Till last december, I was terrified of every spider I saw. Ask me to kill it, and I would shake and scream, couldnt do it. Finally got sick of that, and put a little crab spider in a jar, fed it flies, was amazed, but it didnt live too long. Talked to my mom how I needed a bigger spider, jokingly, and she said it sounded like a good idea. I immediately researched, found some forums, and she got me a little rosie for christmas. 8 months later, ive got 12 ts, including an H mac, OBT and a lividum. I think Im over my fear 
- Joined
- Feb 2, 2007
- Messages
- 130
I actually began selling off my reptiles in my late high school and early college years (circa 1997-2000) and began purchasing more Arthropods with and money I received for my reptiles. I believe my answer to the dismay my friends displayed when selling my Retic morphs was "I'm tired of cleaning up poop" (although I didn't say poop), but it was actually because either I or my OCD became addicted to Arthropods. What is more interesting to look at a monitor lizard or a Python ... or a Chromatopelma cyaneopubescens? What takes up less space and it much easier to maintain? You do the math.
I think one of the main reasons that Arachnids are slowly filling that 'niche' carved out by reptile enthusiasts over a decade ago, is that those with reptile large collections are quickly restrained from expanding their collections by lack of space, time and money. Arachnid collections require minimal space, minimal time and most of all minimum cash as there are very small spiderlings available at minimal costs. The average large collection can be fed once or twice a week with cheap bulk cricket shipments - all fed off, so it is not even necessary to keep crickets on hand (although it is useful). In addition, the variety of feeder choices are endless with Arachnids - we can easily start a self sustaining roach colony, keep large amounts of worms for a variety of species, with little to no effort keeping them live and available for your feeding schedule.
This is another reason, on my behalf, and I'm sure other share this 'thirst for knowledge'. New arachnid species are constantly being discovered and captive bred, making them available at affordable prices - pretty much every month or so you will see a species which has newly become available in the hobby. Although these may be high priced at first - with captive breeding efforts you can rest assured that affordable slings will soon be available to those with a tight budget. How often do new species of reptile and other live art become available? Unstudied - new information is always become available we with many of these new species we are learning more every day - this this hobby will never become boring.
Maybe Scott or Debbie will chime in here - but the number of hits Arachnoboards gets (I assume) increase by vast numbers as each month passes and I cannot even begin to imagine what the number of AB members will increase to in, say, a year or two from now - although I am confident it will be mind-blowing. :}
I think one of the main reasons that Arachnids are slowly filling that 'niche' carved out by reptile enthusiasts over a decade ago, is that those with reptile large collections are quickly restrained from expanding their collections by lack of space, time and money. Arachnid collections require minimal space, minimal time and most of all minimum cash as there are very small spiderlings available at minimal costs. The average large collection can be fed once or twice a week with cheap bulk cricket shipments - all fed off, so it is not even necessary to keep crickets on hand (although it is useful). In addition, the variety of feeder choices are endless with Arachnids - we can easily start a self sustaining roach colony, keep large amounts of worms for a variety of species, with little to no effort keeping them live and available for your feeding schedule.
This is another reason, on my behalf, and I'm sure other share this 'thirst for knowledge'. New arachnid species are constantly being discovered and captive bred, making them available at affordable prices - pretty much every month or so you will see a species which has newly become available in the hobby. Although these may be high priced at first - with captive breeding efforts you can rest assured that affordable slings will soon be available to those with a tight budget. How often do new species of reptile and other live art become available? Unstudied - new information is always become available we with many of these new species we are learning more every day - this this hobby will never become boring.
Maybe Scott or Debbie will chime in here - but the number of hits Arachnoboards gets (I assume) increase by vast numbers as each month passes and I cannot even begin to imagine what the number of AB members will increase to in, say, a year or two from now - although I am confident it will be mind-blowing. :}
There were a few reasons I got into T keeping..
I've always loved arthropods of all shapes and sizes, even as a little kid. when I was about 8 I wanted to be a marine biologist just to study lobsters. After that, an entomologist.
Also, I've always liked reptiles, especially snakes. Well, my mom wouldn't let me get a snake, so when I was about 10 or 11 I got a leopard gecko at this really well run exotic pet store in Toronto (it's the only pet store I've ever been to where I would buy an exotic animal. They not only sell haealthy animals and know how to take care of them, but they also rehabilitate sick ones that get left in boxes on their porch).
I've been going back to that store ever since and purchased several more reptiles (including a snake, which my mom now thinks is cute...), and know some of the staff pretty well, one of whom owns quite a few inverts. I expressed an interest, he gave me 2 rosies at the beginning of the summer, and well, one thing led to another...
I've always loved arthropods of all shapes and sizes, even as a little kid. when I was about 8 I wanted to be a marine biologist just to study lobsters. After that, an entomologist.
Also, I've always liked reptiles, especially snakes. Well, my mom wouldn't let me get a snake, so when I was about 10 or 11 I got a leopard gecko at this really well run exotic pet store in Toronto (it's the only pet store I've ever been to where I would buy an exotic animal. They not only sell haealthy animals and know how to take care of them, but they also rehabilitate sick ones that get left in boxes on their porch).
I've been going back to that store ever since and purchased several more reptiles (including a snake, which my mom now thinks is cute...), and know some of the staff pretty well, one of whom owns quite a few inverts. I expressed an interest, he gave me 2 rosies at the beginning of the summer, and well, one thing led to another...
jenniferinny
Arachnoknight
- Joined
- Jan 14, 2007
- Messages
- 174
I just always loved the creepy crawlies. I always had an assortment of bugs in my room that I caught out in our yard. I grew up in Florida, so there was no shortage of bugs. I caught and raised different roaches and beetles and those little pill bug type things. I remember one time I read somewhere that cockroaches would even survive being frozen for a short amount of time. I filled a cool whip container full of them to find out. Needless to say, my mom was quite surprised that there wasn't cool whip in the container. I wanted either a tarantula or a scorpion since I first saw them in a pet store about 12 years ago.
Finally got one a couple years ago after I first got married. My husband was afraid of spiders, so we got a little rosie till he could get over it. He used to wake up several times during the night convinced that it had escaped.
He still doesn't really handle them, but he can move them from one cage to another now without squealing like a little girl.. lol..
The other thing I love about them is how easy they really are to maintain. I have a dog with chronic health problems that costs me a couple grand a year. It's nice knowing that you could buy the best possible setup for just about any tarantula for less then $100. That's less then my dogs will cost me for just 3 months of food.
Finally got one a couple years ago after I first got married. My husband was afraid of spiders, so we got a little rosie till he could get over it. He used to wake up several times during the night convinced that it had escaped.
He still doesn't really handle them, but he can move them from one cage to another now without squealing like a little girl.. lol..
The other thing I love about them is how easy they really are to maintain. I have a dog with chronic health problems that costs me a couple grand a year. It's nice knowing that you could buy the best possible setup for just about any tarantula for less then $100. That's less then my dogs will cost me for just 3 months of food.
- Joined
- Jul 22, 2007
- Messages
- 269
ever since i can remember i have been into insects...when i was little i even had a small aquarium with a Giant Water Bug (Lethocerus americanus) who i used to feed goldfish hehe...but i was always extremely arachnophobic, as far back as i can remember...i mean to the point of paralysis if a spider so much as touched me lol...but at the same time i was always interested by them...so one day i decided enough is enough, i was going to get over this irrational fear of mine...so i started reading everything i could find about spiders and other arachnids and just filling up on information...after a while of that i decided it was time to confront the fear head on...and that's when i bought my first G. rosea...that was when i was 15 and i've been hooked ever since...that first little rose hair completely changed my life and now i can't even remember what it felt like to be afraid of spiders
- Joined
- Nov 24, 2004
- Messages
- 671
I am in the pest control field, what else would I collect. My first was a B. Smithi. After I started doing a little reading and research findind out about all the different species, I was hooked. At one point I had 35. May not sound like many to some, but with a wife and kids in a small house welll!!!!!!!!!. I am down to 21 of the most wanted on my list and happy as hell. Have a few adults male and female as well as a couple slings. The collection is not over by a long shot with trading, breeding loans etc. There are too many positives to list about the hobby as most of you can probably attest.
- Joined
- Oct 10, 2006
- Messages
- 2,151
My wife and I decided not to have kids so I started to focus my efforts on pets. T's were the best option aside of the dog and cat that I could come up with. I'm planning on building a T barn in the future, once I can afford some property with a little space.
My sister was really into T's I am into chamelions and snakes. Not that I didn't like them they are cool.
She begged me to come with her to the 1st arachnocon, so I went with her I was enchanted buy the prettiest red knee I had ever seen. I bought her from SSW and I have been hooked ever since.
She begged me to come with her to the 1st arachnocon, so I went with her I was enchanted buy the prettiest red knee I had ever seen. I bought her from SSW and I have been hooked ever since.
I had been into reptiles for quite a few years. I was always fascinated by the "weird" things in life. I had venomous snakes, a handful of scorpions and some various exotic mammals. Due to my interests, I had a G. rosea and a B. albopilosum "donated" to me at different points. I tried to find someone to adopt them because I wasn't into big "ugly" spiders. Never enjoyed them, never was interested. Years later I was at a reptile expo chatting with a guy, who was selling inverts, about tattoos (another "weird" obsession of mine). I mentioned in passing that I had had a few tarantulas in the past, but they weren't my thing. I liked color, beauty and interaction. He proceeds to tell me that he knows just what I need. Pops open a little vial and out crawls the most stunning little blue spider I've ever seen (A. versicolor sling). I bought it right then and there. I've been hooked ever since. I realized after some internet research that I had never seen color, beauty and interaction before. I still like my reptiles. I have a bunch of beautiful cresties. But my obsession has definitely moved to my little eight legged friends. It's funny the things I see as cute or sweet now. Even the people that could somewhat understand how I saw something cold and scaley as being "cute" are stunned when I light up about something cute that one of my T's is doing. Or how an obvious "I want you to die where you stand" threat display makes me giggle with joy. What a sick obsession.
omni
Arachnobaron
- Joined
- Apr 30, 2007
- Messages
- 382
wow, such a long and old thread have visited this a few times, still only have read half of the replies. Should be a requirement for new members to post here, hehe. Maybe it should be be stickied above the T Discussion section...
I've always loved tarantulas since a boy, watching every nature show I could about them.
In 2001, my sister and a friend bought one at a pet store impulsively for a Xmas gift for me. It was a 3" PZB (E. Campestratus). Very uncommon to find in a petshop. Very fascinating creature. I really never thought of buying one back then since what I would see in the store was always just small Pinktoes and G. rosea's which weren't too impressive I thought, and I was into insects, small lizards and snakes at the time.
But by this year, having tapped out local petstores for variety of reptiles, I decided to use the internet to search for exotics for sale and stumbled on a site(Kelly Swift's) that also sold T's. I was amazed you could pick from a huge list of different T's and with just a few clicks, wait for the delivery truck and have almost any kind of T you could ever want. From there I found this site where I could ask and learn everything about them.
POW! The addiction had me.
have visited this a few times, still only have read half of the replies. Should be a requirement for new members to post here, hehe. Maybe it should be be stickied above the T Discussion section...I've always loved tarantulas since a boy, watching every nature show I could about them.
In 2001, my sister and a friend bought one at a pet store impulsively for a Xmas gift for me. It was a 3" PZB (E. Campestratus). Very uncommon to find in a petshop. Very fascinating creature. I really never thought of buying one back then since what I would see in the store was always just small Pinktoes and G. rosea's which weren't too impressive I thought, and I was into insects, small lizards and snakes at the time.
But by this year, having tapped out local petstores for variety of reptiles, I decided to use the internet to search for exotics for sale and stumbled on a site(Kelly Swift's) that also sold T's. I was amazed you could pick from a huge list of different T's and with just a few clicks, wait for the delivery truck and have almost any kind of T you could ever want. From there I found this site where I could ask and learn everything about them.
POW! The addiction had me.
- Joined
- Nov 30, 2007
- Messages
- 211
I've been chasing spiders around since I could walk. It's not a choice I consciously made. Spiders captivate me and I have always had them as pets or for observation, depending.
- Joined
- Dec 12, 2005
- Messages
- 749
I used to be arachnophobic and developed a kind of morbid fascination with spiders because of it. Got my mind set on getting a T after visiting this board and seeing photos of G. pulchra. My first was a 2.5" B. smithi, and a 4" G. aureostriata followed less than a month later. That was 2 years ago, both of them have turned out male (bloody typical, lol) and I now have 5 others including the dream pulchra that triggered the whole thing
- Joined
- Aug 25, 2007
- Messages
- 204
i had always wanted a t, being an avid reader of nature books and national geographic. i asked my parents, but they said no. but, i had an ace up my sleeve...... an aunt who wasn't scared of anything. she brought me home an A. hentzi when i was 9, and convinced my parents for me. this was in 1981. my mom rigged this 10 gallon aquarium for me that the guy would always get out of. i don't know how many times i was woken in the middle of the night to catch it and put it up! i get reminded at just about every family gathering now. i've kept them off and on thru the years, but now fast forward to the late 90's. i have a curious kid of my own now and he finds them online... i think espiderworld.. i tell him wait a few years. anyway, he won't leave me alone about it so i get him a rosie a few years ago. fast forward again...... earlier this year he finds all the big t sites online and comes runnin' all googeley eyed at me wanting all of them like they're pokemon! he comes to me wanting to adopt an OBT!!!! i guess my sister was trying to get me back for something... so i say, slow down, you're scared of your rosehair! talk about persistence, he musters up the courage to handle that sweet lil' rosie of his, wins the bet, and i'm off to go get the OBT. while we're at the pet rescue place, he tells us about botar by 8's. we get home and hunt down the site and are amazed by the availability of the t's. espiderworld was expensive, these were affordable. we then find the ATS and later stumble on here. to make a long story short, 2006, 1 t. 2007, 50+ t's and still crawling.
i just want to say thanks to all who we have met upon this board. i read the forum almost everyday and look forward to learning more!
i just want to say thanks to all who we have met upon this board. i read the forum almost everyday and look forward to learning more!
- Joined
- Oct 31, 2007
- Messages
- 92
can't really explain it but all i can say is i'm addicted and i can't stop collecting and it all started with my first a A.geniculata female thats still in my collection yeah i'm not stopping anytime soon.
- Joined
- Apr 4, 2004
- Messages
- 836
how did I miss this theread....?
I'm a LIFETIME critter freak, but T's grabbed mid stage when I saw some labled (S. american bird eaters) in 02' on one of our vendor lists while working at a SW reef shop. It has spiraled and peak several times now...lol....but always captures my interest and passion. Nothing like the satisfaction a fresh batch of 2nd instars or an action packed feeding.
I'm a LIFETIME critter freak, but T's grabbed mid stage when I saw some labled (S. american bird eaters) in 02' on one of our vendor lists while working at a SW reef shop. It has spiraled and peak several times now...lol....but always captures my interest and passion. Nothing like the satisfaction a fresh batch of 2nd instars or an action packed feeding.
- Joined
- May 13, 2007
- Messages
- 456
I have always loved animals over time I started collecting local spiders like wolf spiders , jumping spiders and on a couple of occasions a couple of widows. Over time my interest began in the larger species my first was a g. rosea must have been mid 1980s. Some day I will have a spider room packed full of them and reptiles.
John
John
- Joined
- Feb 28, 2007
- Messages
- 1,670
the first T I ever got was a rose hair and that rose hair was the firsr and the only one i ever gave away. i have patients but you need super patients to see a rose hair go through its like from sling to adult. its like rosies eat like models (every now and then....Months wise) just minus the binge and purging lol... what got me into Ts was the fact I was tired of havin snakes. but I am going to get back into snakes and get me a jungle carpet python maybe two such beautiful creatures.
- Joined
- Aug 10, 2007
- Messages
- 248
I got my first T when I was 14, and the only reason I even got it was to cure my arachnophobia. Little did I know that they're like Lays Potato Chips, you can't stop at one.