I’ll definitely look! Her last molt in July ‘24 looked totally normal as far as I could tell. I feel like I don’t have many ventral shots since then because I sexed the last molt. It must have happened sometime in between.
Thank you so much! She’s very bolty and I’m still a little sketched out with rehousings, but I’ll definitely try to work up the nerve to move her into something smaller if that will help!
Thank you so much for sharing this!
Yours looks very similar to how mine is. Pale skin with dark brown flecks. Dry, no signs of leaking.
Unfortunately no it does not look normal yet, this is a couple year project in the making.
I’m so glad to hear that your female recovered from this! Luckily, my young lady isn’t a big eater anyway, so we shouldn’t have any issues with her overeating anyways. Fingers crossed for her that she molts successfully next time and shows improvement!I've seen this before. I agree with all of these posts and the advice that you're getting.
It appears that this exact same thing happened to one of my females almost 20 years ago, when I didn't yet appreciate the dangers of overfeeding.
I had Pampho spiderlings hatched from the same sac that I wanted to breed. I was power feeding (i.e. overfeeding) the females to speed their maturation, while feeding their brothers sparingly to delay maturation, with the intention of getting mature females by the time their brothers had their ultimate molts.
One of my power-fed females had this problem. I believe it was an injury sustained to the fragile area between the pedicel and the epigastric furrow, at a timepoint right before she molted. I think this injury didn't have time to heal before the molt. She recovered after a long time. That area of the exoskeleton became normal over the next ~3 molts, but it did take a little over 2 years.
I agree with the advice that you're getting. Don't overfeed. Treat her gently. Make sure she can't fall too far, and that all enclosure furniture is soft. Keep water available.
My female was fine in the long run, but she missed out on all the incest her sisters got. An injury to protect her virtue seemed a fair trade, a good outcome. I wish the same for you.
I’m sorry that your girl is still struggling with that!Unfortunately no it does not look normal yet, this is a couple year project in the making.
She has molted a few times...her progress did not appear to be linear...bleeding after one molt, the next molt her book lung appeared to be exposed but no bleeding.
The best advice I was given was to feed sparingly to help keep her abdomen size down...as to not encourage a rupture...that would likely be game over for her.
She's hungry all the time but she's still with me and acting healthy as can be.
She's in a somewhat shallow container to discourage climbing...she has about 1x DLS to the ceiling. And a hide she's never used.
I am also generous with the overwatering, since her external organs are exposed, I have to assume she is dessicating faster than normal, and since they get most of their moisture from eating, it's the best I can do for her. I always keep a moist quarter of the tank, rotating each week to make sure it dries...I would not want to encourage fungal growth. In many animals, fungus can infect the lungs...I may be too paranoid but I play it safe.
It's np I remember how much I panicked, it's one of my worst ever experiences with a tarantula, I wouldn't want anyone to go through that. My girls split was on her side and did heal up on the surface but to this day she often sits with her abdomen pulled to one side away from the wound even though the flesh is healed but its seems to be the only effect shes had from it. Her's also wasn't as severe as your girls but between myself and @fcat hopefully we have atleast given hope that your floofer can survive this. She will just need special care for a while.
I’ve already pulled out all decorations and added some more substrate so hopefully that will help her!It's np I remember how much I panicked, it's one of my worst ever experiences with a tarantula, I wouldn't want anyone to go through that. My girls split was on her side and did heal up on the surface but to this day she often sits with her abdomen pulled to one side away from the wound even though the flesh is healed but its seems to be the only effect shes had from it. Her's also wasn't as severe as your girls but between myself and @fcat hopefully we have atleast given hope that your floofer can survive this. She will just need special care for a while.
If you are worried about the rehousing just try and restrict her actions in her current viv, as I said well placed thick soft moss will cushion her if she falls and also take some of her climbing room , try and take out anything that isn't necessary, less stuff in there less she has to catch on and hurt herself more. Although placing a clear catch cup over her to move her is still your best option, if you can't do it or are frightened you might hurt her more from her bolts you still have that option to just "baby proof" the viv she's in .
Also just as an afterthought when you feed her use prekilled so there is no struggle or risk of injury. Apart from those n keeping her waterdish full there isn't much else to do, it will be down to her after that, but her bolting away from you a good sign. Have hope and gl with your little floofer, I hope the next update is a good one
That’s so cool (not for the tarantula of course)! Thank you for sharing!!The black within the exuvia makes me think it might be a cyst.
This is the best example I've found, made by our very own @Liquifin
Also the best footage I've seen of the "heartbeat"
