the 4 laws of Tarantulas (and maybe all arachnids!) - straight from the Shultzes

RugbyDave

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Hello all

its a beautiful day in minnesota, hope everyone else's day is just as perfect...

anyways i've had this page bookmarked for a while, and haven't seen a thread about this, so i felt it was a good time to post this, in the midst of alot of new members, and alot of the oldies, too!

From the Schultzes (sp. ?) ("The Tarantula Keepers Guide) website (ucalgary.ca/~schultz/)!

THE FOUR LAWS OF TARANTULAS (AND MAYBE ALL OTHER ARACHNIDS, TOO!)

1. There are lots of simple questions about tarantulas. There are never any simple answers.

2. Everything we think we know about tarantulas is almost surely wrong.

3. Any assumptions we make, based on what we think we know, are certainly dead wrong.

4. There are no rules about tarantulas, only second guesses and hindsight.


i think its good to remember these when asking questions of postulating theories ;). They're just 4 good things to keep in mind when someone responds to a question of yours or mine. Now, thats not to say that we don't know a few things, cos we do (they need water and food, etc.. :)). But beyond the essentials, its still a very new science. So enjoy studying and reading and research and rearing, but remember that we're still figuring out alot.

So there you go!
enjoy the day.

any thoughts?

in it,
dave
 
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deifiler

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hmmm.. It's laughable that someone is famous for saying things like that... I'd feel robbed to some extent on discovering that kind of content within a book :/

(Although I'm sure the other content is good)
 

RugbyDave

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well, um...

its all true!!!!
i think we'd all agree on that :)

that's why forums like this are a godsend.. where groups of us can meet and talk and try to figure out these crazy Ts!

Its just as much the PhDs as it is the hobbyists.
i don't think anyone would disagree with that statement.

peace
dave
 

deifiler

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Yeah but still... being the "official-stater-of-the-obvious" shouldn't get someone famous. Same with all the crappy psychology stuff, a few of my friends studied it at college for some reason, and some of the BS they have been told is unreal

This statement " 3. Any assumptions we make, based on what we think we know, are certainly dead wrong." I feel is written very poorly for a 'professional' standard. The term 'dead wrong' doesn't seem very... err.. suitable ;P

Anyway sorry about that!

I aggree that a bunch of meddlin hobbyists could give some guy with a PhD a run for his money! :D
 

defour

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Originally posted by deifiler
Yeah but still... being the "official-stater-of-the-obvious" shouldn't get someone famous.
"
Are the Schultzes famous? I hadn't been aware of that. Maybe I should read the paper or watch more TV. If you're right, then people across the USA must have had their hearts broken when they heard on Abcess Hollywood that Stan had gotten rid of most of his B. smithi.

I agree that number three is problematic: there almost certainly is something "we" think "we" know about tarantulas that is RIGHT. The statistics predict this result.

I have to mention though, that I appreciate your contrarian orientation. I'm an A-hole myself, and I don't mean that as an insult (seriously).

Steve
 

Inuleki

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i remember something someone said once....

it went along the lines of, the first step to understanding is admitting you know nothing... cliche, YEs, true, Absolutely...

the schultzes are the authors of the TKG and they aren't famous for saying those few things, they are very meticulous observers of our shared hobby/addiction/love whatever you wish to term it...

i think they have good things to say...
 
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deifiler

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Originally posted by Inuleki

i think they have good things to say...
Oh don't get me wrong, I'm sure they do.

I was merely commenting on the section provided, and yes, I am aware that I can't judge the whole book based on that. I've never even seen the book so I can't comment on it anyway.

Steve I didn't mean famous like that ;P Merely that they make money from such things and are quoted on it

"the first step to understanding is admitting you know nothing..."

I wouldn't class that as cliché at all, more of a logical theory in my opinion. It's like saying "you can't make ommelette without breaking eggs"

Where as the schultzes (dare I quote them that they are "Laws"? No I dars't not, they are merely someones thoughts) to me only 'rule 4' is the actual one I -and I'd think the vast majority- would agree with...

The context of these "laws" and the phrasing of them seems as if it is a joke. I sincerely hope the whole book isn't written this way

Sorry if that offends any of you,
 

WYSIWYG

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Originally posted by RugbyDave
Hello all

its a beautiful day in minnesota, hope everyone else's day is just as perfect...

anyways i've had this page bookmarked for a while, and haven't seen a thread about this, so i felt it was a good time to post this, in the midst of alot of new members, and alot of the oldies, too!

From the Schultzes (sp. ?) ("The Tarantula Keepers Guide) website (ucalgary.ca/~schultz/)!

THE FOUR LAWS OF TARANTULAS (AND MAYBE ALL OTHER ARACHNIDS, TOO!)

1. There are lots of simple questions about tarantulas. There are never any simple answers.

2. Everything we think we know about tarantulas is almost surely wrong.

3. Any assumptions we make, based on what we think we know, are certainly dead wrong.

4. There are no rules about tarantulas, only second guesses and hindsight.


i think its good to remember these when asking questions of postulating theories ;). They're just 4 good things to keep in mind when someone responds to a question of yours or mine. Now, thats not to say that we don't know a few things, cos we do (they need water and food, etc.. :)). But beyond the essentials, its still a very new science. So enjoy studying and reading and research and rearing, but remember that we're still figuring out alot.

So there you go!
enjoy the day.

any thoughts?

in it,
dave
This looks like it would tie in well with the "Murphy's Law and the Molting Blues" thread I started about a week ago. It's probably probably buried somewhere around page 5 or so. :p

Wysi
 

RugbyDave

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:)

sorry bout the molt problems...


at any rate, this wasn't in the book, so if youre looking for it in there and can't find it, you're not going crazy... just an addition on the website.


have a nice one.
ha, i almost wrote "have an ice one" .. i bet you'd be saying 'an ice what dave' right about now if my eagle eyes didn't catch that, eh?

dave
 

Aboreal Rayne

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Rules? If you're a moron....

Well I'm going to have to completely agree with deifiler. These rules are for the ignorant who are not willing to take note of true habits and rules of T's. But then agian ignorance is bliss...yall know how that is... Anyway I don't believe that the rules behind a T is just a big "?". Quite frankly I've noticed alot of rules that hold true to EVERY T I've ever seen. Frankly folks they are machines; machines with a limited arsenal of programming...in other words ther are only so many tricks a spider can pull of before, well, you know them all. I respect the Schultzs as a very good source for T information, however this is not the kind of knolegeable information I'm used to recieving from them. It's really disapointing that either: Someone so knolegeable could surcumb to ignorance, or someone wrote this garbage in thier name...

~Aboreal Rayne~
 

WYSIWYG

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Re: Rules? If you're a moron....

Originally posted by Aboreal Rayne
Well I'm going to have to completely agree with deifiler. These rules are for the ignorant who are not willing to take note of true habits and rules of T's. But then agian ignorance is bliss...yall know how that is... Anyway I don't believe that the rules behind a T is just a big "?". Quite frankly I've noticed alot of rules that hold true to EVERY T I've ever seen. Frankly folks they are machines; machines with a limited arsenal of programming...in other words ther are only so many tricks a spider can pull of before, well, you know them all. I respect the Schultzs as a very good source for T information, however this is not the kind of knolegeable information I'm used to recieving from them. It's really disapointing that either: Someone so knolegeable could surcumb to ignorance, or someone wrote this garbage in thier name...

~Aboreal Rayne~
So what rules have held true to every T you've ever seen? :)

Wysi
 

deifiler

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Re: Re: Rules? If you're a moron....

Originally posted by WYSIWYG
So what rules have held true to every T you've ever seen? :)

Wysi
How about they need at least one leg/palp combination to walk ;)
 

WYSIWYG

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Originally posted by caligulathegod
This looks like a job for...
Well surely this person has more in mind than eating, drinking, crawling, climbing, sitting still, pooping, and molting....especially if they feel so strongly about how wrong it was for the Schultz's to add those 4 "laws" to their other stuff. Those are the only OBVIOUS things I would say that every tarantula I've ever seen
does. ;P

Wysi
 

RugbyDave

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Re: Re: Re: Rules? If you're a moron....

Originally posted by deifiler
How about they need at least one leg/palp combination to walk ;)

actually, correct me if I'm wrong (CodeM? SHD? Scott?), but didnt we read some article from an arachnologist (or hobbyist?) that had a T with only it's chelicerae, and it would drag itself around the cage with its fangs?

I do remember reading an article (ATS?) where the T had no legs and lived quite a while. It was able to eat anyways... it just couldn't mate... or walk ;)

Does anyone remember what i'm talking about? Am i just delirious..

probably a mixture of both, right? ;P
but i do remember reading that.

peace
dave
 

Paramite

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Frankly folks they are machines; machines with a limited arsenal of programming...in other words ther are only so many tricks a spider can pull of before, well, you know them all.
Bah. They can still surprise you, when you've kept them for years.

Edit: And I hate it when people compare animals to machines, even if they are simple creatures.
 
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