In "Dr. No", the doctor himself gave Professor Dent a tarantula in a glass cage. Should he have taken it?

Yes! One should never refuse a gift because it interferes with the person's act of giving. People need to give to show their friendship and evoke the law of circulation. (Unless it's a "Clyde" that has strings attached to the gift. In that case refuse it.)

If you don't need the gift, then you can circulate it to someone else, (after a while, so the giver won't feel slighted.)

In Professor Dent's case, he didn't want the tarantula so he put it into Bond's bed. Bond didn't want it, so he gave it the boot, so to speak.

Be sure to acknowledge the gift and show your appreciation unlike Bond did by giving Professor Dent the "silent treatment" (with a silenced Wather PPK).