ok for those who aren't in the UK who watch these programmes...

last night in eastenders, the storyline was this: Deadly spider comes in on shipment of bananas, deadly spider crawling in a box (on TOP of banana's - like you wouldn't see it!) spider crawls on character called charlie and goes in his shirt, charlie realises theres a spider, thinks he's been bitten and goes off on one...

what did they use as the deadly spider... a chile rose.

Then on doctors today my husband rings me and says you'll never guess what, another deadly spider story using... a CHILE ROSE!

In the eastenders episode the poor thing gets chucked on the floor (most of tarantula community cringes whilst watching)

I know they couldn't use something like a real brazilian wondering spider but PLEEEEEAAAASE why use something that looks NOTHING LIKE a deadly spider!

I recon half the parents with teenagers who have T's are now being made to get rid of them in case they get bitten. I know the basic message is if you see or get bitten by an unknown spider then get to hospital and contact environmental health but for gods sake do it right!

And to add insult to injury the acting was even more cheesy than usual. the T deserved an award... hope it got paid bloody well!!!!

i know. most people who arent familliar with spiders and assume the big ones are all horrible and scary and chase after people to try and kill them. the fact is, that the spiders are more scared of us than we are of them.

and im sure the T got a hot bath and a big juicey pinky mouse.
and for the T getting chucked on the floor, there are no laws proventing inverts from bieng mistreated in movies and tv. i have seen it in a few movies, like in the scorpion king the evil king guy cuts of the telsons of a few emps.

thats messed up, i didnt see either of these programs, but i red all bout it on reptile forums uk RFUK

well my husband, me and most of the BTS complained to the BBC. Because they really need to portray spider/scorpion related topics better!

Yes its one of those things that hits a raw nerve with me.

me 2, but its one of those things snakes and spiders cause alot of fear becaue they have been depicted as evil for centuries, for an example in greek mythology alot of evil creatures were snake like, and in the bible the devil appeared as a snake n so on

well that it look what happened when jaws came out... personally i'd love to swim with sharks!

it would be an awesome experience, id love to swim with great whites

I've seen not one, but TWO movies where they used an Avicularia avicularia for the same sort of thing. The teddy-bear of the T world!!

*is angry at hollywood*

The hissing cockroaches in Men in Black really irritated me, too.

i know what ya mean. there is another movie where they kill scorps. i cant remember the name.

And emperor scorpions.

Well they're not going to risk the death of an actor, so they need to add some fictional qualities to it. The majority of people in the world don't know the difference anyway.

oh i know they wont risk the death of an actor, but to use one of the country's most popular 1st time keeper tarantulas was a bit of a stupid idea!

They should have used a spider that would have been similar to a brazilian wondering spider so people would KNOW what to look for. Not a spider that looks nothing like. Unfortunatly there are a lot of people who wouldn't know one spider from another so using a very popular spider in the pet trade wasn't really the best idea in the world.

Right thats the last i'll say on the matter or i'll be raving about it forevermore...
**takes deep breath***

lets put it this way using a chille rose and calling it deadly is going to result in a lot of parents making there kids get rid of them, so alot a rosies gunna be homeless because of this

People who believe what they see in shows like that shouldn't be allowed to reproduce . . .