Animal Keeper's Association of Africa

Left: Saving the King Baboon Spider This gorgeous critter is Alice the King Baboon spider.  Elizabeth is her loving caretaker.  Take a look at the article Elizabeth prepared on her. The spider is resident at the National Zoo in Pretoria.

by Elizabeth du Plessis

(editors note — Elizabeth is the Steve Irwin of spiders. She is so cool—you have to read this!!!)

The King Baboon spider (Citharischius crawshayi) is a burrower that occurs naturally from Kenya and can reach a leg span of up to 23 cm and is believed to be the second largest spider in Africa after the Hysterocrates hercules. We, at the National Zoological Gardens of South Africa are lucky enough to have received one of these magnificent giants of Africa. This is the story of Alice, the King baboon of the NZG. 

On the 18th of May 2010 the National Zoological Gardens received a shipment of illegally traded tarantulas. In this shipment was a King Baboon spider (Citharischius crawshayi) which was believed to have died during transit. Her legs were curled up under her body and she showed no sign of movement or life. I pronounced her dead.  The spider was taken to the post-mortem fridge later that evening, and the next day after being in the fridge for almost 24 hours the spider’s legs started to move. It was an obvious sign that the King Baboon was fighting for its live. The spider was immediately taken to the Critters and Cobwebs room and placed closed to a heater. By the next day she showed no improvement and I knew that drastic steps need to be taken. 

By the 20th of May I put her prosoma in a water dish for her to drink water. At this stage she was too weak to drink or even to eat on her own. A new method had to be used; the spider was too weak and dehydrated to drink water out of a dish. She was placed upside down in the palm of my hand and by using an eye dropper I gave her a few drops of water directly in the mouth to drink. She took the water readily and water was given in this way four times a day. When I put the spider back she would just lay the way I have placed her, not making herself comfortable. The spider was totally reliable on me.

After eight days of intense care she started to show signs of getting stronger. On the 28th of May, early the morning I found the King baboon spider washing her fangs with her pedipalps and standing on all eight legs, spread out, almost like a healthy spider. I started to give her less water a day, reducing it to twice a day. I did not want to stress her more than necessary. Soon she started to stridulate when picked up, a sign of aggression. I knew it was time for her to start taking in food so I experimented with Hills A.D mixed with water first. Five days later I tried cricket juice (inside of cricket) with water, but both methods seemed to have no reaction. I knew I had to use something that will give the spider all the more nutrients and something more natural. 

On the 17th of June I gave the King baboon spider 0, 2 ml of mice blood for the first time. Unsure of how much I am able to give her, I waited two weeks before I gave her mice blood again. After a few experiments, the mouse blood was changed to cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus) blood and was done almost on a daily basis. At this
stage I named the King baboon spider Alice after my favourite vampire from the Twilight Saga because they have the same eating habits; drinking blood.

Alice became very strong and started to get more aggressive by standing on her hind legs in a defensive posture and stridulating. On the 28th of July I decided to stop feeding her blood. I was afraid she might be getting too stressed with all the handling to feed her. For two weeks she was not handled at all, only her water bowl was changed with fresh water and her enclosure misted for humidity. During this time I tried to feed her live food (crickets), but she never ate them.  During this time she seemed to have weakened. On the 17th of August she was fed blood again from an eye dripper almost daily. On the 21st of August she regurgitated the blood I fed her for the first time. Alice seemed extremely weak and I tried to make her as comfortable as possible. I was extremely unhappy and started to think she might not make it any more. I send a faeces sample to the research department for any hope to tell me what is wrong with her. The faeces sample came back negative for any internal parasites.  

But, to my great surprise she shed her skin the next morning! At this stage she has already eaten two pinkies on her own, with no help from me. Alice also started to spin web in her enclosure since she shed.

During this whole period I have taken data of any normal or abnormal behaviour, temperature and feeding habits to monitor her.