Picked up Four new T's...bite my head off I'm ready Xd

[je2000]

Some people can deal with fast, defensive, potent spiders, and there are people that shouldn't own them. It has nothing to do with 'fear mongering'. It's best for the average person when they take it in stages and work their way up. EVERYONE gets spooked at first by big, fast moving, hairy spiders. There is NO amount of 'research' that can prepare anyone for the actual experience of having a tarantula run out of it's cage, up your arm, and on your back. A few guys (and it's always men) think they have to prove something and start off with advanced species. We see them come and go. They arrive with a lot of commotion, ask for advice, get mad, argue with us, buy some spiders way beyond their skill/experience level, it grows, they're afraid of it and want to sell it. A few guys every year follow this pattern.

These guys invariably don't take into account the people they live with and the family pets, or the people that come to visit them, and are convinced nothing will get loose and no one will get bit. What could go wrong, huh? This is not a race, there are no prizes for finishing first. People can have the respect and support of this forum by listening to experienced collectors and breeders and enjoy a long-term hobby, or they can be know-it-alls who make fools of themselves and usually don't last long.

Sadly I think there are those types of owners for every pet. Be it spiders, dogs, fish etc.

 

[Poec54]

Sadly I think there are those types of owners for every pet. Be it spiders, dogs, fish etc.

Yes there are. I used to have a collection of cobras years ago, and cringed at the things some people did with their venomous snakes. Crazy risks. At a reptile club meeting in Orlando, one guy from out of town brought a photo album with him. First page was him free handing a rattlesnake, next page was him in a hospital bed. Then a page with a hooded cobra in his lap, next page him in the hospital again. 8 bites in all. Probably had some kind of frequent flier arrangement with the doctors. Guys like him certainly advance the image we wanted to present to them public, of being safe and responsible snake owners.

While tarantulas don't pose the same health and safety concerns snakes can, they can be easily regulated or banned (which has happened in places), and we have no political clout to fight it. We need to self-police our hobby so a few high profile bites don't shut it down.

 

[Ultum4Spiderz]

Yes there are. I used to have a collection of cobras years ago, and cringed at the things some people did with their venomous snakes. Crazy risks. At a reptile club meeting in Orlando, one guy from out of town brought a photo album with him. First page was him free handing a rattlesnake, next page was him in a hospital bed. Then a page with a hooded cobra in his lap, next page him in the hospital again. 8 bites in all. Probably had some kind of frequent flier arrangement with the doctors. Guys like him certainly advance the image we wanted to present to them public, of being safe and responsible snake owners.

While tarantulas don't pose the same health and safety concerns snakes can, they can be easily regulated or banned (which has happened in places), and we have no political clout to fight it. We need to self-police our hobby so a few high profile bites don't shut it down.

Wow.... venomous snakes are deadly why do these people like try to kill themselves with them by handling them.
Urticating hairs could get T's banned also ,a good reason not to hold NW Ts either.

 

[Poec54]

Wow.... venomous snakes are deadly why do these people like try to kill themselves with them by handling them.

I don't think they put a lot of thought into it. They probably assume they either won't get bit or survive if they do. But the medical bills! They're oblivious to the consequences to the hobby. When I got mine (1986), all you needed to do to get a permit for venomous snakes in Florida was send the state a drawing of your cages and $5. After a number of bites and escapes, it became $100, inspections, and 1,000 hours of training with someone who has venomous snakes, which is almost impossible for most people to do. They've just about shut down the hobby in Florida with those regulations; although it's still technically legal to own them. Almost no new people can qualify. At five hours a month of training, that takes well over a decade to get to 1,000. Even 5 hours a week takes 4 years.

With a stroke of a pen, they can do the same thing with spiders.