Advice Needed...

[axbrown]

Okay guys so I need some advice... I have an 8" female Poecilotheria rufilata who has had a pretty bad molt... Her left side legs (all four) are stuck in the old exoskeleton in an upright position. Her front two pedipalps are also stuck in their exoskeleton. Her front right leg is twisted and malformed, and lastly two of the book lungs have the old white sack stuck half way in them. I came home to discover her like this after I had been gone for a few days, so I have no idea how long she was stuck in that position. After she had not moved an inch for two days, I carefully placed her in an ICU. Her abdomen was shriveled the first day when she was placed in their and she was extremely week, and yesterday morning I believed her to be dead. When I returned from class and went to bury her, she moved when I picked up the container. Today she is a little more spunky, which I am happy about. My question for you is, is there any way I can help her remove her exoskeleton from her pedipalps and legs? If not, should I remove them and super glue the wounds? And lastly, If I were to remove the legs, would she be able to survive until the next molt with her right back three legs? I feel terrible for her, and hate to see her like this... My last piece of advice I would like to ask for, which I hate to ask, is would she be better off being put down?

Please get back to me as soon as you can, I would love to solve this stressful problem. :unhappy:

 

[Micrathena]

The Tarantula Keeper's Guide (3rd edition) has information on dealing with a bad molt (Pages 207 to 211), but I can't help any more than that, as I don't have any firsthand experience. Best of luck to you and your T.

 

[awiec]

Well when I found my P.muticus stuck in a molt I used a combination of wet paper towel, tweezers and a wet soft paint brush to get it out. For your situation the paper towel might not work as my spider could still move so we worked together to get the old skin off. You can also get luke warm water with 1 drop of soap and dab it onto the exo with a q-tip to help soften it. By using the paint brush it gently loosens the skin while you slowly pull the exo off with the tweezers. If the spider is up to it, then you can get her legs out or she may just drop them herself. The biggest issue is that her booklungs are still stuck, so you can't use any soap there just a very small amount of water and hope she can free herself from them. If you are able to get her out and she only has 3 legs, I would suggest keeping her in a small container with paper towel and provide her with water and maybe cricket soup/worm guts. I imagine at her size, it will take a long time for her to molt and depending how old she is, it might be her last. If you want to put her down I suggest a nail through the head as the fastest option, freezing can take a while and some people argue that the blood freezes before the spider dies so the death is longer than a simple puncture through the head. If it were me, I would try just for the learning experience to see what happens. If you don't have the time to give her that special care or undertake the operation then putting her down is a humane option instead of letting her slowly starve to death.

 

[14pokies]

Can you get us a pic? Its impossible to help you otherwise. There are things that can be tried before removing the legs. 2 days stuck is a long time .the window for surgically removing the molt is closing fast. I would try tho if its possible . If she is trying to move around she will probably cast the legs off on her own. If she's not moving around she may have given up and the only hope is to try and remove it Yourself. Please post pics.

 

[ArachnoFreak666]

just try to remove the molt from her legs. use warm water and soap to remove the legs and a dab of water for where the lungs are stuck. PLEASE do not "put a nail through her head" or freeze her!

 

[14pokies]

just try to remove the molt from her legs. use warm water and soap to remove the legs and a dab of water for where the lungs are stuck. PLEASE do not "put a nail through her head" or freeze her!

after two days in the molt I would be surprised if it was that simple. Im sure the rings At the trochanter, in between the femur and the patella the tibia ,basitarsus and telotarsus have hardened and the underlying leg segments have begun to swell and harden and are now wedged...warm water and a tiny amount of dishsoap will help but its most likely just the first step in the process of removing the exo...

 

[awiec]

just try to remove the molt from her legs. use warm water and soap to remove the legs and a dab of water for where the lungs are stuck. PLEASE do not "put a nail through her head" or freeze her!

This spider is in a dire situation that requires a very gentle hand and luck, if the spider has been stuck like this for a few days then it is going to be a hard battle. Note I offered a very comprehensive solution of how to get her out and continue her care as she recovers. The OP asked for a humane way to put her down in case she could not be saved I provided a solution but I advocated that they should try to help her out first before putting her down. Ultimately the OP does not have to do anything I say, I related what I did when I had a stuck spider in a molt, it may or may not be helpful in this case.

 

[14pokies]

This spider is in a dire situation that requires a very gentle hand and luck, if the spider has been stuck like this for a few days then it is going to be a hard battle. Note I offered a very comprehensive solution of how to get her out and continue her care as she recovers. The OP asked for a humane way to put her down in case she could not be saved I provided a solution but I advocated that they should try to help her out first before putting her down. Ultimately the OP does not have to do anything I say, I related what I did when I had a stuck spider in a molt, it may or may not be helpful in this case.[/QUOf]




there may very well be nothing that can be done for this spider except the final solution,its unfortunate and as you stated is a last resort.I'm not a fan of freezing anything. The nail will work all though a little brutal for my delicate sensibilitys,mixing bakeing soda and vinegar and putting it and the t in an airtight container should do it also. Luckily I have never had to uthenize a t so I can't guarantee this method is any better than the nail.

 

[cold blood]

Last resort I would amputate. It may be in a position that doesn't really allow it to amputate on its own. We've seen t's with very few legs survive to regenerate in a molt or three.

 

[awiec]

Last resort I would amputate. It may be in a position that doesn't really allow it to amputate on its own. We've seen t's with very few legs survive to regenerate in a molt or three.

Don't forget legless Bob the OBT. If you can get nutrients to the spider it can eventually recover of course this is an adult female we are talking about, slings are much easier to keep alive till the next molt.

 

[axbrown]

Here are some picks. I'll get a video of her moving around so you can get an idea of her energy level. Sorry it took so long to get these up, I just got off work

 

[Ultum4Spiderz]

T is stuck in molt, I lost a p regalis this year to this. Your spider is larger it has a higher chance.

 

[14pokies]

Here are some picks. I'll get a video of her moving around so you can get an idea of her energy level. Sorry it took so long to get these up, I just got off work

I've never had one stuck that bad,I'm probably gonna bow out of this one its a little over my head I'm sorry.hopefully some one else with more experience will jump in..I could tell you where I would start but it may not be the best advice..I'll keep an eye on the post if no one hops in I'll try to help. I'm really sorry for you and the t. Good luck

 

[awiec]

Here are some picks. I'll get a video of her moving around so you can get an idea of her energy level. Sorry it took so long to get these up, I just got off work

Action must be swift, it does not look as bad as I thought but you need to act now. Every hour you wait is another hour her new exo hardens, making getting the old one off harder. Do the method I explained above and she may be able to cooperate with you and pop off the legs herself. Of course you can "encourage" amputation by gently grasping the tarsal segment (has the claws/"toes") and hold it while gently wiggling it a little, this was shown to me by a spider researcher and seems to work every time as the spider will drop its leg to get away from the predator (you). If she won't amputate the legs with encouragement then you may have to do it yourself. I'd suggest cutting before a segment so the spider can contract its muscles to cut off blood flow and keep corn starch on hand if you do this.

 

[Ultum4Spiderz]

Action must be swift, it does not look as bad as I thought but you need to act now. Every hour you wait is another hour her new exo hardens, making getting the old one off harder. Do the method I explained above and she may be able to cooperate with you and pop off the legs herself. Of course you can "encourage" amputation by gently grasping the tarsal segment (has the claws/"toes") and hold it while gently wiggling it a little, this was shown to me by a spider researcher and seems to work every time as the spider will drop its leg to get away from the predator (you). If she won't amputate the legs with encouragement then you may have to do it yourself. I'd suggest cutting before a segment so the spider can contract its muscles to cut off blood flow and keep corn starch on hand if you do this.

Yes If I had posted for advice my T might had survived, R.I.P P regalis(female)sling.

 

[axbrown]

I believe it was worse than the picture demonstrated... I was able to get one leg free, but she couldn't move it still because the underside of her cephalothorax is still hard on her left side as well. I also discovered that her carapace is stuck too... Since she couldn't move her left legs at all and they're stuck (and hardened too) into a certain position, I decided to amputate. She wouldn't pop off her legs, so I decided to cut like one of you mentioned. I will tell you, it is painful to me to do this...

 

[awiec]

I believe it was worse than the picture demonstrated... I was able to get one leg free, but she couldn't move it still because the underside of her cephalothorax is still hard on her left side as well. I also discovered that her carapace is stuck too... Since she couldn't move her left legs at all and they're stuck (and hardened too) into a certain position, I decided to amputate. She wouldn't pop off her legs, so I decided to cut like one of you mentioned. I will tell you, it is painful to me to do this...

Well the carapace could be an issue but you might be able to soften it and get it to slough off with some water. The most important part is that she does not bleed out and maybe tomorrow put her in a paper towel lined container like you have her in (with some air holes drilled in) and give her a water dish for drinking. Then if she seems to perk up a little you can offer maimed/pre-killed prey items depending on what appendages she has left.

 

[axbrown]

I have amputated three. I want to amputate the fourth as well but it is significantly close to the front left pedipalp (which I think I can save), and I also feel like she's been through a lot tonight, so I will continue in the morning. So far the only things stuck that need removed are the two pedipalps, the carapace (should I even attempt to free this one?) and the left two book lungs. I'll keep you guys updated. Here is a picture of where she is now.

 

[14pokies]

Action must be swift, it does not look as bad as I thought but you need to act now. Every hour you wait is another hour her new exo hardens, making getting the old one off harder. Do the method I explained above and she may be able to cooperate with you and pop off the legs herself. Of course you can "encourage" amputation by gently grasping the tarsal segment (has the claws/"toes") and hold it while gently wiggling it a little, this was shown to me by a spider researcher and seems to work every time as the spider will drop its leg to get away from the predator (you). If she won't amputate the legs with encouragement then you may have to do it yourself. I'd suggest cutting before a segment so the spider can contract its muscles to cut off blood flow and keep corn starch on hand if you do this.

I was gonna suggest the same thing I think it would be useless to try and save the legs. I had p.irminia with l2 and l3 stuck mid way down the femur. I tried moistening it with warm water and a little soap using a paint brush. It didn't help. After her trying to escape my attempts to help,seeing I was doing no good I held the exo and pulled back and wiggled it, she tryed running off and popped l3 and then l2 about a half minute later.

 

[Ultum4Spiderz]

Good luck, your T looks way worse than my P regalis though. Why does this happen in captivity? Any Mods, or experts know?

I had this happen a few times, and am still shocked why.:bruised::bruised: