"T" time

Will0W783 · 07-17-14, 02:30 PM

I was thinking about how I've missed owning tarantulas. I've owned at least one pretty much constantly for the last 12 years, but parted with my red leg about a year ago, and had none since.

We went to PetsMart to get crickets on Sunday for the geckos, and I got to talking with one of the clerks there. After talking about spiders for a bit, she told me they had a rosehair in the back that came missing a leg. They wanted to adopt him out to a good home. I checked with my fiance and he was ok with it, so we brought the little sweetie home. He/she is very calm and friendly, but by far the hungriest t I've ever seen. I put about 10 crickets in with him and BAM...he nailed three at once and wrapped them up. Within a few hours all of the crickets were gone.

I named him "Siete" since he only has 7 legs.

Then today when I went to get a few live feeder mice at a different store, a guy brought in a Thai tiger tarantula his girlfriend was making him get rid of. She was afraid of it. I told him I'd take it since the store didn't want another spider. It's a gorgeous little velvety specimen, with a vivid holographic tiger pattern on its rump. It's not the friendliest thing- he chased me out of his cage while I was setting him up in it, but I put a glove on and got him to climb on it so I could safely get him back into his new home.
I've decided to go with "Vlad the Impaler" as name for this fierce little fellow!

SnoopySnake · 07-17-14, 02:35 PM

Nice T's. I'm not too fond of them, don't think I could own one but I still like to look at them. Good on you for taking these two in!

Will0W783 · 07-17-14, 05:27 PM

Thanks. My fiance isn't a huge fan either. Lol.

Jim Smith · 07-17-14, 06:08 PM

If I understand it correctly, a spider can regrow a leg when it molts provided it is not already a fully mature spider. Is your spider a mature specimen or does it have some growing left to do so it could possible regrow the missing leg?

Will0W783 · 07-18-14, 08:53 AM

Jim,

I think Siete is pretty much grown, but depending on whether it's male or female, it could have some growing left to do. Most tarantulas can regrow a leg after several molts, so I think Siete stands a decent chance of recovery.