Introductions!

[Mrs Linda Street]

Hi Tina, welcome to the forum, fascinating to hear of your conversion to the world of tarantulas, curiosity generally overcomes fear, it usually does with any visitors we have, as most of our T's are in our lounge with us. It is a highly addictive hobby, you'll soon find that one turns into four and four into ten and so on lol.

[Tina Reeks]

Hi Tina, welcome to the forum, fascinating to hear of your conversion to the world of tarantulas, curiosity generally overcomes fear, it usually does with any visitors we have, as most of our T's are in our lounge with us. It is a highly addictive hobby, you'll soon find that one turns into four and four into ten and so on lol.

HI Linda,
I think much of my phobias are really fear of the unknown. The more I read about and learned about rats the less scary and more appealing they became. The same is true of T's. Mine is in the front room too, and so people who wouldn't usually have anything to do with one are given a meeting with mine whether they like it or not. Most people who say they hate spiders end up asking loads of questions...and by the time they leave they are much less afraid.
Unfortunately I live in a 1 bed flat, with 2 cats and a (small) dog...and don't have much more room for another tank (well maybe one more!) where it is away from the window/light. (I am finding myself looking around and wondering what I could get rid of to find room!!!)
For now I will have to make do with admiring (I honestly can't believe I am using that word in connection to a spider!!) everyone else's, and visiting the ones in the shops!! (Not sure how long that will last tho.....)

[James Box]

I'm a stranger living in a strange land, so the regular boundaries and borders don't present themselves as issues to me very often. Glad to know that even those of us living in the belly of the beast (hehe) are welcome! That's one heckuva nice collection you've got there James, and Mrs Street, you bet I will.

hey we welcome anyone that likes spiders
thanks mate, but i've gotta sell a few off, just to have a bit of time to myself lol

Hello All!

I'm pretty sure you can tell(!), but I'm Tina, from sunny Cornwall. I have been arachnophobic all of my life! I used to be terrified of Rodents too, but made myself get a hamster, then moved onto the ones with tails(!) and ended up with 7 rats - who make delighful pets! (They just don't live long enough and I'm a big softie and it breaks my heart!) I (and anyone who knew me) would never have believed in a million years that I could have a rodent living in my home by invitation!

This got me to thinking....that I managed to overcome my fear of them without it killing me, so maybe.....?!
Then at a local theme park they had a talk/show with various animals, one of which was a Chile Rose, and you could hold it if you wanted to....I figured I would bite the bullet, and those with me were in shock! (Not as much as I was tho!)

I made myself have a real good look at it (thankfully it just sat in my hand and didn't move at all) and actually found myself saying "wow it's beautiful!" I then joked that I would be getting one of those as a pet next....never for one minute actully thinking I would! This was about 3 yrs ago. I had given it some thought over time, but each time convinced myself it was the most stupid idea ever!

Then last Aug I went with a friend into a garden centre which sells exotics, as she keeps all sorts. I found myself drawn to the spider section (I clearly like torturing myself!) and assured my friend - who threatened never to come to my house if I ever bought one - that I was "only looking!"
I left there with my Chile Rose....saying "I can't believe I've just spent £100 on a SPIDER!!!" (That was with everything else too.) My friend and I now love watching her (should she ever decided to move that is) and now I want more!!

I am still terrified of house spiders however! Are there any other arachnophobes here?

well done on conquering your phobias, Tina! that takes some guts! hope you enjoy it here!
you can definitely fit a few more spiders in...they don't need miles of space!
crickets are a pain though, i agree!!!
after a couple C darlingi's which both turned out to be male and didn't last long, my G. porteri (aka normal colour form) were my first spiders...raised them up from spiderlings into lovely adults! so easy, so beautiful...ideal spiders for first pets!
even though i've focused on other genera, i'll always have a special place in my heart for these

[Judy Perrin]

Hello all, another newbie here. I have only just purchased (well, last week) my first tarantula, a curly-haired lady now called Fluff. I'm not really up on all the latin names yet, that's on my research list.
As for me, well, I am an artist who paints bouncy castles by day and anything else when I can, I recently illustrated my first book for a friend of a friend who'd written a children's poem, and I'm currently on the hunt for tarantula moults so if anyone has a spare few they want to get rid of - any species, any size, preferably with the carapace if possible - I will gladly pay postage. I'm looking to set the up like taxidermy mounts, on natural or interesting backgrounds.
And, er, that's about it from me, I guess.

[Carole Dallison]

Hi Judy
And well done on your curley wurley (love the name too). Your not alone, Im useless with the latin names. I remember a few but its not easy. Anyway welcome to the club hun!

[Tina Reeks]

Hi Judy, welcome to the forum, I have learnt a lot, but have soooo much more to learn!

[Judy Perrin]

Thanks guys, I've only just dipped my toes into the wonderful world of tarantulas, and it seems like I'm not alone on being a recoevring arachnophobe! I only held my first tarantula - another curly - a couple of weeks ago, and it was amazing. Unfortunately, Fluff has decided that she's staying under her flowerpot for the time being and not coming out for no-one, no how, no matter what! But she's eating well and otherwise okay, so I think she's just very shy.

[Tina Reeks]

On the subject of being arachnophobic....I had to clear out my shed yesterday, and in a box of my nephew's toys I could see a very large and thick web...usually by this point I would have had a heart attack and died (ok, maybe a slight exaggeration!), but I took the box outside, took everything out, and after a little freak dance I used something to remove the offending creature, and moved it away onto a wall and let it live happily ever after!
Usually I would have killed it to make sure it never came near me and my property ever again! Given that it was a LARGE spider, I was very impressed with myself that A.) I didn't kill it outright, B) Removed it (with the risk of it falling on me) myself, without running and screaming for help, and C) allowed it to remain on my property!
Yes I still freaked when I saw it (altho it did take me by surprise) but I truely never imagined me being able to allow one to carry on living after it had nearly scared me to death! It's not often I'm impressed with myself (and it's not the biggest thing to ever be proud of!) but I am allowing myself to be impressed with my achievement...and I'm sure the spider is quite pleased too!
It's funny how we often end up buying the same type of spider that we 1st held...in my mind I had held it once and it didn't kill me so I knew I could have the same thing in my home. Not sure I would have coped at the time with a different sort. (Altho now I want all sorts!) It's odd tho that the curly haired ones freak me more than the others. And the more colourful the less scary I find them.

My Rosie only moves if she has to, and refuses to put on a floor show for anyone (unless there is food involved!). I'm sure Fluff is fine and just leading a normal, boring (to us) spider existance.

Mine moulted for the 1st time since I've had her last week, and it's been the highlight of my year so far! I never dreamt that I could be so pleased by something that a spider did, and want to tell/show people! I've lost the plot I think!

[Mrs Linda Street]

Hi Judy, welcome to the forum, I'm sure you'll find a lot of interest and help at hand, it is a very addictive hobby by the way, p.s. tarantulas have scientific names not latin,

[Judy Perrin]

Whoops, got it wrong already! Ah well, I knew it was something I couldn't pronounce either way.

Tina, yes, looks like Fluff's doing the same as yours, pulled her stumps right in and enjoying the dark place inside the flowerpot.

And well done with moving the spider! I'm still at the stage of getting the other half to capture and release the big bath ones! He seems to think it's odd that I can have a pet tarantula but not go near the gabgly, spindly monsters that invade my bathroom. I can't even explain it myself, except that tarantulas seem a lot less threatening and more, well, fluffy, I guess.

[Tina Reeks]

Whoops, got it wrong already! Ah well, I knew it was something I couldn't pronounce either way.

Tina, yes, looks like Fluff's doing the same as yours, pulled her stumps right in and enjoying the dark place inside the flowerpot.

And well done with moving the spider! I'm still at the stage of getting the other half to capture and release the big bath ones! He seems to think it's odd that I can have a pet tarantula but not go near the gabgly, spindly monsters that invade my bathroom. I can't even explain it myself, except that tarantulas seem a lot less threatening and more, well, fluffy, I guess.

Unfortunately, I live alone, so have had to force myself to face my fear.....altho I did ask my neighbour at 11pm the other night to move the toad sitting on my doorstep!!
I find T's, esp pretty ones to be so much less scary than evil bath spiders! At least T's have been invited in, and we know where they are, and know they can't get out to freak us out by running out from under chairs etc when you least expect it - unlike those evil house ones!

[Judy Perrin]

Oh yes, I can supply an anecdote from when I was living in a grotty flat (first place on my own). I didn't have to get up early for work one day, so spent the previous night in front of old horror movies on the telly. Now, horror doesn't scare me at all, I can watch blood, gore, creepy stuff - you name it. But, I think I was stressed out over something that day, I had turned the lights off so only had the TV glowing in the living room, throwing long shadows . . . . and a HUGE black shape scuttled across the floor, right from one end of the room to the other, in less than ten seconds. I didn't sleep at all that night!

[MarkPorter]

Hi All

Thought I better make an effort now I have found my username and password again

Some of you may already know me, I am part of the Invicta tribe and manage their Facebook group, take part in their road shows etc

I have been in the hobby for around 5-6 years now and have built up a reasonable collections (I'll add at the end of this post), I am lucky that the hobby is a family one and the misses and my 7 year old son also have an interest.

My collection atm (always growing though)....
Acanthoscurria Geniculata x2 MM
Avicularia Sp. 'Guyana' Juvi
Brachypelma Bohemi SA
Brachypelma Smithi AF x 2
Brachypelma Smithi MM
Brachypelma Smithi SA
Chilobachys Andersoni AF
Chromatopelma Cyaneopubescens SA
Cyclosternum Pentalore SA
Ephebopus Murinus AF
Euathlus sp Blue AF x2
Grammostola Aureostriata AF
Grammostola Aureostriata MM
Grammostola Pulcha AF
Grammostola Rosea AF x2
Haplopelma Lividum AF
Haplopelma Lividum MM
Haplopelma Sp. 'Vietnam' AF
Harpactira Sp. Robertson Juvi x 2
Heteroscodra Maculata Sling
Lampropelma Violaceopes AF
Lampropelma Nigerrimum Sling
Lasiodora Parahybana AF
Monocentropus Balfouri Juvi / sling
Nhandu Chromatus MM
Nhandu Chromatus Sling
Nhandu Coloratovillosus AF
Nhandu Tripepii SAM
Pelinobius Muticus AF
Pelinobius Muticus SAM
Phormictopus Cancerides AF
Phormictopus Cancerides MM
Poecilotheria Fasciata Sling
Poecilotheria Metallica SAM
Poecilotheria Metallica Juvi x3
Poecilotheria Metallica Sling x4
Poecilotheria Ornata Sling
Poecilotheria Regalis AF x2
Poecilotheria Regalis MM
Poecilotheria Striata Sling
Poecilotheria Subfusca Sling x 2
Psalmopoeus Irminia SA
Pterinochilus Chordatus SA
Pterinochilus Murinus AF
Pterinochilus Murinus MM
Pterinochilus Murinus SA
Selenocosmia Sp 'Ebony'
Thrixopelma Ockerti Juvi

[Judy Perrin]

Hello, wow that's quite a collection!

[Tina Reeks]

Sure is!
(Have to make this message longer than 10 characters to be able to send it!!)