chilean copper problem :/

xtarantulax

Arachnopeon
Joined
Oct 16, 2010
Messages
7
I bought a chilean copper around a month ago and i was told from the place i got from that it has been eating fine and regularly. However when i took it home, it never ate the crickets that were put in for it on the day i got it, so after 24 hours i took them out. This is what has been happening every week from then. Also, on the first week that i had it, one of it's front legs have started going bald. i'm aware that the're abdomen goes bald when in premolt, but i'm unsure about the leg :/ it isn't using the leg very much either. Whenever it's still, the bald leg is always elevated as shown in the picture below. can anyone help? :s thanks
 

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EndlessForms

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
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Oct 14, 2010
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224
hmm not sure about the bald leg. could it be an injury or something that was already affecting the spider before you got it? and when i got my first G. rosea [about a year ago] she didn't eat for a while, but she was just in pre-molt. now she eats very well. i hope someone with more experience can help [i am alos interested in what may be causing the bald leg.] it could be that she had a bad molt before...
 

Salamanderhead

Arachnobaron
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Aug 30, 2009
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Weird. I've never seen that before. Maybe there's some type of parasites feeding on it? Then again, that probably wouldn't make the hair fall out.
 

AbraCadaver

Arachnoknight
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Feb 6, 2009
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I've seen something similar on T's that have had their legs "mashed" in a lid or something, and also in T's being gnawed by crickets... That's the only suggestions I have..

As far as it not eating, they are famous for fasting for long periods of time, so don't worry much about it.
 

Chris_Skeleton

Arachnoprince
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Jan 31, 2010
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Their abdomen doesn't go bald when their in premolt. Their abdomen goes bald from kicking the hairs off.
 

xtarantulax

Arachnopeon
Joined
Oct 16, 2010
Messages
7
thanks for the help guys,
the leg hasn't got any worse from what it was like in the first week of having her, it's just that there's no pressure being put on it which makes me think it's causing problems :/
 

P. Novak

ArachnoGod
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Sep 12, 2005
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true, but it can also occur in a pre-molt stage. as these hairs are designed to come of easily...
This can be misleading, as a bald abdomen does not indicate premolt. Sure, Ts will lay urticating hairs down for protection, but most don't do it to the point where they go bald. The best and full-proof sign of premolt is the darkened abdomen of a bald abdomen. :rolleyes:
 

Ictinike

Arachnobaron
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Aug 30, 2009
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460
thanks for the help guys,
the leg hasn't got any worse from what it was like in the first week of having her, it's just that there's no pressure being put on it which makes me think it's causing problems :/
If it causes too much grief and irritation the T can drop the leg to dispose of it. While not ideal it will regenerate a new one, albeit smaller, the next molt and it will gradually form back to full condition. This of course is no testament on how long it would take due to the sometimes unusually long periods between molts on Rosea's.
 

Chris_Skeleton

Arachnoprince
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My first T ever, a G. rosea that I got back in January, had this same problem with the very same leg as yours, except for the balding. It applied no pressure to it and always kept the leg up like yours. I could see a part of the foot was injured. Well it molted back in july or august and regenerated all of it's leg except it's foot. Now it just has a leg with a little pink nub on the end and it looks so sick lol. And now it's back to holding it's leg up. Hopefully this will be fixed completely after it's next molt.

Good luck.
 

haasdas

Arachnopeon
Joined
Aug 6, 2010
Messages
1
Well your T does not look thin so about eating I wouldn't worry to much at this stage. Grammostola's are well known for their LOOOONNNG pre-molt and fasting behaviour. As for the leg never seen that before. I would sugest that you only start worrying if it hapens to the other legs.

We all know the feeling about being protective over our T's and 99% of the time all go's well. If your LPS is reliable then they shouldn't lie about the T eating. I always ask when the T's last molt was before I buy and if they say long ago then it usualy go's into pre-molt in the next 2 weeks or so and then I'm not to stressed.

Keep us posted:) Beautiful spider buy the way.
 

KnightinGale

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
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Sep 16, 2009
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170
Is it just me, or does the tarsal segment look a little truncated? It could be just the angle, but to my eyes it looks like your T might have had a bit of an injury from before. Anyone else see that?
 

xtarantulax

Arachnopeon
Joined
Oct 16, 2010
Messages
7
thanks guys,

well i went back to the place i got it from a week after the leg had gone bald to get a couple of crickets, and the guy said they had the chilean copper for quite a few months and in that time it hadn't molted. so he told me it could well be up for a molt, but as for the leg, he told me he's never experienced that before and to check on forums to see if anyone can help. he also said he'd ring the place that they get their T's from and see if they know anything about that happening, so i'll pop in and ask if he's called them.

i'll keep you posted :)
 

EndlessForms

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
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Oct 14, 2010
Messages
224
This can be misleading, as a bald abdomen does not indicate premolt. Sure, Ts will lay urticating hairs down for protection, but most don't do it to the point where they go bald. The best and full-proof sign of premolt is the darkened abdomen of a bald abdomen. :rolleyes:
well yeah, i wasn't saying that a bald abdomen is a sign of an approaching molt, just stating that as the inner [new] cuticle develops and the old prepares to come off. at least thats what i've read on some sites. not sure if it's true or not but it works in theory
 
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