avic purpurea looong premoult?

[ornamentalist]

so i got an avic purpurea for christmas i immediately looked at the bald patch on the abdomen and it was very dark, my instant thought was premoult, and the uneaten prey items made me think it even more. But it has made no attempt to moult, it has webbed a little and sits on it. I think its a she, as it has no emboli, unless this is its mature molt. I think its unlikely to be male due to its size. I then looked at my mature male avic avic, and saw the same thing! A really dark bald spot, he cant be moulting as he is mature, although i am aware it has been documented in rare instances, however he eats well so pre-moult is out of the question. I am just wondering what the deal is with the dark bald patches on my avics. Do they have a naturally dark membrane on their abdomen? Any thoughts or similar experiences? Thanks

 

[shanebp]

My advice is to post a picture if you can. It would help a great deal.

 

[ornamentalist]

heres the purpurea, then the avic avic, it doesnt look like a bald patch on the mature male avic avic but im pretty sure it is, the camera isnt the best ever

 

[ornamentalist]

its more a severe lack of density of hairs on the abdomen of the avic avic but it clearly shows dark skin on the abdomen

 

[tk0473]

reply

I also have an avic purpurea and the matching patches on the underside of the abdomen are normal if that is what you are referring too, if not have you stressed her out recently or caused agitation? Because they may flicked some of their hair at you or a prey item in defense, which may have also caused the bald spot, if that is the case after the next molt it should fill in. Also I have had some strange behavior with my avics molting process as well, During one of the molts my male fully enclosed himself in his webbing for a month and a half, I wasn't sure if he was even alive lol, but I kept regular mistings and stopped feeding as he was completely webbed in. Eventually he emerged from the web molted and bigger with a full appetite. If it is dark patches on the underside of the abdomen it is nothing to worry about from my experience. Also don't get too worried with long molts or fasting, my T has had times where he fasted for atleast three weeks after a molt, sometimes they just choose not to eat for some reason. Just make sure they always have water because that is the main necessity for their survival. Hope everything goes well, both your T's look nice and healthy so I wouldn't stress too much.

 

[shanebp]

I'm not so sure what to say about this one other than that Avicularia don't flick hairs, instead the rub them off.

 

[ornamentalist]

thanks for your thoughts still no moult, having trouble climbing glass i forgot to mention, typical pre-moult type off stuff, ever since i got it. The balding patches are on the top of the abdomen, its made a cave type of diggs with a fake plant, hoping for a moult soon, i saw it on top of the fake plant and tried to tweezer feed it and it had a boxing match with it instead, giving it a good old couple of fisticuffs. it was unusual behavior for a t, but then again im used to stuff like pokies, h. Albostriatum, gbb's and pampho's. I mean, imagine feeding a beardy and instead of crunching on it, he gives it a damn good thrashing to the tune of a couple of swift roundhouse kicks to the face.

 

[shanebp]

My Avic Avic usually has a longer pre-molt then a lot of my collection. So it might be a possibility that you may just be being a little impatient. You'll find out eventually either way. The waiting is the hardest part

 

[ornamentalist]

it does seem a long pre-moult. Will try to be patient and put the surgical moult removal tools away for now lol