Avicularia metallica Mangled Legs - Need Help, Please

[DcubeD]

By coincidence, I picked up an identical container in Downsview last Sunday, too, with the same handwriting on the lid and the same species sling inside ...possibly a sac-mate?...no signs of recent or impending moult (ate eagerly the next day). I'm sure yours will be fine. One of my A. versicolor slings had a rough moult three weeks ago, losing a few legs and a pedipalp, but is doing just fine now. (We'd gone off to Kingston for the weekend and found the critter partially trapped by the exuviate, when we returned: what had been free of the moult had already changed colour and was relatively resilient - what was trapped was easily thrown off with a little toothpick microsurgery as if the sling was happy to be rid of the moult) I thought the sling was going to lose both chelicerae as well, given the way the moult was dried and stuck over the top/front of the body, but was rather lucky. Well, three weeks later and it's roaming around on five legs and eating. Good luck.

 

[cold blood]

Just so I can be clear on this situation. He moulted before I got him - not after. The moult was already inside his web hammock when I opened the container at the show.
I just don't want any misunderstandings. That is why the dealer has agreed to extend the warranty until he moults again.

Yep that was clear.

 

[DcubeD]

So? Nearly a month later and.... how is your A. met doing?

 

[Vanessa]

So? Nearly a month later and.... how is your A. met doing?

Hey, thanks for checking in on the little one!
He seems to be doing okay. After he ate, he became extremely active and I moved him to the original enclosure I made for him which is a bit bigger and about an inch taller. He has eaten twice since I got him, which doesn't really please me, but I am not hugely concerned either. He can get to his water just fine, as I have a small lid adhered close to the top as well as a much bigger dish at the bottom. He has webbed up a little, but nowhere near as much as his sac mate has.
He is still concerning me a great deal, but is doing much better than he was doing the day I picked him up when I posted this. He seems to be able to move about with no issues, although one of the legs sticks up perpendicular to his carapace. He is very active and always moving about. His sac mate has had one more meal than him and is lethargic and just chills in his web hammock. I think the sac mate is closer to moulting.
Both have decent sized abdomens too.
I don't think he is out of the woods yet, but I am hoping he is from the way he is behaving. I wish he would eat more, but I have the same concern for avics in general.
Thanks again for checking in.

 

[Vanessa]

Here he is. I took these a few days ago.

 

[Paiige]

Here he is

He is quite cute!
I'm glad he's eaten and seems to be doing a bit better! It sounds as if he's relatively unbothered by his situation if he's very active, so that's a good sign

 

[Trenor]

Here he is. I took these a few days ago.
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Abdomen looks nice and plump and he is active. Sound like he is doing fine to me. Glad to hear it.

 

[Vanessa]

So, the little mangled one moulted last night, but I'm not pleased with the results. They have all eight legs and both fangs, but their legs seem to be messed up still. They had plenty of room to moult and have loads of room to stretch out in their web hammock, but things still don't look right. I know the regenerated legs will be smaller and slimmer and that's fine, but there seems to be something wrong with the front legs that were fine before. It's now over 24 hours since they moulted.
What are the chances that the issues will correct themselves before they harden up? What are people's experience with that? Where their spiderling had something wrong that corrected itself before hardening?
Also, did it take more than one moult for issues to correct themselves fully? Not the regeneration, but corrections to limbs that were not straight?
I'm still not giving up on them, but I thought this would have a better outcome. I'm hoping things might still correct themselves in the next couple of days while they are still recovering. I can see them clearly and have placed a drop of water in one end of their hammock. They can easily get to it, but don't seem interested right now.

 

[Trenor]

Can you get a photo of it? That's a bit odd sounding to me.

 

[Vanessa]

It's tough to get a clear shot while he is in his hammock. The photos below might make it look like the legs are at an odd angle because of the way the webbing is, but that is not the case. I've been watching him move around and those front legs are not moving properly. They are definitely bent at odd angles.

 

[Trenor]

It's tough to get a clear shot while he is in his hammock. The photos below might make it look like the legs are at an odd angle because of the way the webbing is, but that is not the case. I've been watching him move around and those front legs are not moving properly. They are definitely bent at odd angles.
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I'd let it rest up. It could be how it's flexing or an odd angle but it doesn't look that bad.

 

[cold blood]

So, the little mangled one moulted last night, but I'm not pleased with the results. They have all eight legs and both fangs, but their legs seem to be messed up still. They had plenty of room to moult and have loads of room to stretch out in their web hammock, but things still don't look right. I know the regenerated legs will be smaller and slimmer and that's fine, but there seems to be something wrong with the front legs that were fine before. It's now over 24 hours since they moulted.
What are the chances that the issues will correct themselves before they harden up? What are people's experience with that? Where their spiderling had something wrong that corrected itself before hardening?
Also, did it take more than one moult for issues to correct themselves fully? Not the regeneration, but corrections to limbs that were not straight?
I'm still not giving up on them, but I thought this would have a better outcome. I'm hoping things might still correct themselves in the next couple of days while they are still recovering. I can see them clearly and have placed a drop of water in one end of their hammock. They can easily get to it, but don't seem interested right now.

Funny enough I just had a N. tripeppii that had a bad molt. I got it free, but it was curled up really bad. For a week I thought it was dead every time I looked at it. Kept it warm and damp, but it wouldn't eat or barely move. 14 days later I looked in to see it walking and looking a little better. I gave it a mealie piece and it ate. The next few days it started acting almost normal...fed it again and the next day it looked completely normal.

Hopefully this is the case with yours, but to be honest, it might not. Bent or bowed limbs can stick around. Hopefully it eats well now and it improves in the next molt or two, if not sooner.

 

[Vanessa]

They are looking a bit better tonight, but that front leg is definitely bent. I think they are far better off now than they were after their last moult, so I am hopeful that they will continue to improve. The situation this time is better because they have a great little web hammock built that I can easily feed them in and provide drops of water on. Although being mangled like they were before didn't slow them down any.
My concern is why it is happening. The first time was obvious, the had a tiny little web sac that didn't provide them with enough room and they were just cramped up, plus they were in transit which would have contributed. This time they are set up, they have a roomy web hammock that afforded plenty of room and they were stationary. I just hope that they don't have something more serious going on that will prevent them from ever fully recovering.
This was taken just now (the dark blob in the top left is a foot that was left over from the moult and isn't attached)...

 

[cold blood]

Actually looks pretty good in that shot.
Sometimes it just happens...that tripeppii I mentioned was in ideal conditions molting on a nice flat molting mat. I recently lost an urticans sling to a bad molt, again, conditions were good, she had a solid web base to molt on and still got stuck.

 

[Andrea82]

Good to read it is doing better. Maybe the legs aren't completely straight because its previous legs were so mangled, they were harder to get out of the molt, taking mote time and dried up a bit crooked? (Just throwing ideas)