Not a Theraphosa sp...

[Redneck]

So... First a little story of ignorant people & why I cant stand kids..

I drive 2 hours to get to this place.. It was suppose to be an hour drive.. The people were going to meet me in Canton.. Well....... They message me & say they cant meet me.. They offer to give me directions to their house though..

OK.. Fine! I can do that.. So I drive to their house..

I get there..

There is a 20 gallon tank.. Sitting on a table outside... With like 5 kids hoovering around it.. So.. I go in the yard straight to the tank... I think to my self... Surely the spider is not in that.. Well.. It was..

All the kids were hoovering poking at the spider with sticks.. Dropping leaves & grass on the spider.. I was shocked to see their parents were not stopping their kids from annoying this spider..

So I look in the enclosure.. Trying to find a 5.5" "Goliath Birdeater"..

Yeah.. Its a 4.5" maybe 5" spider.. One in a death curl at that..

I looked at the lady & said.. "You know your spider is dying.. Right?" She said.. "What?! Are you serious?" I said "Yeah.. Its dehydrated & completely stressed from all your kids teasing it.."

I told her to run in grab a bowl and fresh water.. She was like what for.. I said to save this spider.. So.. She goes and grabs the bowl & some water..

Then I coached to spider in the bowl.. Added water.. And said watch it go straight in for a drink.. Sure enough.. The spider sank its mouth in the water..

We sat there for almost 45 minutes.. Just talking about how wrong the spiders enclosure it.. I told the lady I wasnt going to pay $50 for a spider I dont know is even going to live..

She said OK.. What do you think its worth? I told her nothing to me.. It was actually a waste of gas to drive all the way up here... So I told her how to house the spider correctly & started to leave.. She was like hey.. Wait.. How much would you give for it.. So.. I said $20.. She said the 30 gallon is worth more than that.. I said your right.. It is.. If it was a 30 gallon.. Its only a 20 gallon long..

So.. She was like.. Oh? I said since the enclosure is in good shape.. Not cracked or nothing.. It has a lid and a light.. I will give you $30.. Its as good as I can offer..

So.. She was happy with that & I didnt just make one heck of a trip for nothing..

Anyways.. Here is the tank she was in..

Yeah! If that is not just pathetic! The substrate is moss.. Thats it.. Barely any in it at that.. The red lid is something I placed in there to let the spider climb off of the wet moldy moss.. Yeah... Thats right.. It was moldy.. Completely nasty.. Stinky mildew smell.. :barf:

So.. Are y'all curious to what the spider REALLY is? I can garuntee its NOT a Theraphosa specie.. I am almost positive of that.. Here she is.. (Ventrally looks female.. Not 100% sure of that though..)

Notice how her rump is wrinkly?! The lady said she fed it a pinky mouse every 6 weeks & 1 dozen crickets a week... OK! I can see she is not THAT well taken care of.. (Not that feeding mice is really taking care of a spider..) But if she was on that feeding schedule.. She would be nice & fat.. :wall:

Anyways.. Enough rambling.. Here is a shot of her abdomen.. All wrinkly.. Notice the orange-ish spinerettes? I am going to hazard a guess at it being an Aphonopelma seemanii.. (Spelling?) What do y'all think?

I know the enclosure is super moist.. But it is to rehydrate her.. So.. When she gets better I will let it dry out..

 

[KoriTamashii]

Looks like an A. seemani to me.

But good save. I hate kids. Hate hate hate them.

I hope you gave that lady a thorough chewing out about her kids harassing that poor thing.

 

[skippy]

looks more like Aphonopelma sp guatemala to me. they're usually sold as seemani at petco and the like. i have a couple, they're pretty cool

 

[TerribleGrizz]

I had neighbors like that, who would just ignore their kids and let them do whatever. One of them came into my yard and hit my dog with a stick.

Anyways, I agree that was a nice save. I know I couldn't have left the poor thing there. Hope it gets better soon.

 

[Ariel]

Yeah, A. sp. "Guatemala" I'm pretty sure A. semanni has thicker stripes on the knees. Still good save. I can't believe the awful set up, that poor thing. Good luck getting her back to a healthy state.

 

[Ictinike]

looks more like Aphonopelma sp guatemala to me. they're usually sold as seemani at petco and the like. i have a couple, they're pretty cool

Agreed.. for lack of a better identification Aphonopelma sp Guatemala similar to the girl I have as well..

Some debate in the recent past about them being true A. seemanni or a new sp and some good things in the latest ATS journal and on the website.

One indication is the cross "swoosh" on the meta tarsi which I believe yours has.. Here is a pic of my girl but you can't see the swoosh in the photo and she's all but entombed herself now a month presumably for a molt.

Great spider and I keep her on the dry side and she likes to burrow heavily.

Not your "normal" situation I'm sure will the condition and all the comotion there with you but a good rescue Tommy...

 

[rbailey1010]

Whats funny is I saw that posting on craigslist and was shocked at how great of a deal it was and was trying to find a way to get it somehow......goes to show you how much credit you give people and their stupidity proves you wrong everytime.........

Sorry about that bud....I would have been pretty pissed off myself.....I almost sent a buddy to go pick it up for me too!

 

[Redneck]

Looks like an A. seemani to me.

But good save. I hate kids. Hate hate hate them.

I hope you gave that lady a thorough chewing out about her kids harassing that poor thing.

I didnt really feel it was my place to give a thorough chewing.. I did say a few choice words about it.. But it might have been a bit out of place if I went all daddy like on the lady..

After a few choice words.. She did seem some what sorry for letting it get so bad.. Sh said Petco told her that was a perfect setup..

Though.. She was almost 100% positive it was a blondi.. It looked just like the ones she had seen online.. Right! Why didnt you follow the care sheets online then...

looks more like Aphonopelma sp guatemala to me. they're usually sold as seemani at petco and the like. i have a couple, they're pretty cool

She is gorgeous.. I might not be an Aphonopelma fan... But I couldnt let her sit there and suffer.. Im not even sure she is going to make it.. She keeps going in a death curl.. I hope she does survive.. But not going to get my hopes up..

I had neighbors like that, who would just ignore their kids and let them do whatever. One of them came into my yard and hit my dog with a stick.

Anyways, I agree that was a nice save. I know I couldn't have left the poor thing there. Hope it gets better soon.

Some kids used to throw rocks at our dogs.. They finally stopped after we started throwing rocks back at them.. Bigger rocks.. Our aim was alot better to..

Yeah, A. sp. "Guatemala" I'm pretty sure A. semanni has thicker stripes on the knees. Still good save. I can't believe the awful set up, that poor thing. Good luck getting her back to a healthy state.

It was a sad setup.. It was a horrible ride home.. I forgot to get an different enclosure to tote her in.. So I kept the enclosure up front with me.. Just to make sure she wasnt roughed up on the way home..

Agreed.. for lack of a better identification Aphonopelma sp Guatemala similar to the girl I have as well..

Some debate in the recent past about them being true A. seemanni or a new sp and some good things in the latest ATS journal and on the website.

One indication is the cross "swoosh" on the meta tarsi which I believe yours has.. Here is a pic of my girl but you can't see the swoosh in the photo and she's all but entombed herself now a month presumably for a molt.

Great spider and I keep her on the dry side and she likes to burrow heavily.

Not your "normal" situation I'm sure will the condition and all the comotion there with you but a good rescue Tommy...

I have her in a shoe box like my other terrestrials are in.. With peat & a hide.. Hope she does OK with that for now.. Once she starts getting better I will set her up in something different..

She keeps going in a death curl.. So I am hoping she pulls through.. Like I said though.. I dont have high hopes for her making it..

Whats funny is I saw that posting on craigslist and was shocked at how great of a deal it was and was trying to find a way to get it somehow......goes to show you how much credit you give people and their stupidity proves you wrong everytime.........

Sorry about that bud....I would have been pretty pissed off myself.....I almost sent a buddy to go pick it up for me too!

Be glad you didnt.. That was a long drive.. One I am sure I wouldnt have made if I knew what I was getting in to.. But at the same time.. I am sorta glad I did.. If she pulls through this I will be surprise..

 

[endoflove]

ur a nice guy redneck i personally take it as a rescue but not even a dime. good save. thats the worse abdomen Ive ever seen it takes alot of neglect to get that bad

 

[Redneck]

ur a nice guy redneck i personally take it as a rescue but not even a dime. good save. thats the worse abdomen Ive ever seen it takes alot of neglect to get that bad

I wouldnt say Im a "nice guy"... I have just grown quite soft since being in this hobby... Dang this hobby! I used to be a hard arse..

 

[whitewolf]

Congrats Tommy. Nice but hope she pulls threw for you. Poor girl.

 

[odiakkoh]

Aww I'm glad you got her out of there. I hope she pulls through.

 

[malevolentrobot]

wow, that's horrible. i'm really sorry you drove out all that way, but at least the T will be taken care of better. definitely not T, blondi, but at least its out of that horrible place, yeah? hope she pulls thorugh for you, and has a better life.

 

[KenTheBugGuy]

Looks like an A. seemani to me.

But good save. I hate kids. Hate hate hate them.

I hope you gave that lady a thorough chewing out about her kids harassing that poor thing.

Oh come now kids are not bad just the people rearing them

 

[Redneck]

Thank you all for the kinds words.. I will let yall know how she fairs in a few days.. I went ahead & placed her in an ICU... That way I know she is actually getting the fluids she needs.. As soon as I put her in there.. She hunkered down and started drinking from the paper towels..

wow, that's horrible. i'm really sorry you drove out all that way, but at least the T will be taken care of better. definitely not T, blondi, but at least its out of that horrible place, yeah? hope she pulls thorugh for you, and has a better life.

I am a bit sad that its not a T. blondi.. LoL! And.. Im not an Aphono fan.. So.. I know someone will enjoy her after she is back in good health..

 

[Ictinike]

Tommy,

What you have her in now is fine and the main thing is hydration and TLC which we know your highly capable of

As for the hard arse.. Come on, your a softy and most of us that are/were have those spots for something -- it's fine

For last, if you do somewhat name your T's or maybe even not, name her Hope cause here's to hoping she pulls through for you and if anything like most T's or even Aphonopelma's she's been through the worst thus far and survived; now is the easy part.

 

[Fran]

Man, I will pay for your Theraphosa sp as soon as Ron gets them in. Im dead arse about it. You will get your Theraphosa.

As far as this one goes, it does looks like an Aphonopelma.

Anyway, dont worry, you did your best. Even if she dies, what the hell, nothing better you could have done.

Ill talk to you later

 

[codykrr]

Nice save tommy!:clap: I dont think I would have handled the situation so "kindly" myself.

Although not to get to off topic That looks like what I have been told was an A. seemani. I thought the Aphonopelma sp. "guatamala" were blue....:? Least mine is.

 

[Wachusaynoob]

Tommy, Nice save.

Really though- What was going through this womans mind? did she think that a cage set up like that would be suitable for ANY animal? where the heck is all the bedding..some People shouldnt be allowed to have pets.

 

[Ictinike]

Nice save tommy!:clap: I dont think I would have handled the situation so "kindly" myself.

Although not to get to off topic That looks like what I have been told was an A. seemani. I thought the Aphonopelma sp. "guatamala" were blue....:? Least mine is.

Cody,

Read this by Eddy Hijmensen who published the article Stop Who Goes There? in the ATS journal.


http://atshq.org/articles/stop_who_goes_there.pdf

Eddy has posted here a few times on the subject and I've been told by him mine fits the description of the sp guatamala. For now I go with this since there has been discussions as to it being an A. seemanni, A. borealis as well A. burica here and abroad. I still would love to get a definite ruling and awaiting the next molt to compare eye pattern and spermathecae since I know mines a female as I sexed her myself but can't remember now the shape if they fit more the Acanthroscurria or the Aphonopelma style.