Ally's Eight-Legged Journey

There was a post floating around my Facebook feed over the weekend that asked a very simple question: "Are there any arachnophobes out there who have been helped by jumping spiders?" This got me to thinking about my own situation, and the answer is....yes. I was as arachnophobic as it was possible to be for 30 years prior to my mission to get over it. I would freak out when ever I saw a spider sometimes I'd scream, sometimes I'd freeze, other times I would throw things. I would hallucinate spiders when awake and have nightmares when I was asleep. Some examples of how ridiculous my phobia got include: - There was once a time when my sister sent me a Facebook video that included a spider coming out from under a cabinet - I threw my phone across the work lunch room, and my manager had to pick it up and cancel the video for me because it was on a loop. I couldn't face it. - Another time I was playing World of Warcraft with my eyes shut because there was a spider ...

Tonight, I held my Winnie for the first time! The first successful time, I mean. I've made several attempts in the past to hold her, but she always flopped around like a dead fish in an effort to escape. Tonight, she just sat on my hand. She looked around a bit before she started washing her face with her little pedipalps, and then sucking on her toes - presumably cleaning/grooming herself. SHe was incredibly cute, so here are some pictures: This is a big step forward for both of us - a sign from her that she's starting to trust me, and for me....I actually held a spider!

Winnie has eaten!! I am very proud of this and see it as a great step forward. Following the advice I got from the Friendly Jumping Spider group on Facebook, I used a paintbrush to gently herd Winnie into a 300ml plastic container that I usually use to ferry yoghurt around in. It does not have any airholes in it, so I was quite anxious about leaving her in it for too long. Jumping spiders not only need ventilation, but they need cross ventilation, meaning airholes at the sides of the container, rather than in the top. But once I had ushered her into the container, I dropped 5 fruitflies in with her. I didn't dare to leave her alone in case I got distracted and forgot about her (one of the many symptoms of being a mother of a small child!) so I sat with her and watched. She was definitely interested in the fruitflies - following their movements with a keen eye. - but I think I put too many flies in with her, as she kept switching her focus from one to the next to the next, ...

Living where I do, just walking into a shop and buying a spider isn't an easy task. Actual pet shops are few and far between, and in general I don't even like them. With my fish, I prefer to get them from a specialist store - Someone who knows their livestock inside and out, can give me accurate care information, and can help when things go wrong. Why would this be any different for a spider? I have done some looking around, and due to my not being able to drive, my best option for getting my pet spider is mail order. This makes me so anxious. There are a lot of webstores around which will ship out a jumping spider. There are even a lot of independent breeders I could buy from on social media, and then there are those less reputable people who go out into the world and catch the spiders from the wild for a profit. (Fortunately, due to Phiddipus regius being an American species, the number of these latter people in the UK appears to be next to none). Fortunately, whil...