Oldest Tarantula???

Just wondering who has the oldest tarantula here. What kind and how old?

My oldest currently is a G. rosea at eleven. I'm sure this doesn't even touch some others on the boards.

Female B.smithi 17

Wow! That's awesome! When I tell people my G. rosea is at least 9 they flip out. The others I don't know about, although most of them are much younger.

My oldest is an 8 year old P.regalis...although I have an A.moderatum that is at least 3 years old, and has never molted for me, so with her slow growth she could very likely be much older than that. :?

i had a curly hair that died at 14

My buddy had a B.smithi named "Theresa" for 22 years!!!

Wow!! 22 years!?!? That's awesome! I'm just hoping some of mine will live 10 years.

The B smithii that I had years ago was a wild caught female. Between the time I had her and her size/maturity I estimate she was 12-15 years old when I sold her. (And she never wrote me!!) :wall:

koldaar said:

Wow!! 22 years!?!? That's awesome! I'm just hoping some of mine will live 10 years.

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Of course my buddy is old enough to be my father, but he raised her from a .5" sling!!! How she died was actually and accident. It was nasty below zero day and the room she was in was cold soo he left a heat lamp on and came home to a cooked T He has thought about possibly getting another T.

One and All -

Some of you may remember the story of the Duchess, the big Brachypelma emilia (Mexican redleg) that appears on page 31 of The Tarantula Keeper’s Guide.

We bought her in July 1972 from an animal importer in Ann Arbor, Michigan. At that time she was large enough that we’re certain she was full grown. As a crude estimate, we think she was at least 15 years old at the time, probably older, possibly much older.

She finally died for us in January 1991, almost 19 years later! Her total life span was probably in excess of 34 years.

We still have several Brachypelma smithi (Mexican redknee) that were imported just before they were put on CITES Appendix II in 1985. They were full grown adults at that time, at least 15 years old. That would place them at 35+ as I type this.

How much longer will they live? We have no idea. We do know that several of them produced eggsacs about 3 years ago that were destroyed by Phorid flies before the eggs could hatch. Thus, at least some of them are still fertile.

koldaar said:

Wow!! 22 years!?!? That's awesome! I'm just hoping some of mine will live 10 years.

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In our experience and from watching many others, this tarantula keeping thing commonly develops a lot like this:

At first you're fascinated by them. They're so bizarre and many of the New World kinds, at least, seem to be so cuddly and friendly. (Once you learn to tolerate the bristles!)

After a few years you begin to get bored of them. (Oh God! You still here? When are you goin' to die?)

After a few more years, if you can stick it out, you begin to realize that you've been popping crickets into their cages for YEARS now! Maybe more than a decade! "Good grief! That thing's older than my kid!" is a common remark.

At that time you begin to really appreciate what they are. You begin to treasure them like a fine Renaisance painting or a 1914 Stutz Bearcat.

Ten years is nothing. When you write them into your Last Will and Testament, you can start bragging!

I have male N. coloratovillosum he is 4 years old

Stan,

WOW!!!

Those numbers are amazing! I have somewhere around 100 T's these days myself. Interesting to think many of my beloved little friends will be around to see my retirement..lol. Who knew. Are you comming to this years ATS show? I thoroughly enjoyed our conversations last year, very much looking forward to this year as well.

-jasonic (aka: the animator who worked on Eight Legged Freaks)

Holy 35+!!! that's insane, my G rosea is only 7....

You mean my 2 year old daughter will be in highschool before my 1.5" Brachypelma auratum is full grown to maturity? OMG! <groan>
I better start T shopping again...dang this is getting expensive.

nice to see your post here Stan
just wondering are you willing to let your old lady smithi go after you start your traveling plan for golden years?

how about some pics of your old t's?

evil_educator said:

how about some pics of your old t's?

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I second that. I will post my 9 y/o later. I would love to see a pic of Dr. Zum's old girl!

B. smithi

I have a friend that purchased a wild caught adult before he went into college 27 years ago. She is still alive and doing very well. He gave me one of her molts as a souvenier! She is amazing I hope my captive ones live as long.

bug2 said:

I have a friend that purchased a wild caught adult before he went into college 27 years ago. She is still alive and doing very well. He gave me one of her molts as a souvenier! She is amazing I hope my captive ones live as long.

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So if my math is right, your friends spider is over 40 years old. Amazing...