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atrophie

Arachnopeon
Joined
Jul 11, 2007
Messages
12
i put a simple want ad up stating that i'll adopt any Ts if people want to surrender them, figuring there might be some family out there with a neglected rosea or something...and i get this email:

"Are you interested in a Black Widow spider?
I caught her in my kitchen. The kids want to keep her, but then I read this:
http://noah.coccaro.com/widow/widow.html

Looks like she'd make a great pet, but sadly, not in our house.

drop me a line if you are interested or not...
[name]
"

:eek:

my reply basically consisted of: "yeah, i'd rather stick with the ever-lovely, non-fatal tarantulas, thanks..."

do people really equate tarantulas as being as dangerous as a black widows?? :? i mean, i'm sure some people keep them as 'pets'...but i never would.

btw, hi, i'm new to posting here but not lurking...currently have a juvenile a. versicolor and p. imperator, plus l. parahybana and c. cyaneopubescens slings.
 

P. Novak

ArachnoGod
Old Timer
Joined
Sep 12, 2005
Messages
6,218
I've kept black widows(Latrodectus spp.) as pets before, just like many other members on here, but back to your question..

I don't think she was associating widows with tarantulas, just saw that you were interested in spiders so she thought she would give it a shot. Of course... I could be wrong, and people could really be that ignorant and uneducated.:rolleyes:
 

Pulk

Arachnoprince
Old Timer
Joined
May 10, 2007
Messages
1,049
scroll down to the "True Spiders & Other Arachnids" section. a LOT of people keep various types of widows. :)
 

pitbulllady

Arachnoking
Old Timer
Joined
May 1, 2004
Messages
2,290
i put a simple want ad up stating that i'll adopt any Ts if people want to surrender them, figuring there might be some family out there with a neglected rosea or something...and i get this email:

"Are you interested in a Black Widow spider?
I caught her in my kitchen. The kids want to keep her, but then I read this:
http://noah.coccaro.com/widow/widow.html

Looks like she'd make a great pet, but sadly, not in our house.

drop me a line if you are interested or not...
[name]
"

:eek:

my reply basically consisted of: "yeah, i'd rather stick with the ever-lovely, non-fatal tarantulas, thanks..."

do people really equate tarantulas as being as dangerous as a black widows?? :? i mean, i'm sure some people keep them as 'pets'...but i never would.

btw, hi, i'm new to posting here but not lurking...currently have a juvenile a. versicolor and p. imperator, plus l. parahybana and c. cyaneopubescens slings.
I take it that you have never visited the "True Spiders and Other Arachnids" forum section of Arachnoboards. LOTS of folks keep Latrodactus. While I won't downplay the "hot" nature of these spiders, I will say that they are usually very passive, not aggressive at all. Most of the specimens I've encountered, with the exception of one mature male, would rather ball up and play dead than to defend themselves. I actually wouldn't mind keeping one myself. I've kept venomous snakes, and hot scorps, so why not? I really wouldn't consider a spider like this to be a pet, though, but more of a living ornament, like a fish(think of those lovely, delicate-looking Lionfish aquarists are fond of). It's not something that you can really touch, but something kept mainly to look at.

pitbulllady
 

atrophie

Arachnopeon
Joined
Jul 11, 2007
Messages
12
i know people keep just about anything, but it seemed to me like the person who wrote me had no idea that widows were dangerous...i'd be a little anxious if i found one in my kitchen. i collect every spider in my garage to check if it's poisonous, so that i know what's living with me without my knowledge.
 

Taceas

Arachnolord
Old Timer
Joined
May 12, 2006
Messages
658
I just applaud the person for not instantly killing it, like most people tend to do, regardless of venom toxicity.

Welcome to AB, and one of these days I'll be one of those Latrodactus folks.
 

What

Arachnoprince
Old Timer
Joined
Jul 13, 2006
Messages
1,150
atrophie, many people are blissfully unaware of of potential threats living with them. While I do not consider finding a Latrodectus species in my house a bad or dangerous thing for people with small children(<5y/o) these spiders can be a hazard.
 

GailC

Arachnoprince
Old Timer
Joined
Sep 19, 2005
Messages
1,402
My very first spider over 16 yrs ago was a widow. She never was defensive, ate great and was virtually impossible to get out of her jar. I'd love to have another some day.
 
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