whats with the haters lol

[gex]

Hey.
Just wondered ur thoughts on this and what youv all put up with.
So as iv said im looking into getting into Ts and find this forum amazing (yous are all a great bunch and iv learned loads here so far from you all) its been a good few years since i had any inverts....i had my rosea, a vietnam forest scorpion and an emperor. Anyway family memebers and friends were ridiculous bout it then and the sheer mention of it now and its all 'y would u want a big spider they gross, they dangerous they this n tht n waht if it bites u, what if it escapes, thats just creepy' you know the crap lol!!!!
I find them fascinating and i get the whole scared of spiders thing as i hate house spiders and stuff and tbh at this stage im still ARGHHHH wen it comes to pokies and old world fast Ts but then i managed with my rosea for years and even had her on my hand (not high up lol). I even got 'how could you feed live bugs to it thats so cruel' im like eh ur not a vegetarian so you know! its no different to keeping a lizard.

Anyway sorry for the rant but how do you all feel?

 

[Chubbs]

You can't fix ignorant. If people are unwilling to learn and accept the fact that these are animals and not monsters out for human blood, then they're not worth trying to educate.

 

[Jesusplants]

You'll get haters and ignorance from people about everything! I get all the regular questions all the time when people hear I have tarantulas, but I'm use to getting ignorant questions all the time (I have 3 foot long dreadlocks) all you can do is spread knowledge and hope their open enough to listen and perhaps change their opinions.

 

[Fuzzball79]

I mainly get funny looks, because apparently I don't look like the typical T (and snake) owner. According to people's views I should have tattoos, piercings and listing to Goth rock music, lol. I'm the complete opposite of that (though I do mainly like rock, lol), married mum of 3, no tats, only ears pierced... I drive an MPV (Zafira), lol.
Most of my friends and family are fine with the spiders though, my niece was disappointed that I wouldn't let her hold one. My FIL kept saying that these animals shouldn't be in captivity and should be out in the wild, but my reply of that being rich from someone whose cats have never set a foot outside (for which I wouldn't usually criticize anyone), shut him up, and he now spends ages taking blurry pictures and videos.
My SIL is terrified of anything with more than 4 legs, but it's more banter between us, when I upload photos on Facebooks (including one of her daughter posing next to the spider shelf). Same with my neighbour, she just warned me (jokingly) that if any of them ever ventured into her territory, it'll get barbecued, lol.
I had one "WTF?" reaction though from another neighbour, when I told her I had 4 Ts at that time. "FGS, don't get any more! Imagine someone else moving into the property after you and you had all these spiders in there?". She must have had that picture in mind with all these Ts webbing up in the corners of each room, crawling across floors, etc, lol.

 

[gex]

@Chubbs lol your right about that! Some people. Silly folk its only house spiders that are out to get you lmao!!! I dont see Ts as even related to those creepy things.

@Jesusplants yeah totally true, i always try and talk about it and even things im scared off i would never be like oh no kill it! I went to a LPS just a bit away and they had a staff member (not there anymore) but he used to always have his Ts and scary centipedes etc in and he would always try to show me things,he was cery hands on and held the Ts so i would turn round and hed be walking up the shop with one and id be like please get that away from me, he used to always open the pokies tank to show folk how fast they move and i was always saying dont dare they make me uncomfortable n i Will move faster than that out the door if i see it run.

@Fuzzball79 lol oh im also not the type......so funny how people think. Everyone thinks you ahould be sitting in the corner of dark rooms covered in Ts n have shares in the colour black lol. Yeah someone with bearded dragons said to me how gross it was to keep something like that. I get laughed at all the time cos i am a big fearty in the face of a small house spider kept scorpions n a rosea. My little niece says why dont u just get something fluffy like a bunny....i reply well i have 2 dogs and Ts are furry!!

Better get out my dark corner now and go to work

 

[Enn49]

I mainly get funny looks, because apparently I don't look like the typical T (and snake) owner. According to people's views I should have tattoos, piercings and listing to Goth rock music, lol. I'm the complete opposite of that (though I do mainly like rock, lol), married mum of 3, no tats, only ears pierced... I drive an MPV (Zafira), lol.

I can get the same reactions as I'm a retired grandma lol.

 

[Therasoid]

Although most people know my passion for the hobby, I do get the occasional "Aren't they dangerous?". But after briefly explaining how they are kept, ease of care and describing how colorful some species are, that some will say "Wow, I never thought of them as pets before.".
Some people will never get over their fears or misconceptions about arachnids. All, we as hobbyists can do, is give proper information about them. Who knows, maybe one or two may decide to become a T keeper. [emoji2]

 

[gex]

@Therasoid i agree and i got my first T bk when my arachnophobia was ridiculous even one on tv had me itching for ages!

 

[Fuzzball79]

It's the colours that amaze most people. A lot of people hear Tarantula and think brown, black or at a push B. Smithi colours.
I've got a picture of my A. versi as my background on my phone. One of my neighbours looked at it yesterday, saw the colours and asked me "Oh, is that one of your flowers?", lol. When I showed her the picture she was astonished a spider could be so colourful. Still doesn't like them though, lol.

 

[gex]

Their so misunderstood!

 

[xray_chic]

I just explain that their being misunderstood is what drew me to love them in the first place. It was crazy to me that a creature people knew so little about could be so feared and detested. So I decided to learn as much about them as I could. The more I learned, the more I fell in love. They are the lions and tigers of the invert world, and they deserve as much reverence and respect.
Anyone who approaches me with ignorance is an opportunity for "spider enlightenment" (poor souls have to hear my rants)
And I'm also not your typical T owner. Female/mom, I'm so happy to see more like me in the forum. But I do have a tattoo of a spider. Lol.

 

[KimmyxTx]

Hi gex, We also had the same comments as you which we knew we would get so we got our tarantulas before we told anyone Me, my partner and daughter have 4 slings we hope her watching them grow as pets will cure her insect fears lol We are all really enjoying every moment of our new pets and we really don't care what anyone else thinks ha

 

[Fleas]

Ya screw the haters the are like oMG that's so nasty can't you do anything besides collect trantulas why don't u get your self a wife and have some children u could look after and u would have to get rid of your nasty spiders if u want a woman to walk in your house omg u just made it harder for your self. well I say screw the hater PS most are family lol