Eyeless Grammostola pulchripes

catfishrod69 · Nov 3, 2014

Meet "Chewy". This little squirt has been in my care for over two years now. I forget where i even got him. He is a whopping 1.25" and grows at a rate of 0. Which would make me lean very heavily towards this one being a female. But its hard to say, either way chewy got his name from chewing on the vent holes in his deli cup. But to the moral of this story. For atleast the last year i have thought that chewy has had no eyes. Every time i have looked at him i have thought this, and have thought about getting some pics to get some closer looks, but have put it off. Well finally today i got out my scope, and got him under it. Turns out my theory was correct, no eyes! I figured i was right because even at a foot away when looking at ewls and 1st instars, you can see with the naked eye, their eyes. But at his size his eyes should have been easily visible. So looks like this is one rare and strange little tarantula. But he is still a gentle and precious little squirt nonetheless. Thoughts?

advan · Nov 3, 2014

Nice, this has been documented before. There was a BTS article on it. I'll have to look it up when I get home.

Edit: Anomalies of Visual Organs Amongst Tarantulas: Absence of Eyes in Lasiodora parahybana (Timur Zinov, 2013) BTS Journal: Volume 28 No. 3

darkness975 · Nov 3, 2014

My only thoughts would be how lucky he is to be in the care of a good owner. They must use their eyes for some basic functions aside from detecting light and I would bet in nature he'd not make it too long. At least he does not need them to eat!

Biollantefan54 · Nov 3, 2014

I would bet he would survive in nature...they are practically blind anyways, he isn't much more handicapped than any other tarantula lol. That would be like a person losing their eyebrows, it wouldn't really impact them much.

klawfran3 · Nov 3, 2014

Biollantefan54 said:
I would bet he would survive in nature...they are practically blind anyways, he isn't much more handicapped than any other tarantula lol. That would be like a person losing their eyebrows, it wouldn't really impact them much.

There seems to be some debate as to how well a tarantula can actually see. I personally believe that a lot of the arboreals (especially pokies) seem to have a reasonable amount of eyesight. It's hard to distinguish predator vibrations from the natural sway and rustle of leaves and branches on a tree. you need better eyesight for that.

gobey · Nov 3, 2014

Are all tarantulas eyesight equally developed though? I'm sure my Poecs, OBTs, and H. macs seem to see something as they react to light. Whereas my G. porteri doesn't know something is there unless it makes a racket or touches her.

Chewy is really cute.

pyro fiend · Nov 3, 2014

klawfran3 said:
There seems to be some debate as to how well a tarantula can actually see. I personally believe that a lot of the arboreals (especially pokies) seem to have a reasonable amount of eyesight. It's hard to distinguish predator vibrations from the natural sway and rustle of leaves and branches on a tree. you need better eyesight for that.

good point but if your in tuned with your own senses you can judge things better then youd think.. how close something is by a small sound is simple, if you focus in. i used to think the same way. but after spending a little timeout in the wilderness.. i found this out at a young age.. with Puma concolor running around when your out at your favorite river fishing/camping spots.. you have to learn sounds.. now granted a small child can snap a twig on the ground just like a P.concolor but a acorn falling from a tree, a dead limb falling and even a racoon/oposum scurring sound nothing like one another.. now yes a tarantula does not have ears but what is a sound? a vibration. so id imagine its quite different [tho in captivity it may be opposite]

awiec · Nov 4, 2014

I had a wolf spider who was missing a few eyes before, fortunately for her I gave her maimed prey that would not bounce around so much so she didn't have to rely on her eyes as much. I believe she re-grew them but she did not seem too impeded when she did not have some. I would say for a G.pulchripes no eyes is not a huge loss, especially since I'm sure you make sure it gets food and is well cared for.

RegallRegius · Nov 4, 2014

What a unique and awesome little T. I am so glad she is with such a good owner. I hope she lives a long and healthy life.

Smokehound714 · Nov 4, 2014

If anything, the lack of eyes probably reduces stress, does it ever stress-curl in bright light? When a tarantula stress-curls, it's attempting to shade its eyes.

cold blood · Nov 4, 2014

Smokehound714 said:
If anything, the lack of eyes probably reduces stress, does it ever stress-curl in bright light? When a tarantula stress-curls, it's attempting to shade its eyes.

I thought the same....I almost wish my P. vitatta was like this, maybe it would let me see it then. Every time its out and I try to get a clear look, its flat out gone in a blink. I THINK it looks cool, but I can't really be sure.

catfishrod69 · Nov 4, 2014

He seems 100% oblivious that its even taking place. My microscope has 6 powerful LEDs on it, and they were very very close to him, no reactions at all. He seems to use the outter wall of his deli cup as a blind man would the walls of his home as well.

Smokehound714 said:
If anything, the lack of eyes probably reduces stress, does it ever stress-curl in bright light? When a tarantula stress-curls, it's attempting to shade its eyes.

---------- Post added 11-04-2014 at 06:20 AM ----------

I can almost guarantee that some or all of the arboreals have better eye sight. When you drop a feeder past a S. calceatum, H. maculata, Poeci, or something similar, that feeder doesnt have to touch anything at all, and they can grab them in mid flight. Why else would P. murinus flip out on us when our shadows cast over their enclosures?

gobey said:
Are all tarantulas eyesight equally developed though? I'm sure my Poecs, OBTs, and H. macs seem to see something as they react to light. Whereas my G. porteri doesn't know something is there unless it makes a racket or touches her.

Chewy is really cute.

Ultum4Spiderz · Nov 4, 2014

my P Ornata shows threat displays sometimes when im near the cage:biggrin:.

awiec · Nov 4, 2014

Ultum4Spiderz said:
my P Ornata shows threat displays sometimes when im near the cage:biggrin:.

My P.metallica seems to know when people are near his cup and will come out. If you shine a light at him then he gives a threat pose so I certainly believe he knows I'm there.

Ghost Dragon · Nov 5, 2014

RegallRegius said:
What a unique and awesome little T. I am so glad she is with such a good owner. I hope she lives a long and healthy life.

+1, agreed. She'll grow into a good sized T (7-8 inches), and never have to 'worry' about a thing, having such a great keeper.

catfishrod69 · Nov 5, 2014

Thanks everyone! One thing i wonder is if her extremely slow growth rate is just because of her individuality, or maybe if it has something to do with her uniqueness. And she hardly ever loses any abdomen size, so i hardly ever feed her.

Storm76 · Nov 5, 2014

Very interesting, mate! Glad that little thing is with someone knowing what they're doing. Good luck on rearing it up furthermore! And thanks for sharing...gotta get a look at the paper Chad mentioned there now..

)

pyro fiend · Nov 5, 2014

catfishrod69 said:
Thanks everyone! One thing i wonder is if her extremely slow growth rate is just because of her individuality, or maybe if it has something to do with her uniqueness. And she hardly ever loses any abdomen size, so i hardly ever feed her.

Could be both. As we all know typically most keepers offer twice a week or more no matter what. But gramies are known for slow growth. So i guess only time can tell good luck!

catfishrod69 · Nov 5, 2014

Well this little squirt has eaten once in the last like 4 months, maybe? I figure if the abdomen is always the exact same size, no sense in overloading it.

Mike41793 · Nov 5, 2014

Neat! Commenting to follow chewy's story.

Eyeless Grammostola pulchripes

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