Need help interpretting. Very detailed dream.

The dream setting starts out in my small apartment which is 1 bedroom and Den with a small dining area, kitchen and 1 bathroom. In the dream, it had 2 additional rooms in it that looked more like playrooms for kids. I was six years younger than I am now so like 21, maybe. There were also two 12 year olds in my apartment that I do not know in real life. One boy with red hair and freckles who was taller than me and a girl with dark wavy shoulder length hair, who was about a head length shorter than me. Both of them had pale skin. I was talking to the boy while he was holding his pet brown and black, furry tarantula, when suddenly it shot a web that wedged between my teeth and I was unable to open my mouth. I was terrified, screaming muffled screams and freaking out trying to pull my mouth apart with my hands. I calmed down a bit when the boy looked up how to loosen the web. They found out if you cut off small portions of the tarantula's body, it weakens the web. However, the girl ended up cutting off all it's legs with a scissor. (the small portions were just suppose injure it, not kill it, but she went over-board. That tarantula was good and dead). After then web was taken out of my mouth, I went and washed my hands in the bathroom. I said to the boy, "I hope your tarantula will be ok. Not that I like it or anything, but I know it's your pet and because of that I don't want it to die." As I walked into my bedroom and put up a small fence, he said "thanks." in a really depressed tone and then walked away with his hands in his pockets. I felt really bad about his pet, and even though I knew that tarantula was dead, and I knew, he knew it was dead, I didn't want to make it sound like all hope it lost for it. As I walked into my room, I noticed my closet light was on and then I turned to my right and saw a medium sized yellowish crocodile with brownish grey stripes on me & my husband's bed. It had these piercing brown and black eyes. I tried to walk over to the bed and when I got to a certain point, the crocodile flopped off the bed and attacked me. I was holding it's jaws open and frantically screaming for my husband, but he never came. As soon as the crocodile had pushed me back to a certain point, it stopped attacking and went back up onto the bed. Still watching me like a hawk to make sure I came no where near the bed. I was so confused as why it was trying to keep me away from the bed. Then, I attempted to leave the room, when a large dog-sized lion (probably say about mastiff sized) came out of no where and roared at me. It was clear I was not allowed to leave the bedroom. I was frightened and in a meek voice, called for my husband again, but he was didn't come either. It slowly stepped toward me until I was cornered near my closet which light was on still. After that, the lion turned it's back to me, and let out a small growl, staring at the direction of the gate with the same beaming glare the crocodile had given me. It's as if it were waiting for someone to show up, to stop them from entering the room. The lion started to transform a bit. It's mane shrunk smaller, and it started to develop black stripes like a tiger, but it's tail and most of it's build was still lion like. It was weird, I was weary of these to animals, but by the end of the dream, I felt as if they weren't trying to hurt me, but instead trying to scare me in order to protect me from something, or someone. From what I could grasp from the dream, My husband wasn't even in the apartment. At age 21 he wasn't even my boyfriend yet. So I don't get why I was calling for him, if 1 he wasn't my husband or boyfriend in the dream and 2 I knew he wasn't there.

A nightmare, it was just a nightmare. What's to interpret? Dreams are wholly personal and drawn from your life experiences.

Truth aside, you felt guilty for being attacked by the spider, as though you caused the death. The boy looked up how to loosen the web and the girl did the cutting. Your apology also shows you're projecting some type of false confidence onto a hard truth. And being trapped by protectors could show you're making some poor choices right now and could benefit from being helped or saved by someone else (maybe your husband), or an aspect of yourself. Or, your defense mechanisms are malfunctioning, and you're inclined to be defensive against people who just want to be friendly. Overall the dream is indicative of feeling smothered, first by the spider, next by your 'guardians.' Fighting nature is another thread. Look up what the spider, crocodile and dog symbolize in dreams, perhaps.

Like I said, dreams are personal, these are just the thoughts that spring up when I read your words, and they could be far off the mark. What's your general feeling? Don't be concerned about time and age, logical things, in dreams, just look at the important symbols and general mood.