help, please

[SpiderLover]

I know tarantulas aren't exactly fish or reptiles, but it says other, so I thought it'd be okay. See, for quite a long time now I've been wanting a tarantula, but my parents won't let me! See, with my crabs, I just kind of snuck them into the house when my parents weren't home...they didn't notice until it was too late. But how does one sneak a spider into the house and then keep it hidden for three days? Plus, when the only places to buy tarantulas are an hour away, how does that work? I don't expect anyone to actually answer these questions, I just had to vent. There...(sigh)...glad that's off my chest! Anyone else who likes bugs, talk to me! If you want to e-mail me, I'm at slainte@writing.com

[Jenny]

Hi "SpiderLover"! Why won't your parents let you get a tarantula? They're quiet...clean....easy to take care of...relatively inexpensive...etc. Maybe you should get a good book on tarantula's (like the "Barron's" series) and let your parents read it when you're through. I don't know if that'd help, but it might. I definitely don't suggest smuggling one into your bedroom though. ;)

[SpiderLover]

Dear Jenny,

Thanx for replying! My parents said "We're done with pets." They don't want any more, which is like...almost unheard of in my opinion. Thanx a lot, and I will keep you posted on the "tarantula" thing!

[Love Bird B]

SpiderLover, you may have to wait a few years until you can get a tarantula but think of what you have to look forward to when you can finally do get one, or more.

Jenny has a great suggestion, as she often does, about getting books on tarantulas. Perhaps your parents can get used to looking at them, or whatever that bothers them about spiders. It probably won't happen over night though.

Best of luck to you.

[Jenny]

Lol, I've heard the "We're done with pets" thing numerous time yet I still manage to bring home 'just one more'....haha. B has a good suggestion to wait a few years. My dad had a tarantula in college and his roomate would take it out to play on his stomach while he studied! While on the subject of 'large spiders', one time we were driving down the highway and we saw this big black thing on the side of the road, and we pulled over and it turns out it was a tarantula! That was pretty unexpected.

[SpiderLover]

That sounds like a good idea, Love Bird...everybody on this site is so logical! :) I will wait a while. In the mean time, I'll get books and look online, etc.

Jenny, interesting spider story! I wish that could happen to me! TTYL

['too crazy]

Is one of your parents afraid of Trantulas? I'm afraid of almost any spider and I know my answer would be a whopping NO! Maybe if you do some research and talk to your parents and show them how knowledgeable you are on them, they may change there mind! Good Luck!

[SpiderLover]

'too crazy, that's a darn good idea! :)
Neither of my parents are afraid of spiders, but I don't think they are particularly fond of them. I will do that, thanx a lot!

['too crazy]

No problem. I hope it works for you. That makes one less spider in the world I have to worry about!:D

[Love Bird B]

Too Crazy, you're too funny!

SpiderLover, have your parents seen this great website? They should see all the great pictures, especially Barracuda's! You should contact her. It seems like you're already part of her family and you don't know it yet.

[Barracuda 42]

Originally posted by Love Bird B
Too Crazy, you're too funny!

SpiderLover, have your parents seen this great website? They should see all the great pictures, especially Barracuda's! You should contact her. It seems like you're already part of her family and you don't know it yet.
Hehehehe! Hey a new member of my family, cool you ready to go out night spider hunting and also go out into the swamps looking for critters and all, thats what i do all summer long.. :D You are welcome to come visit us here at Dragons Den Ranch Exotics any time.., If theres anything ya need just let me know, by the way you should check into African Giant Millipedes they are super easy to care for dont need no speacial cage and all and they eat fruits and veggies and are handable, just wash hands afterwards, they do need however temps around 80 and also moisture.. I had 2 females that were over 10 inches, they got adopted out just recently..

['too crazy]

You go in the swamps? Oh my, I must really be a girlie girl for sure. And what is an African Giant Millipede? Like a big Centipede kinda thing? And why would you want one? I'm starting to think if I can get up that way this summer, were gonna have to meet at a nice family restaurant! :D You'll know which one is me. I'll be the one screaming 'AAAAAHHHHHH! A BUG!' LOL

[Barracuda 42]

:D Thats funny 'too crazy.... This is a giant african black millipede.. They are classified under the Myriapods, centipedes being under Chilopoda and Millipedes under Diplopoda they have 2 pairs of legs per body segment where as the Centipedes have 1 pair of legs per body segment.
Centipedes have a defence of bitting and are venomous and can put you in the hospital. Where as the Millipedes only have a deffence of curling up into a tight ball then noxious chemicals are released from lateral glands in the body segments, It can cause burnning of the eys or nose or mouth if it comes into contact with it, mainly by you touching the pede and then touching one of those areas without washing hands. Most millipedes dont use that deffence once astablished and are use to

SpiderLover, i sugest that you try and find few good books on T's and other critters that are easy to care for and keep as pets, this is a really good book (Encyclopedia Of Terrarium) by Eugene Bruins The book is by REBO productions.. Its a super excellent book and has everything in it.. Another one that you might want to really check into getting is ( The Tarantula Keepers Guide) by Shultz & Shultz its put out by Barron's books.. Its one of the best out there on T's... Hope this helps..

['too crazy]

OK I got the heebie jeebies at 'per body segment'. How many body segments can these get? Please tell me we don't have them here in Mi. too! :eek:

[Barracuda 42]

:( Oooooooops forgot the pic, heres a giant african black millipede.. To give ya a idea on there size heres one next to a adult foot..

[Barracuda 42]

Michigan has small centipedes nothing like what comes from africa and as for the millies well we do have them to but not the ones in the pic i posted we have smaller versions of them and they are a very pretty purpleish burgandy color with red lines on them reaching a total lenght of say 3 inches, and no they are not deadly and will not harm you in anyway they live off of rotting leafs and dead trees..

['too crazy]

I'm starting to think your trying to freak me out on purpose. Well guess what? IT"S WORKING!! No I'm just kidding. But what do you feed something like that? (maybe I don't want to know!!:D )

['too crazy]

Wow! We posted at the same time. I was afraid you were gonna show me another gross but sweet bug they eat!:p

[Barracuda 42]

'too crazy, if ya keep um as pets they are very easy to care for, the eat rotting leaf litter, heavly rotted dead tree wood and also when keeping them we use peatmoss mix bedding and feed them leaf lettuce, all types veggies and fruit with clacium powder sprinkled on top, we mist the cage once a day and provide a tiny water dish also, we keep the temps at around 80% and they do extremly well.. The millies from here in Mich. we keep at a cooler temp around 75% and make sure to mist the cage 2 times a day.. I got a pic of the ones from Mich somewhere i took last fall when i found few of them here at the house.. I will see if i can find it..;)

[SpiderLover]

Hehehehe! Hey a new member of my family, cool you ready to go out night spider hunting and also go out into the swamps looking for critters and all, thats what i do all summer long.. You are welcome to come visit us here at Dragons Den Ranch Exotics any time.., If theres anything ya need just let me know, by the way you should check into African Giant Millipedes they are super easy to care for dont need no speacial cage and all and they eat fruits and veggies and are handable, just wash hands afterwards, they do need however temps around 80 and also moisture.. I had 2 females that were over 10 inches, they got adopted out just recently..


__________________
Barracuda, that is so nice of you!!! Thanx! And yes, in answer to one of your questions, I'm looking for a tarantula that is more docile, and one of the slower ones, because I don't wanna have to chase it around my bedroom if it escapes.

[Jenny]

Spiderlover- the book "Tarantulas and Arachnids" by Marshall is very good. I was reading it today since I know nothing about them and it was very easy to understand, informative, and interesting! It even explains the different types of tarantulas individually and their different qualities. Of course you can just ask 'Cuda but if you want a book that you can refer to any time of day I think this one's good!

[SpiderLover]

Yeah, I've gotten a couple of books on tarantulas. The chilean rose looks like a good one. So do curly hairs. What's your opinion, Cuda?

[Barracuda 42]

SpiderLover, the rose hair would be a better T than the curly hair due to the fact curly hairs are more agressive, not in a mean way but they are super fast, fling hairs and do eat like pigs.. they just arent as handable as the rose hairs..

[SpiderLover]

okay, thanx a lot! :)

[nedran]

I have a 17 yo who also wants a tarantula. I am terrified of any and all spiders, even typing this is making the hair on the back of my neck stand up! If one of your parents is afraid of spiders, you probably wouldn't get one past them. Sorry, but you may have to wait until you are on your own. My son has told me that he will get some when he moves out and I told him I wouldn't be visiting him!!

[Love Bird B]

Nedran, you might surprise yourself one day and become fascinated by them, especially if you hang around here often and get used to their little hairy pics, LOL.

[Jenny]

Lol B! Yes, hanging around this site can get you interested in all sorts of stuff! After seeing the pics of 'Cuda's T's and talking about them here, I was inspired to go read up about them because of my ignorance. And now, I like them alot better than I did before!

[nedran]

LOL, If I saw a picture on my computer of one, I'd have to get a new monitor as the screen would be shattered!!! I used to make my dad come to my house to kill (sorry everybody) any spider that was "lurking" around waiting to jump out at me. Wouldn't let him use my vaccuum cleaner so he had to bring his own. Ha ha

[Love Bird B]

Nedran, didn't your kitty go for spiders? I would imagine you wouldn't have been too thrilled over that.

[nedran]

She would BRING THEM TO ME as a present. She would get very upset at me for running away from her. Actually, I think she thought my reaction was pretty funny and did it on purpose!

[SpiderLover]

nedran, they can't be that scary--just typing about them scares you? whoa....you know, I used to be like that, but then I went away summer camp in the woods...I became at one with the spiders! lol

[nedran]

Yep, typing about them gives me the willies. I don't think I'll ever become one with the spiders!! LOL I keep telling myself that they are nice and help us keep mosquitos away but it hasn't helped. I can handle live centipedes, millipedes, scorpions, but run screaming from the room if somebody shows me a picture of a spider!!!

[Love Bird B]

This is just so interesting to me, sometimes I think I should have been a therapist, LOL.

Nedran, do you recall the first time you saw a spider or your first spider experience that made you upset? What kind of situation was it? Sometimes if we can remember why something bothers us so much, we can conquer the fear.

Sometimes I think certain fears can be genetic, programed into us by who knows what, aliens? :D I often wondered why a lot of women are afraid of mice while others (like myself) have always found them to be cute? These are things that really make me wonder. :confused:

[Jenny]

B- it really is strange how some people are just naturally (or unaturally) afraid of certain animals. When my mice had babies I took them around to the neighbors trying to find homes, and most of the ladies just freaked out! I thought they were extremely cute. Then the other day, a friend was over and this big brown recluse ran across my room, and she freaked out screaming and I didn't think a thing of it. Yeah, I think you're right about aliens having somethin' to do with it! lol

[Love Bird B]

Jenny, too bad I wasn't your neighbor. I would have invited you in for tea and probably would have had a problem deciding how many of the little guys I'd take, LOL.

['too crazy]

LOL Jenny. I wish I you lived in my neighborhood! Did you try to sell the mice before or after you tried to sell the worms??:p

[nedran]

Love Bird B, yes I recall my first spider experience. I was about 4 and one of my older brothers saw me watching a spider. He had a mean streak and apparently began collecting spiders in a jar. After he had a billion of them (or so it seemed to me), he held me down and put them on my face. )Kids, don't try this, your little sisters will grow up and get you back!!) He has since apologized for it but it hasn't helped with my phobia. I have many funny spider experience stories but they will have to wait because I have to hide in a spider free room until my hair lays back down!

[Jenny]

OMG Nedran, if that had happened to me I'm sure I'd have arachnaphobia too! I hope you got him back good...hahaha. Lol 'too crazy- I tried to sell them quite a few years after my bugs. So far my kittens have been the most popular with the neighbors, though that was about 5 years ago. My sister and I took the 5 little guys around to the neighbors, and came back with 1 gone that this lady had totally fallen in love with, and in a few days 3 more had homes in the neighborhood. Everyone liked the thought of having a live mousetrap!

[SpiderLover]

Nedran, it's too bad about your extreme fear of spiders....but everyone's afraid of something! I for one am deathly afraid of my teachers....I'm as afraid of them as you are of spiders, Nedran!

[nedran]

SpiderLover, There were some teachers that I was more afraid of than spiders!! I think spiders are very interesting creatures, I just can't look at them! I love looking at their webs, especially first thing in the morning when they are covered with dew. Maybe as I read all of the threads about them, I'll slowly get over my phobia (but I'm not going to hold my breath!)

[Love Bird B]

Whew Nedran, you had a pretty awful experience, and there you were probably calmly watching a spider before the ordeal. Can you recall how you felt watching that spider?

LOL Jenny! Cats are more popular than rodents. That seems to be a law of some sort.

SpiderLover, I hope you have a teacher someday that likes spiders. ;)

[nedran]

Love Bird B, I thought the spider was pretty cool. I didn't know how it could walk on the wall and not fall off. That's pretty funny, it happened 35 years ago and I remember it like it was yesterday.

Jenny, I would have bought the bugs AND the mice.

[SpiderLover]

lol
Yeah, their webs are extremely beautiful. At camp I would always take pictures of them and put them up on the tent wall...my tentmates hated it!

[CrazyCat]

Originally posted by SpiderLover
Nedran, it's too bad about your extreme fear of spiders....but everyone's afraid of something! I for one am deathly afraid of my teachers....I'm as afraid of them as you are of spiders, Nedran!
LOL! I think I can relate to that alot!!!!

[redsox9]

When my son was in preschool, the classroom he was in had 2 hissing cockroaches as pets. Their names were Big Daddy and Little Brother. We took care of Little Bro one vacation week and I found out that he kinda was cute and had a personality. He also seemed to be able to pick out my son, Brendan from the rest of us. Brendan is now 13 and wants a tarantula, but until he takes better care of his fighting fish he's going to have to wait. It is true that some folks are turned off by big bugs, arachnids, etc. But mostly it's important that the pet is well cared for. Good luck, SpiderLover, you sound quite responsible.

[SpiderLover]

Thankyou, redsox! I actually recently got two fire millipedes, and they are really beautiful! I also want a hissing cockroach, but I'm going to wait a while before getting anymore pets. TTYL! :)