Why is getting just ONE Tarantula impossible?

Chuckmater

Arachnopeon
Joined
Oct 11, 2016
Messages
24
Hi everyone!

I've recently 're-entered' the hobby of collecting Tarantulas, after a nearly 15-year hibernation...It seems my passion has awakened. As a 12 year old, I remember going to the local pet shop and purchasing my first Ts; a Brachypelma Albopilosum and a G. Porteri.

****
13 years later...2016

I'm happily married with a beautiful 10-month old daughter and all my needs and wants are met. Nevertheless, one evening, as fate would have it, I was watching a Tarantulaguy1976's feeding video, and BAM!!!!! Just like that!! The next thing I know, I have purchased a sling P. Metallica (Which my wife and I named Stella, and she just molted last week :) she's so cute), a P. Formosa (Which we named Violet) a G. Porteri named Vince (just so we can handle one without having our adrenal glands squeezed dry), a GBB pair, named Matthew and Maleficent, a P. Cambridgei named Mercedes, and an H. Maculata named Veronica. Not to mention I was like a kid in a candy shop at the Montreal Expo! Wow! And that happened in a span of a month and a half! Then we decided it was enough for now until I can have a T. Room. Fair enough honey, maybe in 5 years when we buy a house.

Now, here's where YOU come in on this thread: I want to know what it is about keeping Ts. that enthrals people so much! Is it the fascination for collecting? Is it Hoarding? Or Compulsive Buying? According to Freud, all collecting stems from unresolved toilet training conflict...hmmm...what is the psychology behind this fascination? According to Muensterberger, collecting is a need-driven compensatory behavior where every new object effectively gives the notion of fantasized omnipotence... Is this hobby a manifestation of a disorder we all share? Or is it purely a good thing? Just as the irrational fear of spiders is worthy of documentation and a title (Arachnophobia), surely its antithesis must be worthy of at least some consideration! Give me some thoughts!

Thanks
 

Venom1080

Arachnoemperor
Joined
Sep 24, 2015
Messages
4,611
always nice to have more CDNs on the board. :)

i like spiders because theyre a lot cheaper than reptiles, i also really like their colors and habits.
 

YagerManJennsen

Arachnobaron
Joined
Jan 3, 2016
Messages
508
Good to hear you're back in the hobby! Just FYI, most folks around this forum are big advocates of not handling the spiders. Just be careful with the subject of handling tarantulas. I don't want this thread to turn into a multi page anti-handling thread when it clearly wasn't your intention.

Now back to spooders. All of those are nice species. What size is the H. maculata?
 

Risto N

Arachnopeon
Joined
Oct 2, 2016
Messages
5
Lucky!
That sounds like a great collection. My fiancee doesn't mind the T's I keep but has me capped at 5.........for now. <insert diabolical chuckle>
 

basin79

ArachnoGod
Active Member
Joined
Sep 14, 2013
Messages
5,893
The thing with T's is that it doesn't take hardly any more time or effort to look after 5 T's as apposed to 1.
 

SausageinaNet

Arachnopeon
Joined
Nov 26, 2015
Messages
33
The thing with T's is that it doesn't take hardly any more time or effort to look after 5 T's as apposed to 1.
That's probably one of the reasons. Another thing is that many people like to collect things and if you are into Ts you will collect Ts.
 

basin79

ArachnoGod
Active Member
Joined
Sep 14, 2013
Messages
5,893
The fact there's so many too. I've had T's on and off for 20 years. Not fanatical about them though. I've only just seen a Megaphobema Mesomelas for the first time. So T's can and probably will continue to surprise you.
 

Travis21v4

Arachnopeon
Joined
Nov 2, 2015
Messages
11
I am going to go a different direction on this and answer your question lol. Why is it impossible to only get one? I buy most of my tarantulas off online breeders or people I know in different states. So unless im buying a high $ spider , I wont pay 50$ for a sling and pay the same in shipping :) hehe. Why we collect them? I dont believe its a mental thing, or any type of issue. I believe its an addiction! A good one, but an addiction nonetheless:). The joy of opening a box of 10-15 spiders!! Omg!! The feeding... and watching these little things grow! "Man ovaries exploding"!

Congrats and welcome back! Sweet start to your new addiction :)
 

Chuckmater

Arachnopeon
Joined
Oct 11, 2016
Messages
24
Good to hear you're back in the hobby! Just FYI, most folks around this forum are big advocates of not handling the spiders. Just be careful with the subject of handling tarantulas. I don't want this thread to turn into a multi page anti-handling thread when it clearly wasn't your intention.

Now back to spooders. All of those are nice species. What size is the H. maculata?
Good to hear you're back in the hobby! Just FYI, most folks around this forum are big advocates of not handling the spiders. Just be careful with the subject of handling tarantulas. I don't want this thread to turn into a multi page anti-handling thread when it clearly wasn't your intention.

Now back to spooders. All of those are nice species. What size is the H. maculata?
Interesting...why are they opposed to handling docile species? The only one I handle is the G. Porteri because it doesn't pose any threat to my baby daughter or anyone else for that matter. I understand being opposed to handling Pokies or Baboons, but Rose Hairs? But that's good to know, thanks for pointing that out :)
My H. Maculata is about 4.5 in! She's fast! It was an adrenaline rush to rehouse her for sure!!
 

Chuckmater

Arachnopeon
Joined
Oct 11, 2016
Messages
24
I am going to go a different direction on this and answer your question lol. Why is it impossible to only get one? I buy most of my tarantulas off online breeders or people I know in different states. So unless im buying a high $ spider , I wont pay 50$ for a sling and pay the same in shipping :) hehe. Why we collect them? I dont believe its a mental thing, or any type of issue. I believe its an addiction! A good one, but an addiction nonetheless:). The joy of opening a box of 10-15 spiders!! Omg!! The feeding... and watching these little things grow! "Man ovaries exploding"!

Congrats and welcome back! Sweet start to your new addiction :)
Haha 'man ovaries'!!
 

basin79

ArachnoGod
Active Member
Joined
Sep 14, 2013
Messages
5,893
I am going to go a different direction on this and answer your question lol. Why is it impossible to only get one? I buy most of my tarantulas off online breeders or people I know in different states. So unless im buying a high $ spider , I wont pay 50$ for a sling and pay the same in shipping :) hehe. Why we collect them? I dont believe its a mental thing, or any type of issue. I believe its an addiction! A good one, but an addiction nonetheless:). The joy of opening a box of 10-15 spiders!! Omg!! The feeding... and watching these little things grow! "Man ovaries exploding"!

Congrats and welcome back! Sweet start to your new addiction :)
I
Interesting...why are they opposed to handling docile species? The only one I handle is the G. Porteri because it doesn't pose any threat to my baby daughter or anyone else for that matter. I understand being opposed to handling Pokies or Baboons, but Rose Hairs? But that's good to know, thanks for pointing that out :)
My H. Maculata is about 4.5 in! She's fast! It was an adrenaline rush to rehouse her for sure!!
It's not about the T being a threat to you. But you being a threat to your T. A fall could easily kill one. Even a docile species could potentially panic if you say sneezed or coughed. It offers absolutely nothing to the T apart from risk.

But it's been discussed to death already.

This place is fantastic by the way.
 

Rittdk01

Arachnoknight
Joined
Oct 4, 2016
Messages
258
Had a Rosie for two years that I've handled Countless times. I'm not saying to handle just any tarantula, but rose hairs are pretty good sports about it.

I had one pink toe and quickly realized I would b tossing 10 or 11 crickets out a week, so I got three more. Had four for a long time and just recently got some new ones.
 

Crone Returns

Arachnoangel
Joined
Mar 22, 2016
Messages
990
Hi everyone!

I've recently 're-entered' the hobby of collecting Tarantulas, after a nearly 15-year hibernation...It seems my passion has awakened. As a 12 year old, I remember going to the local pet shop and purchasing my first Ts; a Brachypelma Albopilosum and a G. Porteri.

****
13 years later...2016

I'm happily married with a beautiful 10-month old daughter and all my needs and wants are met. Nevertheless, one evening, as fate would have it, I was watching a Tarantulaguy1976's feeding video, and BAM!!!!! Just like that!! The next thing I know, I have purchased a sling P. Metallica (Which my wife and I named Stella, and she just molted last week :) she's so cute), a P. Formosa (Which we named Violet) a G. Porteri named Vince (just so we can handle one without having our adrenal glands squeezed dry), a GBB pair, named Matthew and Maleficent, a P. Cambridgei named Mercedes, and an H. Maculata named Veronica. Not to mention I was like a kid in a candy shop at the Montreal Expo! Wow! And that happened in a span of a month and a half! Then we decided it was enough for now until I can have a T. Room. Fair enough honey, maybe in 5 years when we buy a house.

Now, here's where YOU come in on this thread: I want to know what it is about keeping Ts. that enthrals people so much! Is it the fascination for collecting? Is it Hoarding? Or Compulsive Buying? According to Freud, all collecting stems from unresolved toilet training conflict...hmmm...what is the psychology behind this fascination? According to Muensterberger, collecting is a need-driven compensatory behavior where every new object effectively gives the notion of fantasized omnipotence... Is this hobby a manifestation of a disorder we all share? Or is it purely a good thing? Just as the irrational fear of spiders is worthy of documentation and a title (Arachnophobia), surely its antithesis must be worthy of at least some consideration! Give me some thoughts!

Thanks
Didn't anybody tell you?! The Ts HYPNOTIZE us via pheromones to get us in their clutches. It's their plan to rule the world! Whahahaha!
 

Crone Returns

Arachnoangel
Joined
Mar 22, 2016
Messages
990
I am going to go a different direction on this and answer your question lol. Why is it impossible to only get one? I buy most of my tarantulas off online breeders or people I know in different states. So unless im buying a high $ spider , I wont pay 50$ for a sling and pay the same in shipping :) hehe. Why we collect them? I dont believe its a mental thing, or any type of issue. I believe its an addiction! A good one, but an addiction nonetheless:). The joy of opening a box of 10-15 spiders!! Omg!! The feeding... and watching these little things grow! "Man ovaries exploding"!

Congrats and welcome back! Sweet start to your new addiction :)
Exploding man ovaries?:wideyed::astonished:
 

Ghost56

Arachnobaron
Joined
Aug 28, 2016
Messages
443
Interesting...why are they opposed to handling docile species? The only one I handle is the G. Porteri because it doesn't pose any threat to my baby daughter or anyone else for that matter. I understand being opposed to handling Pokies or Baboons, but Rose Hairs? But that's good to know, thanks for pointing that out :)
My H. Maculata is about 4.5 in! She's fast! It was an adrenaline rush to rehouse her for sure!!
Another thing to note, rose hairs can be "bipolar" so you might be in for a surprise one day lol.
 

Chuckmater

Arachnopeon
Joined
Oct 11, 2016
Messages
24
Didn't anybody tell you?! The Ts HYPNOTIZE us via pheromones to get us in their clutches. It's their plan to rule the world! Whahahaha!
I have no evidence to disprove your statement!! It's a valid theory as far as I'm concerned....lol
 

Devin B

Arachnobaron
Joined
Sep 30, 2016
Messages
326
I got into tarantula keeping this past september. My very first T was a B. Smithi sling that i got myself for my birthday. About a week later I got a GBB. Now i want an avic versicolor and an OBT. Im positive if i get those ill want more.
 

Blue Jaye

Arachnobaron
Joined
Sep 16, 2013
Messages
339
For me it's because I find everything about them interesting. Whether I'm reading an article, cleaning up their bolus, feeding or just watching them move around webbing or cleaning themselves it's just fascinating. Not to mention they are beautiful and come in all colors and sizes. That's why it's hard for me to have just a few.
 
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