Collecting T's And the Wife

JustSomeDude · Nov 15, 2015

Hey guys I recently picked up the hobby of collecting T's again. I had quite a nice collection going when I was a kid however I had to sell them when leaving for college. Now I am settled in a home with a 9 month old baby girl and I have recently decided to start collecting again when I came across a T Blondi at a PETCO! It was emaciated and I felt compelled to rescue her so I did just that. Now she sits in a 20 gallon tank plump and healthy as could be! And that's when things got out of hand! Before I knew it every weekend I was on the hunt for a new T. Pet store to pet store the adrenaline of finding what was in stock and creating the most elaborate tank setups. Needless to say I now have a 12ft high steel shelving system in a controlled temp/humidity room and my wife and friends are beginning to turn on me! Everyone thinks I am crazy but I cant help it I just LOVE Tarantulas! I know its weird and I am sure a lot of the people on here have gotten the same treatment from friends and loved ones. Although on a positive side my mother in law took one look at "Big Bertha" aka T Blondi after I got her and I haven't seen the bitch since! Which is pretty sweet! Anyhow I have now moved into slings and amac containers and I truly love it. My question is how do you explain this hobby to the outside world? What has worked and what hasn't? My wife was totally against it at first but now she helps with the feedings! I appreciate your time and effort and thanks for any replies!

awiec · Nov 15, 2015

This conversation comes up every few months and the best explanation is that "They are like fish, they are fun to observe". At the end of the day if your wife is fine with it then it doesn't matter as they don't have to live with you or deal with the animals. Granted I'm a bit of a recluse so if people have a problem with the things I like, I don't care if they escort themselves out of my life.

Beary Strange · Nov 15, 2015

I'm with awiec here; people can either accept that I keep Ts and that it doesn't affect them in any way, shape or form or they cannot. If they can't, well, there's the door, bye. In my case, I'm lucky in that the people I make friends with tend to either be like me (ie. part of an alternative subculture) or are very accepting in the first place so to them, me owning spiders is a)par for the course and b)seen as interesting or neat or whathaveyou. I do get opposition though, mostly from co-workers or my boyfriend's family (the only "family" I ever have to deal with) and it's usually more to do with the amount I have, than that I have them. My go-to explanation is that my collection is actually quite small compared to other collectors, that they really don't take up a lot of room and again, like awiec said, I compare it to keeping tropical fish. I do my best to impress on them that it's actually not a big deal and most reasonable people accept that and move on. The only people I've had stop talking to me because of it were random vacant co-workers I didn't really want to be talking to anyway.

Also, a T.blondi in a Petco? Sheesh, I get excited when they have A.seemani or A.metallica. It'd be even more impressive if it were a real blondi.

donniedark0 · Nov 15, 2015

hehe, I hear that man. I usually dont mention I collect T's as pets. The stigma is so ridiculous. But I always tell friends I have them after a while of getting to know them.
To prevent the pre judgments. But I usually just educate people about their venom, different species, their tolerance and usually how fascinating they are when I do tell people I have multiple tarantulas.

I usually find that most people are extremely interested in them though. So be prepared to answer a bunch of questions lol.

cold blood · Nov 15, 2015

**cough cough**stirmi**cough cough**:unsure:

JustSomeDude · Nov 16, 2015

lololol very good point its not easy finding true blondi's heres a pic let me know what you think! lol you guys are great thanks for the responses lol

JustSomeDude · Nov 16, 2015

I spent $150 so I sure hope its a blondi if not she is still my #1

Exoskeleton Invertebrates · Nov 16, 2015

JustSomeDude said:
I spent $150 so I sure hope its a blondi if not she is still my #1

From the looks of it looks like Theraphosa stirmi.

Beary Strange · Nov 16, 2015

I agree with Jose, that appears to be a stirmi. Also, what is she on? It looks like wood chips or something.

JustSomeDude · Nov 16, 2015

Right now I have her on a bedding of Coconut husk and moss I try to keep the humidity as high as possible. So you guys are 100% sure that's a stirmi!

awiec · Nov 16, 2015

JustSomeDude said:
Right now I have her on a bedding of Coconut husk and moss I try to keep the humidity as high as possible. So you guys are 100% sure that's a stirmi!

T.stirmi are still collected wild caught all the time, while T.blondi is pretty difficult to find/isn't really exported anymore. You'll know a blondi when you see one, they are much hairier. The world spider catalog page for the species (http://www.wsc.nmbe.ch/species/37959) has a lot of taxonomy papers that are free to read in case you want a second opinion.

Poec54 · Nov 16, 2015

JustSomeDude said:
I spent $150 so I sure hope its a blondi if not she is still my #1

Not a blondi. I keep my stirmi on bagged potting soil. They need moist substrate, cross ventilation, and a full water bowl. I use disposable bowls (3.25 oz soufflé cups, bought by the sleeve from restaurant supply stores); Theraphosa do the most vile and disgusting things to water bowls and it's much better to toss fouled ones out than to be scrubbing them.

rockpython · Nov 16, 2015

For sure!
I bet stirmi too

cold blood · Nov 16, 2015

Yep, stirmi...good news is that you did pay stirmi price and not blondi price.

lalberts9310 · Nov 16, 2015

Here's the difference:

http://i.imgur.com/IIWpRtC.jpg

T. blondi has long setae located on the patellas while T. stirmi does not, you're specimen lacks those setae meaning it's a T. stirmi. Don't be disappointed by it though. T. stirmi is a lot hardier than T. blondi, grows just as big as T. blondi and, IMHO, is waaaaay prettier.

Hisserdude · Nov 16, 2015

Poec54 said:
Theraphosa do the most vile and disgusting things to water bowls.

I think I found my signature!

(if I can find out how to put it on there...)

sdsnybny · Nov 16, 2015

Its under the "Forum actions" drop down tab. Then click edit profile>click edit signature (left side)

Poec54 · Nov 16, 2015

Hisserdude said:
I think I found my signature! (if I can find out how to put it on there...)

You open a cage and find a stirmi water bowl with a big putrid bolus floating in a milky solution of feces and water; it's a sight and smell you won't soon forget. This is why I'm an advocate of disposable water bowls.

JustSomeDude · Nov 16, 2015

thanks guys I love this spider! And today thanks to you guys I have learned more about the species! So I truly appreciate it! She's a real beauty and I adore her!

JustSomeDude · Nov 16, 2015

yea that's so funny when I fed my annual mouse to this guy it walked out of the burrow to drop the remains in the water dish and defecate in it at the same time! Made cleanup nice and easy it was kind of like a paper trained puppy....with fangs...and a lot more legs

Collecting T's And the Wife

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