Tragic tarantula tragedy!!!

[wesley cunningham]

Hi, My beloved white knee has just decided to pop its hairy little clogs.
It's name was Whitey and it was 3yrs old and almost 7" leg span.

In October i went away for 3 months and left her with my pet shop for spider sitting, just before I did she spun a messy breeding web, at least that's what i think it was.

The pet shop guy said she only ate 2 large locusts in 3 mnths, and when i got her home and put her back in the tank she went on hunger strike till last week when her little legs folded in on herself and she gave in.

As you can expect I'm gutted and wondering if anyone has any ideas on what the hell happened!

cheers

[Mike Mosdell]

Dehydration maybe? Or you could be confusing a female for a male and this "messy breeding web" was actually a sperm mat. Most likely a mature male who came to the end of his time.

Other then that, no idea why she/he would die suddenly.

[wesley cunningham]

Ah poo, maybe it was male then i presumed it was a female as someone told me it was a breeding web it had spun and was " on heat "
Is that their lifespan then?
I assumed they lived for years and years

And dehydration is ruled out it had plenty of moisture and water to drink.

[Mike Mosdell]

I'm pretty sure females dont spin any kind of breeding webs, may be mistaken though but definately sounds like a male making a sperm web. Any chance of pics?

Also when you say white knee, I am guessing you mean the A.geniculata?

[James Box]

females will start laying some silk in preparation for an eggsac, but that's pretty obvious, as they'll have the sac constructed fairly soon after...
yeah this sounds like he was a male! RIP fella!

[wesley cunningham]

Ah, that puts my mind at rest.
And yeh He was a geniculata , absolutely bloody lovely he was.
at least now i know it wasn't down to me, I did everything I was supposed to.
I can go ahead and get another now knowing this info.
Thanks for the info guys.

[Mike Mosdell]

No worries man, glad to help

Shame about your little guy though, didnt get any action before he passed

[Colin D Wilson]

Sounds like a mature male to me too, sperm webbing and all that. males don't live that long really after maturing, depends on secies more than anything. Grammostola males seem to be quite long lived after maturing (had a three year MM G rosea)

didnt get any action before he passed

That is a shame, these are lovely spiders, quite underrrated in my book as "just a white knee"

[Peter Lacey]

one of my favourites, never fails to impress. although I was less than impressed when my female moulted out after mating. I'm fingers crossed the second female will go the distance. Unfortunately the male was eaten by the next partner, I warned him about going to Cornwall for a holiday