Tarantula and other exotic beasties thread?

[Eppia]

Hello, hope I'm in the right place. In amidst the cute furry guinea pigs and rabbits, is there room for a tarantula lovers thread? Or a thread for whatever other weird and wonderful creatures you keep?

I will post a pic of my eight legged darling in a bit, but do realise that there will be mumsnetters out there who are hyperventilating at the mere title of this thread, so I will not include a pic straight away in case they accidentally click and then faint or something 😅

[Eppia]

Here is my little love, enjoying some lap time. (Obviously, 'enjoying' is not the right word as, quite frankly, she doesn't give a shit.)

[Eppia]

Sorry arachnophobes! (I was in fact once one myself.)

[Teddy6767]

It's my worst nightmare as i have an extreme spider/tarantula phobia. To the point if I see a spider in the house I'll have a panic attack.
I can look at them in pictures or on TV though and do think they are fascinating creatures. I really wish I wasn't so scared of them in real life.
What's her name and what makes her a good pet? I bet my DP would love her

[Asmoto]

Wow! She's amazing.

[Eppia]

Asmoto: thank you 😊

Teddy: I used to be horribly afraid of spiders, albeit the bigger ones. Tiny money spiders never bothered me, but the big house spiders that used to come into our house (in the country) in autumn terrified me.

I got over it - although I won't lie, a sudden scuttling house spider when not expecting one can still make me jump - by studying them as an art project for my A-level art many years ago. It involved picking up the dead ones I'd find in the house and then drawing them.

At first, looking at them made me feel a bit sick. They're so alien looking. But constantly studying them made me acclimatise to their weirdness, and eventually I began to see some otherworldly beauty there, too. It was mostly dead ones I drew - they're too bloody quick when alive! (I never killed them, I hasten to add.)

Fluffy (have to admit, she's actually my son's and he named her) makes a fantastic pet. She's a Chilean Rose and requires almost no effort to keep at all. Most of the time she just sits and does nothing. She's extremely docile, and while she can move fast, mostly her movements are very slow and gentle and not very 'spider-like'. If you can bear it, I can post a short video of her typical movement.

Her little cluster of eyes (sorry, I know that probably sounds hideous to an arachnophobe!) I actually find cute. She has a little tuft poking up between them which is rather adorable.

[Teddy6767]

That's amazing you managed to beat your fear. I need to do something about mine as it's debilitating. I always think it's the worst phobia to have because if I were scared of snakes or flying or heights then I could control those fears by never putting myself in those situations where I'd have to experience them.
With spiders it's impossible to keep them out of the house all year round and they always appear out of the corner of my eye when I'm least expecting it.
Tarantulas are less scary as they do tend to move slowly. Does she scare you at all if she moves really fast?

[Gallavich]

I did the friendly spider program at London zoo a few years ago and it cured my phobia. I still don't love big hairy house spiders and I wouldn't want one touching me but I can catch them and no longer panic.
The program is amazing, I even held a tarantula myself! It works in a similar way by demystifying spiders and making them less frightening

[Gileswithachainsaw]

Wow how fab

Love the photo

[bilbobaggi]

Ah she's so cute!! I'll see if my phone lets me post a picture of my dragon, he's super handsome

[bilbobaggi]

I also have a royal python and a tortoise. People think we're mad, but we prefer reptiles to rabbits etc

[Gallavich]

Here

[DoctorDonnaNoble]

I always wanted a tarantula! I blame Chris Packham and the Really Wild Show. I am very jealous of you spider owners. They are very cute.

[Eppia]

Teddy, it sounds horrible. I do remember having it quite bad, but not as bad as you. I did used to have hypnagogic hallucinations (waking dreams) where I would 'see' spiders crawling all over my bed and shriek for my parents! After my art project, I never had that sort of hypnagogic hallucination again, though I did have others (some scary, some not).

Gallavich, what a great programme, and well done you! I think tarantulas such as Mexican Redknees - the one you are holding - and Chilean Roses (both usually docile) are a great way to get people used to spiders. While big, they are slow moving, which is far less unsettling than something that scuttles.

Bilbo, your dragon is gorgeous! I love the wise look in his eyes. My aunt occasionally babysits someone's bearded dragon. He really loves a good fuss - gentle stroking of his head. Does yours?

Teddy, will post a video of her moving. In terms of when she goes faster, it's only ever when she's scared. Because of that I feel sorry for her than scared myself. She tends not to when I'm holding her as she seems to instinctively know it's not sensible to scuttle away when she doesn't know her surroundings. You have to be very careful not to hold tarantulas in a way where they might fall. A fall of more than a few centimetres can actually kill them - they have very delicate abdomens and can die of internal bleeding.

I honestly adore her. She has an impressive pair of fangs too, but they are tucked away underneath so you can't normally see them.

[Eppia]

Ah, don't think I can post a video. Shame!

[bilbobaggi]

Oh yes he loves a fuss! We call him our little prince because he's so demanding!