Would you use a CM that had a pet tarantula

[monkeymonkeymoomoo]

?

Seen an excellent CM that has an outstanding OFSTED report but she has a pet tarantuala and that (probably unreasonably!) puts me off!

[Blu]

I would consider it a bonus too.

[AlittleworstforwareUpsadaisy]

hmmm possibly maybe would curb the pot4ential fear of spiders

[Spidermama]

I would consider it a bonus.

[ThePrisoner]

My back garden has a complete menagerie in it, and Ofsted didn't have a problem - we have snails, slugs, ants, birds, wasps, worms, caterpillars, spiders and, dare I say it, hedgehogs too. The children delight in showing me anything they find.

monkeymonkeymoomoo - have you read the childminder's Ofsted report? Perhaps it mentions where the spider is, how she ensures it's kept enclosed etc.

[twentypence]

Ds's kindy has a loud bird and a rat and some frogs. So a tarantula wouldn't bother me, though I wouldn't want one myself.

[WriggleJiggle]

I HATE spiders, but wouldn't see a problem with a cm keeping one as a pet. I presume it is safely enclosed. As they are fairly delicate creatures I can't imagine the cm getting it out for the children to play with. I guess for me there could be a huge advantage to it as well - dd would probably grow up not to be scared of them, and then she could rescue me when I find them lurking around the house!

[monkeymonkeymoomoo]

THink a poet would be an asset to any CM

[monkeymonkeymoomoo]

Why is that Mallory?

[monkeymonkeymoomoo]

She has a dog as well! And that doesn't bother me

[wannaBeWhateverIWannaBe]

if it escapes it's going to hide - it won't lie in wait behind a door ready to jump out on you/your dd. You probably have dozens of spiders in your house that you don't even know about.

and if your dd decides she wants one there's a simple answer - no.

I hate spiders and am not that struck on snakes/other reptiles and I have moral objections to them being kept as pets but that's a discussion for another topic, but it wouldn't bother me if my ds went somewhere where someone else was keeping one as a pet.

[fryalot]

If it escapes, it will find the darkest corner it can find (although it's not really likely to escape)

If she decides she wants a spider, show her a cobweb and tell her to wait.

[monkeymonkeymoomoo]

I think it is the 'what ifs' that bother me... ie. if it escapes or even worse what if DD decides she must have a spider

[wannaBeWhateverIWannaBe]

but it's not you that has to look after it so what is the harm? Im assuming it's not kept in her livingroom so you probably wouldn't even see it when you dropped off/collected your child.

[Aloha]

No! A, I am phobic about them so would hate to be in the house and B I, perhaps unfairly, think anyone who keeps spiders and snakes is wierd.

[Earthymama]

You have to wear gloves or gauntlets to hold them as they shoot out their spines as tarantulas hate being handled. It's not nice to treat wild animals like this so 'No, I would not'

[NannyL]

NO way.... but then im terrified of spiders.

wouldnt have a problem with any other animal... but spiders no way!

[monkeymonkeymoomoo]

Arachnids??

[monkeymonkeymoomoo]

It is safely housed, I have two dogs and two cats so don't mind a menagerie of animals but.... spiders.... shudder... I'm sure DD would love to see it.

[wannaBeWhateverIWannaBe]

why ever not?

my ds would be in his element. in fact he was eyeing one up at the local pet shop a few weeks ago and later said "we could have a spider mummy, it would live in a tank". err ... not a chance.

[fryalot]

I used to have a tarantula as a pet and I can tell you that they make excellent pets for the lazy (honestly) You rarely need to clean them out, you don't need to take them for walks, or even get them out if you don't want to, they just lurk, and you only feed them once a month.

There is nothing dirty or dangerous about large pet spiders, it is just the thought of something so big and hairy with so many legs that puts people off.

(sorry, forgot which word we're supposed to use instead of spider, so I used the word spider)