Silliest thing a layman has told you about Tarantulas

I was going to post this in the "silliest thing you've heard in petstores" thread but it's not quite the same thing. When a pet store employee gives you bad information it's infuriating - it's their job to inform people about the animals they're purchasing and they're misinformed. That's not cool.

But what about when some regular schmuck plays armchair arachnologist? I will gleefully gush about my Ts to anyone who'll listen. I'm not trying to force my hobby down anyone's throat - if it's obvious that they're not interested, I'll drop the subject. I don't care about the geniuses who think that a tarantula escaping = multiplying or the ones who threaten to end me if one of my Ts escape, but the ones who actually -are- interested can be pretty entertaining.

People have this annoying compulsion to contribute to conversations even when they have nothing valuable to say. So, rather than asking thoughtful questions, giving themselves the opportunity to learn something, they end up pulling random "facts" from the dark recesses of their brains that have been sitting collecting dust since they were in grade school.

My favorite bit of "information" came from someone I seriously suspected to be a Jack Russel Terrier in a man suit.

"Hey, hey, hey, Donna, hey Donna! You wanna know how to tame your tarantulas? See I know this because my roommate had one once. Wh-wh-wh-what you do is...what you do is...you feed it a GRASSHOPPER and then - cuz tarantulas don't like to move much and have to use a lot of energy to eat bugs - you can hold it and pet it and do whatever you want to it!"

*FACEPALM*

I'll be sure to give that a try. Really. Y'know, because I'd totally want to be man-handled while I'm trying to eat my dinner.

Today I got the usual "camel spider" story- you know, that they're vicious monsters that will gladly eat your flesh and grow to be two feet long. Ridiculous, of curse, but she said it with such conviction that I knew an argument would be a waste of time.
Sorry, not really related to tarantulas, but I figured it counted.

I always liked the one about them being able to jump 10' in the air.

They can kill you

I had a regular guy who happened to be at the pet store getting crickets a while back for his beardies while I was getting mine (he asked what I was feeding) tell me to be careful because they are all deadly and it's illegal to own them in this state. I pointed to the rose hair and the pink toe they had for sale and said "Then explain that". Then I asked him "Do you think they would be selling illegal species here?" He smiled and said "They might get in trouble, big time, if the wrong person walked in and saw that" to which I replied "Go to 10 random pet stores that sell inverts here in Delaware, small reptiles, ect......and count how many T's you find, it is not illegal here and they are not deadly at all" He then replied "Believe what you want man, its your problem" I couldn't help but to laugh in this jokers face. I politely told him that I think I'll be fine and to have a good day. I'm usually all about informing people who are willing to learn, but this guy was clearly set in his beliefs and wasn't gonna budge. I just wish I could go back and ask him where he was informed that they were all deadly.

From the mouth of my best bud's girlfriend: "Wait, Tarantulas are SPIDERS?! I'm never setting foot in your house again until you get rid of them. If any of them get out I'll end you. This town is going to be full of Tarantulas now, I know it."

Now, completely ignoring the bit where my competence is put into question..."Until you get rid of them"? UNTIL I get rid of them. Someone has seriously overestimated how much I value their company.

you know it's funny but i've rescued a couple of G. roseas at a my local Petsmart this year and each time i've had to sign a waiver making them exempt if i get bitten and have to go to the hospital. this was a legit 2 page document. they told me they have a nasty bite and yada yada yada. i didnt even bother to tell them about the 100+ collection at home. everyone was amazed i was buying one at checkout. you'd think i was buying a piranha with 8 legs. lol

Akai said:

you know it's funny but i've rescued a couple of G. roseas at a my local Petsmart this year and each time i've had to sign a waiver making them exempt if i get bitten and have to go to the hospital. this was a legit 2 page document. they told me they have a nasty bite and yada yada yada. i didnt even bother to tell them about the 100+ collection at home. everyone was amazed i was buying one at checkout. you'd think i was buying a piranha with 8 legs. lol

Click to expand...

I'm fairly certain that waiver is standard for all animals (except maybe fish?) at Petsmart. I remember signing one for a hermit crab eons ago.

Julia said:

I'm fairly certain that waiver is standard for all animals (except maybe fish?) at Petsmart. I remember signing one for a hermit crab eons ago.

Click to expand...

Ditto - I seem to recall having to sign a similar waver when I bought a pair of rats from them.

Julia said:

I'm fairly certain that waiver is standard for all animals (except maybe fish?) at Petsmart. I remember signing one for a hermit crab eons ago.

Click to expand...

I had to do that with my Pac man frog and green anoles.

"OMG you own spiders?! What is wrong with you? Can't they kill you?!"
I've heard this one so many times I've almost given up on trying to explain to people unwilling to educate themselves.

The best ones are where they tell you a story about how their uncle's dog's girlfriend's niece's brother's cousin's sister had a boyfriend that died because he was bitten by a super deadly tarantula or that they'll kill me with their hairs.
they know that because they saw it on facebook that one time.

They are all deadly, even as slings (says nearly my entire family).

PanzoN88 said:

They are all deadly, even as slings (says nearly my entire family).

Click to expand...

they're deadlier as babies because they can't regulate the venom they inject... and because they are smaller they have to inject more to kill a predator faster ... (some of my friends get venomous reptiles and tarantula's confused LOL)

I can be extremely abrasive in person (it's not intentional, It's just part of how I am) even when I'm trying to be sociable. As a result, I usually get asked questions rather than have people tell me information about something they know I've been a part of for the better part of 20 years. The most I've heard is the tired "deadliest spiders in the world" thing, and even then it was something I overheard two guys at work talking about a few years ago.

"Don't you think you should take them out of the tank and let them run around your backyard for abit? They need exercise" -The biggest idiot in my neighborhood.

"omg you let all those things run loose around your house..."

"How do you sleep in your room with them, aren't you afraid they will get out"?

Yes I am soooo scared, that's why I keep them as pets and they also have lids on their tanks with clips....so they cant get out.

I run into the consistent assumption that they are all kept together.

A conversation with my friend shortly after I ordered my first sling:

"Check it out! This little dude will likely have an 8-inch legspan in another year. And I got it as a freebie!" I said, showing off my recently acquired LD sling.

"Whoa...you can't be serious. What is it?"

"It's called Lasiodora difficilis."

"Lassie-o'-dorna differ-what?"

"Lasiodora difficilis."

"Lashiodora deffincilis?"

"Lasiodora. Difficilis."

"Lashieodora diffichilis?"

"Repeat after me: Lasio...dora."

"Lasiodora."

"Good! Now diffi...cilis..."

"Difficilis."

"Now put it together: Lasiodora difficilis!"

"Lashieodora defficilis!"

"...It's a Fire Red Birdeater."

"THAT THING EATS BIRDS?!"

Talk about a long walk for a short drink of water...sheesh.