Spiderman
Veteran Member
Most of the money I make each month goes to my addiction to arachnids.
I once feared them and by facing my fear, and holding my fear, I fell in love with my fear.
On may 1st I bought a socrota blue baboon tarantula. I'm trying to discern how to give these creatures a better life than they had in those small cages at the pet shop.
I like to hold them, let them scale walls, move about freely and exercise their legs. I've often let other people hold them and overcome their fear of arachnophobia (the most common fear people have after fear of public speaking, and fear of death.)
This particular spider, I named Napoleon, because he's little, aggressive, and has that Napoleon complex. His bite feels like a bee sting and later on feels like a third degree burn. The pet shop puts a red mark on their cage to let the purchaser know they are armed, venomous, aggressive, and don't play grab-a$$!
But my conscience tells me, maybe it doesn't like to be disturbed, and the fact that he bit me the first day we met, tells me that I p*ssed him off.
Napoleon likes to build a big web and make tunnels in the dirt and always be hidden from the naked eye.
In order to hold him I have to destroy the web he spent so much time spinning and go digging, which destroys the beautiful tunnels he worked so hard on. I really like to hold and observe this beautiful creature, it moves rapidly and stands on it's hind legs with arms in the air and lunges at you when p*ssed off. It's quite entertaining, but I have to respect the creature.
Some times no means no, even from a spider
But there's also the feeling that the spider might like some excitement and it may feel good having an owner that it can sink it's fangs into without any retaliation. It might like to move around and explore new terrain as well.
So, I'm kind of torn. Should I have spent 80$ on an animal that just hides in the dirt under a thick web, that I never get to see? Or should I give him some adventure and excitement, while at the same time destroying his web and tunnels that he put his heart into?
I'm wondering what a spider's thoughts are? Do spiders get PTSD? Do they remember stuff that happened the day before and experience trauma from it? Do they hold grudges?
I've had some extremely aggressive vicious spiders before, that I swear can be tamed, and they get used to people. How does mankind go about learning what goes on in a spider's head, and how good a spider's memory is, what they think about and such?
I think he might enjoy getting some aggression out, using his fangs, and sinking venom into a human. It may make him feel powerful, like he is exercising ownership of his owner.
Just to let you know, baboon tarantulas are aggressive. But I have handled many spiders in the wild and they almost never bite. If you fear them, you would be very surprised if you actually held the average spider. They are nicer than dogs and cats on average (in my experience).
There is a spider in Madagascar that builds an 80 foot web...could you imagine 80 feet? It stretches across rivers and things and has all sorts of cool geometric designs. That seems to be evidence that they have a certain degree of intelligence and can plan things out.
Anyhow, my final words are, NEVER kill a spider! They are our friends. Every time you kill a spider you are asking for there to be many more flies, mosquitoes, and crop-eating nuisances in our world. Of all creatures with an exoskeleton, I can't think of a creature that does mankind a greater service than Spiders.
Spidey lives matter!!!
