Melly, the G. rosea with a LOT of issues!

[Ixithel]

Rescued her from petco a lil over a month ago. She hasn't eaten yet in my care, drinks a lot.
So there was a time when looking in the enclosure of my G. Rosea, Melly to notice her having a ton of coconut fibers in her mouth from the substrate. Eventually as the weeks passed on I gave in and removed the fibers, thinking maybe she's not eating because she has so much crap in her mouth.

I had my doubts on her sex because of how scrawny she is so while taking pictures I discovered this.

Look at all that crap in her mouth. Complete with a cat hair. So i use lil tweezers to help her out and this is the end result.

what the hell is that white stuff in her mouth? That can't be normal, I don't recall seeing it before. It's gooey, not hard. I'm so worried T.T opinions/advice?
and she's a male isn't she? x.x

Is she doomed? Do I throw her in an ICU immediately?

 

[redrumpslump]

I'm no expert on nemotodes(spelling) but I do believe they look like white pasty stuff like that and are around the mouth. If it is then it's really really bad and you née to get her away from your other tarantulas.

Matt

 

[Echolalia]

I'm not experienced, and you should get another's opinion on it, but it looks like it could be nematodes. :?

 

[Ixithel]

I hope it's not nematodes...it looks a lot different from this

http://www.giantspiders.com/vagansnematode.jpg

and it's not moving at all

---------- Post added at 02:49 AM ---------- Previous post was at 02:33 AM ----------

http://www.giantspiders.com/article12.html

this article includes some of the symptoms to watch out for. She is always around her water dish and webs a lot, always seems to be wandering around and doesn't eat. Obviously the discharge but her palps and legs seem completely fine.

 

[esotericman]

Make sure you do NOT have any phorid flies or gnats which could vector them to your other animals. There is nothing you can do most of the time, but in this species, you can try an artificial "fever". The technique was published in the BTS journal a couple years ago.

To be sure it is nematodes, you place the animal in a clear plastic container with just enough water to cover the bottom. When the water makes contact with the nematodes, they'll move out of the tarantula. If the water turns white, it usually nematodes or fecal matter. Nematodes will look like TINY worms, fecal matter will look like white powder. You can see the nematodes with your naked eye in good light.

Since there are two main groups being ID'd as infecting tarantulas, those which feed directly on the animal, and those which use symbiotic bacteria, no one treatment will work as we can not ID which is which without a PhD and some serious tools (PCR and/or microscopy).

IF you do not see any worms, and it is only fecal matter, you might try an ICU. If it is nematodes the ICU will only cause them to move out of the animal and increase your chances of having them introduced to other tarantulas.

Good luck and I wish we had better knowledge and news for you.

 

[JC]

http://atshq.org/boards/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=9483&start=0

 

[Ixithel]

I'm going to try and take a sample of that goop and put it in water and see what happens. Regardless i'm going to set her up an icu tonight and leave her in there until morning and check up on her then. I hope it's not evil parasites. Do you know how it spreads? If shes in the same room as my other Ts it won't harm them right?

---------- Post added at 03:58 AM ---------- Previous post was at 03:33 AM ----------

So I just pinched her and flipped her over and noticed all the white gunk was gone. After pulling various pieces of substrate out her mouth I took a syringe and squirted the area with water. After it pooled up it got slightly cloudy and I looked for a while, hard and close with a light to aid me and saw no moving, squiggly wormy things at all. Her palps move fine, she acts pretty normal (like a rosie). Maybe it was poo or web?

 

[Najakeeper]

Does she eat? When they stop eating when to goo appears is a great sign IMO.

 

[AmbushArachnids]

There is no such thing as rescueing a WC tarantula from a pet store. It supports them to buy more WC specimens. You may try to save one dying tarantula but in turn a healthy one is/may be plucked from the wild. Not judging, i own a few WC specimens myself. Im just pointing out the cold facts of the trade.

 

[Raven9464]

stressed?

She could just be stressed. Before you purchased her, was she housed in a small container? I have had two adult Ts purchased from a LPS that wouldn't eat until I put them back in a small container like they were in in the pet store. Seems they were so used to living in close quarters and not having to "hunt" for their food, that they were maybe "overwhelmed" by their new spacious homes. Keep us posted please.

 

[redrumpslump]

Did you read the OP at all? This isabout white fluid coming out of the tarantulas mouth possibly bing nemotoeds. It has nothing to do with it being stressed or not eating.

Matt

 

[Raven9464]

To Matt

Did you read the OP at all? This isabout white fluid coming out of the tarantulas mouth possibly bing nemotoeds. It has nothing to do with it being stressed or not eating.

Matt

Hmmm...This is a quote from the "OP" - :

"Rescued her from petco a lil over a month ago. She hasn't eaten yet in my care, drinks a lot."

My suggestion/comment was to BOTH problems....suggesting the white discharge is nothing to worry about

 

[curiousme]

Hmmm...This is a quote from the "OP" - :

"Rescued her from petco a lil over a month ago. She hasn't eaten yet in my care, drinks a lot."

My suggestion/comment was to BOTH problems....suggesting the white discharge is nothing to worry about

Why would you think that an unknown white substance around the mouth was nothing to worry about? Do you have something you are basing that advice on?

---------- Post added at 09:52 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:27 AM ----------

Ixithel ~ I would keep an eye on it for at least a day and see if the white substance stays gone. Our P. regalis has scared us a couple times by having poo in its mouth for over a day, so we separated her enclosure and watched her and it went away. She acted perfectly fine, so we didn't ICU her. That said, drinking excessively can be a sign of nematodes(if my memory is correct) and so I would keep it separated and watched. If it comes back, get a sample and do the test. I hope it doesn't come back though!

 

[Mez]

She could just be stressed. Before you purchased her, was she housed in a small container? I have had two adult Ts purchased from a LPS that wouldn't eat until I put them back in a small container like they were in in the pet store. Seems they were so used to living in close quarters and not having to "hunt" for their food, that they were maybe "overwhelmed" by their new spacious homes. Keep us posted please.

This is because a lot of people give their Ts way oversized enclosures without substrate to burrow. They feel secure.

 

[esotericman]

I would keep an eye on it for at least a day and see if the white substance stays gone. Our P. regalis has scared us a couple times by having poo in its mouth for over a day, so we separated her enclosure and watched her and it went away.

Uric acid will not dissolve in water readily, so taking some and putting it in water will let you know if it is feces. It's not uncommon in arboreals for some reason.

Please read that thread on ATS just so folks don't have to repeat over and over the same information.

Nematodes are lethal unless you try an experimental "cure" and get lucky. A 38C heat treatment "MIGHT" work for this species of nematode, if that is what this is. It might kill the animal right out.

As for drinking, infected spiders will "head stand" in the water dish for long periods of time. Often the fangs are locked thus they can not drink nor feed nor groom, which explains the substrate build up in infected animals.

Again, the OP must identify if this is nematodes or fecal matter.

Lastly, phorid flies are well supported vectors. If you have any other tarantulas and phorid flies, you'll loose them as well. Guy's link should have information there. Microscreens or moving them out of the house is the only protection which is 100%.

 

[Ixithel]

Najakeeper-- She hasn't eaten anything yet, when I got her from the petstore they claimed to give her a cricket a day and obviously, you can tell she didn't eat because her abdomen is so....anorexic?

AgentD006las-- as that is true, she might have been purchased regardless and it's best that someone who has a pretty good idea at how to care for them gets her then say....a ten year old boy that wants it just for the coolness factor.

Raven9464-- Actually they kept her in a 5ish gallon with hardly any substrate, maybe a half inch covering the flooring? Her enclosure now is a lot more snug but has enough room if she wanted to wander. I don't think she would have any trouble hunting, burrowing, finding her dish etc.

UPDATE: So I decided not to stick her in an icu and instead moved her away from my other Ts. I just checked on her again and she still had substrate sticking to her mouth but upon removing it I saw no traces of white anything anywhere. She was moving her palps and her fangs, obviously not very pleased with me. What I am going to do is keep her away from my collection and check on her daily.


Another Question: From this pic here

(Sorry, photobucket ate the high res so it's hard to tell) Some users commented on her looking dehydrated. She drinks quite regularly so i'm not sure what I can do to help her feel better. Any suggestions?

 

[redrumpslump]

Hmmm...This is a quote from the "OP" - :

"Rescued her from petco a lil over a month ago. She hasn't eaten yet in my care, drinks a lot."

My suggestion/comment was to BOTH problems....suggesting the white discharge is nothing to worry about

So you personally know it's not nemotoeds? No you don't. I always see you posting untrue stuff on here. You should stop that it makes you look dumb.

Back on topic. If it's gone it could have been poop or webbing. I would just keep a close eye on it.

Matt

 

[esotericman]

Actually unless you put some of the mess into water and looked, you still do not know what it was.

http://atshq.org/boards/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=18272

In that thread you can see masses of nematodes, but that is under a 'scope, not a macro on a camera. They move in and out of your vision, the locked fangs could or could not be a sign again based on the species infecting the tarantula.

 

[Ixithel]

Update I noticed a similar substance on my P. murinus sling, however he had just consumed a roach. Yesterday I dropped a roach into everyone's enclosure and left it. I know three of my T's ate for sure.

I've never seen Melly eat but it could be possible that perhaps she did nom the roach. I can't find a bolus or the roach itself. She could have hid the bolus or didn't eat the roach at all, could still be burrowed. The only way of checking for sure would be to tear up her enclosure and dig around for the roach and I don't think she would be very happy with me.

If this means she ate, and that white stuff was liquified roach, then I am extremely relieved.

esotericman Since the substance was missing I drabbled water over her mouth area and when it built up I looked for anything wormy. Didn't see anything. I also scraped at her mouth where it was and squished it in water and didn't see anything either. If I see this white substance again then I will scoop a gloop and find out.

 

[Ixithel]

Update- just checked her again. Not very pleased with me, tried to bite me a couple times. Palps moving, fangs bared, angry little rosie but NO white discharge.!