Checking for the sucking stomach on your molts

Nightstalker47

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Jul 2, 2016
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I noticed we don’t have a thread on this topic, so if anyone has further experiences with this and whether or not their specimen survived the ordeal please share in this thread. Hopefully we can compile some useful data for the future.

Although this has not happened to me yet, thankfully, many have reported issues with tarantulas molting and then no longer managing to get food down, this has been the result of an issue with the sucking stomach. You can inquire simply by examining the last molt or exuviae, the tarantula also needs to shed the previous sucking stomach on the molt, so if it’s not there…there’s your issue.

It’s pretty simple to check for, so in the future, when you guys are sexing molts and whatnot, you mineswell verify that the sucking stomach was indeed successfully molted. It should look like this.

20180504_155035.jpg
 

Ashley2070

Arachnopeon
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Aug 22, 2016
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Yeah my E. murinus I posted about a little while back had this issue. He didn't molt out his sucking stomach and was extremely skinny I really didn' have much hope for him. I came home from work one day and I was so ecstatic/nervous to see him on his back molting but he actually pulled out of it. It was 149 days it took him to molt. Here's the picture of his sucking stomach after the last molt 20180412_133526.jpg 20180412_134356.jpg
 

EulersK

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Yeah, I had a similar experience as @Ashley2070 did. Mine was a B. vagans. Luckily, he was fat enough that he was able to molt without having had a single meal the entire molt cycle. Perfectly healthy (albeit extremely skinny) after the second molt.
 

Dovey

Arachnobaron
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Apr 9, 2016
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I love the sucking stomach. I always think of it as a little biological straw. Of course, one would. If one cannot have so much as a diet soda without a straw. I'm a bit of a straw fanatic.

Strictly speaking, as far as function goes it's probably more directly akin to my pumping gravel vacuum for the aquariums.
 

sdsnybny

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If they don't molt the sucking stomach, wouldn't they also not be able to drink?
I lost a P. rufilata about 5" after a molt and it tried to eat and drink but ended up just wasting away. I literally had to pull him/her out of the water dish on two occasions as he was to weak to climb yet he kept going back in completely submerging his carapace. terrible way to go
 

Greasylake

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Jul 23, 2017
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If they don't molt the sucking stomach, wouldn't they also not be able to drink?
I lost a P. rufilata about 5" after a molt and it tried to eat and drink but ended up just wasting away. I literally had to pull him/her out of the water dish on two occasions as he was to weak to climb yet he kept going back in completely submerging his carapace. terrible way to go
Yep if they don't molt the sucking stomach they can't drink either, which does decrease the T's chances of making it to the next molt but I'm assuming making sure the substrate stays moist would improve its chances of making it to the next molt, assuming the species will be okay with the moisture that is.
 

cold blood

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If they don't molt the sucking stomach, wouldn't they also not be able to drink?
I lost a P. rufilata about 5" after a molt and it tried to eat and drink but ended up just wasting away. I literally had to pull him/her out of the water dish on two occasions as he was to weak to climb yet he kept going back in completely submerging his carapace. terrible way to go
I guess you could say this would be one case where an obese adult would have a significant survival advantage.
 

SkittleBunny

Arachnosquire
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Aug 25, 2016
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Wow i had no idea they shed the sucking stomachs.. I always thought that little floppy thing on molts was what held the carapace down from the inside.. Now I know.

Im also a little disturbed... Ive used these as handles to grab molts a couple times. Lol
 

Little Grey Spider

Arachnoknight
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May 14, 2017
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It's the first thing I check for.... I was holding my breath on my most recent molt (H. pulchripes) because he didn't drag the old exo out of his hole. Seeing them eat for the first time sure is a big relief.
 

boina

Lady of the mites
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Mar 25, 2015
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I had a Pamphobeteus vespertinus juvenile female with this problem. She was extremely skinny and I was really worried but she made it to the next molt. I kept the enclosure seriously moist during that time, though.
 
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JBarbaresi

Arachnosquire
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Jul 12, 2012
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Question for those of you who have experienced this... was your T attempting to eat when they had an issue with the sucking stomach or just killing and abandoning? I got a 3” p. Subfusca a little over a week ago and she has been killing and wrapping her food. I was taking the food out of the enclosure so it wouldn’t spoil. After the third time doing this I started to get concerned and decided to leave the wrapped cricket in there (yesterday). When I got home from work last night I was relieved to see she grabbed the dead cricket and looked like she was eating it, but this morning she still had it and it looks to be mostly intact. I’ve seen her drinking, or attempting to drink, on 2 separate occasions over the past week. She hasn’t molted in my care but I was told the last one was about 2 months ago.

I know this sounds like sucking stomach, could it be anything else? Maybe stress from the recent shipping and new environment?
 

Greasylake

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I know this sounds like sucking stomach, could it be anything else? Maybe stress from the recent shipping and new environment?
If it was holding it and was able to eat it, it would. I really think at this point it sounds very much like a sucking stomach issue.
 

AngelDeVille

Fuk Da Meme Police
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The intewebz is great.

The info I had 20 years ago was limited to that black and white pamphlet book that covered snakes and scorpions, and whatever hearsay I could get from teenage kids with nose rings at the local shop.
 

cold blood

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The intewebz is great.
But its also dangerous...considering there are far more places offering poor or outright bad info than there are places offering quality info. Its really incredible just how much poor or wrong info is out there floating around on the net...and most new people have no clue which is which...how could they, right...care sheets are a prime example...and they tend to be exactly where the new keeper gravitates to first...which can really mess up a new keeper's perspective....as we see here on a weekly, and even almost a daily basis.
 

JBarbaresi

Arachnosquire
Old Timer
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But its also dangerous...considering there are far more places offering poor or outright bad info than there are places offering quality info. Its really incredible just how much poor or wrong info is out there floating around on the net...and most new people have no clue which is which...how could they, right...care sheets are a prime example...and they tend to be exactly where the new keeper gravitates to first...which can really mess up a new keeper's perspective....as we see here on a weekly, and even almost a daily basis.
Have you considered creating a sub-category that could outline care requirements broken down by genus or species? For instance a thread within the sub category for poecilotheria species, another different thread for brachypelma species, etc... I'm sure all the information it out there but sometimes it's hard to find if not well organized.
 

Ashley2070

Arachnopeon
Joined
Aug 22, 2016
Messages
41
Mine did the same thing. It would capture and try to eat it's prey but the cricket was still mostly in tact and just a little squished up when it was finished because it eventually gave up trying and discarded it. Really sad to see. Hopefully since yours is still pretty small it shouldn't be long till it molts out again. Good luck!
Question for those of you who have experienced this... was your T attempting to eat when they had an issue with the sucking stomach or just killing and abandoning? I got a 3” p. Subfusca a little over a week ago and she has been killing and wrapping her food. I was taking the food out of the enclosure so it wouldn’t spoil. After the third time doing this I started to get concerned and decided to leave the wrapped cricket in there (yesterday). When I got home from work last night I was relieved to see she grabbed the dead cricket and looked like she was eating it, but this morning she still had it and it looks to be mostly intact. I’ve seen her drinking, or attempting to drink, on 2 separate occasions over the past week. She hasn’t molted in my care but I was told the last one was about 2 months ago.

I know this sounds like sucking stomach, could it be anything else? Maybe stress from the recent shipping and new environment?
 
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