Her first question was "What [pause] is THAT?" After we told her the next question was "WHY?!"
That is a good question. Why? Why do I keep nearly a dozen Tarantulas in my house? It has been said on the Tarantula forums I frequent that keeping Tarantulas is an addiction. It's like collecting stamps, but these stamps are alive and you can hold them, feed them and they do interesting things. They are certainly not snuggly, nor are they affectionate. But they represent something wild and potentially dangerous. Something that sits in the back of our minds (I think everybody, even hobbyists, have that instinct or have been taught to be wary of spiders, snakes and other potentially harmful animals) makes it "exciting" to care for and handle these giants of the arachnid family.
Beyond that I cannot explain. Here are the things I like about them:
- They are fascinating to watch.
- Their anatomy is alien and interesting.
- They produce silk with ease, just part of their daily life.
- They are fierce predators.
- They can walk on walls and ceilings.
- They are very colorful.
- They are fuzzy.
- They do odd things in captivity (trying to figure out the why's is fun).
- They are still not very well understood.
- You CAN handle them and it feels cool.
In fact, let me steal this list of Tarantula Slang words from the tarantulas.us forums:
T = Tarantula
AGE, SIZE
L'eggs = "Eggs with legs", the 2nd molt after the egg stage for a pre-sling
S'ling = Spiderling
Juv = Juvenile, between sling and adult
Instar = The number of the molt the T is on, after hatching into a sling. 1st instar, 2nd instar, etc.
Post-ultimate = When a male T has molted for the last time before his death
LS = Legspan
SPECIES
NW = New World Species - Urticating hairs!
OW = Old World Species
GBB = Greenbottle Blue (Chromatopelma cyanopubescens)
Blondi = Goliath Birdeater (Theraphosa blondi)
Genic = Brazilian Whitebanded (Acanthoscurria geniculata)
OBTs/Orange Bitey Things/PTerrors = Pterinochilus murinus RCF. Known for their BAD attitude!
RCF = Red Color Phase
PZB = Pink Zebra Beauty (Eupalaestrus campestratus)
Pokie/Poke/Poec = Poecilotheria species
Rosie = Chilean Rosehair (Grammostola rosea)
Versi = Antilles Pinktoe (Avicularia versicolor)
Curly = Curlyhair (Brachypelma albopilosum)
PARTS
Palps = Pedipalps
Boxing gloves = Enlarged, bulbous pedipalps of a mature male
Exuvia = The skin that's left after the T molts
Opisthoma = abdomen
CONDITIONS, BEHAVIOR
UADS = Up And Die Syndrome or death of unknown cause
Dessicated = Dried up, dehydrated
Gravid = Pregnant
Death curl = Pose a T assumes when it's dying, upright with legs curled underneath
On it's back = Molting
Pre-molt = The period before molting when the signs are readily apparent, i.e. going off food, darkened abdomen, sluggish behavior, etc.
Post-molt = The period just after molting while the exoskeleton and fangs are hardening up.
Flick = The act of using the rear legs to spread the itchy (urticating) hairs towards a threat
Threat = When your T stands up on hind legs, with front leg spread wide and straight up in the air, often with fangs bared.
HOUSING, FOOD
Substrate = What is on the bottom of the habitat, i.e. potting soil, peat moss, vermiculite
Verm = Vermiculite
Hidey hole = Burrow
Pinkie = Newborn mouse
Crix = Crickets
OTHER STUFF
Hammock method = A method of "cradling" an eggsack after it's removed from it's mother
Sperm web = A tent shaped web the male uses to deposit his sperm and collect it in the bulbs on his palps
AGE, SIZE
L'eggs = "Eggs with legs", the 2nd molt after the egg stage for a pre-sling
S'ling = Spiderling
Juv = Juvenile, between sling and adult
Instar = The number of the molt the T is on, after hatching into a sling. 1st instar, 2nd instar, etc.
Post-ultimate = When a male T has molted for the last time before his death
LS = Legspan
SPECIES
NW = New World Species - Urticating hairs!
OW = Old World Species
GBB = Greenbottle Blue (Chromatopelma cyanopubescens)
Blondi = Goliath Birdeater (Theraphosa blondi)
Genic = Brazilian Whitebanded (Acanthoscurria geniculata)
OBTs/Orange Bitey Things/PTerrors = Pterinochilus murinus RCF. Known for their BAD attitude!
RCF = Red Color Phase
PZB = Pink Zebra Beauty (Eupalaestrus campestratus)
Pokie/Poke/Poec = Poecilotheria species
Rosie = Chilean Rosehair (Grammostola rosea)
Versi = Antilles Pinktoe (Avicularia versicolor)
Curly = Curlyhair (Brachypelma albopilosum)
PARTS
Palps = Pedipalps
Boxing gloves = Enlarged, bulbous pedipalps of a mature male
Exuvia = The skin that's left after the T molts
Opisthoma = abdomen
CONDITIONS, BEHAVIOR
UADS = Up And Die Syndrome or death of unknown cause
Dessicated = Dried up, dehydrated
Gravid = Pregnant
Death curl = Pose a T assumes when it's dying, upright with legs curled underneath
On it's back = Molting
Pre-molt = The period before molting when the signs are readily apparent, i.e. going off food, darkened abdomen, sluggish behavior, etc.
Post-molt = The period just after molting while the exoskeleton and fangs are hardening up.
Flick = The act of using the rear legs to spread the itchy (urticating) hairs towards a threat
Threat = When your T stands up on hind legs, with front leg spread wide and straight up in the air, often with fangs bared.
HOUSING, FOOD
Substrate = What is on the bottom of the habitat, i.e. potting soil, peat moss, vermiculite
Verm = Vermiculite
Hidey hole = Burrow
Pinkie = Newborn mouse
Crix = Crickets
OTHER STUFF
Hammock method = A method of "cradling" an eggsack after it's removed from it's mother
Sperm web = A tent shaped web the male uses to deposit his sperm and collect it in the bulbs on his palps
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