Deformed T. blondi fangs, again....

[P. Novak]

If she dies, I am going to buy another T. blondi, as a sling only though. And
I will NOT feed it mice. If it takes 10 years, I am going to see if just feeding it crickets, if the same problems occur.

It's mostly been a fang issue. It's very sad. I have hand fed before, it's no fun, but if it keeps her alive, I will do it.

You can always feed them some huge roach species that will equal the size of a mouse.

Oh, and good luck!

 

[cacoseraph]

I really don't see how lack of a moist substrate would cause deformed fangs. It could cause the spider to get stuck in a moult, though that is doubtful to me as well as it is internal hydration that is more important when it comes to moulting.

I also don't see how a mouse every other month would be the cause, there are people that feed theirs nothing but mice and don't have problems. Although the fact that there were no problems before mice were introduced is certainly strange.

I think there needs to be some research done on this species before we can speculate as to the causes of bad moults like this. It would be nice to see experiments on feeding mice vs. roaches or crickets and dry vs. moist substrate from sling to adult.

I'd try it but I can't even get near this species without breaking out into hives for two weeks!

Good luck with her, I hope you are able to feed her enough to get her to her next moult.

i agree. all the parts of the spider that are regenerable are forming for virtually the whole intermolt period, as far as i understand from my readings. molting on dry sub (which yes, dark, many many many of my spiders have done with no problem) would not cause the twisted fangs unless it was a direct result of the old exo sticking to them... which the pics kind of lead me to think is not the case. plus, damn, aside from some toothing those *should* be the easiest bits to shed... they are highly tapering cones!

You can always feed them some huge roach species that will equal the size of a mouse.

Oh, and good luck!

i did. they are called mad hissers =P

 

[WyvernsLair]

i did. they are called mad hissers =P

Madagascar hissers really are not good for tarantulas. Their armor is extremely tough and likely to cause more problems for the T than not. There is no guarantee you can always have one on hand that just molted and is soft enough still to feed to the spider. They also are slow to grow. Can take 2 years to reach full adult size. Only the babies are soft enough to really feed to spiders, but then to do that things come full circle... they would be much smaller and less meat than a cricket!

I know... I tried raising them for my spiders. Heck even the bug eating lizards didn't want them. The only thing that seemed to love/enjoy and have the jaws to deal with those monster roaches were savannah monitors. I dumped my mad roach colony on a friend who ran a reptile rescue. Her sav enjoyed the present.

Have another friend who recently got into the Lobster roaches. She sent me a couple dozen as a starter colony last October. As adults, they are a little larger than crickets too so that's a pro. They are softer bodied must like crickets - no hard armor like hissers. They breed faster than the hissers too. The bug eating lizards I have that would avoid the hissers - they eat the lobsters up like candy. Have also been trying them on a Rose Hair T at work.. he too enjoys them. The down side.. They can climb glass just like the mad hissers (annoying) and the newborn babies are smaller than newborn hissers too so you really need some fiberglass/soft window screen as a precautionary barrier between lid and tank. My little colony has over 1,000 at the moment living in a large plastic critter keeper.. finally got to the population explosion point. I really have not had any trouble keeping them from running out of the cage. Usually when I go into it, they all know it's feeding time and are running for the food dishes lol. Occasionally one might try me, but when I tap them on the head, they run back down. They may not be much to look at but they do have a bit of an odd personality of sorts....for roaches. They are not long-lived like hissers either.

However, if you really need/want a large 2 inch roach like a hisser without the cons of a hisser.. I think there is a death head roach available. I remember keeping some 15 years ago at work... just can't remember the name of them other than we called them deathheads due to a mark on the head. I do seem to remember that they could NOT climb glass .... so that would be a plus. The only bad thing I ever remembered about them was that they moved pretty fast and had a tendency to stink when over crowded. When cleaning the colony, I found that sifting through the tank debris for babies was a nice pleasant though very long mind-numbing job. LOL.

 

[cacoseraph]

heh, the hissers have been working fine for me for a couple few years now. haven't found a bug of mine yet that doesn't like them. granted, i head crush sub/adults cuz their defensive spines are no joke

the long gestation/maturation period simply means you need to start with a lot of adults or not feed from your colony until it is in full bloom. i wouldn't suggest them as your staple species, but they are excellent treats.

i typically feed a large hisser to gravid females or to females i am about to breed that i want to bulk up quickly.





back to the blondi... i would be inclined to think it is not *just* feeding it mice from time to time... else there would be a super freakin clear correlation. i expect that the calcium thingy might be part of the cause, but certainly not the whole cause.

if i ever breed this species i'm fully down to do some experiments

 

[Talkenlate04]

Hydration could play a factor as well. I have seen a few keepers I know forget to fill the water from time to time and with species like blondi that might result in deyhdration and parts getting stuck when molting.

 

[KingBowser]

Has a study ever been done on the diet of wild T. blondi? I feed both of my girls a variety of things...roaches, crickets, mice, anoles, geckos, whatever. I've been told by more than one person that a blondi needs to eat hearty meals to achieve a large size. So far I've found no problems, but I haven't had them for years, either.

 

[Talkenlate04]

No specific study that I know of. But they can get a general idea of what they eat by what is available to them in that habitat.

 

[cacoseraph]

No specific study that I know of. But they can get a general idea of what they eat by what is available to them in that habitat.

heh, so roughly... everything?

 

[B.L.]

Mine is only at the stage where it can eat crickets. I was planning of feeding only insects to mine an maybe the occasional anole once or twice a year to impress friends. When I feed crickets if she doesn't imediatly eat them I take them out. Plus I'd be too worried about the mouse biting the T and injuring it. Those suckers can draw blood.

 

[Talkenlate04]

heh, so roughly... everything?

Yep anything that wanders into their field of glory. I cant imagine them ignoring any prey they could take down if they were hungry.

 

[WyvernsLair]

My T. blondi never had any molt problems or deformities. I'd flood half the tank once a week or so, but always let it dry out completely for a couple days before flooding again. Diet was nothing but crickets (of course 12-18 at a time). The only time he ever got anything other than crickets was one summer when the 17-year periodical cicada brood in our area emerged. They were everywhere and easy to catch (unlike the annual dog-day cicadas). Certainly no sense in letting them go to waste. A lot of animals were scrambling around for the once in a life-time treat. Nothing funnier than a T blondi prancing around a tank with 2 cicadas.. each speared by a fang. Man was he pissed having to go back to crickets when the cicadas were finally all gone LOL. Alas, the poor ole boy was a male and of course not destined for a long prosperous life. If I remember rightly, after he matured he lived almost 9 months.

 

[Tarangela]

Thanks for all of the replies!!

I have fed her hissing roaches before, they are just hard to get around here.
I live an hour away from pet stores, so I have to make an extra trip to get crickets anyway.

It just seems to point at mice feedings. As for the mice biting her, I always flick them in the head a bit, it causes them to convulse...and then put them in. She grabs them, and has never been bitten.

I just hope she can pull through this. ALL of her body came out of the molt really well, so I do not think this is a substrate issue....

 

[Tim St.]

This might be a really stupid question but where your T's CB or WC? if CB maybe inbreeding is a factor? small gene pool, most deformitys are caused by this.

 

[Talkenlate04]

Think of it this way...... when a mature female has babies, they disperse but not that far. So when a male matures from that clutch of babies, why wouldent the male mate with his mother? Or other sisters of that mother that are in the area. I think this type of breeding has to happen a lot in the wild.

 

[Tim St.]

Think of it this way...... when a mature female has babies, they disperse but not that far. So when a male matures from that clutch of babies, why wouldent the male mate with his mother? Or other sisters of that mother that are in the area. I think this type of breeding has to happen a lot in the wild.

out of say...a clutch of 100 spiderlings, maybe 10 will make it to maturity, and out of that 10 there will be another 10 of a differnt bloodline sharing the same habitat and so on and so forth, so inbreeding would not happen alot and would be phased out by nature with disabilitys and deformitys that would kill off the inbred T's (Loss of fangs?)

With CB say the same 100.. without preditor's and other factors, 75 make it to maturity and maybe 1000 people keep them and breed them, smaller gene pool = more Genetic defects, Natural selection?

i just thot id explain my reasoning in a bit of detail. :?

 

[Tarangela]

This might be a really stupid question but where your T's CB or WC? if CB maybe inbreeding is a factor? small gene pool, most deformitys are caused by this.

The first that died was a CB from Swifts. The second one was a WC, and this one right now is a WC.

I am really worried. It seems like she *knows* what has happened to her, and she is trying to curl her legs under and other things. I finally did get her to dip her carapace into some water and drink. I hope she makes it long enough for me to try to hand feed her. Boy, I bet she will go crazy when I try to pick her up. I was able to shine a flash light under her, and see her fangs are nothing more than stubs. So, she is harmless now And, that means, I can only wait, until she shows signs of wanting to eat, before I try to feed her....it will be a long road

 

[Tarangela]

Well, she seems to be stretching her legs a little. I keep seeing her very streched out, like they normally are after a molt. She pooped a LOT in her water bowl....her personality hasn't changed. Maybe by a miracle she will be able to eat. Picking her up to hand feed will NOT be fun, BUT will be done if necessary.

Thanks to all for the replies and ideas...

 

[NBond1986]

Think of it this way...... when a mature female has babies, they disperse but not that far. So when a male matures from that clutch of babies, why wouldent the male mate with his mother? Or other sisters of that mother that are in the area. I think this type of breeding has to happen a lot in the wild.

it certainly CAN happen. But this is why (IMO) males mature faster and one or two molts AHEAD of their female siblings. I believe that it is nature's way of preventing as much inbreeding as possible. And like LRG said, there are other genetic lines inhabiting the same areas.

Also, I don't believe that inbreeding is nearly as much a problem with inverts as it is with mamals, birds, reptiles, etc....
I have read a paper (dont ask, i forgot where) that discussed inbreeding in inverts, and that's what I came away with.

 

[Daniel_h]

i dont know if this has been asked before but do you get all your mice from the same place? maybe its a problem with the mice? (may be fed on something weird)

 

[Tarangela]

i dont know if this has been asked before but do you get all your mice from the same place? maybe its a problem with the mice? (may be fed on something weird)

Nope, mice came from different places. No one set place for them.

She has been keep her legs stretched out and everything, and is very alert.
I hope I am able to feed her.

When I have to hand feed her, I will post pics.