Tarantulas and people's reactions

Duss321

Arachnopeon
Joined
Jul 25, 2013
Messages
34
Everytime i meet new people, coworkers or dating someone and tell them i have T's they look at me and react as if i'm crazy.:alien:

The weirdest one i got was when dating someone and we got on the subject of animals/pets. So yeah, i told her i've got a few T's. She told me that she would never go near my house knowing they where in there and that if she saw one she would probably kill it. So i told her not to worry because i would never let her near my house after saying such a thing.

Anyway i'm sure i'm not the only one who got some funny or weird reactions after people learn about our hobby. I would love to hear your story! :biggrin:
 

PeaceBee

Arachnoknight
Joined
Jan 16, 2013
Messages
156
I've gotten some odd reactions, but fortunately I've not had issues with dates :p I mainly hang out with nerdy/geeky people so I think maybe they're a little more logical and open-minded when it comes to these things?

Yesterday I brought my female A. chalcodes in as a prop for a presentation I was doing in my Native American Religion class and I had her with me all day. Out of my three classes and breaks in between I only had three bad reactions, so that made me feel pretty good :)

When I got into the hobby, I started posting pictures of my Ts on Facebook, and at first all I got was responses of disgust, but over time they kind of grew on a lot of people. Today I have 37 people following my invertebrates album and more who regularly "like" the photos. :) I've found that the more I talk about them, the more people become open to them.

On a side note, there was one girl yesterday who started to walk up to me and my friends yesterday, froze when she saw my T, then screamed and ran away XD
 

widowmaker03

Arachnopeon
Joined
Sep 12, 2010
Messages
1
What do you expect mate, we deal in exotic pets. These are not the traditional puppy or kitten, and unfortunately people dont view them as cute parrots, monkeys, or turtles. There is a misconception with the dangers of our 8 legged pals, and the misconception seems to be, "the bigger, the hairier, the more dangerous/poisonous it is". Yes I realize spiders are not poisonous, they are venomous, I am just stating the misconception.

My wife is not fond of any of my hobbies, heroclix, videoges, or spiders. Its a shame as it means I am alone with my interests, but perhaps my daughter will take a liking to them, she already loves to look at them...

But yes, fear comes often times from misunderstanding, and the majority of the world misunderstands a great many things.
 

Beary Strange

Arachnodemon
Joined
Aug 30, 2013
Messages
670
Like the others said, the nature of our hobby lends itself to such reactions. People don't know the truth about arachnids and moreover, at least from my own experiences, many don't care to learn. I mean, I think we've all seen that look of disappointment followed by obstinate disbelief after quashing a silly myth. People like to be scared of things.
A word of advice in the dating scene: do not settle on someone who dislikes this hobby. You will regret that. Just look at all the "my wife allowed/won't allow" posts there are around.
I actually was recently at a LPS and while waiting to be rung up for a rescued T (my first Aphonopelma as a matter of fact) a really weird spazzy woman came in to get feeders for her snakes. When she saw my T in its cup she started asking about it-you know, the same questions we all hear. She followed up each question with an overly animated full body shiver complete with sound effects. It was very weird...plus you'd think a person with a snake or two would be more open minded. O-o
 
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CrystalRose

Arachnopeon
Joined
Mar 6, 2014
Messages
35
I get the "but WHY?????" response a lot. People are just shocked anyone would want to get a spider and keep it in their house. I'm pretty much used to it though. I get the exact same reaction about my snakes.
 

Beary Strange

Arachnodemon
Joined
Aug 30, 2013
Messages
670
I get the "but WHY?????" response a lot. People are just shocked anyone would want to get a spider and keep it in their house. I'm pretty much used to it though. I get the exact same reaction about my snakes.
I get that one a lot too. I've resorted to being snappy and asking why they would want to have a dog. :3
 

MarkmD

Arachnoprince
Joined
Aug 9, 2012
Messages
1,835
Unfortunately our hobby begs the questions we get asked, all the, why have them?/will they kill me?/how big do they get?/how venomous are they? Etc etc, but as we all know its massive miss-understandings, ether because they just don't care enough to listen or a real fear of them. What i always say is, they are much more afraid of us than we are of them, i do like "trying" to explain to people that they mean no harm and talk to them about all sorts of T's, some are genuinely interested others are really spazz and just cant understand it.
 

kanito107

Arachnosquire
Joined
Apr 17, 2011
Messages
136
Well when I met my wife she always wanted a tarantula, and when I told her about all the kind I had she wanted some and fell in love with the versi. Haha girls huh.
Now we own and do it together. And have about 10 that we keep together.
When I told he I wanted a p. Metallica she was like all for it.
 

CrystalRose

Arachnopeon
Joined
Mar 6, 2014
Messages
35
Well when I met my wife she always wanted a tarantula, and when I told her about all the kind I had she wanted some and fell in love with the versi. Haha girls huh.
Now we own and do it together. And have about 10 that we keep together.
When I told he I wanted a p. Metallica she was like all for it.
This is one place I'm lucky too. When I met the hubby I loved snakes and was afraid of spiders. As soon as I decided I wanted spiders though he was all cool about it. He's never told me I can't do or have something. Just like I don't tell him what hobbies he can or can not spend money on. As long as the bills get paid we're good.
 

viper69

ArachnoGod
Old Timer
Joined
Dec 8, 2006
Messages
17,851
Everytime i meet new people, coworkers or dating someone and tell them i have T's they look at me and react as if i'm crazy.:alien:

The weirdest one i got was when dating someone and we got on the subject of animals/pets. So yeah, i told her i've got a few T's. She told me that she would never go near my house knowing they where in there and that if she saw one she would probably kill it. So i told her not to worry because i would never let her near my house after saying such a thing.

Anyway i'm sure i'm not the only one who got some funny or weird reactions after people learn about our hobby. I would love to hear your story! :biggrin:

I'm surprised they aren't more open minded in the Netherlands! Though your response is only an N of 1 for me.


I often get "but you can't hold them, why would you get them"...to which I answer "why do people own fish, you can't hold those either" and they promptly shut up.

As for dating, if pets come up I mention them, if not, I don't. It's not some special topic I seek to avoid discussing for fear of losing that perceived great girl. Never had any negative responses from women because they know me as a person first, not my pets.

In short, I really don't a flying hoohah what someone thinks about my pets, especially a prospective mate. Women come and go like changes in Chicago weather. If she isn't down with my pets, ie tolerates, then she isn't the right one for me, case closed.

---------- Post added 03-26-2014 at 02:26 PM ----------

He's never told me I can't do or have something. Just like I don't tell him what hobbies he can or can not spend money on. As long as the bills get paid we're good.
That's EXACTLY how it should be, if it isn't, there's trouble in "paradise" in my experience, esp with something as trivial as pets.
 

CrystalRose

Arachnopeon
Joined
Mar 6, 2014
Messages
35
That's EXACTLY how it should be, if it isn't, there's trouble in "paradise" in my experience, esp with something as trivial as pets.
Yep it's worked great for us. We'll have been married 18 years comes this fall. Neither one of us feels "denied" anything. I think that's why we still have so much fun together. :)
 

elliotulysses

Arachnosquire
Joined
Feb 22, 2014
Messages
85
A lot of people in my classes think it's really cool. A girl in my russian class wants to come over and chill with my Ts and scorps :::: )
 

Cavedweller

Arachnoprince
Old Timer
Joined
Mar 23, 2011
Messages
1,064
A neighbor was sitting in my living room and my MF Aphonopelma wandered out of her hide. My very polite European neighbor broke off mid sentence with "Goodness that's a big spider".

I once got "Aren't you creeped out by them?" Yes I make a point of filling my house with things that creep me out.

Luckily I mostly get positive reactions (aside from my friends playing the Hoarders theme any time I mention getting a new bug). I'm always happy to have the opportunity to clear up some of the misinformation about spiders.
 

elliotulysses

Arachnosquire
Joined
Feb 22, 2014
Messages
85
A neighbor was sitting in my living room and my MF Aphonopelma wandered out of her hide. My very polite European neighbor broke off mid sentence with "Goodness that's a big spider".

I once got "Aren't you creeped out by them?" Yes I make a point of filling my house with things that creep me out.

Luckily I mostly get positive reactions (aside from my friends playing the Hoarders theme any time I mention getting a new bug). I'm always happy to have the opportunity to clear up some of the misinformation about spiders.
MY FRIENDS DO THE HOARDERS THING
OR SAY "YOU'RE GOING TO END UP ON FATAL ATTRACTIONS"
I try to convince them this is normal for arachnid-types D;

---------- Post added 03-26-2014 at 06:14 PM ----------

A lot of people in my classes think it's really cool. A girl in my russian class wants to come over and chill with my Ts and scorps :::: )
While thinking about it, except maybe my gram.
She likes the Ts, but has no idea of the appeal of scorpions. I don't really understand why, but it's just her way of thinking, I guess!
 

Cavedweller

Arachnoprince
Old Timer
Joined
Mar 23, 2011
Messages
1,064
MY FRIENDS DO THE HOARDERS THING
OR SAY "YOU'RE GOING TO END UP ON FATAL ATTRACTIONS"
I try to convince them this is normal for arachnid-types D;
Send em a photo of one of the room-spanning collections, then they'll appreciate your restraint.
 

Catch Smiley

Arachnosquire
Joined
Mar 19, 2013
Messages
59
My girlfriend thinks my Ts are cute, and has held all but one, my smithi (but I hardly hold my smithi, it's pretty defensive)

CC29 9.jpg
 

freedumbdclxvi

Arachnoprince
Joined
May 28, 2012
Messages
1,426
I generally have moderate reactions. Never really had too bad a response. Even those that seem weirded out find some species gorgeous. Same with my snakes.
 

Micrathena

Arachnoknight
Joined
Dec 1, 2013
Messages
212
I usually get the generic disgust, but sometimes people say "You know nobody likes spiders, right?"
I should introduce them to the entire Arachnoboards community. That's a big "nobody."
 

Driller64

Arachnosquire
Old Timer
Joined
Aug 17, 2013
Messages
81
I get "what do you do with them" and "do you keep them all in the same cage" most often, along with "do you take them out and play with them". I of course have to explain, respectively, that they are one of those "looking at" pets, like fish, that they are strictly solitary animals (with a few exceptions) and if you put them all in the same cage they would most likely cannibalize one other, and that handling tarantulas is not recommended because it stresses them out and there is the risk of escape during handling.

My English teacher, after getting over the ewww phase of finding out I have tarantulas, now always asks about them in the middle of class and always asks what their names are, causing me moderate embarrassment. I eventually wrote their names and scientific names down for her out of semi irritation for singling me out. At least I don't have to worry about it anymore :D
 
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