For most people, spiders are something to avoid, but for one local collector, they're a lifelong fascination. With a growing collection of tarantulas and a huntsman spider, he explains what drew him to these creatures, how he looks after them, and why he believes they make ideal pets.
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00:00Pretty much I've always been fascinated by them since I was a kid from the ones that
00:05live up in the trees to burrows in the floor to think that they all start off as a couple
00:09of millimetre egg and to think that they end up with looking something like a fang over
00:15it.
00:17Standing here surrounded by enclosures filled with some of the world's largest spiders
00:22is a test for anyone with a fear of arachnids. These tarantulas and the hunterman spider
00:27behind me live in carefully maintained habitats designed to mimic their natural environments.
00:33Their owner insists they're easy to care for, needing little more than warmth, water
00:37and space. While for most the idea of sharing a home with spiders might be unsettling, for
00:43him it's a unique and rewarding passion.
00:46Try owning one as a pet and you never know, it might actually get you over your fear of
00:52seeing spiders. If you've got one in a box that's relatively big, the next time you see
00:56a smaller one in the bath you're not going to be frightened to pick it up and get rid
00:59of it, are you?
01:01For many, the thought of keeping a spider as a pet is out of the question, but Brendan
01:06believes it can help ease fears, making those everyday encounters with smaller house spiders
01:12far less daunting.
01:14I'd say, well yes, I know they all act, they're pretty much like a spider does, arboreals
01:20do what arboreal tarantulas do, terrestrials do what terrestrials do, but they all are
01:26sort of shy, some are shy to light, some are shy, sensitive to vibrations, when my
01:32kids are bouncing up and down you can see them scatter, so yeah, I'd say they are pretty
01:37much all individual.
01:39Each spider has its own behaviours and reactions, shaped by its species and surroundings. Some
01:45are highly sensitive, reacting to the slightest movement, while others remain still, waiting
01:51to ambush prey.
01:53Keeping them from A to B, because as they grow they need different enclosures, the smaller
01:58the enclosure the better as soon as it outgrows that, but I'd usually, getting them from one
02:04enclosure into another, you want it to go from A to B, it will more than likely have
02:08F, Y and Z on its mind to be fair, so I have had to chase two of them round the kitchen.
02:13At this point I try holding a spider's shed skin, but as expected, my fear gets the better
02:19of me, it might be empty, but even this is a step too far.
02:24Just keep still, it's really flimsy and brittle so it might break.
02:30I can't do it mate.
02:32Are you sure?
02:33I was just about to say, right in the middle.
02:36Even for an arachnophobe such as myself, seeing them up close is a fascinating experience,
02:42but for those who get too close, there's always a risk.
02:47I have been bitten once, and the saying once bitten twice sure has never run more true
02:51in all honesty.
02:52It was like having a couple of bee stings in the one area, so it wasn't pleasant, but
02:58rather not again.