Tarantulas and Autism?! !

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I have discovered something maybe some of you have discovered already...while most aspies enjoy animals in general much more than people, I personally have found tarantulas to be a great hobby since they ae not really pets but anti social, bristly and sometimes quite venemous little friends to nurture. I selected some of the meanest and most dangerous ones I could find just to have something crazier than I am!(its very soothing actually) While the tarantulas themselves are fun I signed up for several web boards(forums are about as much socialization as I can handle without my service dog) about them. OMG, I couldn't believe the personalities of the other forum members...I swear at least 80% of them HAVE to be aspies!! ! I really enjoy chatting and taliking about my tarantulas with them and they don' think I am a wierdo...I had to share. AB and AA are the two I frequent most if you are looking and I am ALWAYS happy to talk about my teddy bears with extra legs and fangs...

Wow that's really quite interesting!
Maybe that explains why I'm always attracted to the creepy crawlies when I visit pet stores.
Where do you find the "mean and crazy" ones?

I'm largely a dog and cat man, but I once found a Missouri turantula, yes we have them, and kept it as pet for a while. It had lost a leg in tarantula battle at some point. My NT brother has had tarantulas, Venus fly traps, snakes, and a hairless cat.

most of the more exotics are found online or through other tarantula keepers...some make into local pet store but pretty rarely!
I am not sure if its aspies that like tarantulas or if tarantula lovers are more likely to be aspie!

Nikinizor,
How many do you have? Are they male or female? I have heard the females are more aggressive. Is that true?

I'm terrified of spiders but I love snakes. My roommate is the opposite but since his tarantula died we have an unhappy truce.

I have seven now..five different genus' ...the females may be more aggro when they have an egg sack but it is more dependent on genus and species as far aa aggression goes...even then individual spiders may vary....one of main will get so pissed that she throws up a threat pose and even attacks the water when i add to her dish...it's kinda funny...four of mine are female(they are preferred as they live longer) the other three are too small to sex yet. I want a missouri tarantula!!

yeah... i wouldn't touch any sort of spider with a fifty foot pole.

I got him in my hometown of Springfield Missouri. He could of also come in a shipment of plants that my friends parents used on the outside of their house.

I love tarantulas! I don't have any myself though.. I like easier-to-take-care-of pets like cats and houseplants.
My teacher had some in like 5th grade. They weren't the mean kind though, they were quite mellow and friendly and cute. Those are pretty much the only tarantulas I've gotten to know well. I think they were all female, because those are the ones that live longer. 2 rose ones, one with orange knees, and uhh.. one sort of big beefy one that we weren't allowed to touch. Actually that one was more mean, yes.
For the most part though, they were more like ultra-leggy gerbils than like spiders. :3

My 2-y-daughter have a real passion for monsters (out of around 50 words she say, 10 are monsters name like ogre, dragon, etc..). The coolest things is that she try to make my wife understand that they are "good"! !

Hi Nikinizor---welcome to the WrongPlanet. Personally, I am sort of scared of spiders, but, when I visit a pet store I have always made my way to the tarantula section and stared with amazement. And as far back as I can remember, I have always been a little bit fascinated with them. As far as being in the house, the largest spiders we have here in Ohio where I live are wolf spiders. A couple years ago, I found a huge spider (huge for Ohio---not tarantula huge) in my basement. It was not a typical spider for Ohio. I researched it and found it to be a species from the Carolinas---but I can't remember the species now. As is typical with most people, we get rid of creepy crawlies in our homes. I felt guilty. And when I found a second of this type of spider in the basement, I got concerned that maybe there were more in the house. But I didn't kill this one. I got it a container and took it outside and placed it in some shrubs.

By the way, with your fascination for tarantulas, have you ever thought about getting a bird eating spider? Is that the Goliath?

Funny thing with spiders: I have never been afraid of them, though all other (girls) I've met are.
So also there I am different.
It was always me (or my dad) who had to kill them when my sisters were terrified of them.
I always thought, why be afraid, they do no harm.