10:00am Saturday 24th January 2009
By Hayley Court
THIEVES who raided a teenager’s home swiped his beloved pet spider – and ignored his Xbox.
Liam Douglas, 15, was asleep upstairs with his five brothers when the thieves made off with Fangs, a Mexican red-knee tarantula worth about £200.
They also took Fangs’s tank and lamp from the house in The Rosary, Wootton Bassett but ignored other valuable items.
Mum Juli, 38, was out when the thieves entered the dining room on January 10 at 2am and had asked her sons to leave the front door on the latch.
“I was at a friend’s house when somebody must have got in and stolen the spider. None of the boys heard a sound,” she said, “It is very strange because there was an Xbox 360 and hundreds of games on the floor at the time, but they went straight for the spider.
“It seems like they knew exactly what they were doing and what they wanted.”
The family, who also own several land snails, a bearded dragon and a snake, bought Fangs for £200 just 18 months ago and are desperate for him to be returned. Juli said: “They took everything, including the tank and the lamp, so altogether it was all worth about £400.
“Liam is absolutely gutted. He sobbed his heart out when he found out.”
Mexican red-knee tarantualas grow up to five inches long and, despite common misconceptions, do not usually bite people but, if threatened, will rear up on their hind legs and flick hairs.
The spiders, which can live up to 30 years, are native to the scrub forests of Mexico and Central America.
Anyone with any information about the theft can call Sgt Martin Alvis of Wootton Bassett police station on 0845 408 7000.
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