Mariah the tarantula a story of healing, survival, and education

Mariah is a rose hair tarantula I got from a family who had no idea how to care for her and never learn anything about her. She managed to survive 3 years with little or no care. While I was visiting a school one day a student came up to me and said she knew someone that had a tarantula that needed help, she asked if she could have them call me. That evening the mother called, she explained that her children had brought home this tarantula 3 years ago and she was terrified of spiders.  They kept it in a 1 gallon glass jar with a lid punched with holes and fed it one every 2 month. she said her children picked it up every once in a while and they told her it was " shrinking". I agreed to come and take a look. When they brought the jar out for me to see, this poor little tarantula had a body only about the size of  quarter and to my amazement not one leg! I swallowed hard and said what happen to her legs. The youngest child who seemed to be the most talkative said, "we will only pick her up by her legs, but now the legs are all gone and we don't want it any more". I was stunned into silence, which doesn't happen often, After I regained my voice I calmly but strongly explained to this family what they had done to this tarantula was wrong and caused her alot of harm. No one seem to care, as it was only a spider, which was not suprising but I had to try. I picked up the jar and left. I name this poor little tarantula Mariah. Nature has amazing ways of protecting these creatures and there was  hope that I might be able to bring Mariah back.  I picked her up and allowed her to drink from a small wet sponge. She was very thirsty and drank for a long time. I fixed a small enclosure for her to be safe in and let her rest for the night. The next day she looked fully hydrated. I decide to try to hand feed her, not sure if it would work. I very carefull picked her up and held a cricket under her fangs and to my amazement her fangs pierced the cricket and held on injecting venom liquefing her prey. I held her for 2 hrs. so she was able to eat. After her first feeding I knew I had to design a very small platform for her to eat more easily. It took several trys but I finally created the right design allowing her to eat and drink. Mariah started to eat and drink every 7 days and was gaining weight. I was hoping for a molt as I wanted to see if she would be able to regenerate any of her legs. She stopped feeding about 5 months after I got her but by this time she was plump and well fed. Spiders usually stop feeding for a while before a molt to prepare for that molt. I built her a spot with a little higher humidity so the molt would be easier. Within 2 weeks all the signs were there and I placed her in the little humidity spot and kept watched. It took her 1 long day to molt it was done with sucess and I was elated as I saw some very small appendages, the legs were trying to regenerate. The process continued for over 4 years and when the fourth molt happened Mariah legs were all there and as she took her first steps after drying from the molt I just cried. Nature just has so many miracle out there that humans will never understand. Mariah is now a very important  part of the Kruisin' Kritters program as her survival story takes away that fear that many people have about spiders and many of those people have been able to touch her and feel the very soft cat like hair that covers them and make them understand that spiders play a very important part in nature. A few interesting spider facts: Spiders exoskeleton is very thin and a small drop even a few inches can break it causeing the spider to die. Spiders eat 1600x's their weight in bugs each year they are here. Spider webbing is the strongest natural material on this earth. A web that is 6 layers deep is nearly impossible to pierce with your finger. A female tarantula can live 25 years or more. Tarantula's fangs come off with the molt with new ones appearing with the new exxoskeleton.  If you are thinking of getting a tarantula as a pet please do your research on what trantula works for you. tarantulas or any spider should never be handled by children without adult supervision.