Injured jumping spider

aroMantis

Arachnopeon
Joined
Nov 28, 2021
Messages
4
Hello this is my very first post here, I hope it’s ok to post a bit of a story here and I hope it’s easy to read

TLDR - I found an injured jumping spider and I don’t know if I’m doing things right, I only want what’s best for the spider so I’m looking for more experienced opinions.

A little background, I’ve never had a pet that wasn’t a dog or a bunny, so I had no idea what to do with a jumping spider on my hands. I found her inside the building of my work place, only moving when nudged, and I noticed that she’s missing the back two legs on her left side (so 4 legs on one side, front 2 on the other). I thought, if I put her outside there was no way she would survive. So I got her, immediately went to the local pet store and got what I could for her. A small enclosure, some stuff to climb on, and tiny crickets. I’m pretty confident that she’s a bold jumping spider, and I only assumed she was female from her large thorax and pretty small eyes, though I could be wrong. I’m also assuming she’s a somewhat old spider, since thepattern on her thorax is small and slightly faded (again I could be wrong).

When I brought her home and put her into the enclosure, she right away went to the water droplets I misted the cage with and drank up, and then perked up from there. I was ecstatic because I was sure I would bring her home just for her to die, with how little she was moving. Now she was crawling around, exploring a bit, and hiding here and there, it was great!

I tried giving her some tiny crickets, but since I worried that she wouldn’t be able to hunt without her missing legs (I’ve never seen her jump and she has a little trouble climbing), I killed them first. She wasn’t interested but I wasn’t too worried since I knew they don’t eat too often.

Then, about a half a week later while I was at work, she escaped. I was gutted, There was no way I would be able to find her in the clutter that is my room. So I said to myself that I tried my best, and I have to let it go.

Que two weeks later, I find her sitting on one of my white pillows near my bed. Alive. I freak out as calmly as I could and get a tissue to put her back in her little enclosure, which I hadn’t touched since I lost her (I did not, in fact, let it go) after taping what I believed was her escape route.

At this point I’m extremely worried about her. I might be remembering things wrong, but I’m pretty sure her thorax is a lot thinner than I remember it. I misted the cage and left out some fly maggots that I had kept in the fridge but she hasn’t touched them. She’s moving around and climbing to the top of the cage, but now I know she hasn’t eaten anything in more than 2 weeks (and who knows when the last meal she got was before I found her) and she is looking way less healthy.

I really don’t want her to shrivel up and die if there’s something I can do about it. I’m worried about her ability to jump and make web homes without some of herback legs, and I’m especially worried that she hasn’t eaten anything for such a long time. I really don’t know what to do to make her happy and healthy!
 

Nicole C G

Arachnoangel
Joined
Jun 23, 2021
Messages
883
You can’t identify the gender by the eyes and the size of the “thorax”Jumping spiders don’t have a thorax. They have a cephalothorax (head) and an abdomen (butt). I’ve seen jumping spiders alive and with prey with very few legs. She might be ok if you let her outside. But otherwise, just keep giving her food (maybe try live and see what happens) and if she doesn’t eat in captivity let her go in a place maybe with low bushes so she can climb easily? 9B20B371-CAB0-4190-AD0C-33ABF7E4CAAB.jpeg
(Missing leg, two regenerated legs, and a regenerated pedipalp. Only one leg on her right side was from birth)
 

aroMantis

Arachnopeon
Joined
Nov 28, 2021
Messages
4
You can’t identify the gender by the eyes and the size of the “thorax”Jumping spiders don’t have a thorax. They have a cephalothorax (head) and an abdomen (butt). I’ve seen jumping spiders alive and with prey with very few legs. She might be ok if you let her outside. But otherwise, just keep giving her food (maybe try live and see what happens) and if she doesn’t eat in captivity let her go in a place maybe with low bushes so she can climb easily? View attachment 404640
(Missing leg, two regenerated legs, and a regenerated pedipalp. Only one leg on her right side was from birth)
Ah, my bad, then I meant the abdomen. Thank you, I will keep an eye on her. I worry about letting her go, as it’s getting colder, but if it’s best that she hibernates rather than stay in captivity I’ll let her go
 
Joined
Oct 3, 2021
Messages
33
Good idea. The first photo is a few weeks ago before she escaped for a while, the second one is from today (unfortunately she didn’t eat the maggot, she sat there for quite a while before leaving)
He looks pretty full in the last photo, he probably won't be hungry. That would be why he refused such a large meal like the maggot. Also, if you are worried about him dying outside in the winter, keep him for the winter, then release him. Don't worry too much, when they have a will to survive, anything is possible. I've raised many jumping spiders that are missing limbs, and they don't seem to act any different to the other spiders I've kept. Also, by the way, I'm pretty sure your jumping spider is a male.
 

aroMantis

Arachnopeon
Joined
Nov 28, 2021
Messages
4
He looks pretty full in the last photo, he probably won't be hungry. That would be why he refused such a large meal like the maggot. Also, if you are worried about him dying outside in the winter, keep him for the winter, then release him. Don't worry too much, when they have a will to survive, anything is possible. I've raised many jumping spiders that are missing limbs, and they don't seem to act any different to the other spiders I've kept. Also, by the way, I'm pretty sure your jumping spider is a male.
Thank you for your response. I will watch him over winter and see how things are in the spring!
 
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