# Bad Theraphosa molt :( any advice (pics)



## Projecht13 (Jan 14, 2011)

Theraphosa spinipes (9 inches)

I know these guys are prone to bad molts, her humidity is always 72%-95% so I dont think that could have caused it but who knows! She has completed the molt with no other problems and is now flipped over right side up. I guess all i can do now is wait and see how she turns out.. Will she be able to eat like this!? In about a week I plan to scoop her up in a large clear container and take a look at her fangs Ill post some pics then on here.

meanwhile what do you guys think? These pics are hard to look at for me blah!


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## Fran (Jan 14, 2011)

I was looking at her...Painfully to watch man  .

Darn it, theres gotta be something  is been doing majorly wrong with these genus ...  Its ridiculously common to have problems at this sizes...Nock on wood, I have lost only one  molting, but it was  a month ago.

I dont know what to say, hopefully those quelicera look better in 2 or 3 days, itf they are hollow and have someshape to it they should work but..
I dont know .


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## Projecht13 (Jan 14, 2011)

thanks for the fast response Fran. I spent about 4 hours today watching her entire molt and got most of it on video. It was pretty hard seeing her fangs get stuck and not knowing what to do... Man I hope she will be able to eat...


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## Musicwolf (Jan 14, 2011)

Oh man - - it sends shivers down my spine - - it certainly doesn't look good, but I hope she has some use of those fangs and I'll be watching with interest to see if she pulls through it.


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## robc (Jan 14, 2011)

I am so sorry you had to go they this, really sucks. I honestly do not see those fangs being used again...until next molt. I had a GBB do this and here is what I did. I basically took B.dubia  abdomens and crushed them up into basically a paste and then took a large "food injector" turned her upside down and fed her. I also got her to eat by putting the liquid on a small plate. Her fangs where almost gone and her mouth parts could lay flat on the dish.....I hope your T's fangs do not actually get in the way.


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## Lorum (Jan 15, 2011)

I'm so sorry for your T. I really hope you can feed her without more complications.

What do you usually feed her on? Good luck with her.


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## Projecht13 (Jan 15, 2011)

Majority of the time she eats dubias,  here and there superworms. Superworms are out of the question now till her fangs get better. I have my own colony of dubias so once her broken fangs harden I plan on trying to feed her a freshly molted dubia ya know the ones that are really soft and white. If she can't eat that I will try the crushed dubia cocktail as rob mentioned.


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## jt39565 (Jan 15, 2011)

I was wondering Fran, is it the females or males that have the most molting problems? Your the expert on this genus but it seems to me it has lately been the females, I wonder if sex could be playing a part? Maybe the hormone levels are somehow off? Just a possibility.


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## LV-426 (Jan 15, 2011)

so what happened to your T was its fangs got stuck, did it rip it's fangs out in the process of molting or did you try to help it and this was the result? just curious


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## Projecht13 (Jan 15, 2011)

they got stuck and while she was pulling out her right fang snapped in half, and her left fang just got stretched till it finally came loose....


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## LV-426 (Jan 15, 2011)

man that suck, hope it pulls through


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## archieph (Jan 15, 2011)

*condolence*

sorry for ur loss brother..


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## jt39565 (Jan 15, 2011)

Did it have any other problems during this molt?

Did it have any problems molting during previous molts?


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## Johnny1320 (Jan 15, 2011)

Hope she gets better.


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## Fran (Jan 15, 2011)

jt39565 said:


> I was wondering Fran, is it the females or males that have the most molting problems? Your the expert on this genus but it seems to me it has lately been the females, I wonder if sex could be playing a part? Maybe the hormone levels are somehow off? Just a possibility.


Than ks for your words but Im not expert  .

My opinion is that WC tend to have way more problems with molts, getting aclimated, cysts...than CB individuals.
Also, the diet must play a role on this as well as the conditions we keep them on. 
People tend to think "they will be fine" no matter how they are and with this sp is not the case. High humidity and high temps are a must.

Also, as is been pointed out before, when they get extremely fat (they love to eat, really easy to achive a fat Theraphosa) they seem to put on a lot of preassure on their organs, hence the weird shape abdomens and "cysts".

I dont think sex makes a difference, the only thing is that males tend to be more slender,less "fat", so that might play a role in the abdomen issues.


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## jt39565 (Jan 15, 2011)

Thanx for that Fran, I'm not trying to be anoying I am trying to learn. I had been interested in this Genus but with the problems I have been very hesitant. I would like to ask a couple more questions.

1) This isn't a case of wet molt right since it appears to be confined to the mouth area( the pics I have seen of wet molts were affected all over)

2) The substrate in this case appears to dry, at least on top, could that have played into the results here. I only say this because the pics posted of happy adjusted members of this genus are usually kept in moister conditions. This would be a relative mute point assuming this isn't a wet molt.


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## robc (Jan 15, 2011)

jt39565 said:


> Thanx for that Fran, I'm not trying to be anoying I am trying to learn. I had been interested in this Genus but with the problems I have been very hesitant. I would like to ask a couple more questions.
> 
> 1) This isn't a case of wet molt right since it appears to be confined to the mouth area( the pics I have seen of wet molts were affected all over)
> 
> 2) The substrate in this case appears to dry, at least on top, could that have played into the results here. I only say this because the pics posted of happy adjusted members of this genus are usually kept in moister conditions. This would be a relative mute point assuming this isn't a wet molt.


The substrate may appear to be dry but we have no way of knowing if the room is humidified.....My T room is at 85% humidity with condensation on the glass but in some of the vids I have someone may think the sub is dry witch means no humidity, not the case at all. In mos cases if the humidity does drop and the sub is to dry it could easily cause a molting problem. With the above case I would say it was not a humidity issue since no where else but the fangs got suck. I think the fangs did not form properly and could not be pulled out.


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## Fran (Jan 15, 2011)

Not a pain at all .

Yeah, as Rob said,  in pictures it might appear  something that might have nothing to do with the conditions in that tank.

That was simply as the OP stated a problem at the time of the molt. Sometimes it does happend , is a matter of luck...Hopefully she can eat and will get her fangs back in the next molt...


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## kylestl (Jan 15, 2011)

I had a t spinipes/stirmi do something like this. She started with a lump on her abdomen, began drinknig a ton of fulid. Attempted to molt and got stuck, I got her out but knew there was little hope. She had a wet molt and died the next day. I wish we could find out what is happening, it is a shame.


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## Mez (Jan 15, 2011)

As I'm new to Theraphosas, I just thought i'd ask this, though I'm sure it's been asked a ton of times...has anyone had a 'slim' cb theraphose get these molt problems in larger individuals?
Cheers
James


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## Tazman (Jan 15, 2011)

Sorry to see this.......My hiatian brown has no fangs just stumps finds it hard to hold on to it's pray but he/she does eat just takes it along time.....


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## kylestl (Jan 15, 2011)

Mez said:


> As I'm new to Theraphosas, I just thought i'd ask this, though I'm sure it's been asked a ton of times...has anyone had a 'slim' cb theraphose get these molt problems in larger individuals?
> Cheers
> James


I'm far from pro but I am pretty sure theraphosas look "fat" all the time. Every pic I have seen of one is very plump. Mines came from a home of people that took less then good care of it. The man left the wife with the pets. She didn't spray them of feed them etc. She was still very fat. I didn't feed her a ton but she was fed. Compared to rob or fran who take great care of their theraphosa's.


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## Mez (Jan 15, 2011)

I see. Thanks for that.


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## Thegloryfades (Jan 15, 2011)

Does anyone know the chemical makeup of the fangs? Could it be missing a specific mineral nutrient ect?


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## LV-426 (Jan 15, 2011)

I was wondering what the ratio is of normal molting to molting problems in the genus Theraphosa in captivity?


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## Sutekh (Jan 15, 2011)

Sorry to see this. I have no first hand experience with this genus. To feed it post-molt I'd suggest trying small prey (maybe even many small morsels rather than one large one). That way it doesn't have to use it's fangs as much to pierce with and the exoskeletons of the prey will be thinner (than larger prey).

Best of Luck!


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## LV-426 (Jan 15, 2011)

the poor guy's T is in a world of hurt and your gonna use this thread to thank robc, geeze

Reactions: Funny 1


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## Zman181 (Jan 15, 2011)

I'm sorry for your T


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## LV-426 (Jan 15, 2011)

im outta control


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## lilgirlcarter (Jan 15, 2011)

Arachnomancer said:


> the poor guy's T is world of hurt and your gonna use this thread to thank robc, geeze


My thoughts exactly....smh


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## zdillon (Jan 16, 2011)

So sorry, I had a scare with my T. blondi this week but she is fine now. Every one on this board was every help full. I hope she pulls threw.


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## AmbushArachnids (Jan 16, 2011)

*I just found out my T has the same problem!*

Tonight i was doing some feeding and found out my 4" immature male T. gigas has the same fang problem. They are deformed and dont open. seems the fangs were not hardened before the molt. I had been feeding him normal from a sling. His last few molts went something like: Molted 9/27 then fed one lateralis. Molted 11/11 and was not fed. Molted 12/26 now with deformed fangs. Is the lack of nutrients the reason for this?!? :? Dont mean to thread jack but i thought id share this information in this thread. I had been holding him back in hopes of my female catching up. :wall:


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## archieph (Jan 16, 2011)

*sad..*

hey i lost 4 avics in the last two months.. ur pain is my pain... :barf:

Reactions: Dislike 1


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## Najakeeper (Jan 16, 2011)

archieph said:


> hey i lost 4 avics in the last two months.. ur pain is my pain... :barf:


To Bee stings? 

As for the real issue at hand, I am really sorry. My T.blondi had a perfect molt today and I am glad but it is always a scare. I guess the only thing to do is to keep the humidty high.. Hopefully it will be fine by next molt.


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## Suidakkra (Jan 16, 2011)

archieph said:


> hey i lost 4 avics in the last two months.. ur pain is my pain... :barf:


You need to learn to read. He hasn't lost the Theraphosa, she is going through a tough molt in which the fangs did not completely form. So why state , "sorry for your loss" and comparing 4 Avic deaths, when there isn't anywhere that he stated the Theraphosa passed ... :?


Back to the original topic.

Why is it that Theraphosa's are such a pain when they get around this size? My friend raised a T.blondi from sling to adulthood, then lost her shortly after when her abdomen did not form correctly in a molt. As I remember he had the temp/humidity requirements posted for the T.blondi, fed regularly with quality food items and never had any sign of problems before that.  

Then you read/view post and videos of Theraphosa being lost or deformed via molt, even though they are in the "required" set-up. 

 It seems that the molt problems are common, and that reason is why I have shied away from keeping them, for now. I know others have had success with the Theraphosa, and hopefully they continue to have that success. Hopefully there is a missing key to the equation of the care and husbandry of these beauties, and someone finds it soon. 

To the OP, I hope everything goes well toward the next molt, can only wish you good luck.


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## kylestl (Jan 16, 2011)

Najakeeper said:


> To Bee stings?
> 
> As for the real issue at hand, I am really sorry. My T.blondi had a perfect molt today and I am glad but it is always a scare. I guess the only thing to do is to keep the humidty high.. Hopefully it will be fine by next molt.


You beat me too it!  Good luck with the theraphosa!


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## archieph (Jan 16, 2011)

*haha*



kylestl said:


> You beat me too it!  Good luck with the theraphosa!


FUNNY!!!! and about the passing away.. i'd be surprised if it survived.. seriously bro.. fangs look like some old mans crocked cane.. im sorry to say but if it was me wid teeth like that i'd js kill myself.. but i am curious to see if ur t survives.. i wish ur t all the luck!!!!


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## Projecht13 (Jan 17, 2011)

she looks great and I can tell shes been drinking, due to the eco earth in the water dish. Ill let her harden up for a few more days and scoop her up and take some pics of her fangs for everyones opinion, wish her luck!!


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## jt39565 (Jan 17, 2011)

That's GREAT! I really am amazed, anxiously awaiting pics of those fangs.


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## AmbushArachnids (Jan 17, 2011)

Glad to hear she is drinking. I wish i would of noticed the fang problem on my T sooner. Ive been having trouble trying to feed my T. gigas crushed lats.


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## Suidakkra (Jan 17, 2011)

Awesome, glad to see she is out and about, hopefully she keeps going strong.


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## KoriTamashii (Jan 17, 2011)

Those pics are just heartbreaking. Glad to hear she's at least up an about. Waiting to see an update.


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## archieph (Jan 19, 2011)

*wow*

sir im glad she recovered... i am amazed..


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## Mez (Jan 20, 2011)

Am I correct in thinking she's 100% apart from the deform-a-fangs?
She looks awsome. Hopefully she will take pre killed and moult out well next time.


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## jebbewocky (Jan 20, 2011)

Tagged to watch.  There are a few topics on here for de-fanged T's.
I'd suggest looking at some of those for reference.


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## Projecht13 (Jan 20, 2011)

Yes she appears to be 100% other than her fangs! Thank god.


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## KoriTamashii (Jan 20, 2011)

Projecht13 said:


> Yes she appears to be 100% other than her fangs! Thank god.


Glad to hear it! I'm sure others haven't been so lucky. Keep us posted!


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## Suidakkra (Jan 21, 2011)

Projecht13 said:


> Yes she appears to be 100% other than her fangs! Thank god.


Thats geat news, glad to read that she is doing well. And like stated above, definitely keep us posted.


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## Projecht13 (Jan 28, 2011)

looks like the left fang that was stretched out also broke off  How will she regen these fangs if they have nowhere to grow into? Do you think she will be able to eat once they finish hardening up? /sigh

---------- Post added at 05:00 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:34 PM ----------









thought I would toss in one more of the pretty girl! wish her well soon!


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## Anastasia (Jan 28, 2011)

She looks pretty healthy to me, 
I would make sure she is hydrated well
her abdomen is still good size, she have a good chance to pull a healthy molt and recover her fangs


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## Projecht13 (Jan 28, 2011)

thanks Ana, really helps hearing positive comments from people who know what they are talking about


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## shanebp (Jan 28, 2011)

Cricket/Roach soup + hydration = Molt and regenerated fangs


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## Projecht13 (Jan 28, 2011)

her humidity has not dropped below 90% (very well ventilated) since the molt, constant 83 degrees in her tank, and a large bowl of fresh water daily. Ill try the bug cocktail in a couple more days. 

Once her fangs harden should I try to see if she can kill her own prey and eat it? or should I go right for the dubia smoothie haha


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## Fran (Jan 29, 2011)

The T looks really good and chunky . Not to be pessimistic, but those fangs dont look too good.

BUT,

This is the thing. Wild animals are tougher than we think. They have found their way in the wild without us,they get half munched by predators, or full of mites, or leacking abdomens...And they still make it to adulthood with 12 " legspan.They will still find their way.
This means,dont ever give up and be positive.

 Get a freshly molted roach (those white and extremely soft, they love them)  and offer it to her. Lets see how she responds.
If she caches it, smashes it and somehow eat it...Hey, Dont ask her how .

If you see she struggles and she discard the roach uneaten then you wanna go with the plan B.

Plan B is the cricket,worm soup. (I would use fat prey items like worms also  )Its gonna be a pain, but if you get her to eat it and after some months of hard work she molts, you are gonna love her like is your Puppy. 

Keep us posted, but dont gie up on her!


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## Projecht13 (Feb 10, 2011)

Still no luck with her feeding but it's still probably a bit too early, anyways she is still drinking and is alert and appears to be doing well. Here are some pics


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## Fran (Feb 10, 2011)

Does she have a burrow? Is the enclosure really humid and warm?

These are crucial for a recovery. That will trigger the "hunger".

I would leave her a little bit loner,wait for the end of the month and offer some food (recently molted roaches or fat female crickets)...And lets wait for the best.

If not, then plan B...Damn it, its gorgeous,... *but dont give up!*


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## Projecht13 (Feb 10, 2011)

Yea she has a nice burrow and it's 85 degrees and 90% humidity in there. Not sure why but she has been hanging out by her water bowl almost all of the time..


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## Fran (Feb 10, 2011)

The best would be to try, somehow, to feed her up with the cricket or worms soup (if she doesnt take prey by itself) and trigger a molt as soon as possible.

 Next molt should take care of those fangs, or at least, if smaller, she will have functional fangs.

You are gonna have to get ready for a very long and hard 8-10 months, but if you take care of her she will make it to the molt... and boy, she will be your favorite pet 

*I wish I could help... .* This is my fav specie and Im very dedicated with this girls.


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## JC (Feb 11, 2011)

Tarantulas with chopped off fangs have been known to make a full recovery if kept hydrated and on a diet of liquified crickets. Good luck. 

Gorgeous Theraphosa btw.


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## gmrpnk21 (Feb 11, 2011)

Man that sucks! I hope it pulls through and the problem is. Corrected by another molt. Please post pictures when it hardens.
Never mind lol. Posts must have crossed


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## Fran (Feb 16, 2011)

Any updates??


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## Projecht13 (Feb 16, 2011)

she showed some interest in juicy crickets but for some reason never ate them... :wall::wall::wall::wall::wall:


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## forrestpengra (Feb 17, 2011)

Save yourself some effort... get a whole bunch of inverts, throw in a blender, mix, then pour contents into ice cube trays and freeze.  This will make things more manageable for you, since you have a very long road ahead of yourself.  I used to do this for my saltwater tank... Then thaw one cube at a time.  

I would use a combination of roaches and worms, roaches alone might have a bit too much exoskeleton.  I would use a shallow 3" teracotta planter bottom (water catch).

You will want to switch out the food daily to avoid mold growth.


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## Wish_mastera (Apr 14, 2011)

Hey there, to bad to hear about so many bad blondi's molts... 
I have a big female 9". Got this problem several times. First bad molt was before 5 years. My thread here: http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/showthread.php?t=58710
After that I got this freaking progress:
1st molt after this - regenerated 50% of her fangs;
2nd molt 100% regeneration
3d molt - fangless again!
4th molt - ~50% regeneration
5th molt(before month ago) - fangless 

I think specially for my blondi it is genetic. I have explanation for first bad molt (fed lots of lizards), but for the next bad molts its absolutely nothing wrong in her food, air temperature, moisture and so. Will post pictures of her soon and hope both T will make it trough their next hopfully successful molt!

At the end few questions:
Can you somehow check if your Blondi had bad molts before?
You sure her fangs was stucked and thats the reason to be fangless?
I checked after every bad molt of my blondi and the the holes for the chelicers are empty. Nothing there left... So for mine its sure they havent formed well, not stucked...


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## Projecht13 (Apr 30, 2011)

Wish_mastera said:


> You sure her fangs was stucked and thats the reason to be fangless?
> I checked after every bad molt of my blondi and the the holes for the chelicers are empty. Nothing there left... So for mine its sure they havent formed well, not stucked...


yea I actually watched them get stuck, stretch out and end up snapping  it was a very painful thing to see while not being able to do anything about it.


UPDATE!!

she had her 1st meal last night!!  I dropped a prekilled gutloaded female cricket beside her and she pounced on it and after an hour or so she was able to get most of it down! Its a start!


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## Raven9464 (Apr 30, 2011)

Wow =(  So sorry this happened to your T.  I hope she can feed for you and her next molt is sucessful and clears this up.  I did not realize this could happen =( Please keep us posted.


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## Formerphobe (Apr 30, 2011)

> she had her 1st meal last night!! I dropped a prekilled gutloaded female cricket beside her and she pounced on it and after an hour or so she was able to get most of it down! Its a start!


Oh, good job!  I was wondering how she was doing, but was afraid to ask...  I wonder if she would drink cricket puree out of a water dish?  Thanks for the update, glad she's eating for you.


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## DreadLobster (May 2, 2011)

Yeah man this sucks but its definitely possible for your spider to survive this... I'm just one more person who's had this happen, it was with my first LP, a male, probably at about 5 inches. Its amazing how little food they can survive on. But yeah, everyone's pretty much said everything else I would be able to offer as far as advice, just wanted to say it can work out sometimes.


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## Unravel (May 2, 2011)

forrestpengra said:


> Save yourself some effort... get a whole bunch of inverts, throw in a blender, mix, then pour contents into ice cube trays and freeze.  This will make things more manageable for you, since you have a very long road ahead of yourself.  I used to do this for my saltwater tank... Then thaw one cube at a time.
> 
> I would use a combination of roaches and worms, roaches alone might have a bit too much exoskeleton.  I would use a shallow 3" teracotta planter bottom (water catch).
> 
> You will want to switch out the food daily to avoid mold growth.


awesome idea and im sure is real helpful but... holy crap thats gotta be a disgusting mess


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## Armstrong5 (May 3, 2011)

Yea man I'm terribly sorry fot your T but this is what scares me away from this genus...they are Goliath in the Bible they are huge but man are they weak and fragile!

Reactions: Disagree 1


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## Formerphobe (May 3, 2011)

> holy crap thats gotta be a disgusting mess


Ah, but the blender washes up well with soap and water, and you don't have to tell anybody what it was used for...


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## moose35 (May 3, 2011)

use freshely molted prey items

i had a spider with broken fangs that i got to  molt with them 

they are soft and the spider can eat them.



moose


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## Kraine (May 4, 2011)

Reading this thread, my face was all 0_0

My first spiderling has yet to molt under my care.. I hope it goes smoothly. I'm glad to hear that your blondi has some appetite despite the fangs. I was holding my breath.


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## Wish_mastera (May 14, 2011)

Hello!

I found a way to feed my fangless blondi...
I tie up a superworn with a thread and now it cant escape. She can easy catch it and eat...


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## Projecht13 (May 31, 2011)

*Good update!*

UPDATE!!

she successfully ate an entire adult male dubia! I found a freshly molted white dubia finally and she was able to consume it! Man what a relief! Ill get some pics later! she is still looking really strong!


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## forhorsmn (May 31, 2011)

Congrats  Nice to her she's doing better. Hopefully things will fix themselves with the next molt.


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## robc (May 31, 2011)

That is awesome to hear!! It is also nice to see the dedication you have....my hats off to ya!! :clap::clap::clap:


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## BrynWilliams (Jun 1, 2011)

yeah top marks for effort!

very pleasing to hear a success story for a change


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## mandipants (Jun 2, 2011)

Only advice I have, is based on the state of her fangs, you will need to be prekilling her food for her.  Sorry, that sucks.  I have a P. regalis that lost both pedipalps in one molt, and a back leg on the next one.  Bad molts just happen sometimes...good luck.


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## FrostyCakee (Jun 2, 2011)

congratulations good to hear she is eating :clap:


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