Why did you get into spiders?

gecko_keeper/KBfauna

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
May 31, 2008
Messages
324
My 13 yrs old son, wanted one. My wife and I were less than thrilled, cause neither of us care for spiders. Well, needless to say, we started with a female G. rosea and now we have almost 50. Love the little buggers, and my wife has come around with them too. She owns 4 herself.

GK
 

FishermanSteve

Arachnosquire
Old Timer
Joined
Jan 11, 2008
Messages
96
I was dating a girl and while we were dating i became good friends with her brother... he has about 20 or so t's and i was fascinated and awed. Long story short we broke up but my love for tarantulas continued and its been four months and i have five t's and 1 scorp but i definately plan on getting more soon.
 

Kris-wIth-a-K

Arachnoprince
Old Timer
Joined
Oct 21, 2007
Messages
1,387
hmm

I just wanted to piss off my step mother.. lol..

No but really, I had one when I was younger. A HUGE 5" Female G. Rosea
named mortisha. My dad buried her when I was away from school one day. I don't know exactly what happened but he said he walked in and she was on her back and wasn't moving................. Speaks for itself. So naturally I went out to dig her back up, she molted out beautifully and was very big, but she was dead...........
 

arachnoid

Arachnosquire
Old Timer
Joined
Apr 15, 2004
Messages
91
My 1st T was a B. smithi that was mislabeled and (lucky for me) priced as a $19 G. rosea. Don't really remember what came after that but it included an H. lividum, P. murinus, A. versicolor, G. rosea, and another P. murinus.
All of these in one way or another have passed on so I've been itching to get at least another one. My favorite (the smithi) and the OBT were just recently 'released' by the damn cat. I can only hope I will eventually find them but I doubt it. This afternoon I just placed an order for a 2" L parahybana from Swift's. Man I love that size and (relative) docile attitude.
 

halfwaynowhere

Arachnolord
Old Timer
Joined
Jan 8, 2008
Messages
601
i have always been interested in spiders, but was very afraid of them at the same time (like a car accident- you know its going to be gruesome, but you still have to look when you drive by).
On another forum, I read about someone who kept a few daddy long leg spiders in jars around the house, and would catch bugs and feed them to them. So I asked her for more details, and ended up catching my own. Still have Spidey. I loved observing her, and loved watching her wrap up her prey. This was back in January, part of my whole new year, new me kick. The icing on the cake was when I caught a moth in the house, and fed it to her. I'm severely lepidoptheraphobic (silly, I know, I laugh at myself for it all the time, but it doesn't make them any less scary). Even catching the moth was a huge step for me, as I have a tendency to scream, start shaking uncontrollably, and cry at the sight of a moth or butterfly. Seeing the spider eat my enemy really helped me realize that they are good.
So then I started looking at pictures of other spiders, and thinking about tarantulas. So I stumbled across AB, and lurked for a week or two. I loved looking through the photo gallery. I decided I wanted to start off with a B. smithi sling. Well, a kind member here offered to send me one, and then he sent two!
Now I have seven Ts. Five slings and two adults. I absolutely love them, and would live to have even more. As my slings are outgrowing their vials or deli cups, and moving into bigger enclosures, I'm starting to think twice about adding any more to the collection for now, I'm still trying to figure out where I'm going to keep the ones I have when they outgrow their new "juvie" enclosures. of course, once I figure that out, I should have plenty of room for more new ones, lol.
 

Shagrath666

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Sep 26, 2008
Messages
345
I got a tarantula for my dads birthday, it was something he had always wanted and i finally wore my mom down, and got him a 10 gallon setup. i did my research on which one he could hold and not get bit, i decided on a pink toe. it lasted a week, poor little guy. i didnt know about humidity requirements (havnt had one die that way since) and it dehydrated. so we got a G. rosea, and it turned out to be the most evil female ever. To date it has bitten me once, and my dad 3 times, and it has never been handled. It simply mauls anything that goes near its burrow, which happens to be me or my dad doing maintenance. So because i wanted a handleable T, and worked at a pet store, i got a male G. rosea and he is sweet (when he wants to be) and since have gotten 4 slings (L. parahybana, B. smithi, B. albopilosum, and G. aureostriata). Also i got too full on fish and reptiles and needed a new obsession, arachnids were the natural progression.
 

DDaake

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Aug 29, 2008
Messages
458
G.Rosea

I was 15 my uncle got me a rosey. I had it about six months and found it laying on it' back. Dead?-Of course, so I buried it. Since then I've learned. Good thing, otherwise I would've buried alot of t's by now. Thinking back, I hope she got out of that being buried alive.

What did it for me?
I saw a B. Smithi in a pet store my mother and I frequented. It was never for sale and they never offered them for sale. I thought it was the coolest thing I'd ever seen. About 8 yrs ago I was talking to a guy about ordering some t's to add to my collection. Through discussions I found out he was the previous owner of the store I saw the Smithi in. I asked about the Smithi and he told me she'd died just 2 yrs ago. She was 31:eek: The sight of such a beautiful T and the thought of a spider living so long was incredibley interesting to me. And now here we are with a selection beyond anything I thought It'd ever be. Thanks everyone who's contributed there time in such a fascinating hobby-The rest of the world is missin' out!;P
 

Dreamslave

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Sep 27, 2008
Messages
413
Many years ago as a kid i got interested in entomology and started to read books about insects and also started a small collection. Even though i loved insects, i was kinda scared of spiders and couldn't understand why. Now 20 years later i decided to start reading about spiders in general to understand them and stop fearing them. Well after reading like crazy i got my first T, a GBB sling. Now i have 3 more: rosie, t.ockerti and a p.cambridgei!

I now perceive spiders very differently and respect them a lot.

Soon to get a b.albopilosum and a a.hentzi! :)
 

Duc de Blangis

Arachnosquire
Old Timer
Joined
Feb 18, 2006
Messages
79
After being incarcerated numerous times for committing violent felonies my parole officer recommended i take up a hobby.
 

quinquestriatus

Arachnosquire
Old Timer
Joined
Sep 1, 2005
Messages
86
I was born in AZ so my fascination with arachnids came about pretty much as soon as I could understand what they were. The first tarantula I ever bought was a Poecilotheria Fasciata.
 

Scolopendra777

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Jun 21, 2008
Messages
300
Well my mental illness got me into it , I was nine years old and the pet store would not let me have one so i waited till i was 13 then i whent to an exotic spider dealer and got my frist tarantula a Salmon Pink Goliath(Lasiodora parahybana) iv got 27 t,s at the moment and will get more soon :) , The Salmon Pink Goliath(Lasiodora parahybana) i bought they said it was a female , but no it could not stay a female and dicided to turn into a male ugly little thing but its still my frist tarantula.
 
Last edited:

Strix

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
Joined
Dec 16, 2007
Messages
180
I've never really liked spiders... at all. My friend Joe (xhexdx) I knew was into collecting them for a lot of his life and invited me and another friend over one day about a year or two ago to watch them breed some T's.

Watched a few breed, held I believe it was a B. smithi then decided I wanted to join the hobby and learn about T's. I ended up picking up The Tarantula Keepers Guide by Stanley A. Schultz and directed to read topics here on Joe's suggestion. After a few days and nights reading up back to back I got my first T... A mature female G. rosea.

Still have her and I'm up to about 12-14 T's, 3 rats, 4 cats, 3 scorps, 1 millipede, 4 day geckos, a B. dubia colony, a cuban treefrog and hopefully soon a bearded dragon and some more T's {D
 

Euronymous

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Apr 27, 2008
Messages
325
I was dealing reptiles, but was dead afraid of spiders. When I went to shows I would have to walk by the arachnid tables. I decided the anxiety was too much to bear, so I bought ten misc species and put around my bed. When I woke up in the morning I was surrounded by T's. It was hell the first week, but by the second week I handling my B. Smithi, and setting up cages for pokies. Now I cant get enough. My land lord wont let me have any herps, so I'm all spider now. Take that Dr Phil;P
 

Entomo-logic

Arachnopeon
Joined
Sep 7, 2008
Messages
2
Fate

My first T's were Lasiodora parahybana spiderlings. These 7 spiders were given to me by a coworker at the Insectarium that I work at on my first second week. We have alot of Ts and I was to say the least a little over cautious in working with spiders so he brought some in and said "Take these spiders and raise them on your own, and quit being such a *baby*" (*thats not quite hte quote but I don't think I can post with what he actually told me not to be). Long story short I took those babies home and fell in love. I now have a collection of 14+ and looking to add every chance I can get. I now make it my mission to expose people to my new pets and show they are really interesting and that they are not the vicious killing machines that many take them to be. And now alot of my friends have Ts and they are just as crazy about them as I am.
 

Sunset

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
Joined
Jun 1, 2009
Messages
183
the very first T I ever got was when i saved it from my pool. so i caught it and picked it up and it wouldn't leave my hand so i kept it and it lived for a good ten years before it past away after that i just started buying T's at reptile shows.
 

sean-820

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Jun 15, 2008
Messages
547
Well ive had various fresh and a salt water aquarium for years and my largest tanks now are 125g and 65g. I also have a bearded dragon. Because of this, i was at a expo looking around. I was never to comfortable with t's, but not really afraid so i was thinking of getting one at the expo. i already read up on basic things, but nothing to species specific as i didnt even know there were that many t's around. All ive seen prior to collecting were smithis and rosies. So at the expo i was at TCanadas table and i got myself my first t, a versi (who is now 4"). Just over a year later i have 5 t's and plan on getting 1-2 more (pulchras). Compared to fish and lizards you cant really go wrong with t's. They take up much less space and time. You barly even have to clean the tanks as opposed to fish where you need weekly water changes.
 

The_Sandman

Arachnosquire
Old Timer
Joined
May 24, 2009
Messages
61
my nephew wanted one for his birthday, so i did some research , got him a mexican red rump , i was fasinated by it so much i did more research and fell for the T blondi, after doing more research i found this place and purchased one from one of the members here. so far i got a T blondi and an emprior scorpion with i really like . im trying to stay at a minimum but something tells me that im going to have a collection before i know it.
 

Ballam

Arachnopeon
Joined
May 5, 2009
Messages
20
This is a great thread !

I loved spiders as a kid but I never really had an interest to ever own a tarantula myself. I saw one in a local online classifieds for sale one day and my imagination ran wild. The pictures of the spider were gorgeous and I couldn't resist. I then owned my first T "Lucy". She is an A. Geniculata and I've had her for about 6-7 months now and she is about 2-3 months out of molt now and I'd say roughly 5-6" legspan. She is awesome and eats like a dog, have to be careful not to feed her too much :p

I was so ignorant when I first bought her, but I did tons of research and I am now truly "bitten". After acquring the A. Geniculata I went out and got myself a G. Rosea so I could have a more personal relationship. The rosie is great and very docile and a great spider for helping other people get over their fears. She can be moody as well however and I always make sure she has been fed before I attempt to handle.

I've got my eyes set on a 6" L. Parahybanha which I also found in the local classifieds. I've made a habit of looking around when I get the itch to see if anyone is locally selling T's. I seem to find people who acquired T's in strange ways and aren't very knowledgable about the hobby. I feel like I do a good thing by giving these spiders surely better homes.
 

Daehon

Arachnosquire
Old Timer
Joined
Oct 31, 2007
Messages
53
When me and my wife got together, she came with three girls, one dog and a G.rosea, which at the time was 12 years old. Her name was Rosie (ya I know not to original), but she was the coolest T I had ever seen, and she hated my wife, but loved the girls. The girls could hold her without any problem, when my wife would go in the cage to clean it Rosie would go into threat mode. I could go in the cage and she would crawl up my hand and just sit there. This is where I fell in love with Tarantulas and have been learning ever since and that was 6 years ago. Since then Rosie has passed away, and we have added 6 more to our collection.
 
Top