Spider #4

Somewhere along the way through my 20's and after the passing of Abigail I managed to get yet another tarantula. For the life of me I don't really remember where or how and that kinda sucks.

I am guessing I bought him from a pet store because no unusual tales come to mind. I was far more knowledgeable at this time about tarantulas and I know that I probably picked this one out because of it's docile behavior much like the Mexican Pink Toe. What species is this I am writing about, that is pictured above? It is a Mexican Rose Hair Tarantula.

I even figured out the sex of this tarantula too from what I studied in books. This one was a male. I decided to name him Syd.

So, once again I was up to two tarantulas in my bedroom despite the unhappiness of my mother on keeping them. Syd and Maude sat side by side, in separate enclosures of course. I worried that they would sense each other, get stressed or upset, but that never happened.

I remember the family cat, Lucky, who I mentioned on my Valentine's blog (22 lbs of cat)... he had some sort of fascination with Syd. Lucky would get up on top of Syd's tank and stare down at him. Lucky would spend hours just watching him. There was a problem with this though... Lucky being a heavy boy and the top of Syd's home was a metal frame with just window screen across. That screen began to sag down into the tank as he sat upon it. What a disaster that could have been! Syd would go splat! Lucky would probably freak right out and tear the place apart getting his big ol' furry butt out of the tank. So, some modifications were made to keep any of this from happening.

At this time in my life, I was away from home pretty much every weekend. I would have my bedroom door closed/locked to keep Lucky from getting in and possibly having an incident despite my mods to the tank/lid. So many times I arrived home on the Sunday evening to find Syd hanging by one leg from the screen cover. It seems he would go on his walk-abouts about the tank, across the floor, all over the glass and eventually get up to the top and start to walk upside down across it. Was it his weight that got the best of him? He was a very bulky guy. Whatever the reason, there he would be, dangling by that one leg and I would have to come to his rescue. I wondered how long he was in that predicament of his... did he get in it Friday night or Sunday afternoon? I began to have a family member check in on him in my absence.

Syd was about as nice as a tarantula could be... never biting or snapping at me.

I had Syd for almost 6 years which is really good for a male tarantula! He was close to one year old when I got him.

Male tarantulas on average live up to 5 years providing they haven't gotten eaten during a mating session, and are in proper care/conditions. Female tarantulas can live up to 25 years! How fair is that?

I buried Syd at the back of my parents' house, right next to Abigail, in a flower bed.