Here's a stupid roommate disagreement that OOT can argue over. I live in suite-style dorm with 5 other guys at my school, consisting of a living room, large bathroom, and 3 double rooms, all connected by a single hallway. We're all very good friends, eat many of our meals together, and do lots of drinking and what have you with each other. I recently got a tarantula for my room, and one of my suitemates has freaked out about it.

A little backstory about him. He is not a nervous person, but has some weird hang ups and the occasional anxiety attack. He's been off and on Xanax for years (none of which he ever shares with me btw), and sometimes stresses out easily. He is, apparently, also deathly afraid of spiders.

When he found out that there was a tarantula in my room, he supposedly had a panic attack and had to pop a couple pills to calm down. We talked about it last night, and he essentially told me that I had to move it to one of our mutal friend's room within the next couple of days, or else he would tell the RA that I had it (our school thinks we're all still 15 and doesn't allow us to have any pets in our rooms aside from fish, but this rule is constantly broken, including said mutual friend who has a ball python in his room).

I have multiple issues with this demand. First and I believe most importantly, it's not his room. He hardly ever comes in anyways, so he would never have to see it. Second, the entire set up, spider and all, cost ~$180. He told me that if I move it he'll be willing to eat some of the cost, but I can't imagine it being more than half, and that sort of defeats the purpose of buying a tarantula. Third, I've owned various exotic pets before, including spiders, and have never had any escape. The cage has a latching screen, along with many heavy objects on top of the screen itself. This spider is in prison. Finally, none of my other suitemates have any prpoblems with it, including my roommate.

Some of our mutual friends have told me I'm being a huge dick because it's a "medical condition" that I'm messing with, while others (including my roommate) think that it's not any of his business. So what do you guys think?

Cliffs: I buy tarantula, suitemate throws a fit and demands I get rid of it.

You should have checked with everyone before getting a pet, esp a freaking tarantula (I'd be terrified too). You should get rid of it now.

Tarantulas are not at all deadly. I just googled it and every link I got confirmed that. If he still can't get over it he probably should get counseling or medication or something. A college kid being afraid of a harmless spider locked in a cage is kind of sad. Obviously he needs to do something -- counseling, medication, whatever. Keep the spider, **** him.

roomate is a vag, but you should have discussed this with them before buying it

And that purpose would be?

I had talked to my own roommate before and he had no problem with it. I didn't think to ask anyone else for a multitude of reasons.

It's an aesthetic pet, like fish. I could take it out and handle it, but I figure I'll just pass on that given how freaked out he is.

What a surprise, a moral dilemma in OOT with 2 douches.

I'm thinking that "**** you" works well in this situation.

If he was just being a nit I'd say you have zero responsibility to do anything, but it sounds like the guy has a real phobia. Ridiculous as it may seem to you and I, if having the tarantula in your room is really going to **** with his head badly I think you need to get rid of it.

I cant believe 6 dudes share one bathroom. **** college

I think you at least owed everyone living there a "Hey is it cool if I buy a tarantula?"

At this point though I'd like to think the other guy should just suck it up, but Idk how serious arachnophobia can be.

Yeah another example of our school being completely ****ing ******ed by making us live on campus all four years. It's got two toilets and three sinks, but only one shower. It's not terrible, but it's pretty dumb.

I once pulled an April Fool's prank on my mom who is deathly afraid of spiders.

I was like 10 or something and I bought a bag of 80 plastic spiders. I woke up before she did and dumped them out on her bed, then went and sat in the living room and waited. 15 minutes later I heard the most blood curdling scream I've ever heard. Hilarity ensued.

But yeah, probably don't do this.

This I think your roommate is a bit of a wuss but you knew the rules. They are not allowed. Bye

The dorms I lived in originally had 16 guys with 1 bathroom. 3 toilets, 3 or 4 sinks, and 2 showers. Apt I lived in had 5 BRs, 1 bathroom with 2 showers and 1 toilet (but like a regular bathroom). Seriously, who is going to crap next to a guy taking a shower? And I couldn't figure out the 2 showers in the same room angle either. Coming home after all-you-can-eat wing night was brutal.

I can understand where you're coming from, but to me this is no different then a fish tank. It's not gonna leave the cage, run around, **** on the floor, or drink his beer. If any of my suitemates wanted to buy some fish or a lizard or anything that doesn't make noise or have to be let out of its cage, I wouldn't expect them to ask me.

Landonfan is right.

I will now kill myself.

You should probably have had the forethought to check with your suitemates, for many reasons. You didn't, you earn some thoughtless dick points, and now he either sucks it up or turns you in and earns some of his own.

The roommate guy is a weirdo and overly paranoid but I also don't think is behaving like this 100% for the attention and/or drama. He's a wuss but people out there really do have phobias and I can't entirely blame the guy for being annoyed by this even though it's not in the same room as him.

Your fault for not thinking to ask everyone in your apartment. I think his offer to help with the cost of removing it is more than generous. I believe you should probably get it out of there entirely at your own expense simply for failing to check on this beforehand.

I'm not particularly fond of spiders or snakes but also am not really super-duper freaked by them either. But if I met with some guy to be his housemate in completely different parts of the same domicile and he had a snake and a spider that he kept in his room and in their cages 100% of the time that would still probably be enough for me to pass on being his roommate/housemate just because it's my preference to not live in the same house with a spider and a snake.

The mutual friend who offered to take it and owns the ball python is the RA on the floor above me.

It is different. Nobody has a concern, however invalid, that a fish is going to escape and poison them while they sleep. You should have considered how people are going to react to this, that it will be meaningfully different from a fish tank, and checked with people.

i met a guy one time in college who kept a bunch of tiny snakes in tupperware containers in his closet. his roommate found out, told the RA and he was kicked out of the dorms. nobody ever saw him again.

oh yeah...get rid of the stupid ****ing tarantula. (get a fish)

Not everyone else is you. your tolerance of other pets they might get does not at all apply to this situation.

It probably ****s with the guys head way more than you think. If you guys are friends he probably isn't being difficult for no reason. I'd play some sort of sick prank on him with it then get rid of it.