Lucky you! You get to come along on my many weird and strange adventures as I explore more and more hobbies with my kids. Today’s post is brought to you by my oldest and their current exploration into the hobby of having spiders as pets. Currently, they have a “pet” jumping spider that lives in their room and have been asking for a pet tarantula. As I am no longer with my previous boyfriend and he is no longer in the home, we can now consider the idea of owning a pet tarantula.

I always wanted one when I was a kid, but I never asked for one because I didn’t think my dad would be too keen on it. We have multiple other pets, but no tarantulas.

I am now neck deep in youtube videos, google searches, subreddits… Totally engrossed in these little gaffers. I wanted to share with you my favorite finds! First, I want to talk about Vancouver Island Tarantulas. We don’t have any tarantulas on Vancouver Island, but we have a close relative that is rarely spotted around here — tarantuloid. Specifically, antrodiaetus pacificus–a type of trap door spider.

Now, onto my reading list for you lovely people. First off, I found a wonderful distributer young and older tarantulas and other spiders. This breeder has a number of great reviews online, so I will be ordering from there once we are ready to care for these buggers well and give them a great life. TarantulaCanada.ca

One of the most helpful subreddits I have been lurking is the aptly named Tarantulas subreddit, which you can visit here. In the sidebar, they have a number of helpful links to information sheets and frequently asked questions. The more I read, the more I am sure that I am still a few months away from being ready to help my eldest with getting and caring for a tarantula.

Now for the fun stuff! The Youtubers that I have been enthralled with lately.

• Tarantula Kat — Kat is a really sweet woman who houses over one hundred pets, mostly spiders! A brown recluse is even included in her collection, which really creeps me out. I know she is incredibly safe with her spiders and housing them, but I still get anxiety when I think about a recluse in the same home as humans.
• Exotics Lair — This fella has a number of exotic pets that he showcases on his YouTube channel
• Dayyan from Reptiliatus — This guy has a number of exotic pets as well and makes a lot of videos showcasing his animals while also creating many helpful videos for people who are looking to get into the world of tarantulas.