There is a huge bald spot on my B.b I dont know what this means.

minizoof

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Jan 16, 2018
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Hello everyone I just got my first tarantula last Friday and have one question. I have a good friend who helped me prepare for my first tarantula but now I have only one question. What is this huge bold spot. It did not turn brown yet and its been there for 3 days or so.
 

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TownesVanZandt

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May 12, 2015
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Hello everyone I just got my first tarantula last Friday and have one question. I have a good friend who helped me prepare for my first tarantula but now I have only one question. What is this huge bold spot. It did not turn brown yet and its been there for 3 days or so.
It simply means that it has been kicking some hairs.
 

TownesVanZandt

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By the way, can you post a picture of the whole enclosure? From the pic you uploaded it seems that you might have way too little substrate and a heating pad underneath it?
 

Chris LXXIX

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Means that your Theraphosidae is slowly turning into a Sp. Yul Brynner or Sp. Telly Savalas, but nothing to be concerned at all :bored:

;) don't worry man
 

TownesVanZandt

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This is my terrarium
Ah, ok. The problem is that these Exo Terras are meant for arboreal tarantulas (front opening). What you have is a terrestrial species and they can hurt themselves if they fall from the top of the enclosure. Since it has barricaded itself now, let it be until at least a week after it moults, but then you should rehouse it into a more suitable enclosure. Also, do you have a heat mat underneath the enclosure? If so, that is very bad for your tarantula.
 

minizoof

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Jan 16, 2018
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Ah, ok. The problem is that these Exo Terras are meant for arboreal tarantulas (front opening). What you have is a terrestrial species and they can hurt themselves if they fall from the top of the enclosure. Since it has barricaded itself now, let it be until at least a week after it moults, but then you should rehouse it into a more suitable enclosure. Also, do you have a heat mat underneath the enclosure? If so, that is very bad for your tarantula.
No heat mat
 

minizoof

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Jan 16, 2018
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Btw I noticed it cant climb the glass so how is it going to get up there? Cant I just move the rock background out so it cant climb?
 

Venom1080

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Sep 24, 2015
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Brachypelma auratum like it dry. Only vagans and albopilosum like it damper.

I wouldn't bother with the guages, inaccurate and lead people to add too much or too little water. Never used them and doubt I ever will.

Screen plus terrestrials equal a chance of lost legs. Best to replace it.
 

chanda

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There is a huge bald spot on my B.b I dont know what this means.
It means he's going to be buying an itty-bitty sports car, chasing after much younger lady tarantulas, and generally making bad decisions. :troll:

Btw I noticed it cant climb the glass so how is it going to get up there? Cant I just move the rock background out so it cant climb?
As they get closer to molting, even arboreal tarantulas can get a little clumsy and have trouble climbing glass. Once it comes out of that burrow with a fresh new pelt, it's going to be hanging from the rafters and swinging from the chandelier (so to speak) in no time, even if it is a terrestrial species. Especially if it doesn't like the substrate - such as if the substrate is too wet. Species from arid regions tend to play "The Floor is Lava" whenever their substrate gets a little damp.

For now, respect the "do not disturb" sign of the closed burrow - and don't put in any feeders. (If you already have live feeders running around in there, remove them if you can do so without disturbing the burrow.) Tarantulas are vulnerable during and immediately after a molt and can be injured by live prey nibbling on them. Wait until the tarantula emerges from the burrow on his own - even though this may take weeks or even months. Tarantulas have a very slow metabolism and can easily go months without eating, so don't worry about him starving while he's locked away. Just keep water in his dish to maintain adequate humidity levels and be patient. You should not feed him until after he has emerged from his burrow on his own - and if he has molted, wait an additional week or two beyond that for his fangs to harden fully, so they are not damaged by him attempting to feed too soon.

It is also possible that he is not premolt and that he may emerge without molting - I've had some of mine do this, after sealing themselves up for up to a couple of months.

You said that you just got him Friday, which means he may have been under a lot of stress. If you purchased him at a show or expo, he may have been removed from his enclosure and stuffed in a deli cup, shipped who-knows-how-far to get to the expo, left sitting out on the dealer's table for a day or two under bright lights, possibly with nowhere to hide, while people come by and pick up or poke at his cup, then purchased, carried home, and rehoused into a strange new enclosure. All of this can be very stressful to a tarantula. Even if he didn't go through all the stresses of transportation to and from an expo, being transported and rehoused is stressful. When I exchanged a recently-hooked out mature male with another keeper, he managed to kick himself a rather sizeable bald spot just in the time it took me to collect him in a cup and deliver him to the other guy - who was less than an hour away. Stress can cause tarantulas to kick hairs and also to barricade themselves in their hides or burrows because that, to them, is a "safe spot."
 
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