The spider that started my journey... It's true, my very first pet spider was Mista, a humble big-eyed jumping spider
In the late summer, I went to a faire for exotics and reptiles. Of all the animals, my eyes fell on the spiders... I have never truly feared spiders. I had a certain reverance for them from my upbringing, and so I love weird creepy critters. I remember back to the shows and documentaries I had watched recently, they were about spiders. I recall a Japanese youtuber I followed at the time, he had such a passion for them and filmed them doing everything! Grooming, hunting, drinking water and balancing it on it's little head. I was in love!
I had already accumulated so much knowledge about them from my research so in hindsight it was the logical next step, but at the time it felt like a very impulsive choice to have a new pet suddenly. But my partner was encouraging, with their support I felt more confident about my decision... So I adopted Mista that day and he changed my life
Jumpers are wonderfully charming to interact with! Mista is really cute and sociable ^^ My Mista is also technically a 'female', you can tell by their adult colouration. But at the time I named him, I didn't know how to tell the difference between sexes until he was an adult... Oh well, let's just say he's trans then :P
Jumping spiders are really clever and adept hunters in the wild. Getting to experience their natural behaviour up close is really fun when they make great leaps or pounce on a prey, but what makes them especially attractive pets is their seemingly boundless curiosity and the docility they possess with humans. Spending time with a jumper, they can learn to recognize you, some can learn to perform simple tricks and come to you when beckoned. Did you know they even dream? It's true!
The care and conditions for happy, healthy jumpers is really straight-forward and easy, there's some links in my Guides section for more detail about getting started. They're hardy pets, allowing some grace to a newbie owner and making a great introduction into the world of keeping arachnids!!! >w<