Hi from Newbie!

[Nome]

Hello there!

I'm a newbie just wanting to say hi and introduce myself. I have 2 coastal carpet pythons, Chloe (hatchie) and Smith (yearling) and 2 Maccies- Samuel (mature male) and Sabrina (mature female) and also a love/hate relationship with my scrub python, Sarif (juvenille).

I also own 5 species of Australian Tarantulas (bird-eating spiders) and am running a conservation project - Save Our Tarantulas, to captive-breed tarantulas and sell them as pets, in the hope that others will buy them as an alternative to buying the wild-caught adults that are dug up and put in pet stores (don't get me started on the cruelty of that!!). All up, at anytime, I usually have around 100 tarantulas.

I am also hopefully acquiring a pair of shingleback lizards as well.

LOL, as well, I have a lovely husband and two adorable toddlers.

I have been a lurker for a while and have learned alot just in that time, and I am going to enjoy being a member of APS.

Kind regards,
Nome.

 

[Guest]

Welccome Nome

 

[lutzd]

Welcome, spiderlady! I'm sure you'll enjoy it here too!

 

[Ella]

Hi! Welcome. Wow thatz quite a collection u've got. How long have u had everything?

 

[Nome]

Hi there!

Thanks for all the welcomes :lol:

I've had my scrubbie and male maccy for a month, and the other three new additions last week. My scrubbie was an 'untouchable' at first, but now he's settled in nicely, although sometimes he surprises me like an hour ago when he bit me on the lip!

I've had my spiders for about 8 months and find they are just as addictive as reptiles. They are very interesting, and have quite distinct personalities. I get the usual 'the only good spider is a dead spider' (much like most of you would have experienced with snakes), but I find, once most people get to meet my big girls, and realize they aren't nasty at all, they change their mind (my husband used to be the worst spider hater).

Take care,
Naomi

 

[dobermanmick]

Hello Nome hope you enjoy it here!
how big is the scrubbie ?
Cheers mick

 

[westhamsc]

welcome

 

[Nome]

Hi there Mick!

Thanks, I'm sure i will

The scrubbie is about 90cm (that's the best I could get when I measured him yesterday, it made him a little cranky). He's lovely, I call him Sarif from Sarif off the Matrix (yes, I'm a matrix dork), as he's gentle and sweet, but can turn into a deadly ninja in a flash. Well, maybe that's a little dramatic, but I'm sure that what his intention is sometimes :lol:

Kind regards,
Naomi

 

[jimmy_the_kid]

hey nome im not realyy a spider fan but i wouldent mind getting 1 in the not to distant future but i hope u enjoy ur time here

 

[dobermanmick]

he's gentle and sweet, but can turn into a deadly ninja in a flash. Well, maybe that's a little dramatic, but I'm sure that what his intention is sometimes

lol thats great i would like one of them one day at the moment i have 2 coastals and a murray darling hopefully a darwin or 2 to come yet ! All are about 5-6 months old
Cheers mick

 

[Slateman]

Welcome here Nome. I hope that you will enjoy your self.

 

[sxereturn]

You'll be very lucky if your scrub quiets down. Also, they get big...very big.

 

[craig]

welcome

 

[Dicco]

So your the one running the tarantula site, hope it goes well and welcome to APS.

 

[Nome]

HI there,

Thanks very much for the welcomes everyone!!.

The scrubbie I took on as the person who owned him didn't want him anymore and was thrown in at the deep end, and he wasn't very well looked after there. I knew all about them, including the size, temperment, etc before I got him. He has calmed down a lot, and I'm very happy with his temperment now, I don't expect him to be 'nicer'. I know he is a scrubbie, and this is the best I can expect. And, I think he is lovely.

The same with my spiders, I can never pick up my big girls, but I'm just happy they don't mind me watching them go about making their webs and digging their burrows. You can only expect so much.

I think Mick, as long as you don't mind their temperment, you will enjoy having one. He is so different to the other pythons I own, and I really enjoy his outgoing and confident little personality. Of course, like everything, they do have their own personality, which may or may not be dependent on their species.

Kind regards,
Nome.

 

[africancichlidau]

Welcome aboard Nome, I'm sure you'll enjoy the site

 

[ackie]

hey nome...ur scrubby sounds mad. My brown tree snake used to be phsyco but seeing as i hav persisted for about 2 years he is a really good handler- who sed bts cant be tamed. Hopefully u will get ur scrubby tamed and prove cridics wrong.

 

[Rina]

Evening Nome,
I find my aversion to spiders really odd considering my love for reptiles. As display animals though I know quiet a few people that say that the tarantula's are absolutely great display(living room) animals.
What is the market like for these guys?
Anyway welcome.
Regards Rina

 

[Nome]

LOL, my scrubbie is a little mad, but sometimes he's the sweetest little guy, and lies his little head on my chest for an hour and sleeps while I'm watching TV.

Spiders are a good display pet, but I don't agree with them being one. The wild-caught adults which are the majority in the pet stores, have been in a burrow in the wild for 6+ years, and never seen a person, then they are dug up and put on display. Pretty frightening and stressful. The adults I have, which are all wild-caught, and I acquired them from pet stores, or unwell ones for rehab, or ex-study specimens and are all now used for breeding, I keep in a dark cool room, and they hardly see me or anyone at all. I give them all big burrows to use, so if they never want to see anyone, they don't have to. The only time I view them, is at night, under red lights and it is quite calming to watch these nocturnal beasts come out for hunting, a drink or just webbing. I have had a 100% success rate rehabing them this way, and I'm convinced this is the only kind way to keep a wild-caught giant spider.

The captive-bred babies I have are a different story. Because they have been use to human contact their whole lives, and see human's as a source of their food, they become quite tame, and often come out of their burrow when you open their enclosure. I know of some people who have got them so tame that they follow them around the room, in their enclosure (like a goldfish in a bowl). I think these would quite enjoy being a display pet, as long as they are always given a burrow to retreat to if they want to. I always send out burrows with all my spiders to ensure that their is something there for them.

Any way, I could rave on for ages about them, they are incredible pets, and so interesting and fascinating.

The market for them is reasonable, as I charge about one tenth of what the pet stores do. I keep the costs as low as possible, to allow me enough to feed them and pay for heating. The main customers I pull, are ones that have been to a pet store, and want to buy a spider of them (wild caught usually) and then they decide to do a bit of research, come across my site, see it is far cheaper and then purchase mine. Which is my exact intention of 'Save Our Tarantulas' that people would buy a captive-bred spider over a wild-caught one. My main market is people in their 30s, which is different to what most people expect. I also have a lot of people from my local university buying them for a low-maintenance pet.

Rina, LOL, I have an extreme aversion to cockroaches and rats, and if a woodie gets on me during feeding time for the spiders, I'll scream and run around the room, but the baby spiders climb on me all the time, and it doesn't bother me (even though they have the potential of giving me a venomous bite). I think we all have our own 'fears' of things, and for many people, that is spiders (feared more than death, one survey has reported :lol: ).

Thanks to all for the kind words, and interest.

Kind regards,
Nome.

 

[Rina]

Ain't all our little eccentricities grand! :wink:
Regards Rina