Scarab wrote:

What people can or can not afford has no bearing on the type of person in question. I know people who can not afford a R10 Curly, yet I will trust them with my wife. Other folks buy R1200 slings in volumes of 20, yet I will not give them the time of day. Having money to burn does not make you better or worse than the next person. Values and morals do.

Some spiders will always be cheap, others will never be cheap. Examples used was M balfouri and P metallica. I do not see the price of those EVER dropping below R500 a sling, yet C rosea are given away. The South African market can not handle the volumes other countries can, so it is exactly as mentioned - supply and demand.

Give newcomers spiders for free if you can, they will probably continue expanding their collection over time, increasing the market and the knowledge base.

Unfortunately, the hobby suffers more damage through dishonest shady characters than it grows through free slings to the masses.

+1 Scarab.

I couldn't have said it better myself.

If there's a demand, there will always be someone to supply.

TH

i'm still trying to figure out what happens to the thousands of slings that go into the market every year?? shouldn't we see at least half for sale as adults too???

or is it practice for every collector to have 100+ adult LP's on their shelves???

i find generally markets regulate themselves and especially in the pet trade, the more stuff local and captive bred, the less lucrative it becomes for said shady characters, and the less pressure is put on the wild ones!

yay for captive bread well priced slings! and yay for captive bred high priced slings! it gives you something to look forward to!

Although I do admit that I cannot speak for all newbies but think that it would be great if Scarab and Animal could make like a google map and breeders/sellers could add a little dot to the map with their name ,email address, and slings that they are currently selling. Through pm's prospective buyers would then be able to obtain more specific information, obviously with the breeders/sellers consent, such as meeting places or specific addresses. This would get the desired t's to the people that want them thereby 1.furthering the hobby 2.making a greater profit for breeders and sellers by obviating the need to cull some slings. Its an idea about networking to further the hobby what you guys think? :woohoo:

massive!

One thing we should all remember, a year or two ago there were only a handfull Tarantula breeders is SA. At this stage they are popping up all over and I think it is good for the hobby because people are taking the hobby one step further by breeding them and not just keeping them on their shelves.

Hi Pierell. I'm not against that idea but I know that allot of people kill spiders when giving them too much care.
People who did not grow up with some baboon spiders in the back yard tend to "love them to death".

The best way to get rid of that feeling is to have a 1000 strong eggsack and start giving handouts.