#Overcoming Arachnophobia MY STORY

Hi all Steemians! Let me introduce you to my 8 year old pet White Knee tarantula.
Meet Buddy. Yes, I know it is a strange name for a spider, but even stranger is that she is a female as well. I simply could not decide on a name for the spider as I could barely look at it when I got it.

(Photo taken today 31/01/2018)

#The history#
Ever since I was a young boy I was always deathly afraid of spiders. I just could just never stand the idea of a spider in my vicinity, nevermind IT walking on me? My whole life through I basically avoided them. I believe that I suffer from arachnophobia.
( Arachnophobia is the irrational fear of Scorpions and spiders).
I focused on the “irrational” part and thought, I can get over this fear.

#A time for change
After probably the 100th time my girlfriend was crying from laughter after I had yet another spider encounter, I told myself enough is enough and it is time to man up and face my fears.
On the day of my 21st birthday I gathered all my courage and went to the pet shop and browsed through all the spiderlings available while Googling from my phone to determine their temperament, habitat and of course their diets, respectively.
So I came across the Brazilian Giant White Knee Bird Eating Tarantula. The name itself sounded horrific, giving me the chills. BUT on the other hand IF I was going to buy a spider it might as well be one worthwhile. These are some of the facts that I found while trying to make my decision.

(Buddy 2 months old)

#The facts
They occur in the tropical and humid rain-forests of Brazil , where they often burrow their way into rotten stumps or burrow their way under fallen logs otherwise directly into the soil.
These large, large-bodied terrestrial spiders reach around 26 cm (10") in leg span, occasionally larger and there are claims that they can grow up to 32 cm (12")!
Lifespan: Expected lifespan of this species is between 20 – 25 years.
Like other terantulas, they hatch small (less than 6 mm (1/4")) and have many slings (Spiderlings) about 1000 - 1500. Spiderlings develop their coloration early and are ravenous hunters, eagerly tackling food many times their own size!
White knee terantuals are easy to care for, tolerating a wide range of conditions from very moist to dry, but seem to fare best a little on the humid and moist side.

(Buddy just after "shedding" her skin in November 2017)

#The story in between
Having decided on the White Knee tarantula, I calmly took the container with the spiderling to the cashier to make my purchase. All the way to the counter I had this eerie feeling something was walking on me. Only my imagination acting up at this testing time of great stress.
Once purchased and I had left the pet shop, I felt a strange relief that I had actually done what I had set out to do.
In the car on the way home I was almost exited about my purchase, but nervous at the same time.
“I CAN DO THIS” I told myself again.
Once at home I constantly checked on the 2cm pink spiderling, curiously inspecting it’s every move, feeding it baby crickets and droplets of water.
Before long I had the courage to pick Buddy up and let her walk on my hand and take a stroll up my arm. I noticed so many little things that spiders do that I never even had a clue they did, maybe because of my lack of interest.

(Shedding in my hand after I took it out of the enclosure)

#Did you know?
Spiders clean their environment by spinning a web over the floor and rolling it away to clear the top layer of “dirty” soil.
After catching an insect, spiders spin a little “picnic blanket” with web on the floor, so that if the partially eaten insect falls on the substrate they can continue eating. I have seen Buddy dropping a super-worm on the ground and not eating it because it fell next to the webbed blanket.
Spiders clean themselves (almost looking like a rat with 8 legs).

#THE CONCLUSION
Today, after having a pet spider, I rarely kill spiders in and around my home because of the appreciation I have for arachnids after my 8 year personal experience raising a spider from a little pink “sling” into a 17cm (so far) spider.

I hope you enjoyed my story and that maybe this inspires you to concur at least one of your own fears.

Sources:
Photographs: @rslabbert
Arachnophobia definition: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arachnophobia
All other information is my own that I have gathered from watching my own spider grow over the years.

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Thank you
@rslabbert