Wandering through the pet shop, I stumbled across the spider section the other day.  Color me creeped out!  While I can totally get the idea of snakes, rats, mice and other creepy critters, I just do not understand the appeal of a pet spider.  I mean, every time you handle one, you are playing with fire.  It’s not as if you can teach your mini-Fido to play nice.

Not only do they bite for no reason, they are completely un-trainable.  So are snakes, I guess, but snakes are at least a little less dangerous, and they can be so beautiful to look at.  I have never seen a spider I cared to give a second glance to.  In fact, most of them are downright disgusting to look at.

One website touts the benefits of spiders, such as being clean and quiet, requiring little space and inexpensive to maintain.  The same can be said of snakes, rabbits, hamsters, mice and rats, and they at least have a little personality.

Listed among the top disadvantages is this minute detail – spiders are venomous!  Not only that, but keeping spiders requires careful attention to temperature, lighting, humidity and other factors.  Spiders cannot be handled, can cause death to other family pets, and are basically untreatable if they get sick.  Add to this the fact that they are rather expensive, and I still cannot see one single benefit to owning a spider.

So tell me, spider lovers, what is it about having a pet spider that appeals to you?  Do you think they are better than other small pets?  Help enlighten me, please, but only after I’ve successfully erased the creepy crawly feeling I got from imagining a giant spider crawling on my hand.