Looking for some advice

[Planetzack]

Hello all!

I’ll get to the I’m new here post eventually but I’m the meantime I have a bit of a question (or maybe I’m looking for some suggestions) about my T, Mallory. As for age and type: she’s roughly 4 year she old and apparently a Brazilian White Knee. Not my first tarantula, but definitely the one I’ve had the most trouble with.

I’ve had her for about three years now. Everything went swimmingly raising her from a sling. Eating well, growing well... and now we’ve got issues. She’s about 7 inches across now and spindly. She’s seemed to have lost a ton of weight and has been acting quite abnormally for about 11 months. She starved herself for roughy 10 of the 11, and then just a couple of weeks ago started to accept the smallest of the two week old crickets (gut loaded and dusted of course). This is oddly small for her as usually she chomps down 5 weeks without hesitation. Then once again offering her just one at a time, she’s refusing to eat again. I’ve tried different bugs of different sizes, and she’s just straight ignoring them. Her abdomen has lost a lot of its girth and is MAYBE half the size of her carapace.

I’m growing increasingly concerned about her. She used to be pretty chilled out for a T, almost the nature of a rose hair. But lately she’s been extremely aggressive. Skipping the whole rearing and going straight to flicking hairs (thank goodness I wear glasses). She’s either totally high strung, or she’s hanging out in a corner kinda lethargically. It’s been impossible to even considering placing her in an icu just in case as the moment I go near her she tries to bite.

Yesterday I found her curled up in her little “I cant see you, so you can’t see me” position. Obviously stressed out. I checked out everything with her enclosure. It’s clean, warm, humid enough, and has got space for her to hide. Today upon coming home from work I found her in the inevitable death curl. I poked her a little and she moved! Quite aggressively actually. It didn’t seems like time for her to molt, so I didn’t hesitate, but carefully flipped her over in case she had gotten herself stuck. She stumbled around almost looked like she was dizzy, and then flipped back over into the spot she was before.

I’m going to leave her there in case she will molt, but I’m curious as to what you all might suggest.
Early on into her life. About 2 inches across here.

When she stated skinnying up about a year ago. Most recently with her sizing.

 

[chanda]

First - you don't need to dust crickets for tarantulas. Reptiles need the extra calcium. Arachnids do not.

As for Mallory, have you considered the possibility that "she" might be more of a "Mark"? I'd like a closer look at "her" pedipalps - but I think I see a suspicious bulge at the end of one in your third picture. That would also be in keeping with "her" growing scrawny and leggy, instead of her former plump self. That is exactly what my first A. geniculata did when he matured.

Unfortunately, if he has matured, he may living on borrowed time. You don't mention when the last molt was, but following their final molt, mature males typically only live another year to year-and-a-half. Meanwhile, all the "behavior issues" could boil down to sexual frustration. He wants to go out and find a sexy lady tarantula, but he's stuck in solitary confinement with no ladies to be found.

 

[Planetzack]

Everyone I’ve met so far has told me to dust them as well. I’ll definitely look into that a lot more. Thank you!

Potentially. I’ve never really considered it because she definitely was exhibiting more behaviour that I would have thought was feminine. Though, to be honest, her behaviour has changed quite a bit through molts. I’ll check and see if I have any better pictures more up close!.

 

[Planetzack]

As for Mallory, have you considered the possibility that "she" might be more of a "Mark"? I'd like a closer look at "her" pedipalps - but I think I see a suspicious bulge at the end of one in your third picture. That would also be in keeping with "her" growing scrawny and leggy, instead of her former plump self. That is exactly what my first A. geniculata did when he matured.

From when she was younger but these are the closest pictures I’ve got:

 

[cold blood]

a Brazilian White Knee

Nope...that's Nhandu chromatus...or the Brazilian red and white

She’s about 7 inches across now and spindly. She’s seemed to have lost a ton of weight and has been acting quite abnormally for about 11 months.

Its a mature male, 100%, no question about it. And everything you described is completely normal for a MM.

Plus chromatus exhibit a degree of dimorphism....the most obvious is that the white carapace darkens...and they get leggier and will always have a smaller abdomen, regardless of how much you get it to eat. And MMs, well they don't eat very often...prey drive can be near zero. Keeping a MM hydrated is more important than being fed. MMs are more prone to dehydration IME.

(gut loaded and dusted of course).

Yeah, that stuff is for reptiles, it has no place with inverts. Crickets just need to be fed and watered, and not to any excess....I just keep a piece of dog kibble in with them.

Everyone I’ve met so far has told me to dust them as well.

Everyone you have met apparently has no clue...lol...theyre all dead wrong. Glad you found AB, you will get proper info here.

 

[Planetzack]

WELL THEN. This clears a hell of a lot up for me. Seriously. I thank you. I did think earlier on that she might not be a white knee, but wasn’t able to tell too much the difference between them as she’s been in and out of hiding so frequently I haven’t been able to get a good look at her. I might keep the name Mallory even if he’s a boy. It’s 2018 right?

This does means we’re basically at the end of our time together doesn’t it? How extremely unfortunate. I guess make him confortable? Would that be the best approach?

 

[chanda]

WELL THEN. This clears a hell of a lot up for me. Seriously. I thank you. I did think earlier on that she might not be a white knee, but wasn’t able to tell too much the difference between them as she’s been in and out of hiding so frequently I haven’t been able to get a good look at her. I might keep the name Mallory even if he’s a boy. It’s 2018 right?

This does means we’re basically at the end of our time together doesn’t it? How extremely unfortunate. I guess make him confortable? Would that be the best approach?

Yeah, either keep him the way you've been keeping him - food if he'll take it, plenty of fresh water so he doesn't get dehydrated - or, if he's only recently molted, you might be able to swap him to somebody with a mature female that they want to breed. That's what I've done with several of my mature males - I traded them for juvenile spiders so I could start fresh with a new (and hopefully female!) spider. If it's been quite a while since his last molt, though, then it may be too late for breeding.

And yeah, Mallory is fine for a boy. After all, Johnny Cash sang about A Boy Named Sue almost fifty years ago!

 

[Planetzack]

Yep it’s been a little over a year since his last molt. Around November of 2016. I’ll make sure to keep an extra eye on the humidity. I have a little meter I can throw in there. Thank you again! <3

 

[Nightstalker47]

Hello all!

I’ll get to the I’m new here post eventually but I’m the meantime I have a bit of a question (or maybe I’m looking for some suggestions) about my T, Mallory. As for age and type: she’s roughly 4 year she old and apparently a Brazilian White Knee. Not my first tarantula, but definitely the one I’ve had the most trouble with.

I’ve had her for about three years now. Everything went swimmingly raising her from a sling. Eating well, growing well... and now we’ve got issues. She’s about 7 inches across now and spindly. She’s seemed to have lost a ton of weight and has been acting quite abnormally for about 11 months. She starved herself for roughy 10 of the 11, and then just a couple of weeks ago started to accept the smallest of the two week old crickets (gut loaded and dusted of course). This is oddly small for her as usually she chomps down 5 weeks without hesitation. Then once again offering her just one at a time, she’s refusing to eat again. I’ve tried different bugs of different sizes, and she’s just straight ignoring them. Her abdomen has lost a lot of its girth and is MAYBE half the size of her carapace.

I’m growing increasingly concerned about her. She used to be pretty chilled out for a T, almost the nature of a rose hair. But lately she’s been extremely aggressive. Skipping the whole rearing and going straight to flicking hairs (thank goodness I wear glasses). She’s either totally high strung, or she’s hanging out in a corner kinda lethargically. It’s been impossible to even considering placing her in an icu just in case as the moment I go near her she tries to bite.

Yesterday I found her curled up in her little “I cant see you, so you can’t see me” position. Obviously stressed out. I checked out everything with her enclosure. It’s clean, warm, humid enough, and has got space for her to hide. Today upon coming home from work I found her in the inevitable death curl. I poked her a little and she moved! Quite aggressively actually. It didn’t seems like time for her to molt, so I didn’t hesitate, but carefully flipped her over in case she had gotten herself stuck. She stumbled around almost looked like she was dizzy, and then flipped back over into the spot she was before.

I’m going to leave her there in case she will molt, but I’m curious as to what you all might suggest. View attachment 264815
Early on into her life. About 2 inches across here.
View attachment 264816
When she stated skinnying up about a year ago. View attachment 264817 Most recently with her sizing.

Way too much height in that enclosure for your terrestrial as well. Rehouse the mature male and save the exo-terra for an arboreal species.

Your N.chromatus will eventually fall at some point, especially with how MMs wander around non-stop. Have you considered sending him out to breed?

Yep it’s been a little over a year since his last molt. Around November of 2016. I’ll make sure to keep an extra eye on the humidity. I have a little meter I can throw in there. Thank you again! <3

Ditch the humidity gauge. Completely useless for tarantulas. You don't need to measure humidity.

 

[Planetzack]

I actually have only seen the guy climb about once or twice. He tended to stick around the bottom and crawls around his little skull. The only other enclosure I have is about three quarters of the height. I’m not sure it would do much of a difference now in moving him. Especially since he’s super stressed out right now.

Would you think that he’s healthy enough to breed? I would be worried that he isn’t going to last much longer?

 

[chanda]

Yep it’s been a little over a year since his last molt. Around November of 2016. I’ll make sure to keep an extra eye on the humidity. I have a little meter I can throw in there. Thank you again! <3

Yeah, at this point I'd say it's been too long for him to be considered a good candidate for breeding. Don't worry about getting a humidity meter, though. Keep his water dish full, overflow it every now and then to moisten the substrate, and he'll be fine. Chasing numbers to try to keep your gauge at the "magic number" will just leave you frustrated. You've already raised him from a sling without benefit of a gauge, and it's not like his humidity requirements suddenly changed overnight. What has changed is that he is eating less, so he is not getting as much moisture from his food - but as long as he has water available to drink, he should be fine.

 

[Anoplogaster]

I’ve never really considered it because she definitely was exhibiting more behaviour that I would have thought was feminine

Careful not to anthropomorphize spiders

Nothing wrong with owning a male spider. But yes, unfortunately that means your time with him is limited. But that’s only relative to females of the same species. I maintain the mindset that tarantulas (male or female) are extremely long-lived in comparison to other invertebrate pets. What you are seeing is simply the natural course of life, which happens to be shorter for males than it is for females.

 

[cold blood]

This does means we’re basically at the end of our time together doesn’t it? How extremely unfortunate. I guess make him confortable? Would that be the best approach?

Now he could live a while, and IME, larger MMs tend to live longer than small ones...and yours is a giant MM to be sure.

As for the confusion on the species...the geniculata (white knee) looks markedly different, even if there are similarities. Genic doesn't have a white carapace, its dark, often almost black...in general, its a t with more black than white, while chromatus is almost the reverse. Chromatus also sports a much redder rump...very bright.

Female chromatus

chromatus

• cold blood
• Nov 11, 2017
• 3

feed me

MM chromatus, which although smaller, looks like yours as you can see.

Resized952016111995201358

• cold blood
• Nov 19, 2016

MM chromatus, now in search of a MF

.

Resized952017030895212634

• cold blood
• Mar 8, 2017

Nhandu chromatus

 

[Planetzack]

You've already raised him from a sling without benefit of a gauge, and it's not like his humidity requirements suddenly changed overnight. What has changed is that he is eating less, so he is not getting as much moisture from his food - but as long as he has water available to drink, he should be fine.

And this is one of the main reasons why I am still a bit confused. Absolutely nothing has changed to illicit such behavioural changes. He’s been in the same location, save for the first month I had him in my bedroom where it was too cold. I had a little heat mat that I used when it got too cold out during the first winter I had him, but since adjusting my house heat to a more comfortable temperature I haven’t needed one. Other than that, everything else has been very consistent.

He’s got loads of water to drink! I always make sure his bowl has clean water in it.

 

[cold blood]

Ditch the humidity gauge. Completely useless for tarantulas. You don't need to measure humidity

This is something worth noting for future spiders.

That word...humidity ...I hate hearing it with regards to ts...its not applicable IMO. Ts cannot get water from the air, so why would it be important to even measure?

When you read a t needs humidity, what it really means (and should be saying), is that it requires damp substrate. Its really that simple. Hygrometers cause vastly more issues than they could dream to solve...don't rely on them, don't even use them....not for ts anyway.

Now your ambient humidity will dictate how often you add water, and how much water you add (ventilation will also play a role)...but any t can be kept in any humidity as long as the proper moisture exists in the substrate.

I actually have only seen the guy climb about once or twice. He tended to stick around the bottom and crawls around his little skull.

Yes, but now that he's a mm, it wll happen...and probably does all the time nightly....MMs naturally roam, its critical to their reproduction and built into their physiology....they will climb, there's no getting around that...and as an MM ages, grip is lost...making an eventual fall inevitable .

I’m not sure it would do much of a difference now in moving him. Especially since he’s super stressed out right now.

He'll be dead.

Would you think that he’s healthy enough to breed?

It really doesn't have much to do with health. The t can be healthy, but too old. To mate, an MM needs to be still making sperm webs, which they only do for so long....so if he's still making them, he should be good to go...if he's not....well, he's no longer viable. The remnants of a sperm web are thick lines of webbing.....I'm sure you have seen them all over and just not realized what you were seeing.

MM Chromatopelma cyaneopubescens

• cold blood
• Apr 13, 2017
• 2
• chromatopelma chromatopelma cyaneopubescens cyaneopubescens gbb greenbottle blue tarantula male mature male

MM GBB officially ready to go.

Poecilotheria vittata sperm web

• cold blood
• Oct 15, 2016
• 2
• ghost ornamental tarantula magam tiger spider male mature male pederson's ornamental tarantula poecilotheria poecilotheria pederseni poecilotheria vittata sperm web vittata

sperm web...P.vitatta MM is ready to pair.

He’s got loads of water to drink! I always make sure his bowl has clean water in it.

And that's a testament as to why he's lasted.

 

[Mjb30]

And this is one of the main reasons why I am still a bit confused. Absolutely nothing has changed to illicit such behavioural changes.

He has matured. That has caused the change in behaviour.

 

[Planetzack]

Okay awesome. So sperm webs.
Last time I saw them was about Christmas time so I imagine he’s still okay to go... I’ll see if any locals around here (Vancouver, BC) may want to take a crack at breeding with him.

I’m mostly just going to keep a close eye on the guy until I’m comfortable with his behaviour. I checked on him this morning. He moved a bit over to the other side of the enclosure, but is still sitting in a stressed out position. Made sure everything was nice and damp and then made my way to work.

Hopefully he’s a bit better going on tonight.

 

[Walker253]

You're so close, yet so far away. My MF N chromatus just molted...

 

[cold blood]

Last time I saw them was about Christmas time so I imagine he’s still okay to go

That actually seems like it might be too far away. I would be reluctant to pair a MM that hasn't made a sperm web in over a month.

 

[Planetzack]

That's actually pretty reasonable. I don't want to be sending an old outta work geezer off to mate. I've only ever kept female T's (at least now I think I've only had female T's...) so I'm not too sure of the mating habits from the male perspective. I've never thought about mating any of them to be honest. I don't think I've ever wanted to deal with many little ones, seems a bit too escapey for me.