Bald patch on lower abdomen on Curly Hair?

[Maikeru]

I've noticed he has a bald patch. Is this normal? What caused it?

 

[emartinm28]

Hair kicking, normal.

 

[Maikeru]

I thought the hairs involved in that were on the other side of the body! I feel stupid lol. I thought that because sometimes he gets a bald patch on the "top." So he's ok? I was worried.

 

[Braden]

Top, bottom, whateva it's all cool

 

[Blueandbluer]

Totally fine, as enmartinm28 said. Lots of spiders in their genus and also brachypelma tend to be kicky, and the closer they get to ecdysis (molting) the more bald they'll get. Once molted all the bristles will be back.

If you find that your spider is becoming bald REALLY fast after molting, you may want to make sure your enclosure is somewhere where there is not a lot of noise or vibration. Repeated stress, in my experience, makes them even kickier.

And don't handle.

 

[Smotzer]

Bald patches on the underside (thats what it looks like), have seen this before caused by the abdomen dragging. Its hard to tell with perspective of angle but does thhis Tliltocatl have a particularly large plump abdomen? Maybe this explanation or normal hair kicking.

 

[emartinm28]

I thought the hairs involved in that were on the other side of the body! I feel stupid lol. I thought that because sometimes he gets a bald patch on the "top." So he's ok? I was worried.

Oh sorry, totally flew over my head that this was on the bottom of the abdomen! In this case probably not hair kicking since I believe all of the urticating hairs are on top, but this is normal if the T has a rather plump abdomen sometimes the hairs will just get rubbed off. Not sure if that’s a problem in itself but a T dragging it’s abdomen around can potentially cause some damage if kept too plump

 

[sasker]

I had this with my G. iheringi. A pink-coloured bald spot. Luckily, the skin itself was not damaged so everything was fine the next molt. Not allowing your tarantula to overeat will do the trick, so just take it easy on the feeding after next molt.

One tarantula I got from a friend had a black scab where yours has a bald spot and it took several molts to completely disappear. So best be careful...

 

[Matt Man]

belly drag on something

 

[viper69]

I've noticed he has a bald patch. Is this normal? What caused it?

It may die.

SEARCH!!!!!!!!!!For the love of god!

 

[rock]

I've never seen my Ts kick from below that's weird

 

[sasker]

I've never seen my Ts kick from below that's weird

The don't. It's not from kicking.

 

[ErinM31]

Bald patches on the underside (thats what it looks like), have seen this before caused by the abdomen dragging. Its hard to tell with perspective of angle but does thhis Tliltocatl have a particularly large plump abdomen? Maybe this explanation or normal hair kicking.

I seem to recall reading somewhere that T. albopilosum are more prone to getting these bald patches on the underside of the abdomen (edit: It was in The Tarantula Keeper’s Guide by Schultz and Schultz).

I just discovered such a patch on my T. albo female when she maneuvered up into one of the corners of her terrarium to handle the large roach I’d given her… Well, it had been a while since she’d eaten and she has always been round even after molting… Okay, clearly I need to feed her even less! There’s definitely no danger of her falling and nothing more abrasive than coir in her terrarium so hopefully she’ll be alright.

 

[ErinM31]

So it looks like it his is an issue with T. albopilosum or at least they are more prone to it from what I’ve gathered from posts here and also The Tarantula Keeper’s Guide by Schultz and Schultz.

I was able to take a closer look at the underside of my T. albo this morning and it seems to me that the area is a bit raised, not entirely smooth like typical bald patches from kicking hairs. Also, in the center of the bald patch was what looked like crystalized salt — a scab I assume.

I removed a good deal of the substrate and the piece of cork bark she would sit on and replaced it with peat after having removed any small roots or twigs. The substrate is as non abrasive as could be without giving her satin.

Is there anything else that I should do? The Tarantula Keeper’s Guide suggested glycerin on the area prior to molting as potentially helpful but I don’t know how that would help from the outside and worry about causing more harm than good.