How long have you been keeping T's?

arachnopunks

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Nov 10, 2002
Messages
391
We were curious to know how long everyone has been keeping T's and other inverts. I have been keeping for 10 years but aggressively-breeding, expanding, getting more rare species, etc.- for about the last 5 years. How long have the rest of you been keeping days, weeks, months, years? We love to see the newbies and only hope that the hobby continues to gain popularity. Jill is the researcher. She has been into keeping for about 5 years now. She reads up on all the information and I take care of feeding, watering, cleaning, and handling. It is nice to have someone to share your enthusiasum for such misunderstood creatures.

-Johnny
 

Static_69

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Feb 14, 2003
Messages
377
Well..I bought my first T (G. rosea) when I was going into 7th grade...and that was my only one for about a 1 and a half.
Then I started getting more into them and bought a few more and such...So I guess I've been in the hobby for about 2 years..
But only actually collecting them and getting more for a little less than a year.






Risto
 

mebebraz

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Sep 27, 2002
Messages
551
20yrs
1 month
6 days
ten or so hours
Got my first t on my 20th b-day.
 

nocturnalpulsem

Arachnolord
Old Timer
Joined
Jan 1, 2003
Messages
663
Well, I got my first Ts when I was in 5th grade. I think I was 10...Anyway, they sadly met an untimely death, and I hadn't kept again until this past Dec.

Glad to be back at it, though.

N.
 

Immortal_sin

Arachnotemptress
Old Timer
Joined
Jul 17, 2002
Messages
3,952
we bought our first T on 9/7/01...almost 2 years ago.
Since then, I've had 4 breedings resulting in eggsacs, and we average around 100 or so (including slings).
 

Henry Kane

Arachnoprince
Old Timer
Joined
Jul 19, 2002
Messages
1,884
My first T was given to me in winter, early '95. This biker guy at a bar mentioned he had a tarantula he was trying to get rid of. I was like "I'll take it, how much you want for it?". He says "Nothin', just come pick it up, I live around the corner.". It was a mature male rosie than actually lived in my care for about another year. I was addicted and acquired many new species long before he passed though.

Anyhow, about 8 years.

Atrax
 

Code Monkey

Arachnoemperor
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Jul 22, 2002
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3,783
Since sometime in 1981 or 82, I was 11 and got a P. cancerides not knowing any better :)

I kept at least one T at all times from then until sometime in 1998, but it was never more than few at a time. After 3 years without Ts I was itching to get another B. smithi and A. avicularia, got tired of trying to hunt them down in petstores and figured there must be an online source...

Discovered the numerous vendors and communities like this one and went from a "normal" T keeper to my current number of more than 50 :eek:
I was blown away by the sheer variety available and the fact you could get baby tarantulas after so many years of thinking that the only things regularly available in the trade were the stuff you find in petstores and the occasional exotic petstore that might have a whole dozen types to choose from.

So, it's a bit more than 20 years of keeping Ts in general, but less than two years of psycho level keeping :)
 

crash769

Arachnosquire
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Joined
May 29, 2003
Messages
144
About 3 1/2 years now. First was a rosie. Just went crazy after that and I have about 20 now.
 

Maggie

Arachnosquire
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Joined
Jan 6, 2003
Messages
114
Had a few over a number of years,( a few..as in THREE..:rolleyes: :D ) It was approximately around the end of December that I started being interested in more.
Well, I say "mine" but they really belonged to a son and ex boyfriend. Though taking care of it is 9/10 of what counts...;)
 

Beth-Tex

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
Joined
Jan 26, 2003
Messages
260
Hmmm.....this is a hard one.....I do remember that the first T ever was a B.smithi that my son had brought home from school. Said that one of the kids gave it to him........next day got a phone call from the mother of the kid & she wanted HER tarantula back. :p Soooo then went out & got another B.smithi we named Lady Di (after Princess Diana before her marriage).........anyway....Lady Di turned out to be a Mr.=D

That was about........ohhh.......approx 25 years ago........have been keeping Ts on & off since then.
 

Windycity

Arachnosquire
Old Timer
Joined
May 11, 2003
Messages
117
Who can compass the mind of a 5 year old? My son not long ago started carrying around plastic spiders and asking for a tarantula. My wife gave me one of those “what in the world will he come up with next” looks when the subject came up for the umpteen time at the dinner table . This however happened to be a very old itch of mine that never got scratched so it wasn’t long before a few late nights of T research resulted in an order of 3 tiny little spiderlings from Swift’s showing up on our door step. The first pill bottle out of the box was a little B. Smithi. I carefully opened his vial over a bath towel on the kitchen table and was about to coax him into his new home with a little paint brush when a blur of little legs literally jettisoned out of vial and scurried across and under the table to the delight of my kids and the horror of my wife. My son was thrilled by the action and squealed, “Man, dad, did you see that! He took off like “lickety-split.” With that pronouncement, my first tarantula received his very well deserved name.

March has now turned into July and those little specks have now grown to be respectable little cricket hunters. A few purchases from Art Cerdes here in Chicago have increased the collection from 3 to 10. My wife often shakes her head in wonder. But then again, who can compass the mind of a grown man?
 
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nemesis6sic6

Arachnoangel
Old Timer
Joined
Mar 1, 2003
Messages
809
hey

Tomarrow it will be my 2 year of collecting and keeping these pretty guys and gals. any ways yeah I dont plan on stoping It's going to be a generation thing. though my dad in Italy he collected spiders not Ts but thats another story. Any ways I love Ts and spiders alike. have a nice day
geo
 

Sicarius

Arachnopeon
Joined
Jun 13, 2003
Messages
9
First T when I was 11 was a pinktoe followed by a gorgeous female adult mexican red-leg that I foolishly, sold when i went off to college. Ive kept a little bit of EVERYTHING invertebrate on and off for the past 20 or so years. My fave species are baboons, and asians for they have such a delightfully feisty personality.
 

Exodus

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
Joined
Jul 20, 2002
Messages
219
I have been keeping T's since April 14th 2002...

Aloha

Ben
 

L_mactans

Arachnolush
Old Timer
Joined
Sep 9, 2002
Messages
159
I got my first T (Avic avic) 12 years ago... 1991, but didn't get another until 5 years ago. Every year the collection seems to grow more than I had ever anticipated, but in a good way :) .
 

arachnopunks

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Nov 10, 2002
Messages
391
Originally posted by Code Monkey
Since sometime in 1981 or 82, I was 11 and got a P. cancerides not knowing any better :)

I kept at least one T at all times from then until sometime in 1998, but it was never more than few at a time. After 3 years without Ts I was itching to get another B. smithi and A. avicularia, got tired of trying to hunt them down in petstores and figured there must be an online source...

Discovered the numerous vendors and communities like this one and went from a "normal" T keeper to my current number of more than 50 :eek:
I was blown away by the sheer variety available and the fact you could get baby tarantulas after so many years of thinking that the only things regularly available in the trade were the stuff you find in petstores and the occasional exotic petstore that might have a whole dozen types to choose from.

So, it's a bit more than 20 years of keeping Ts in general, but less than two years of psycho level keeping :)
I had a similar experience going from pet store to pet store only to find much of the same. Then, we got our computer about five years ago and it's been avalanched ever since. We got our first online order from Bryant Capiz, may he rest in peace, and a few more months later from him. We had more asian species but we are having a baby in a matter of weeks so we had to find homes for them. Didn't want any bite mishaps with a little one running around.
 

Godzilla2000

Arachnoangel
Old Timer
Joined
Mar 14, 2003
Messages
947
Originally posted by arachnopunks
We were curious to know how long everyone has been keeping T's and other inverts. I have been keeping for 10 years but aggressively-breeding, expanding, getting more rare species, etc.- for about the last 5 years. How long have the rest of you been keeping days, weeks, months, years? We love to see the newbies and only hope that the hobby continues to gain popularity. Jill is the researcher. She has been into keeping for about 5 years now. She reads up on all the information and I take care of feeding, watering, cleaning, and handling. It is nice to have someone to share your enthusiasum for such misunderstood creatures.

-Johnny
The first Invert I ever bought was an Emperor Scorpion about ten years or so ago. There was a few years span in between getting my second Emp. Then I plunged head first into Tarantulas this past winter when I bought my Rosie. And so far everything's been going A-Ok. I just love my Inverts. So much so that they will totally phase out my rodents and Ferret in the future. I just love how quiet and odor free Inverts are. They are the perfect Apartment pet.
 
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