Sick T?

BladeGypsy

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May 3, 2018
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216
Hello all,


I received in the mail today an A. chalcodes tarantula.
The T is active and from outward observation appears to be healthy.
I was just getting ready for bed this evening and was going about checking on my Ts for the last time for the day and noticed something really strange going on with this new T.
Coming out of its mouth was about a 1.5'' long brown strand of what I don't know what else to compare to but poo. When I picked the enclosure up to further observe the T moved and the strand came off, but there is still a little hanging out of its mouth.

What is going on? - Is this T sick?
If so, what do I do? - And, if so, can this make my other T's sick?
DSC00644.JPG DSC00645.JPG DSC00646.JPG DSC00647.JPG



Thank you for your time.
 

Nightstalker47

Arachnoking
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Jul 2, 2016
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Thats very strange indeed. You sure its not some kind of parasite exiting the host? Never seen anything like this before.
 

boina

Lady of the mites
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That does indeed look strange. If it was WC I wouldn't exclude a parasite. The other thing I can come up with is some kind of very viscous stomach contents that the tarantula has been regurgitating because of shipping stress. If this tarantula is wild cought I'd definitely house it on a different shelf that any other tarantula.
 

Paul1126

Arachnoangel
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I would check to see if it is WC. I wouldn't place it near any other Ts you have.
 

Beggottenson

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Dec 12, 2018
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Zoom into the second picture you can see that it actually is curling it seems like a parasite to me, is it moving?
 

EulersK

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Fascinating. Even if it were a parasite, all large parasites affecting tarantulas that I know of emerge from the carapace or abdomen by chewing their way out. They never cleanly exit via the mouth, or any other orifice for that matter.

Did the 'rod' move at all after exiting?
 

Nightstalker47

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I would check to see if it is WC. I wouldn't place it near any other Ts you have.
Its very likely, most of the larger A.chalcodes being sold are WC specimens.
Zoom into the second picture you can see that it actually is curling it seems like a parasite to me, is it moving?
It almost looks segmented as well. Definitely appears to be some sort of creature IMO.
 

BladeGypsy

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I had it on the same shelf as some of my other Ts. Upon seeing that excitement I immediately moved the T to my closet away from the other Ts but it’s still in my room. Should I move it to another room all together? Also, it came as a “freebie” with two other Ts I actually purchased. I opened the A. chalcodes package last but should I wash/ clean in some other way the tongs and paint brush I used to unbox it? Maybe everything because I throw all my tools in the same container when not in use? The excretement did not seem to move, but i can not find it now...the T moved a bunch of substrate around last night so that may be why. Man, I’m super worried now!

I really hope boina is right in that it is just stomach contents being regurgitated due to shipping stress.
 
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boina

Lady of the mites
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It almost looks segmented as well. Definitely appears to be some sort of creature IMO.
Yes, it does look segmented and that's what makes it weird. Nematodes, the parasitic worms you'll find in arthropods are not segmented - ever. The typical segmented, parasitic worms are Cestoda (tape worms), but their adult, segmented form is not found in any arthropods. Other segmented worms are annelids and the few of those that are parasitic live in aquatic life forms - the parasitic annelids never made it on land. For the life of me I cannot come up with a single segmented parasitic worm that could possibly live in a spider. Maybe the segments are derived by some other mechanism? I don't know. Or maybe the spider ate a small rodent and sucked up a tapeworm??? Ok, I know I'm getting weird here.
 

EtienneN

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Quite unusual. I wouldn't think that regurgitation would be in such a uniformly "wormlike" formation. But it doesn't quite look like a parasite either. It seems like there is still a small piece hanging from the tarantula's mouth? I would definitely wash your tools in warm soapy water. Please keep us informed.
 

BladeGypsy

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May 3, 2018
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Thank you for the replies everyone.
So far, the spider is still moving about - no curling and such.
The last little bit of excrement has appeared to disappear/nothing else hanging out of mouth.

I contacted the seller/giver. They are a member in respectable standing here and were very responsive.
They notified me that they had the T for over a year - they were unsure of whether it was wild caught or not.
However, they too thought perhaps it had been fed a little too close to shipping.

I have a feeling, and hope, that maybe the T just had an upset tummy from transit. :)

In the meantime, I did wash all my tools and thoroughly rinsed with antibacterial Palmolive soap.
The spooder in question is currently in another room of the home.


So, below of his/her underside and mouth as best as I personally can currently photograph...


DSC00650.JPG
 

Theneil

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I just stumbled on this video. you will see one image where there is a thick 'string' hanging from the tarantulas mouth. Hopefully this is unrelated but i i thought it would be best to post anyway.
 

BladeGypsy

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^thanks for sharing that informative video.
One thing that is different on what my spider excreted was that it was brown in color - in the video the worms appear to be white.

Does anyone know how long it takes for nematodes to take over the host and eventually kill it from start to end?
 
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Nightstalker47

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Does anyone know how long it takes for nematodes to take over the host and eventually kill it from start to end?
Not sure, but I can guarantee that what we saw on you tarantula was not nematodes, they are much smaller and white...looks more like some kind of roundworm parasite to me.
 

EtienneN

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If the seller really did have it for a year, I’d say there’s a slim to none chance that it’s a nematode. But I understand your concerns. I think the T would be exhibiting strange behaviour/DKS by now if something sinister was going on.
 

darkness975

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Is the segmented apparatus that emerged from the Spider moving? Can you open it up and see if it is an actual animal inside there (i.e. has "guts") or if it is something else entirely?

When Tarantulas feed they pre-digest their prey and suck up the liquified "soup." It would not have consumed something solid in a solid format.
 

Nightstalker47

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The excretement did not seem to move, but i can not find it now...the T moved a bunch of substrate around last night so that may be why. Man, I’m super worried now!

I really hope boina is right in that it is just stomach contents being regurgitated due to shipping stress.
Yeah, seems like wishful thinking tbh, I think an examination is in order. I wouldn't have left that in the enclosure either way.
 

BladeGypsy

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^darkness975; the excrement from the spider did NOT appear to be moving at all, it did have a little mucus-like goop at the end of it .
Best I can compare it to is, literally, poo from a mammal - but being excremented/vomited out of its mouth...kinda like when a dog takes a poo and there is a little mucus at the end of the doo-doo because of whatever they ate the night before didn't form the ideal turd...


Now, I do not know where the initial excrement in question went from the T.


The past few days I have had the T in another room of the home, and have honestly felt really paranoid...
I have seen webbing that appears to be matted up, that I have removed and picked apart trying to find anything the past few days - I have not found anything of definition at this time except matted webbing.
For what it's worth; I do believe it ate a single 1/2'' cricket last evening/early this morning (dropped crix in, watched for several hours before going to bed, woke up and there is no crix in sight, so I assume it was eaten).


Nightstalker47 - My sincerest apologies if I did something wrong by not removing the excrement immediately upon seeing it. I admit, I'm still learning here - as I feel we all are, on any subject, if we care about it.

All this on a "freebie" T - gosh, it's frustrating and nerve-wracking!
I suppose I should be thankful this is not happening on a more precious T, and to take it as a learning experience - but, at the same time I'm sincerely concerned something really bad is going to happen to my other Ts due to this "freebie"...


I thank you all again for our input and hope you have a most Happy and prosperous New Year.
 
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