Tarantula-sitting?

Luke · Apr 15, 2014

Hey I know this is kind of a weird question but it something that I am going to have to address sooner or later. In the coming months I am planing on enlisting in the United States Navy. Now last time I checked...the kind folks at BMT do not allow recruits to keep tarantulas in the barracks. lol (Really wish that they did!)

Anyway, the issue that has presented itself is what to do with my more rare or expensive specimens (Like my M. balfouri) while I am away at BMT and my A-school which, collectively, is about a 4-5 month time span, give or take. I know that my family will do there best to keep what I have alive and kicking while I am away and getting settled somewhere, but knowing my that family is not the most "spider-savvey" bunch, I may lose one or two.

SO, my question is if this is something that people actually do? Like for vacations or when they are between places and have no place for there T's...And if there are in fact "Tarantula-sitters" out there how much does it usually cost? How much would you pay for something like this?

I know that this is sort of an odd concept...

"Hey stranger, would you mind watching and feeding my tarantula while I am away then sending it back to me once I am allowed to have it again? I would pay you handsomely...." lol

Look forward to any advice on this!

Thank you!
Luke

awiec · Apr 15, 2014

Check some local exotic/reptile shops. There is a place by me that offers to babysit your T's and lizards if you bring their enclosure and food for it to their shop.

buddah4207 · Apr 15, 2014

I scorpion sat for a fellow AB member while they traveled. I have a couple different feeder colonies, so for my time they gave me a few free scorpions. Everything worked out great, its not weird at all.

Luke · Apr 15, 2014

awiec said:
Check some local exotic/reptile shops. There is a place by me that offers to babysit your T's and lizards if you bring their enclosure and food for it to their shop.

Thats a great idea but sadly its out of the question for the area I live in...we have zero pet stores and I don't believe the lone cat-groomer would be willing unfortunately...lol..I will lool for something along those lines though! And if comes down to it maybe I will get to know some people on here by then that would be willing to do what they did for buddah4207.

CitizenNumber9 · Apr 15, 2014

Right now I keep 10 T's for a friend of mine in Georgia including an AF P. rufilata and AF P. regalis for no charge. I'm sure you could easily find a nice member on AB who would be willing to do it for a price

Try contacting some members near where you live that are prominent on the boards (ie.; you see them around a lot :sarcasm: )

Luke · Apr 16, 2014

That's super cool of you! I hope so! And of course, when I get closer to that time I will more than likely just offer to buy whoever does it for me, a T of there choice, within reason of course. lol

Beary Strange · Apr 16, 2014

There's no such services that I'm aware of and I wouldn't trust any of my babies with a pet store for anything. If you absolutely can't find anyone near you to sit them before you go, contact me. We're in the OC but my boyfriend has family and friends in Apple Valley (being from there) so we visit fairly regularly; with 68 tarantulas, adding a few more into the feeding/watering/maintenance schedule wouldn't be a bother.

LordWaffle · Apr 16, 2014

I have many Ts in my possession that do not belong to me. I don't think it's that uncommon for people to T sit. Do you know anyone you can leave your Ts with that do know? Otherwise you could always try shipping them to someone you feel you can trust. I can't be the only one who's willing to do that kind of thing.

Wildenthusiast · Apr 16, 2014

Since you're not shipping out immediately, you will no doubt meet several folks here (including myself) who would gladly care for them while you're doing a service for the nation. Stop in and post regularly, and your problem will solve itself.

Luke · Apr 16, 2014

Belle Fury said:
There's no such services that I'm aware of and I wouldn't trust any of my babies with a pet store for anything. If you absolutely can't find anyone near you to sit them before you go, contact me. We're in the OC but my boyfriend has family and friends in Apple Valley (being from there) so we visit fairly regularly; with 68 tarantulas, adding a few more into the feeding/watering/maintenance schedule wouldn't be a bother.

Thank you very much Belle! I will definitely keep you in mind! Much appreciated!

LordWaffle said:
I have many Ts in my possession that do not belong to me. I don't think it's that uncommon for people to T sit. Do you know anyone you can leave your Ts with that do know? Otherwise you could always try shipping them to someone you feel you can trust. I can't be the only one who's willing to do that kind of thing.

Finding someone in Barstow, CA that even possesses a fair amount of T's and knowledge of Tarantulas is already difficult to say the least, but finding someone with those attributes who would care for my T's for months on end, is like trying to find a C. elegans sling in a bucket of moss, in the dark. lol

Wildenthusiast said:
Since you're not shipping out immediately, you will no doubt meet several folks here (including myself) who would gladly care for them while you're doing a service for the nation. Stop in and post regularly, and your problem will solve itself.

Yes, I still have a while before I actually have to leave and I plan to post here as regularly as possible! Also thank you for your offer! Much appreciated!

PhiGamTeacher · Apr 16, 2014

Best of luck on your entry to the service! I recently enlisted in the Air Force's Guard component to work on the B-2 stealth bombers. Luckily, I got a fellow teacher into the hobby, so she will be watching over mine for the 7/8 months I will be gone next school year. They will even be able to stay in my classroom (yay for the kiddos!)

It's cool to see so many people reach out and offer help, and I hope most are sincere in their offers. If you would feel more comfortable keeping them local, check with schools/universities and get in contact with their science chairs. It might be an awesome opportunity for a number of students in which the faculty didn't have the funds to front the project, but could afford the minimal upkeep costs.

Luke · Apr 16, 2014

PhiGamTeacher said:
Best of luck on your entry to the service! I recently enlisted in the Air Force's Guard component to work on the B-2 stealth bombers. Luckily, I got a fellow teacher into the hobby, so she will be watching over mine for the 7/8 months I will be gone next school year. They will even be able to stay in my classroom (yay for the kiddos!)

It's cool to see so many people reach out and offer help, and I hope most are sincere in their offers. If you would feel more comfortable keeping them local, check with schools/universities and get in contact with their science chairs. It might be an awesome opportunity for a number of students in which the faculty didn't have the funds to front the project, but could afford the minimal upkeep costs.

Well thank you for YOUR service than! And I will definitely look into that. If kids have the opportunity to learn more about Tarantulas than maybe in the future it wont be so hard to find someone with the same generosity as the people here are showing! Thanks!

PhiGamTeacher · Apr 16, 2014

Luke said:
If kids have the opportunity to learn more about Tarantulas than maybe in the future it wont be so hard to find someone with the same generosity as the people here are showing! Thanks!

That's what I'm hoping!

oooo35980 · Apr 16, 2014

Congrats on joining the Navy, what's your rate? Not sure of your exact situation but you could be looking at considerably more than 4-5 months. Commonly after boot camp there isn't any room in your A-school and you end up staying in great lakes basically as a recruit doing odd jobs for anywhere from a few weeks or months to 1+ years. Once you get to your ultimate command you may not be able to get them back either, for example on my boat you had to be E-5 or married to live outside the barracks. Depending on where you're stationed you probably won't be allowed to have Ts in the barracks either. If you get stationed on a boat that is already out on deployment, you'll get flown out to wherever the boat is, and you'll live on the boat until it returns to port. All this is for the submarine service but I assume it works the same way on surface ships if that's where you are headed.

After getting to a ship it isn't uncommon to spend more time out to sea than in port even when not on deployment, you'll probably go out for a few weeks or a month at a time regularly. Keeping any sort of pet isn't really feasible in the Navy unless you're on shore duty (as in not attached to a ship at all), and have a private residence.

Oumriel · Apr 16, 2014

Congrats on going in to the Navy, My son is in the Navy and is stationed not far from you. I would be one of those people who would also offer my services to spider sit.
I know what a pain it can be when you cant take any pets of any kind. That is the biggest complaint my son has and that makes him homesick the most and depending on your rate, you may travel a lot. My son is in Fallon for 6 weeks out of the year and back in Pensacola for 3 weeks for training every 6 months or so. He isnt a pilot but he takes care of a squadron of F18s and has to go where his jets go so even if he was allowed to keep a T in the barracks he would not be there all the time. (He even calls me to set his skills in EVE

lol)

Medusa · Apr 16, 2014

I own a pet sitting business and would have no problem watching tarantulas. However, I live in WA State. You can find pet sitters in your area by logging onto http://www.petsit.com.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Luke · Apr 17, 2014

oooo35980 said:
Congrats on joining the Navy, what's your rate? Not sure of your exact situation but you could be looking at considerably more than 4-5 months. Commonly after boot camp there isn't any room in your A-school and you end up staying in great lakes basically as a recruit doing odd jobs for anywhere from a few weeks or months to 1+ years. Once you get to your ultimate command you may not be able to get them back either, for example on my boat you had to be E-5 or married to live outside the barracks. Depending on where you're stationed you probably won't be allowed to have Ts in the barracks either. If you get stationed on a boat that is already out on deployment, you'll get flown out to wherever the boat is, and you'll live on the boat until it returns to port. All this is for the submarine service but I assume it works the same way on surface ships if that's where you are headed.

After getting to a ship it isn't uncommon to spend more time out to sea than in port even when not on deployment, you'll probably go out for a few weeks or a month at a time regularly. Keeping any sort of pet isn't really feasible in the Navy unless you're on shore duty (as in not attached to a ship at all), and have a private residence.

Well I am still working toward a degree at the moment but will be graduating this May so I will know more once I actually start seeing a recruiter on a regular basis. What I have been TOLD is that I would go in as possibly an E-3. I know that 4-5 seems a little short but I am basing that estimate off of my best friend who is also in the Navy. He left for great lakes in Mid-July and was done with his A-school in pensacola by around november I believe.If what you say does end up being the case and caring for my T's is not feasible for the foreseeable future I would probably just let whoever is caring for them at the time, keep them permanently than restart once I get my feet on the ground (no pun intended) I hope that wont be the case but you gotta do what you gotta do! Thank you for the perspective on things and thank you for your service as well!

Oumriel said:
Congrats on going in to the Navy, My son is in the Navy and is stationed not far from you. I would be one of those people who would also offer my services to spider sit.
I know what a pain it can be when you cant take any pets of any kind. That is the biggest complaint my son has and that makes him homesick the most and depending on your rate, you may travel a lot. My son is in Fallon for 6 weeks out of the year and back in Pensacola for 3 weeks for training every 6 months or so. He isnt a pilot but he takes care of a squadron of F18s and has to go where his jets go so even if he was allowed to keep a T in the barracks he would not be there all the time. (He even calls me to set his skills in EVE lol)

Yeah for someone who has never been without a pet (like me) not having one for more than 6 months seems like an insurmountable task!

oooo35980 · Apr 19, 2014

If you have a degree you'll go in as an E-3, unless it's some super short associates degree. You need 48 credit hours for E-3, 24 for E-2. You'll be eligible for E-4 in 6 months, if you choose a rate like Nuke or Crypto you'll get auto advanced to E-4 in exchange for a 6 year enlistment. IIRC you can get auto advanced for any rate if you sign up for six years, might have changed since I was in though.

Also there is a term in the Navy "Choose your rate, Choose your fate.". Some jobs are 9-5 in port and you end up with lots of money and free time, some jobs are 12-18 hours a day even in port and have a high suicide rate. So unless you go in as the same rate as your friend, you'll likely have a vastly different experience.

I wish you luck.

David VB · Apr 19, 2014

I don't think it's odd to ask that here or to any friend who is interested in T's also. I am currently T-sitting for a friend who is doing schoolwork in Africa. He's coming back at the end of june and he brought them late january. He's helped and i can have cool T's to learn and get experience with

Luke · Apr 21, 2014

oooo35980 said:
If you have a degree you'll go in as an E-3, unless it's some super short associates degree. You need 48 credit hours for E-3, 24 for E-2. You'll be eligible for E-4 in 6 months, if you choose a rate like Nuke or Crypto you'll get auto advanced to E-4 in exchange for a 6 year enlistment. IIRC you can get auto advanced for any rate if you sign up for six years, might have changed since I was in though.

Also there is a term in the Navy "Choose your rate, Choose your fate.". Some jobs are 9-5 in port and you end up with lots of money and free time, some jobs are 12-18 hours a day even in port and have a high suicide rate. So unless you go in as the same rate as your friend, you'll likely have a vastly different experience.

I wish you luck.

Thank you! I actually have three associates degrees and soon to have my BS! So I think I will be okay. lol Hopefully I can get a good job, 9-5 does not sound bad at all! In any case, thank you all for the support and advice!!!

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