Molt Problem

Serpyderpy

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My Hapalopus sp. Colombia Large has molted after a long time in premolt and molted last night. I left him alone for the night and checked on him today, and when I opened the lid he went for a wander so I scooped him up to put him back.

This is when I’ve noticed his back leg is stuck to his abdomen, which is also twisted in of itself. He can walk perfectly fine and he promptly pooped on me when he was walking on me so I know that his inner workings are at least somewhat working but I’m unsure of what to do. He has a water dish and I’m hesitant to feed him. Any advice? Please tell me if the image doesn’t work, I’m uploading from mobile.

 
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PidderPeets

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The image didn't upload (for me at least).

All I can say based on the information is that if his leg is an issue and he can remove it, he likely will. The only time I've seen a leg actually stuck to an abdomen was with a true spider I took in. She had a small rupture on her abdomen, and the dried hemolymph from the wound stuck her leg to it. I managed to very carefully separate them without doing further damage or reopening the wound, but I can't make that suggestion without seeing the problem.

I can't make any assumptions on the abdomen without seeing it. Don't feed him until his fangs harden. You shouldn't offer food until at least a week after molting, possibly longer if he's larger.

Other than a that, it might just be a "wait-and-see" scenario unfortunately
 

mack1855

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You need to reload the pic...its not showing up.
 

Serpyderpy

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Fixed the image. I don't dare touch the leg because it seems really fixed onto his abdomen.
 

PidderPeets

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Fixed the image. I don't dare touch the leg because it seems really fixed onto his abdomen.
That's almost exactly what it looked like with the true spider I mentioned. So I'm thinking it must have tore it's abdomen after the molt, then the leg and some substrate got caught in the hemolymph when it dried.

Ensure it has access to water (perhaps even wet down the substrate by it's mouth so it can drink if it doesn't want to move), don't mess with it any more, and just keep an eye on it. At first I thought the true spider I had would die because she was extremely uncoordinated, lethargic, and had difficulty moving, but after giving her some water (which she drank with a sense of urgency), she actually perked up drastically. I had her for quite some time afterwards and she was totally normal. Hopefully it goes the same for your T.

Is there anything in your enclosure that your T could have injured itself on after the molt?
 

Serpyderpy

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That's almost exactly what it looked like with the true spider I mentioned. So I'm thinking it must have tore it's abdomen after the molt, then the leg and some substrate got caught in the hemolymph when it dried.

Ensure it has access to water (perhaps even wet down the substrate by it's mouth so it can drink if it doesn't want to move), don't mess with it any more, and just keep an eye on it. At first I thought the true spider I had would die because she was extremely uncoordinated, lethargic, and had difficulty moving, but after giving her some water (which she drank with a sense of urgency), she actually perked up drastically. I had her for quite some time afterwards and she was totally normal. Hopefully it goes the same for your T.

Is there anything in your enclosure that your T could have injured itself on after the molt?
The only thing I can think of that it may have touched was the inside of the water dish, possibly going for a drink after the molt? I know some pop/soda bottles have the tiny flecks of plastic where it attaches to the ring on the outside of the bottle, and as much as I try to cut and sand them down it may have still been sharp enough to prick the poor thing. But even then looking at the water dish it looks smooth as anything! I found the carapace in a completely different place to the rest of the molt, unsure if he moved it himself or dragged it, he obviously has moved since molting but that's all I can think of. The fake plants are all soft and the corkbark is fairly blunt too. Currently he's sat in webbed entrance to said corkbark, I'll drip a tiny bit of water down for him and then leave him alone. He's sat with his legs close to him but it's not what I would describe as a stress curl, more just a spider being a spider. He can walk and seems pretty alert and fast so I have hope.

Attached a picture of the enclosure just in case something looks off that I'm not seeing.

 

mack1855

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IMO,the enclosure looks just fine.FWIW.Not much you can do for the T,other than food,water.
But the fact it went for a short walkabout may be hopeful.
 

viper69

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Leave him alone. He will remove the leg if needed.

This species is as hardy as a GBB. Just pay attention to him, make sure there's water. You may need to put some droplets of water. The ones I have kept, I have very rarely see them drink from a bowl actually.
 

Serpyderpy

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Just a little update on this guy, I've been pouring water into the substrate every few days or so for him to drink and today I noticed his back leg is free of the scab that has formed. The scab seems to be staying put too which is nice and I've seen him in multiple places over the course of a few days so I think he's gonna be alright, just a crappy molt in all honesty. His abdomen being a little twisted does have me a bit concerned added onto the fact he has a scab on it so I think I'm gonna be a bit stingy with meal times and give him a little bit of mealworm so he doesn't rupture the scab, 'cause I've seen how quickly the little guys can balloon when given a full worm. :p
 
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