Here is my Aphonopelma seemani, a Costa Rican Zebra tarantula. Got this at a PetCo for nothing. There was a sign at the checkout that said, "Tarantula available for adoption. Ask Cashier." I asked the lady about it and she said she'd get the guy to bring it to me. He said he didn't want to touch the 'creepy spider', so the lady brought it up to me. They thought that since it had this big bald spot on the abdomen and was missing a leg that it was defective, so they just gave it to me. That was on June 10, 2007.

On July 5, 2007, it molted. The missing leg came back and it went from a dingy brownish tan color to shiny black with white striped legs. Cool!

The following is a pictorial diary of the critter. Enjoy!

July 10 2007

Here are some 3D pictures of the spider. Look cross-eyed at each image. Eventually, you will see a third image of the spider in the middle and that will be the 3D image. Good luck!

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July 7, 2007

SCARY!

July 5, 2007

He molted! The missing leg is back, too!

Seems like he went from a brownish-tan colored tarantula to a black one in this molt. Cool!

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June 25, 2007

Here it is, about 2 weeks later, and the abdomen is turning black, this dude's gonna molt pretty soon! How cool is that?

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June 10, 2007

Just got a freebie from the local pet store. They figured it was defective because "the abdomen was bald and was missing a leg".

I don't know what kind it is but I'm not too worried about the baldness and the missing leg. There does seem to be a problem with one of the 'breathing slits' on the under side of the abdomen. Looks like it has sustained some damage. Anybody able to tell me if this is a life threatening injury and what might have caused it? Or is it a disease? The other 'breathing slit' appears to be a little bit swollen. I don't know what that means, either.

Any assistance in identifying the type and/or ideas about the injury would be appreciated. Thanks! CDB

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See the injured 'breathing slit' on the left:


Is it a boy or a girl?