# A. Francki life span??



## gkslacker (Nov 15, 2013)

I was wondering how long Acanthogonatus francki (Chilean Gold Dust Spider) live? 

From what I have heard most True spiders do not live very long. My gold dust is about 1.5" maybe 2" right now and seems to be a female, if the sexing techniques are the same as T's. If so I'm guessing she has some good amount to life left.


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## jecraque (Nov 16, 2013)

I think there's some confusion here. 
Tarantulas are all in one family, Theraphosidae. _A. francki_ is a mygalomorph, the same larger group (infraorder) that includes tarantulas, but it isn't in the family Theraphosidae, so isn't a tarantula. It's in Nemesiidae instead. You may already know this, in which case, I apologize.

"True spiders" typically refers to araneomorphs, which are generally shorter-lived, as you said. But _A. francki_ isn't an araneomorph, so any generalizations about "true spiders" won't apply. Trust me, it's easier to understand on a tree or cladogram, but in short they are closer related to tarantulas than to "true spiders"

I can't give a satisfactory answer, because I don't keep these--yet! I have heard they are similar in lifespan to other non-tarantula mygalomorphs or to dwarf tarantulas. Longer than an araneomorph, for sure.

Good luck with yours--they are gorgeous and I'm quite jealous!


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## ARACHNO-SMACK48 (Mar 18, 2014)

This post may be a bit late but:

They are really nice looking spiders. I was wondering the same question mine is 2in+. But more than that I have been looking for a bite report. Does anybody know how potent their venom is?


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## Curious jay (Mar 18, 2014)

Everything Is mainly speculation from my research.

Guess they live anywhere from 10-20+ years like most other Mygs

As for a bite report.... Never found one myself I'd guess the venom is mild, but I haven't been tagged by mine to find out.


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## ARACHNO-SMACK48 (Mar 19, 2014)

Yah, I am suprised they aren't more popular amongst collectors. 

I hope your right about the 10-20 years it would be great if it lived that long!

I picked mine up at a repticon a few weeks ago and I have no idea if it is WC or CB (forgot to ask ) but it is right around 2 in. maybe 2.5 so I think it may have a bit more growing before it reaches maturity.

Also, I have never been tagged before so it would suck if my first one was a myg that turned out to be super venemous. I guess I will just have to take my chances.


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## pitbulllady (Mar 19, 2014)

I had mine for six years, but bear in mind that this was a mature adult female, an import, so I have no idea how old she might have been when I got her, and since she died during a moult gone wrong, I also don't know if that was due to her age or something completely unrelated, meaning that she could have lived much longer had she not had that bad moult.  These are Mygalamorphs, after all, so I'd have to assume that their lifespan is similar to that of true tarantulas.  
Not all true spiders, or Araneomorphs, live short life spans, by the way.  Female _Kukulcania hibernalis_ can live as long as female tarantulas; I have had one female now for 17 years, and she was an adult when I got her, so I don't know how old she actually is.

pitbulllady

Reactions: Like 1


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## ARACHNO-SMACK48 (Mar 19, 2014)

Just out of curiosity what kind of enclosure did you use for yours? I want to transfer my 2 inch+ a. francki and my 2 inch+ b. smithi into a couple of those 6 quart sterilite containers from target but I am worried the containers are too large. I know this is a matter of debate but I just wanted somebody else's opinion.


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## Curious jay (Mar 19, 2014)

Just started work but ill get a picture of my setup for my A. pissi when I get home, I've recently moved her ad I think a molts impending as she's extremely defensive and produced a sack a while back that she ended up eating before I pulled it. 

I got a few old pics of her and a couple of pairing videos I could also upload if anyone was interested.

Old shot:


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## ARACHNO-SMACK48 (Mar 20, 2014)

Sounds good, that's a nice shot. Reminds me that I need to take a few pics of some of my T's. How big is the enclosure you have her in now?


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## Curious jay (Mar 20, 2014)

I've got her housed in a medium kritter keeper, they're full grown at around 3-4" but being a heavy webber I like to give them a fair bit of space to use.

Since her rehouse she's currently webbed it similar to a Psalmopoeus with the web curtain behind a corkbark slab, last setup she had 2 burrows with exstensive webbing between the two.


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## ARACHNO-SMACK48 (Mar 20, 2014)

I dont mean to be asking too many questions but do you think a 12 in length  by 6 inch width  by 4 in depth container such as these would be too large for a 2 inch spider. Like before, just wanted some input from somebody else. 

http://www.spacesavers.com/Storage/...astic-Shoe-Boxes-12-Pack-6-qt-Clear-Shoeboxes


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## Curious jay (Mar 20, 2014)

Ask away bud, ill help with what I can.

Information on these guys is hard to come by on the net, good to keep it all in one thread.

Personally I'd give it more height, although considered terrestrial you will get the best out of their webbing abilities giving them higher anchor points to work with. 12" maybe to much length, but it depends on the individual some will web the lot others will web a select area. 

Ill have a look through my photobucket when I get a break and see if I got an enclosure pic/video.


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## ARACHNO-SMACK48 (Mar 20, 2014)

Awesome I would love to see some pics. Thank you for all the help. I know that a general rule of thumb is to give the spider 3-4 times the size of the spider in room. But I thought a bit more room wouldn't hurt.


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## Curious jay (Mar 20, 2014)

Extra floor space never hurts, may not be used though. 

Also they can't scale smooth surfaces but they can be pretty flighty at times so extra height may help while you gt adjuste to it.

Ill upload the pics/vids from my tablet when I finish.... This itouch lacks memory to do it effectively.


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## Curious jay (Mar 21, 2014)

Ok.... Heres a quick vid of her feeding in here old enclosure (not the best, on the right is where she setup her burrow)


Herers the MM I paired her with, time this was taken he was just over a year past maturity, as I purchased him a year earlier and he molted within a week into a MM had to wait a year for more stock to come in so it's possible he wasnt even fertile but i'll never know as she ate the sack....





Heres a vid of the first pairing attempt, females seem very receptive no signs of aggression at all didn't even feed her up as I was expecting the male to expire soon anyway. The area they are being paired is where she began excavating the burrow to create her eggsack.


Another vid of her feeding with a view of her old setup



Finally, here is a couple of shots of her new arrangement, apologies for the lighting but you get the idea.

Front:


top: 

Side view (with the Psalmopoeus-eque web retreat):


Think thats all of them, lemme know if I've forgot anything.

Edit: shes been in the new setup roughly 2 weeks.


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## ARACHNO-SMACK48 (Mar 21, 2014)

That's a nice setup. I appreciate all your help! Have you considered trying to pair the species again? 

Thanks for all the info!
I may also post some pics of my T's at a later date.


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