Reason for buying a tarantula?

PanzoN88

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Sep 15, 2014
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what made everybody here buy a tarantula?
Was it to overcome a fear like i am going to do or could it be just for
the love of the arachnid in general.
 

cold blood

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Jan 19, 2014
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An old neighbor, college kid, bought one to throw at his roommate to scare him. I did not allow him to do so, kept the t, and asked him to leave my house...without it. Set up an aquarium and she's been there 14 years so far. The rest is history.
 

awiec

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Feb 13, 2014
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I do like spider but in reality I got into tarantulas because I could keep a large number of them on a budget and in a small area. I also don't have the time to invest for interaction and training like I would a mammal, I can leave for days and the spiders don't even care that I'm gone; which I travel out of town every month. Another positive is that they can't kill me and they will pay for themselves as they mature either through selling or breeding babies. I've wanted a tarantula since I was a little girl but I didn't really have the funds nor knowledge of which one to get so I researched and raised wild spiders until I could eventually own them; all the above mentioned qualities are just added benefits.
 

miss moxie

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Personally, I suffered from some very bad arachnophobia. It was an inherent fear from watching my mother scream and stomp them, and my father who did not scream, still squished them. So I learned from a very young age that spiders were terrifying monsters, hell bent on biting me and melting my skin off. I'd scream when I'd look over and see a spider on my arm or on the floor. The bigger the spider? The more terrifying- and much more skin-melting venom to go around.
Yes, unfortunately that's what I thought. And that's unfortunately what a lot of people think. When I was about nineteen, I saw a picture of a cobalt blue tarantula online and started reading about that type of tarantula specifically. Then I began to do a lot of reading on all sorts of tarantulas and watched several videos online. I found them fascinating, but was still too petrified to ever think of owning one. Even after doing hours upon hours of reading, I'd still flinch away from the petco tarantulas.

And then, about five months ago I was visiting my biological father and some of my bio-siblings (I'm adopted) and my 15 year old brother was bragging about his tarantula he just got. (G. porteri) Well, when he taunted me with a smug look on his face- "You wanna hold my tarantula, Chrissy?" I did what any sane older sibling would do- I stepped up to the plate like I wasn't terrified and I held that tarantula. And as I held that tarantula, a sense of amazement came over me. I loved the way she walked, the way she'd lift her legs all the way up before slowly setting them down. For such a 'monster' she sure was dainty. A week after that I bought my own G. porteri and started reading about them with a new sense of respect and interest.
 

pyro fiend

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i personally used to have a phobia but found the animals realy cool. in a "stay the @%#& over there and let me look at you" kinda way lmaooo i kept reptiles, amphibians , small mamals and even fish and plants.. so i decided if i can get over my musophobia by buying feeder rats to breed for snakes. then 3 tarantulas wont kill me. i figured worst case scenerio i sell them and take a out of pocket cut and resell them lol. i was scared to death... my slings i put in a cage and let them crawl out and took the vial out when they was on the other side...i fell in love with my A.avic and got a few more larger ones... you should of seen me with leather gloves under welders gloves in a bath rub with like 17 dif catch cup sizes.. to unbox a ROSEA oooh it was great XD then.. well they're like pokemon.. gota have one of each of your favorites XD
 

gobey

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i personally used to have a phobia but found the animals realy cool. in a "stay the @%#& over there and let me look at you" kinda way lmaooo i kept reptiles, amphibians , small mamals and even fish and plants.. so i decided if i can get over my musophobia by buying feeder rats to breed for snakes. then 3 tarantulas wont kill me. i figured worst case scenerio i sell them and take a out of pocket cut and resell them lol. i was scared to death... my slings i put in a cage and let them crawl out and took the vial out when they was on the other side...i fell in love with my A.avic and got a few more larger ones... you should of seen me with leather gloves under welders gloves in a bath rub with like 17 dif catch cup sizes.. to unbox a ROSEA oooh it was great XD then.. well they're like pokemon.. gota have one of each of your favorites XD
One? I buy them in pairs. And acquire B. albopilosums in freebie groups. I had 5. Until the great sling escape. Lol

I got a rose hair because a very cheap tact free well set up booth at a convention was set up. They had tons of adult rose hairs for $15. I had always wanted a tarantula as a kid but couldn't have one. I loved finding big wolf spiders and big house spiders and orb weavers. The biggest house spiders were always spared and brought outside.

So I looked up prices, Stan Schultz' rose hair care page. And got the rose hair water dish shoebox enclosure coco fiber package for $20 tax free. Sold. And she's probably about 4.5" let's say. Maybe more like 5". Sweet deal.

But also the start of a seriously unexplainably addictive hobby. I thought I bought a pet. A companion I'd have for the next 10+ years. But no I was starting a hobby. Within 5 days I had an Avicularia avicularia.

3 and a half months later I have 15. It'd be 16. But there's a B. Albipilosum MIA lol
 

pyro fiend

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One? I buy them in pairs. And acquire B. albopilosums in freebie groups. I had 5. Until the great sling escape. Lol

I got a rose hair because a very cheap tact free well set up booth at a convention was set up. They had tons of adult rose hairs for $15. I had always wanted a tarantula as a kid but couldn't have one. I loved finding big wolf spiders and big house spiders and orb weavers. The biggest house spiders were always spared and brought outside.

So I looked up prices, Stan Schultz' rose hair care page. And got the rose hair water dish shoebox enclosure coco fiber package for $20 tax free. Sold. And she's probably about 4.5" let's say. Maybe more like 5". Sweet deal.

But also the start of a seriously unexplainably addictive hobby. I thought I bought a pet. A companion I'd have for the next 10+ years. But no I was starting a hobby. Within 5 days I had an Avicularia avicularia.

3 and a half months later I have 15. It'd be 16. But there's a B. Albipilosum MIA lol
well i bought 3 and the shipper forgot one other was doa.. =\ then while i waited on the weather i slapped about 3 more on there as i enjoyed my 1 little sling. then got a freeby in a scorpion order. and by the time i got the doa one [he forgot one again but got credit for it and free shipping] i was up to 8 XD
 

tweakz

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May 14, 2014
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57
Had a rosea as a kid and it passed away when I was 16. Moved out and saw some T videos on YT, two years later I have twenty-something, not too interesting I know.
 

ratluvr76

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Jul 12, 2014
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TBH I wanted a shoulder accessory. I wanted to take it out on the town, maybe freak out the lady in line in the bank... O.O
 

darkness975

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I've had other inverts forever, but I didn't get my first tarantula until I had to do a presentation for grade school kids and I "needed one to present". My collection will only grow over time :)
 

Beary Strange

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Aug 30, 2013
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This is pretty much the "what got you into tarantulas" threads but sure, I'll bite since I haven't answered one in a while.

Jumping spiders, plain and simple. I found them incredibly cute but wanted something bigger and longer lived. Actually to be very correct I wanted a tarantula with the coloration of P.audax...alas.
 

Ghost Dragon

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Jan 8, 2014
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Was fascinated by spiders as a kid, and then came across the 1st edition of the TKG in a bookstore. I couldn't believe that there was an entire book devoted to tarantulas. I wore it out reading it, but it wasn't until almost three years ago that I bought my first T, an older G. rosea whose family didn't have time for it anymore, $20 for cage & all. That was the beginning of the obsession. I'm now at 20, a good mix of NW & OW, with 4 or 5 on my bucket list. :)
 

pyro fiend

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Dec 29, 2013
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Was fascinated by spiders as a kid, and then came across the 1st edition of the TKG in a bookstore. I couldn't believe that there was an entire book devoted to tarantulas. I wore it out reading it, but it wasn't until almost three years ago that I bought my first T, an older G. rosea whose family didn't have time for it anymore, $20 for cage & all. That was the beginning of the obsession. I'm now at 20, a good mix of NW & OW, with 4 or 5 on my bucket list. :)
gota love that "dont spend enough time with her, shes a great pet tho! id like $xx.xx thats what the amount of space she takes up, erm i mean, my love for her costs/adds up to" lol ^_^
 

gobey

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Jun 20, 2014
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290
well i bought 3 and the shipper forgot one other was doa.. =\ then while i waited on the weather i slapped about 3 more on there as i enjoyed my 1 little sling. then got a freeby in a scorpion order. and by the time i got the doa one [he forgot one again but got credit for it and free shipping] i was up to 8 XD
Yeah between free H. Macs and B. Albos that added 5 Ts to my collection. So I'd have had 10 (11 if you count the escapee lol) But I have doubles of almost every T I own. 3 OBTs, and 4 B. Albos! Only single Ts are my Rosie and Avic! My WC adults.
 

Ghost Dragon

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gota love that "dont spend enough time with her, shes a great pet tho! id like $xx.xx thats what the amount of space she takes up, erm i mean, my love for her costs/adds up to" lol ^_^
I know, pyro, I still shake my head at it. I 'rescued' another rosie last winter, from a girl who was taking good care of it; unfortunately, her ball python got loose in the house and her father forbade her to have any more exotic pets. Call me a sucker, but I believe that these magnificent creatures deserve a chance to thrive, in the care of someone who will look after them properly. :)
 

pyro fiend

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Yeah between free H. Macs and B. Albos that added 5 Ts to my collection. So I'd have had 10 (11 if you count the escapee lol) But I have doubles of almost every T I own. 3 OBTs, and 4 B. Albos! Only single Ts are my Rosie and Avic! My WC adults.
My only doubles are roseas im gona try n breed . 2 gbb (better chance at female and didnt wana buy 5 as i just droped almost 4 didgets on fixes and liscening/insuring my car) and b. Boehmei and i didnt plan for boehmei. But i def want more i love how none of my 15 have the same personality at all and each have their own corks xD

---------- Post added 09-17-2014 at 08:31 AM ----------

I know, pyro, I still shake my head at it. I 'rescued' another rosie last winter, from a girl who was taking good care of it; unfortunately, her ball python got loose in the house and her father forbade her to have any more exotic pets. Call me a sucker, but I believe that these magnificent creatures deserve a chance to thrive, in the care of someone who will look after them properly. :)
You and me both i used to save snakes all the time for same reason may save as many roseas and avics as i can x3
 
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scorpionchaos

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Oct 15, 2012
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Got a freebie B.vagans from a breeder when I was ordering scorpions, fell in love and went from 1 to 6 in a week!
 

gobey

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Jun 20, 2014
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My only doubles are roseas im gona try n breed . 2 gbb (better chance at female and didnt wana buy 5 as i just droped almost 4 didgets on fixes and liscening/insuring my car) and b. Boehmei and i sisnt plan for boehmei. But i def want more i love how none of my 1 have the same personality at all and each have their own corks xD

Honestly I don't know why I was so,compelled to buy in 2s. Slings are so cheap I guess. And tarantulas are often cheaper in bulk. Spiders in bulk. That still sounds weird to me. My 2nd and 3rd Ts were L. parahybanas. I wanted a female. But would take a male if it was cheap enough and big enough. I was still against slings at the time. I found somebody selling 4" ones for $35. That was about the best price I found for that size. And it was of course 1 for $35 or 2 for $60. With only 2 left! So I immediately said "I'LL TAKE THEM!" And then was like.... uh oh I need another cage lol. I was lucky, even though the spiders were unsexed I was offered a 3.5" one instead of a 4" as one of my 2 sacmates to try and get a female.

So there's one reason for my doubles. And they have such different personalities. So that's cool too. So when I finally got a B. albo sling, I said I need 2 of those for the same reasons. And 2 P. regalis, and 2 H. macs, and 2 OBT slings.... etc....

I guess I could've had 15 different species, but let's say I got 10 males that all stayed smaller and died quicker. Or I only got mean specimens. So that's my reasoning. I want quality in my quantity :)
 

Dizzle

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May 3, 2013
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I was brought up to keep snakes and other herps. The fascination with inverts was all my own, I used to catch and keep all kinds of critters when I was in grade school but realized that it was the predatory ones that I wanted. And then just like with many serial killers, imagining owning a spider that gets the size of a small mammal or lizard (tarantula) was not enough and I had to experience it. But really I would say my fascination is not at all limited to arachnids or inverts....or herps for that matter, I find myself being just as awe-stuck watching my cat respond to someone calling it's name and crying to go outside for a walk like a dog as I do watching my scorpions take down a dubia or my snake eat a mouse.
 
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