HERE'S HAGRID!

Hagrid, the newest resident in our home.

When I first met Rob, he had a tarantula, Maude. I wasn't impressed that he had a tarantula, I was impressed by how long he had cared for her. Maude passed away a few years ago at the ripe old age of 22, a testament to how well Rob cares for his pet family members.

I am not going to go into all the horrid details of how "Hagrid" came into our lives, but he is a rescue, and through a series of connections, Rob got a phone call earlier this month asking him if he'd be willing to take in what we were told is a Mexican Golden-knee Tarantula that was rescued along with over 20 other animal species from a neglect/hoarding case. Rob told them, he'd have to ask me first.

When he asked me about taking the tarantula on August 9th, I told him I'd ponder it for the weekend. I don't particularly like spiders, but I don't hate them either, so a couple hours later I told him we would take the spider on 3 conditions; 1. I have nothing to do with his care. 2. He is in an escape proof tank. 3. I get to name him. 

Now, I knew number 1 & 2 weren't going to be issues because of Maude, number 3 had Rob a little worried, as I told him I would not reveal the name until the spider was home, but I kept saying names like "Jelly Bean", Cotton Candy" and "Prince Fuzzy Butt" to scare him.    

It was actually my friend Pat who came up with the name, I was leaning towards Aragog, the spider from Harry Potter, but when she said Hagrid out loud to me, it just seemed to fit better, after all, they are both large and hairy! Rob was relieved when his name was announced on August 14th when he came to live with us.

Meadow meeting Hagrid.

 Hagrid is very different than Maude. He's more nocturnal, preferring to only come out of his hut after dark, and he makes way more webbing then Maude ever did. I didn't even get a glimpse of him until 5 days after he came to live with us.

Hagrid spends a lot of his time in his hut.

He does walk around a lot after we go to bed.

This is how his home looks now, he's settled in nicely.

 We don't know how old Hagrid is, he may live 6 months, he may live 10 years, but one thing is for certain, he will be well cared for.

To learn more about Maude, and Meadow's special fondness for her please check out Rob's blog from 2009 here and Maude's passing in 2010 here.