Exotic pet owners – the bunch of us that decide to throw caution to the wind and live amongst tarantulas, snakes, lizards, and other creepy crawlies – often get a bad reputation and shunned by those who favor more mainstream pets like cats and dogs (even though many of us live with these, too!). We’re no strangers to people shunning our pets, threatening to harm them, or refusing to come over to our houses just because we happen to own one of them (this is especially true for tarantula owners).

The rest of the world may think we’re weird, but we know better. I know better. The people I have met online and in Facebook groups (and in my own experience) have shown me that the people who take care of exotic pets are a special bunch – unafraid to explore the unknown and unfamiliar and live alongside creatures that have world much differently than our own. This and several other traits that I’m going to get to truly reflect what I think are the perfect reasons why exotic pet owners deserve more respect.

Exotic pet owners are brave

Anyone can take care of a dog or cat. It’s mainstream and not foreign. These are accepted, domesticated animals. Taking care of an exotic animal means that you are not only courageous enough to stand up to the public shunning or ridicule that comes from outwardly expressing your love or passion for such creatures, but you’re throwing yourself into a completely different world. Exotic pets aren’t like mammals, at all. In many cases, they’re pretty dangerous, too! But for our passions, we’re willing to take risks for the chance to take care of and learn about these amazing creatures.

Exotic pet owners are creative

Um, have you ever SEEN the amount of time and effort a tarantula owner puts into making enclosures for their beloved pets? This goes for snakes and other exotic pets too! The lengths exotic pet owners will go to make sure their pets are living like royalty is amazing and some of the setups and enclosures I see in tarantula groups could very well be considered works of art. And we do all of this from the kindness of our hearts – unlike dogs and cats, our pets cannot tell us how grateful they are or how much they like the homes we’ve given them. In fact, they probably don’t even notice or care (tarantulas can barely see!). But we do it because we’re passionate and care about our pets. Which brings me to my very favorite reason that exotic pet owners are the best kind of pet owners:

Exotic pet owners are the most loving

Seriously. We have big hearts. It takes a special kind of person to continuously take care of a creature that doesn’t even know they exist. As far as we know, animals like tarantulas and snakes do not have emotions or memory, so everything that we do for them comes from our own internal standards, self motivation, and the goodness of our hearts. Our pets can never tell us they appreciate all we do for them, or give us any affection back.

To mainstream pet owners, this is baffling. One of the questions I get asked the most is “What do you get out of having a tarantula?” or “Why do you have one? It can’t love you back” and this is one of the biggest differences between us and those who only keep mainstream, emotionally responsive pets. We give not to receive. We give true, unconditional love to our tarantulas, snakes, lizards, etc because we care about them. We dedicate our time – countless hours, actually – to make sure they are comfortable and taken care of without getting anything in return. That’s the true definition of taking care of something. To me, exotic pet owners understand what it means to take care of a creature better than anyone else.

Do you agree?!?! Let me know in a comment!

If you want to learn more about tarantulas, feel free to check out my big tarantula guide (I talk about lots of tarantula facts and enclosure/care tips).

By the way, check out my new tarantula magazine for more cool spider stuff:

I’m putting out issues every 2 months! If you’d like to be a part of that, you can visit the magazine’s Patreon page to subscribe or make a submission! You can also contact me at theavenmag@gmail.com for more info!

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