White blob on her fang? Rose Hair

[ViperSRT]

Hi All,

So it turned out that "Rosie" did indeed molt. I have had her for many years and she has not molted before. She did last night right side up and I noticed something I've never seen before. She is moving around by sliding around on her stomach (Her legs look curled like she can't stand on them properly) and there is a weird white ball on her one fang. Is this something normal that I just have not seen or could there be an issue?



Thanks,

Viper

 

[darkness975]

I will let others chime in as I am still half asleep (and sick) but upon first glance that does not look good and it definitely is not normal for a post molt tarantula.

Post molt tarantulas look like brighter cleaner (and often larger) versions of their pre molt selves. Your specimen should not have that blob on her face.

Can you get more pictures from different angles ? And what is the enclosure set up? Post pics of that too. It will help people trying to figure out what happened if they can.

 

[Haksilence]

"Many years" worries me. Adult grammostola can take a long time to molt I've heard of 18 months and such before possibly two years but "many years" sounds problematic

 

[Toxoderidae]

That looks like a wet molt where something internally came out, looks like some sort of organ. I also noticed half the legs are twisted and bent around.

 

[BobBarley]

"Many years" worries me. Adult grammostola can take a long time to molt I've heard of 18 months and such before possibly two years but "many years" sounds problematic

G. porteri and G. rosea's normal adult molt cycles often last many years. Sometimes 5 or more.

Your specimen looks in bad shape. Give it some water and let it be, there isn't much else you can do.

 

[darkness975]

That looks like a wet molt where something internally came out, looks like some sort of organ. I also noticed half the legs are twisted and bent around.

Now that I'm using a computer I agree, terrible molt. The limbs are all twisted and that does appear to be an organ that ruptured through the carapace.

As Bob said, not much you can really do, Viper.

 

[ViperSRT]

Thanks for your input guys. I had a feeling it was a bad molt. Yes I have had her for quite a few years. Not sure how long, but this is her first molt. My last T was a Mexican red knee and she got stuck in her molt. On the other hand I had two Avics that molted no issue, but they were males and have since l left the building. Rosie is my last one. Honestly considering all the issues I seem to have with them it may be my last if she dies.

 

[BobBarley]

Thanks for your input guys. I had a feeling it was a bad molt. Yes I have had her for quite a few years. Not sure how long, but this is her first molt. My last T was a Mexican red knee and she got stuck in her molt. On the other hand I had two Avics that molted no issue, but they were males and have since l left the building. Rosie is my last one. Honestly considering all the issues I seem to have with them it may be my last if she dies.

Interesting. What's your husbandry like? Enclosure set-up? Two bad molts in a row don't seem that plausible to me, though it could be a coincidence.

 

[ViperSRT]

I have a feeling it is the room. The red knee died years ago leaving only Rosie. The room she is in during the winter gets dry as hell. I'm at work so I can't post any more pics, but I have a basic set up. Typical critter cage with substrate a hide and water dish. If she survives I was going to upgrade and give her a nicer cage.

 

[BobBarley]

I have a feeling it is the room. The red knee died years ago leaving only Rosie. The room she is in during the winter gets dry as hell. I'm at work so I can't post any more pics, but I have a basic set up. Typical critter cage with substrate a hide and water dish. If she survives I was going to upgrade and give her a nicer cage.

G. porteri should not have any problems with dryness. B. smithi might, but I doubt that's the problem. How much are they fed?

 

[ViperSRT]

G. porteri should not have any problems with dryness. B. smithi might, but I doubt that's the problem. How much are they fed?

I usually get crickets every couple weeks or so. I probably should have given the crickets that orange cube food. Maybe they would have been more nourishing that way. I have not been "into" the hobby for a while. Maybe I just didn't think and got neglectful.

 

[BobBarley]

I usually get crickets every couple weeks or so. I probably should have given the crickets that orange cube food. Maybe they would have been more nourishing that way. I have not been "into" the hobby for a while. Maybe I just didn't think and got neglectful.

No, no, that's definitely not it. Crickets don't need to be nourished with that, unless they have not eaten in a long time. Assuming you got them from a pet store, they probably had something to eat. There is still some debate on whether or not crickets should be "gut-loaded" or if it changes much. I just feed them greens/carrots if I keep them for a while. If not I just buy some from the store and give them to the t's right away. I was asking about your feeding schedule, because extreme overfeeding can lead to bad molts, but that doesn't look like the case. Perhaps it was just a coincidence, you did have two Avics molt successfully.

 

[ViperSRT]

No, no, that's definitely not it. Crickets don't need to be nourished with that, unless they have not eaten in a long time. Assuming you got them from a pet store, they probably had something to eat. There is still some debate on whether or not crickets should be "gut-loaded" or if it changes much. I just feed them greens/carrots if I keep them for a while. If not I just buy some from the store and give them to the t's right away. I was asking about your feeding schedule, because extreme overfeeding can lead to bad molts, but that doesn't look like the case. Perhaps it was just a coincidence, you did have two Avics molt successfully.

True however that was in a different room. I don't know. I hate to see her die, but I guess it is what it is. I might take a break from the hobby if she does

 

[Toxoderidae]

True however that was in a different room. I don't know. I hate to see her die, but I guess it is what it is. I might take a break from the hobby if she does

Don't man, I lost an avic juvie to a wet molt, and an OBT to a tunnel collapse during his molt. Don't give up hope just yet.

 

[lunarae]

I wouldn't give up on keeping T's. These things can and will happen. There are variables that no matter how great the husbandry is they will still come to the surface and cause unfortunate events such as this. I'd say you've just had some bad luck but honestly if you had it for years you were obviously doing something right in it's care. Wet molts happen and so far from what I've read there is no definitive evidence that states why they happen. Only theories.

You still have your avics that have made it through their molts and even if kept in a different room it shows you're doing something right. Just keep reading and learning and improving when you see improvements need to be made to what you have, but don't let it discourage you completely from the hobby.

 

[ViperSRT]

I suppose you are right. I just feel I have a pet curse right now haha. My dog died recently, my cat has renal issues and now the unstoppable rock that is Rosie is probably gonna go. Sad and frustrating.

 

[viper69]

crickets should be "gut-loaded"

They aren't very nutritious by themselves, if you feed crix anything that is healthy, as you do, you are gut-loading them. They come pre-gutloaded in the wild hahah

 

[EulersK]

Man, that tarantula looks in terrible shape. Even if it doesn't die from the bad molt, it'll likely die of dehydration due to the exposed innards. It almost looks as if an exoskeleton never formed over the left fang for some reason. If that's the case, there's literally nothing that you could have done wrong - in other words, it's not your fault. Keep at the hobby, it will get rewarding eventually

 

[ViperSRT]

Little update. She is still with us. The swelling on that blob has gone down considerably. It looks like one side was affected by the curled legs and the other is not too bad. I guess we will just have to see

 

[ViperSRT]

Upon closer inspection it appears that is exactly what happened. A piece of exoskeleton on the fang did not grow and her "meat" is exposed. To make matters worse her leg is stuck to it now.