Bloke told to ‘get a hobby’ started collecting spiders and now has over 300

A bloke who was advised by his therapist to take up a hobby for his mental health took to one of the eight-legged variety.

In the summer of 2021, Aaron Phoenix started collecting spiders and now has a whopping 300 of them.

Rather than taking up a new sport or learn a new skill Aaron, from Bristol, decided to adopt over a hundred spiders.

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When we last caught up with Aaron, back in March, he only had 120 spiders. But seven months later, the 35-year-old has doubled the size of his collection.

His current pride and joy is a female Mexican Flame Knee tarantula worth over £160, but his collection is still growing.

He said: “Everyone has their passion, and this is mine.

“The Royal Mail delivery people even know me as “Spider-Man” because every week they bring me my new pets labelled ‘live animals ’ on the box.

"I could sit and watch them for hours – they've had an incredible effect on me and I'll never give up owning tarantulas now.

"People's reactions when I tell them are fantastic – they can't believe it!"

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“In the past few months I have shared my story on social media and so many people have messaged me because they are interested.

“There’s so much more positivity around spiders online than I realised, and it’s really great to see.

“I still have my down moments but I feel now on the whole I’m in a place where my mental health has improved and I’m really content – thanks to my spiders”.

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Aaron's eight-legged friends have an entire bedroom to themselves in his house, and he spends all his free time looking after the creepy crawlies.

He even credits his vast spider collection with 'doing wonders' for his mental health – and sitting in their room with them is his "happy place."

Aaron, a house removal contractor, said: "They're my passion, obsession, whatever you want to call it.

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His partner Jo, 45, and their two teen daughters Dannon, 18, and Lillie, 14,, took a little convincing though.

“At the beginning, my partner and the kids were a bit freaked out,” he said, “but they saw the positive effect it had on me immediately and became supportive”.

Aaron hopes one day to open his own exotic pet shop, and breed baby spiders to sell to collectors.

“The ultimate goal is to do everything spider wise for my work,” he said. “There’s a long way to go but it’s a start.

“It sounds cheesy but I believe this is what I was born to do”.

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