CYST Severity??

[Necromion]

Well, I hate to say it but your at the point I was at and am still at, you have to play the waiting game. Sucks but there isn't much you can do except for keep the right conditions and play the waiting game.

 

[Shell]

When sending something for pathology, the pathologist needs to be well-versed in what they are looking at or for. The average veterinary pathologist would be generally clueless, though they could identify bacteria, fungi, etc.

Absolutely true. Here we send a report with the sample, detailing where it came from, what is presented as etc etc. You guys probably do the same thing, anyway my point (yes I had one lol,) is just that if a sample was sent in with as much detail as possible, it's possible they would be able to identify bacteria, fungi etc as you said, and give an opinion based on those findings, I understand they would be pretty clueless, but they may have some thoughts on it, even if it's not any kind of diagnosis. Since I have contacts at the lab, I figured it could be a fun experiment, since I know they would do it, and it wouldn't be wasting anyones time.

It still isn't going to tell us a whole lot, but something I would be curious to try, just to see if we can get some other ideas/opinions. However, again the problem lies in that these growths are not probably the same in every spider.

 

[Comatose]

I don't know, I would imagine we wouldn't be able to ship across borders even if it was a sample/dead specimen, so I would need to see if anyone in Canada has one that would be willing to experiment with us lol. Be pretty cool to see if anything showed up that indicated any kind of known health condition.

If one can be found I have a buddy that can legally get it into Canada. He's in Toronto and he could ship it to you. He imports sharks, so I'm assuming that a spider wouldn't be an issue for him, and he actually owes me a favor

yeah I've been trying to figure out what it is since I picked up the T, and so far haven't been able to find out anything as to its cause and what not. I have seen bald spots form in this area before but this is a little extreme for just a bald spot.

its possible that it could be a benign tumor or somthing along those lines, and I really dont want to kill an otherwise healthy animal to discover the cause.

You should hang on to the spider after it dies (in a very long, long time) and see if there's anyone willing to do a necropsy/biopsy (I'm probably usings one or both of those words in the wrong context). It certainly looks different than what's affecting Theraphosa.

 

[ijmccollum]

its possible that it could be a benign tumor or somthing along those lines, and I really dont want to kill an otherwise healthy animal to discover the cause.

I def would not euthanize a spider that seems to do be doing well just for a biopsy -- let it run its course. Careful monitoring would be best. If things really go south, necropsy could be quite helpful in better understanding these conditions. And what I mean by "these conditions" is it would take more than one T and one necropsy.

We have a vet/pathologist on staff, he's a far cry from a insect/arachnid specialist but he's a great guy and probably would humor me.

On a side note: I would like to poll -- maybe this isn't the best place but; I maintain several diff spc of exotics and they require a gutload w/high Ca. Ca is not good for T's so I do not offer the feeders that I do my other animals. The feeders either go on a purge diet and then gutloaded specific for T's or I maintain a diff group for T feeders. What are you guys doing?

 

[Delight]

Thanks for sharing, I missed that.

If draining and sealing can "fix" these, I would still be hesitant to actually call them true cysts, at least the kinds I am familiar working with. Typically they need to excised to fully get rid of them. However, these are inverts we are talking about here, not mammals, so a cyst could very well present differently and be treated differently, there is so litle we know about tarantula health.

I find this sort of stuff absolutely fascinating, given my training and profession. We may not have answers right now, but the speculation and attempts made at healing stuff like this are great and will hopefully give us answers one day.

Also, it may not be a cyst OR a hernia. There are many other growths that mammals can get, so while we don't know for sure, I would think it's possible with tarantulas as well. Just an afterthought I had.

Having studied tarantula anatomy I am lead to wonder if it is the equivalent of a hemotoma. If it is, draining could possibly solve it and prevent the fluid from becoming infected. The problem seems to be that tarantualas aren't very transparent about how they're feeling and they're fairly resistant to disease.
It should be fairly easy to determine if it is haemolymph if the liquid were saved and observed under a microscope.

Has anyone done a necropsy on one of the spiders who have died from one of these things (not to assume that all of them are the same)?

 

[Ultum4Spiderz]

Bad news it just accepted a roach... so it hasnt even began pre-molt...
O well... just hope it has a good molt

 

[advan]

Bad news it just accepted a roach... so it hasnt even began pre-molt...
O well... just hope it has a good molt

I think the bad news is the keeper decided to feed even known he was advised multiple times not to.

 

[Londoner]

Can I ask why you decided to feed it when you were advised not to?

Edit: advan beat me to it.

 

[The_Dude]

hmmmmm....

 

[Comatose]

I think the bad news is the keeper decided to feed even known he was advised multiple times not to.

Can I ask why you decided to feed it when you were advised not to?

I third this....

 

[Shell]

I hate to sound mean but given who we're talking to here, are we really surpised that advice was ignored?

 

[Comatose]

I hate to sound mean but given who we're talking to here, are we really surpised that advice was ignored?

Honestly... yes. I like giving people the benefit of the doubt, and most people will rise to the occasion given the chance. Call me a cockeyed optimist, but I'm positively stupefied as to why OP would flat out ignore earnest advice he was given my multiple people.

 

[Shell]

Honestly... yes. I like giving people the benefit of the doubt, and most people will rise to the occasion given the chance. Call me a cockeyed optimist, but I'm positively stupefied as to why OP would flat out ignore earnest advice he was given my multiple people.

I like to give people the benefit of the doubt too, but in this case, with all the past posts and advice he's ignored, I can't say this one surprises me...I really wish it did.

 

[1hughjazzspider]

I hate to sound mean but given who we're talking to here, are we really surpised that advice was ignored?

After the comment he posted yesterday(which the mods removed thankfully) nothing that he says will surprise me anymore. I totally lost all respect for him after that and will refuse to attempt to help him from now on.

---------- Post added 12-16-2011 at 01:20 PM ----------

Call me a cockeyed optimist

Ok will do, lol.

 

[Comatose]

I like to give people the benefit of the doubt too, but in this case, with all the past posts and advice he's ignored, I can't say this one surprises me...I really wish it did.

It's too bad... it would be a great opportunity to learn about the disease. At least the thread has provided us some great opportunities to discuss it, and hopefully the project we've discussed will pan out.

After the comment he posted yesterday(which the mods removed thankfully) nothing that he says will surprise me anymore. I totally lost all respect for him after that and will refuse to attempt to help him from now on.

I didn't see that one...

Ok will do, lol.

Oh man.... lol

 

[Shell]

. At least the thread has provided us some great opportunities to discuss it, and hopefully the project we've discussed will pan out.

For sure, I'm quite excited to see what we can do with it! Oh btw, those links were a huge hit with my son, he took over my computer for a while, so thanks again.

 

[Comatose]

I'm really glad to hear that! Seeing that white shark was such a great experience... I'm really glad he enjoyed it too

 

[Shell]

I'm really glad to hear that! Seeing that white shark was such a great experience... I'm really glad he enjoyed it too

As I expected, he knew the correct names for all the sharks too, there's no stumping that kid. I'll stop derailing this thread now lol.

 

[Comatose]

You derail it? It left the tracks, smashed into the side of a mountain and burst into flames a while ago, and I don't think you deserve credit

 

[Shell]

You derail it? It left the tracks, smashed into the side of a mountain and burst into flames a while ago, and I don't think you deserve credit

Good point, I suppose I do not deserve the credit for it...I feel better now.