Can t's get bairn damage?

[Charliemum]

A year ago I bought a acanthoscurria geniculata off pre loved , this was my 5th t and I was told it was a female and was due a moult. When I got Humbug home I noticed he had a regen leg and had very strange movements his legs were failing about as he tried to move and he wouldn't eat didn't web or dig just hugged the corkbark I just assumed pre moult and waiting but must admit even with my limited knowledge at the time i thought this was strange behaviour. 6 months later Humbug moulted male but his leg was full size again and the moult was perfect. I assumed after that moult that Humbug would behave like a genic....but his legs still don't work properly and still seem to not work they just wave about at he walks no coordination at all he just clings to his water dish or corkbark doesn't react to food doesn't web dig or do anything just sits there. I do think as a sling he has tried to escape and ended up trapped in the lid or dropped, my question is do yous think that I could be right and he has the t version of brain damage? Can t's even get brain damage? I am happy looking after my boy he is in a specially set up viv to allow for his special needs, but I had hoped as time went on he would get better and there isn't any sign of it, and curiosity has got the better of me so I have made this post in the hope other more experienced keepers can tell if they have had special t's and what they did to help improve the t's life .
I have up loaded Humbug moving his legs always wave like that n he never moves more than 5cm at a time and takes long brakes between moving, i just want to make sure i am giving him the best life possible because I have had him a full year now and sadly there is no improvement in his behaviour.
View attachment signal-2022-04-28-19-03-31-469.mp4

 

[egyptiancrow]

looks like neurological issues. if theyre molting and eating well, then i suppose it can be lived with. at this size it would be strange for it to have an issue and still be alive. you can consider it something like wobble. i would doubt its reversible, but if its thriving, i am not sure how much it matters. in my exp spiders with neurological issues will not mate, though. not sure about Ts in particular most of my exp is with true spiders.

 

[Dry Desert]

A year ago I bought a acanthoscurria geniculata off pre loved , this was my 5th t and I was told it was a female and was due a moult. When I got Humbug home I noticed he had a regen leg and had very strange movements his legs were failing about as he tried to move and he wouldn't eat didn't web or dig just hugged the corkbark I just assumed pre moult and waiting but must admit even with my limited knowledge at the time i thought this was strange behaviour. 6 months later Humbug moulted male but his leg was full size again and the moult was perfect. I assumed after that moult that Humbug would behave like a genic....but his legs still don't work properly and still seem to not work they just wave about at he walks no coordination at all he just clings to his water dish or corkbark doesn't react to food doesn't web dig or do anything just sits there. I do think as a sling he has tried to escape and ended up trapped in the lid or dropped, my question is do yous think that I could be right and he has the t version of brain damage? Can t's even get brain damage? I am happy looking after my boy he is in a specially set up viv to allow for his special needs, but I had hoped as time went on he would get better and there isn't any sign of it, and curiosity has got the better of me so I have made this post in the hope other more experienced keepers can tell if they have had special t's and what they did to help improve the t's life .
I have up loaded Humbug moving his legs always wave like that n he never moves more than 5cm at a time and takes long brakes between moving, i just want to make sure i am giving him the best life possible because I have had him a full year now and sadly there is no improvement in his behaviour.
View attachment 422245

A Preloved female that's a male with a regen. leg with neurological issues, sounds about right for Preloved.
Just give him the best life possible, that's all you can do now.

 

[Charliemum]

looks like neurological issues. if theyre molting and eating well, then i suppose it can be lived with. at this size it would be strange for it to have an issue and still be alive. you can consider it something like wobble. i would doubt its reversible, but if its thriving, i am not sure how much it matters. in my exp spiders with neurological issues will not mate, though. not sure about Ts in particular most of my exp is with true spiders.

He eats occasionally but not often but as you can see his abdomen is a good size so I wasn't too worried about his appetite I just wanted to make sure I was doing everything I could to make sure he has the best life I can provide even if he won't ever be a normal genic & I have no plans on breeding him as I don't think he would even register a female was there or if he did that he could even lift her he can barley support his own weight he would just end up as dinner bless him.
Thank you for commenting I just wasn't sure if it was me being a mum n worrying or if I was missing something that could explain the way he is apart from what I feared. It's unfortunate he has neurological issues but I will continue to look after him best I can and as long as he trys I will too.

 

[AlbaArachnids92]

Leg movements don't look too unusual IMO, I have a few T's that walked like that when I've had loose moss and substrate but when the moss was removed and substrate packed down, movement has returned to normal.

If it does have neurological problems, all you can do is make sure there is a full water dish and keep an eye on them. Plenty of size on that abdomen so I am not surprised it isn't food reactive

 

[kingshockey]

i dunno about brain issues my big female used to do that funny high step walking around areas that got lossened up from getting picked clean with tongs never stopped her from lunging a good 3 or 4 inches to nail a feeder or latch onto the tongs and give me a good startle when i got distance wrong

 

[darkness975]

The irony of the misspelled title of this thread is amusing.

Regarding the inquiry, they don't have real brains. It sounds like something went wrong during the molt or there's something going on neurologically.

 

[AlbaArachnids92]

The irony of the misspelled title of this thread is amusing.

In Scotland 'bairn' is colloquial for child....I was confused until the 2nd or 3rd read of the title

 

[Charliemum]

Didn't even notice that it had auto corrected to bairn
Humbug walks like that on all surfaces, my SO has kept t's for 30+ years his queen being a genic he had for 15+ years and also agrees his movements are jerky at best and he is definitely not your usual genic it is hard to get footage of Humbug moving coz he doesn't very often and if he does as I said he only moves 5 cms or so i will keep trying to get better footage of his movements. I keep several sp of spider and tarantula and non of them have movement like him all my t's have a smooth movement to their legs like someone drumming their fingers Humbug is more like well its like he can't control his legs his right side is OK but his left side is totally random. I was just curious if anyone else has had or heard of anything similar or as I said before there was something I was missing or hadn't seen that a more experienced t keeper does see and as I said in my original post didn't even know if t's could have brain damage I just wanted more info on trying to make his life as good as I can .

 

[Pmurinushmacla]

If his walking has recently developed to that then its probably something like DKS. It looks less developed than a lot of other examples ive seen, so if you can figure out the issue now its possible he could recover (idk the chances tbh), but im not experienced or very knowledgeable on dks.

 

[Charliemum]

If his walking has recently developed to that then its probably something like DKS. It looks less developed than a lot of other examples ive seen, so if you can figure out the issue now its possible he could recover (idk the chances tbh), but im not experienced or very knowledgeable on dks.

He has been like this since I got him a year ago and has successfully moulted in that time so I don't think it is dks I assume as has been said he has neurological issues it's like something keeps his balance off like he can't quite control his legs . He is in a low viv that I have kept the sub flat in he has a large hide so he won't catch his legs as they flail and a low water dish so he can get a drink if he needs one i keep it full not many decorations so again he doesn't get stuck on anything I just wondered if anyone had any advice on looking after a t with neurological issues, and if others thought that's what it could be but it looks like he has got issues and there isn't much more I can do than what I am. But thank you everyone for your answers.

 

[Pmurinushmacla]

He has been like this since I got him a year ago and has successfully moulted in that time so I don't think it is dks I assume as has been said he has neurological issues it's like something keeps his balance off like he can't quite control his legs . He is in a low viv that I have kept the sub flat in he has a large hide so he won't catch his legs as they flail and a low water dish so he can get a drink if he needs one i keep it full not many decorations so again he doesn't get stuck on anything I just wondered if anyone had any advice on looking after a t with neurological issues, and if others thought that's what it could be but it looks like he has got issues and there isn't much more I can do than what I am. But thank you everyone for your answers.

DKS is a symptom, not a cause, and it and "neurological disorders" in tarantulas are not mutually exclusive. I don't know much on tarantulas and their possible neurological disorders, so I'm not gonna try to give advice one way or the other on that.

 

[Wolfram1]

There is a german youtuber who has a video series on 2 spiders with similar symptoms (dyskinesia, no apparent cause) both molted at least once and while symptoms got a little better they did not go away completely. If that kind of thing interests you i can link it.
It is a complex issue, do you euthanize a spider apparently suffering from neurological issues or does the fact that they eat as well as they possibly can and even molt successfully meant they deserve a chance to get better?
I will probably always choose the latter, simply because it is our best chance to learn how to deal with this problem, but i don't think everyone would agree with me.

Regards, Wolfram

 

[AphonopelmaTX]

It is a complex issue, do you euthanize a spider apparently suffering from neurological issues or does the fact that they eat as well as they possibly can and even molt successfully meant they deserve a chance to get better?
I will probably always choose the latter, simply because it is our best chance to learn how to deal with this problem, but i don't think everyone would agree with me.

Regards, Wolfram

I would also choose the latter option. Tarantulas, and invertebrates in general, are so different from anything most people are familiar with that it is impossible to relate to them. Therefore, I think it is wrong to assume a tarantula is suffering in the same sense we people attribute it to mean and kill it just because the behavior doesn't match our expectations of what a non-suffering tarantula looks like. As tarantula keepers, we definitely know what normal and abnormal looks like, but I don't think we have a clue what "suffering" is in a tarantula.

 

[Charliemum]

I would also choose the latter option. Tarantulas, and invertebrates in general, are so different from anything most people are familiar with that it is impossible to relate to them. Therefore, I think it is wrong to assume a tarantula is suffering in the same sense we people attribute it to mean and kill it just because the behavior doesn't match our expectations of what a non-suffering tarantula looks like. As tarantula keepers, we definitely know what normal and abnormal looks like, but I don't think we have a clue what "suffering" is in a tarantula.

Thank you no I couldn't kill him it is not my place to take the life of any living creature, I have no clue if he suffers I like to hope not , I shall keep doing what I am and hope.

There is a german youtuber who has a video series on 2 spiders with similar symptoms (dyskinesia, no apparent cause) both molted at least once and while symptoms got a little better they did not go away completely. If that kind of thing interests you i can link it.
It is a complex issue, do you euthanize a spider apparently suffering from neurological issues or does the fact that they eat as well as they possibly can and even molt successfully meant they deserve a chance to get better?
I will probably always choose the latter, simply because it is our best chance to learn how to deal with this problem, but i don't think everyone would agree with me.

Regards, Wolfram

Yes please any info helps I have tried to find things on the way Humbug moves but everything I found didn't seem to quite fit the way he moves. I will try and read /watch anything if there is a chance I could get info that might help , I just want him to have a good life , taking his life to me is not an option no one should have that right imo.

My next question is as he came to me with a regen leg is it possible that his behaviour could be something to do with his injury or could he have always been like that ? Not that it matters in the long run i will take care of him either way but being human I am curious as to what could have caused him to be so uncoordinated .
I have little info from the dude I got him off and what he did say was clearly wrong ie being a female and due a moult at the time as it took him 6 months after I got him to molt and he was a he when he did moult plus the dude was drunk at 11am the wall was the only thing propping him up so tbh I am not surprised he got everything wrong n the t was injured when I got him. I don't drink personally but I imagine t's n alcohol don't mix well. I probably should have known better than to take Humbug but I couldn't leave him like that and even now knowing Humbug isn't a usual genic I would do the same ,he has earned a very special place in the heart of my family and we will do everything in our power to make sure he has as comfortable a life as we can give him.

 

[egyptiancrow]

Thank you no I couldn't kill him it is not my place to take the life of any living creature, I have no clue if he suffers I like to hope not , I shall keep doing what I am and hope.

Yes please any info helps I have tried to find things on the way Humbug moves but everything I found didn't seem to quite fit the way he moves. I will try and read /watch anything if there is a chance I could get info that might help , I just want him to have a good life , taking his life to me is not an option no one should have that right imo.

My next question is as he came to me with a regen leg is it possible that his behaviour could be something to do with his injury or could he have always been like that ? Not that it matters in the long run i will take care of him either way but being human I am curious as to what could have caused him to be so uncoordinated .
I have little info from the dude I got him off and what he did say was clearly wrong ie being a female and due a moult at the time as it took him 6 months after I got him to molt and he was a he when he did moult plus the dude was drunk at 11am the wall was the only thing propping him up so tbh I am not surprised he got everything wrong n the t was injured when I got him. I don't drink personally but I imagine t's n alcohol don't mix well. I probably should have known better than to take Humbug but I couldn't leave him like that and even now knowing Humbug isn't a usual genic I would do the same ,he has earned a very special place in the heart of my family and we will do everything in our power to make sure he has as comfortable a life as we can give him.

I would not euthanize an animal based on some idea of a human concept of suffering. Most animals with neurological disorders, or even missing limbs dont seem to even notice or care. Personally I have seen animals pass away due to stress, and if something is stressful i do not think this T would still be alive and thriving.

Also, if the T fell on its head, it could cause an issue. A lot of neurological issues are caused by brain damage from accidents.

 

[Wolfram1]

Sure, here you go

, just turn on auto translate.
I don't agree with everything he says 100% but overall it is fine, there is not all that much new information either, but i do think it is interesting and worth watching since it demonstrates some real examples very well and follows their progress.
And especially if you have a similar case in your own collection.