In need of a lil reassurance

[Introvertedinverts92]

So about a year ago I bought or was gifted by my wife a beautiful yearling aphonopelma seemani female and he has molted once in my care twice at the pet shop that we got her from and I'm not too sure because the first two times they said she did it out in the open but now she has locked herself in her hide and pulled substrate from outside and around her bioactive enclosure and closed up her burrow she did have clear fluid at joints and also refusing food for about 2 months now is this just the reclusive behavior that everyone expects from the Costa Rican stripe knee or is this something to be worried about

 

[DaveM]

Pictures of your enclosure would be helpful in determining if anything is wrong, particularly since you mention it as being bioactive.
The 'clear fluid at joints' -- that was not fluid leaking out from the joints, right?
This is a very small spiderling if it has molted only 3 times, correct? What is its legspan?

It is normal to refuse food and to close off a burrow entrance leading up to a molt, but I think we will need photos and more information before we could give you any reassurance.

 

[Dorifto]

Clear fluid on the joints could be due to a close molting or a injury, but if she closed the entrance surely it will be due to a molting is close.

A picture will give us more info about.

 

[aurusantula]

Agreed on more photos, but my tarantulas have only ever molted within the safety of their burrows (though they didn't close off entrances usually). It's not totally uncommon for them to hide like that when they're about to molt.

 

[Introvertedinverts92]

I am out and about but as soon as I get home I will post pics

 

[VaporRyder]

My OBT webs up the entrance to its cork bark tube to moult. My LP walls up the entrance to its cave to moult. My fossorboreals moult in their burrows. My pokies moult in their webs. I’m not familiar with your genus or species, but sounds like pre-moult to me.

 

[Introvertedinverts92]

 

[Dorifto]

View attachment 392409

To be honest I was expecting other kind of enclosure, what kind of bioactive critters are you using? Or you call it bioactive because it has a plant? I'm not telling you this like an ofense

Regarding to your enclosure you should burrow or cover that "hide". Their hide should be the lowest and coolest part of their enclosures, that tube is open in both sides. I'd dig one side at an angle, and cover the rest, creating a higher zone. But all of this some time after the molting!

 

[Neonblizzard]

Without seeing the spider i can tell you definitely need a lot more substrate in there. They are fossorial tarantulas, digging is what they do. There's also too much distance between the floor and top of the enclosure. You want no more than 1.5x diagonal leg span of the tarantula in height.

I would take care of this once the T has emerged and hardened up from the molt

 

[viper69]

So about a year ago I bought or was gifted by my wife a beautiful yearling aphonopelma seemani female and he has molted once in my care twice at the pet shop that we got her from and I'm not too sure because the first two times they said she did it out in the open but now she has locked herself in her hide and pulled substrate from outside and around her bioactive enclosure and closed up her burrow she did have clear fluid at joints and also refusing food for about 2 months now is this just the reclusive behavior that everyone expects from the Costa Rican stripe knee or is this something to be worried about

All Ts do this

 

[Eiki]

What you are saying is that it did not eat for 2 months and now closed itself off in its hide? That's normal, spiders do that. It's just in premolt.