"Check on baby" is one of my favorite things. I try to rtemember to have my favorite sims study parenting when they are teens, and trhen they're checking on everybody else's baby until they have one of their own. The only thing is -- it takes exactly enough time to come up that my attention wanders, and the thought bubble stays up exactly enough time for me to miss it. I am learning to watch that baby like a dog watches a gopher hole once I set my sim to check on the baby, though.

Well I always have been, but I think that fear just grew a lot. I used to just run away to the nearest tall structure, I could climb, when there was a dog barking somewhere, while I was a child. That was pretty bad, because I felt speeding cars where much less scary than the prospect of meeting a dog.

I don't like sim dogs much either, especially if they growl at someone. Thankfully they can't bite my sims or my sim babies, even when they are on the floor. I do prefer to put those babies in the danglemaster, because the animations are so cute and I love to have the parents play with the dangle toys. It would be great, if they wouldn't completely fill their energy when they are in those things, though. They never sleep at night, because their energy is always full.

No, I haven't been bitten by a cat. Scratched, but not bitten. *looks at the innocent looking thing lying on her bed* Fortunately, apparently. I find it hard to believe that cats' mouths are dirtier than dogs though lol. Cats don't eat poo.

At least babies don't scream the roof down and shake the bars of the crib when they aren't tired. They just lie there and stare at the ceiling. XD

Well, I don't think you really need to be afraid of domesticated dogs, either. They are domesticated, after all, and after a few thousand years of living with humans they tend not to see them as potential prey anymore. But sometimes they do snap, especially if they've been mistreated/not properly socialized with humans, and especially around babies/small children. And some of them are, of course, trained to attack, although usually they're trained to pursue, in order to make a trespasser flee or, at worst, to restrain them, not to kill them. It's just that a fear of dogs is a FAR more logical fear than a fear of spiders, given that ANY dog, even a little chihuahua, has the potential to do you harm, sometimes serious harm to the point of causing your death. The possibility is extremely remote, however, so there's really no need to be afraid. It's better not to be, in fact, because dogs will "read" your fear, because they, as social/pack animals, are masters at reading body language. If you're afraid and give off anxious signals, they in turn will tend to become more aggressive. And if you run from them in fear, they will chase you; that's still their instinct.

Anyway, the point is that there's even less reason to fear spiders. The vast majority of spiders are completely harmless to humans and, in fact, are very beneficial to have around in terms of pest control. If you don't like living in, say, an apartment infested with roaches, then having a few large spider houseguests -- especially huntsman spiders, which particularly relish cockroaches -- will help at least with the roaches that decide to venture out and about when the lights are turned off.



You know, if someone would modify the danglemaster (and the bouncy chair, for that matter) so that it doesn't energize the baby, I'd use it/them all the time. As it is, I don't like that it throws off their sleeping pattern that I'm careful to establish, so I never use the things even though the animations are, indeed, cute. I'd LIKE to use them....but I like my "scheduled" babies that fit in with the rest of the family's sleeping pattern a lot more.

ETA @Charity: I don't think it's that cats' mouths are significantly "dirtier" than dogs' mouths. (And they're nothing compared to reptile mouths. I mean, Komodo dragons kill by biting something and then slowly pursuing the prey, waiting for it to become incapacitated from the infection that the bite causes.) It's more the structure of a cat's teeth that cause a problem. Cats are obligate carnivores (dogs are not), and their teeth, while generally smaller than a dog's, are sharper and more penetrating. It's kind of like the difference between a steak knife and a butter knife. One is designed for cutting into meat, the other isn't. So, cat bites tend to be deep and tend not to bleed much. The depth of the bite means that bacteria are deposited deeper into the tissue and are not flushed out by bleeding. So, they have a nice comfy foothold and cat bites will infect pretty much every time, if they're deep enough. It's the infection that causes a cascade of problems.

Still, cats and dogs can't be that dangerous or noone would keep them as pets. I've had two dogs and three cats and I haven't been bitten once. Actually, that isn't entirely true. I got an (entirely justified) nip from my dog as a child because I was harassing her, but she didn't even break the skin.

Well, here's a Wiki page that tracks human deaths from dog attacks in the US. So far for just this year and just in the US, it's got 18 entries, most of them children/babies, which not-properly-socialized dogs will certainly still see as prey. Actual deaths from cat bites are rare, however, although they might have been more common before the development of antibiotics. They usually cause infection that is usually treated promptly. They are very painful, however, as Peni said.

Which isn't to say that dogs (of any breed) are vicious creatures that need to be feared. I've got seven of them, myself, most of them "dangerous" breeds, and they've never bitten anyone except for "corrective" bites when, say, a kid is annoying them. Corrective bites are what dogs do to misbehaving puppies, so it's safe to say that properly-socialized dogs see overly-affectionate/annoying children as misbehaving puppies. The bites/nips they give are the dog's method of educating the puppy/child and should not be construed as "aggression" because it isn't. But, like I said, improperly socialized dogs can be dangerous. And sometimes, very rarely, an otherwise well-socialized dog will snap and its natural predator instincts will kick in and it will see a baby/child as potential prey and act accordingly.

You would probably find his appearance in the HP movie funny too then, as he is the patriarch of his little family (and even I don't think that spiders tend to live in multi generational families all together) and has a long term monogamous relationship with his wife (that's what he refers to her as). Acromantula are, however, suspected to have been created by wizards messing around with dangerous magic, so who knows what mutant behaviours etc. have developed. XD

Oh and size? He's stated to be the size of a small elephant. XD

I dunno...I think an anthropomorphized spider like that would be sort of...adorable. I mean, giving one a family structure and such is so beyond the realm of reality that all disbelief has to be suspended anyway, which I'm more willing to do if a creature is magically-created. Whereas Shelob (in the movie, at least, without any context from the book) just acts like a (orbweaver) spider, trying to subdue and store for later consumption something that has stumbled into its web. So, I guess if something is made ridiculous enough, it becomes, at least to me, not funny but oddly cute. I almost have a desire now to see this movie just to see this character. I wonder if it's on Netflix or Amazon Prime...

As for size...Well, all of these giant spiders are physically impossible in the real world, of course, as they would require an exoskeleton too heavy to be carried around. But if Aragog is a male wolf spider and he's the size of a small elephant, then I'd hate to see his wife, given that female wolf spiders are about 4 or 5 times the size of the males.

. So, I guess if something is made ridiculous enough, it becomes, at least to me, not funny but oddly cute.

It's the uncanny valley all over again!

Are you saying you think humans act by logic and common sense? People keep tigers as pets. According to QI, there are more tigers domesticated in the US than there are in the wild, or at zoos. Whether or not that is true, I have no idea, but clearly potential death by pet is not enough of a reason to make us not have one.

I want an elephant, but I'm not insane. Doesn't mean other people aren't :P

I meant non stupid people. *facepalm* Some people I'm not sure how they manage to dress themselves in the morning.

iCad, you'd probably be better off reading the book as I'm pretty sure his wife etc. aren't mentioned in the movie. I can't believe you haven't read Harry Potter. Read it. It's good.

Maybe his wife looks like that lol.

I read this thread and learned a lot about bugs animals and so forth and i am thankful iCAD for the good education

but as I was gonna post is:

In the sims 2 when a female sim is pregnant some pregnancies are harder then others however, I do like the fact that if a female sim has a job whilst she's pregnant, she can still get free paid vacation days. But as the fetus matures, she can starve to death, pass out, pee her pants and stink more, and high comfort loss.

And not to mention when your female sim dies while giving birth my worst nightmare when that happens and I have not saved in a while this can aggravate anyone! so when a sim has a baby or twins please be glad you have not lost your mother sim when she was giving birth ok. man that sucks

I caught myself watching tarantula videos on youtube and I blame you iCad. XD And one died because they couldn't get her moult off her in time and it was so sad.

Some tips.
1. Buy the highest comfort bed that you can so her energy and comfort go up faster.
2. have her take naps, also get her up at 2am if she is fully rested and have her eat.
3. Have prepared meals in the fridge so she can grab leftovers. Don't use instant meals they don't raise the hunger bar far or fast enough.
4. Buy a bathtub and have her take bubble baths.
5. Hire the dreaded nanny (just for now) to watch over a toddler if you have to.
6. Watch her needs more closely and step in when any become more then slightly half way down. Do not wait for them to get worse. Always make her eat first if her needs are red.
7. Make sure all your Free Time perks related to needs are ticked.
8.Do not have her do anything that drains an area like working on the FT car, go jogging, or working out.
9. Don't look at her needs and treat them like a non pregnant sim. While another may be able to stay painting or whatever keep a close eye as they can go down faster then you might anticipate.
10. In an emergency use maxmotives or the simblender to raise hunger halfway.

That should be enough as I have never had a pregnant sim die. It's all a mater of becoming a better player.

i've never clicked the Freetime needs perks, and haven't had a pregnant sim die since my experimental days. Just don't let a need (other than comfort, which can drop from green to orange in one second, or hygiene ditto if something untoward happens, like baby spit-up) go below 50% and she's golden.

Also - use other sims. Seriously. Invite a social group over (an actual social group, the kind you can "manage" over the phone) for a "just for fun" outing, influence one to clean, one to repair, and one to play with the toddler, put some leftovers on the counter, and let Pregnant Lady get a nap! Because they're in a social group, they won't leave till their motives dip really low or you release them, even when she's asleep. And once you've got teens - oh boy, teens are great! You can also invite in walkbys to repair and clean your stuff. Family have an increased likelihood to walk by during pregnancy. Obviously, they want to help! So oblige them.

Heather Huffington is a thoroughly lazy sim - but mine, who married Kevin Beare and changed her aspiration to Family, is a good cook (partly because she can get fun and social up by watching the cooking channel), and she has breezed through six pregnancies by the simple expedient of inviting her sorority sisters over to keep up with the housework and keep her company. She also works the oldest teen at home at any given time mercilessly. It takes a neighborhood to raise a child!

@Charity: Ah-hahahahah! Next thing you know, you'll be getting a pet tarantula and turning into a spider nerd. But yes, molts are perilous times. When one of mine goes belly-up (which, unlike with fish, doesn't mean they're dead; Ts molt on their backs), I'm all anxious mother hen. Is their cage humid enough? Is it TOO humid? Basically, I'm freaking out until they've gotten safely through their molt and their new exoskeleton is all hardened up and they're happily eating again. Thankfully, I've only ever had a few bad molts, and none of them has resulted in death, just a few mangled legs that I had to amputate and which regenerated with their next molt. Bad molts can result in destroyed fangs/chelicerae, though, which means the spider can't eat. Very sad, yes.

@sims 1: In addition to what Jo said, I find that it's actually beneficial to send pregnant Sims to work, the reason being that for their work hours their motives drain the same as a non-pregnant Sim. Plus, you don't have to worry about them for those hours. If you do decide to keep them home, though, I find that a 3-4-hour nap in the early afternoons is very helpful. I have them eat until they're full before, then nap and when they wake up, they're good to go until they're ready for bed at 10PMish or so. In other words, schedule your preggos, especially if they have a toddler as well as being pregnant. Schedule the toddler so that they nap in the early afternoon and have the preggo nap at the same time. I've never had a preggo die, either. Not even close. You just have to watch them and treat them a little differently, is all.

I play with aging off quite often, and I also let my main Sims be pregnant much longer than the three days Maxis coded. If I can have my Sim stopped for 10-20 days on each pregnant step, and not have her die, my game is either not as mean on motives as others, or I do something different. It's never really occurred to me that their needs drop unusually fast.

Hah. Maybe not for three reasons. 1. I was watching one video where they had the tarantula out crawling across the carpet and every time it ran I jerked back from the computer reflexively. XD 2. My cat would eat it. Om nom nom. 3. They aren't a natural species here, so it's illegal to bring them into the country.

I did go back to that link I showed you and downloaded the pet spider for my sims though. XD

I never realised moulting was so complicated. They had surgical tweezers out and were stripping the skin off bit by bit while the spider just lay there. Poor spider.