World's biggest Spider?

[Only Exotics]

Robs just lucky they don't shoot poop like the irminias;P

 

[Fran]

Clinning her cage

 

[MaximusMeridus]

Hey Fran,

Sorry about the loss, I know it's devastistating when you have invested so much time and the suddenly they go. In your case it doesn't like age at all as she would have slowed down eating over time, you would have known for sure.

There are two very likely options,

Poisoning/toxins in the food. Did you ever feed locusts? Insects are good carriers of toxins. That is why it is always good to vary their diet so they don't get too much of the same food just in case too much of the toxin builds up. Nevertheless always good to vary diet anyway to balance nutrition.

Also might be overeating. I have known tarantulas to die from overeating, it is more common than you think, unlike humans, they don't get fatter and cannot exscrete proportionally, so just keep on swelling up putting huge pressure on heart and organs especially in the bigger spiders. Either the pressure is too much and they pop somewhere, which by the sound of your fluid issue sounds right, or their heart gives in under this pressure.

Regards
Jacque

Hi guys,

She was loosing quite a lot of "blood" while I was taking those shots and carefully spreading her in the page. (As you can see the liquid in the page)

Most certainly after the death she lost the thickness she used to have while she was alive.
Im not totally sure of her age . She was pefectly fine grooming in her burrow and some minutes later she was gone.
Im guessing she died because of age...But who knows?

I got her to acclimate very fast and well to her enclosure, never a nervous or climbing t blondi as they usually get in captivity.
Actually, She used to re arrange her burrow,and that was a first for me in over 15 T blondis I kept.

She was allways hungry, no matter what. She was the most agressive feeding T I have ever owned! Eating 7-8 large adult female Dubias in one sitting with no problems at all.

I have had 10 inchers, but this was the biggest I have ever owned .

Probably one of the biggest ever meassured, for sure. (I did not streched her legs totally to keep kind of a natural way in the pic)

 

[Fran]

Hey Jacque,

I have never fed her locust. Actually, I have always put some variety in her diet, from Blaptica Dubia from my own colony, crickets, mice and super worms.

Normally, I feed my tarantulas and as soon as they dont show much interest for the prey, I let them rest for days. I have been feeding that way since age 12 when I started keeping Theraphosids, and all of them have always looked great,plump,and healthy.

With her I had to literally wait several days on purpose because I knew anything I threw on the tank it was gonna be eaten ... But it could be that...

I did my best on research for this sp, I had pretty much a "piece" of Northern south America in the tank...But still, as you said, this happens.

Thanks for your response

 

[whitewolf]

:worship: Love the setup fogger is extra cool. I keep thinking about a T blondie but price tag for large ones right now has me bumbed.

 

[Andy]

I have to say that regardless of whose is bigger or anything else - you had yourself a very beautiful girl there and I'm truly sorry for your loss.

Here is a pic of her last molt:

Here is a pic of her molt next to my 5" B.smithi's molt:

I am just posting these for reference, I'm not about to get into another argument. LOL Trust me, someone will eventually say something about any pics posted, someone always does. But it doesn't really matter to me, they are both big spiders!

Thats just.. like a trex to a raptor

 

[spiderfield]

Sorry for your loss with that monster blondi Fran, but glad you finally shared some pics of her.

 

[Fran]

Thanks man,
I like to show pics to admire the t's, but not meaning anything like
"mine is the biggest" (which thats stupid IMO ) or anything like that, thats why I dont show her often.

To me its simply luck. Perhaps I contributed to the size thanks to my personal care and efforts with her, but its obviously a matter of nature and genetics, thats all.

Its pretty obvious that regular sizes for an adult female are touching the 9+/10 ", and its pretty rare to see one at 11, let alone 12.

I wonder what is out there in the middle of Venezuela, Guyana or North Brazil . Hopefully they will let them live in peace.

 

[Tapahtyn]

Robs just lucky they don't shoot poop like the irminias;P

ummmm, yeah I remember seeing that video. That's a lot of poo!!

 

[Fran]

There youn have another one for the folks from Europe, like me

 

[MaximusMeridus]

Awesome specimen!

There youn have another one for the folks from Europe, like me

 

[Fran]

Thanks!!!

 

[treeweta]

that thing is 28.5cm or so!

the largest one that ive seen a measurement of. its significantly bigger than most blondis you see in collections (who seem to be around 9-9.5 inches). robs last moult of zilla looks to be 9.75 inches.

any idea how old she was when she died?

 

[Fran]

Thanks!

she was wild caught, so I have no info on her age, at the very very least is 2 years, but of course is older than that.

 

[MaximusMeridus]

Well, heres the latest from the spider at www.tarantulacam.org

She grew a lot bigger than I thought, which indicates she has more growing to do.

Her legs were noticeably much thicker and rivalled that of the previous specimen I had which was a surprise. 11mm first leg femur width. This is by far the chunkiest proportioned blondi I have ever seen.

We'll see how she pans out, will post more pictures later

 

[VESPidA]

gorgeous blondi!

 

[treeweta]

Well, heres the latest from the spider at www.tarantulacam.org

She grew a lot bigger than I thought, which indicates she has more growing to do.

Her legs were noticeably much thicker and rivalled that of the previous specimen I had which was a surprise. 11mm first leg femur width. This is by far the chunkiest proportioned blondi I have ever seen.

We'll see how she pans out, will post more pictures later

a nice chunky blondi for sure!!

 

[jbm150]

Wow, she's a horse! A beautiful one at that!

 

[MaximusMeridus]

Thanks!

And some more..

 

[robc]

Yeah, Rob is lucky!
If his "thing" molts again with no problems he might have to leave the house

I agree LOL