G. pulchra broken leg

[rknralf]

Got a question about my 2.25" G. pulchra spiderling I purchased. When I got it in the mail, the hind leg was broken at the middle joint. It didn't appear to be bleeding, but had dried blood at the injury.
Well, the tarantula seems fine, and is active and all, but that leg is bent at an odd angle and is useless to the tarantula.
My question is concerning molting. I am concerned that as it approaches a molt, that the broken leg will cause a problem. Am I worrying for nothing? I've thought about taking the leg off, but am afraid I would hurt her. Is there something I can do to prevent any problems? I don't want to lose her (really hopefully!) as she has the sweetest disposition and is just beautiful.
Any ideas/suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[MrDeranged]

Hey Ralph,

I feel for you. It's a very tough decision that you have to make. "Should it stay or should it go?" There are positives and negatives to both sides of the question. If you look at the "Oh My God" post from veronyka, you'll see that she had to ask the same question under different circumstances and that people posted both sides of the answers to your questions.

While I wont tell you which way to go, it's a decision you have to make for yourself, I will tell you this story.

I had a T (P. ornata) that had a bad molt. I decided to amputate at that point because may of it's legs were deformed and trapped. It threw one leg itself, and I removed 3. It was dead the next day. Whether or not it would have died anyway, I'll never know. It's also possible that it was due to the number of legs removed. Could have been any number of things. Since this has happened, I've heard of people leaving some less trapped or deformed T's with whatever was wrong with them and that they will dump whatever limbs might cause them problems when they're closer to a molt. Hopefully I'll never have to make that decision again......

Scott

 

[veronyka]

Hi Ralph
Well, in the case of my T, she didn't have any broken legs before the molt. She just didn't complete the molt successfully. I really don't know why that happened.
I don't know if this is good advice, but if you keep the leg, and the molt takes longer than expected, get in there and help her out of her exuvia. I did that, but I now am sure I waited too long (almost 4 days) and my little T didn't make it. But I hope yours doesn't have the issues mine did. Good luck!
-vero

 

[rknralf]

Veronyka,
I was sorry to hear about your avicularia. Losing a tarantula during a molt is really tough. The first tarantula I ever had molt, an Acanthoscurria geniculata, got a leg caught and died. It was really bad and made me really nervous about upcoming molts for my other tarantula babies. Since then there have been many successful molts at the household and the fear on my part is lessened some. I guess with my Brazilian black, I am afraid remembering how it was with my geniculata. I plan on keeping a close eye and interviening if necessary, although I am concerned about disturbing her as she is fairly small.
Thanks for your reply.
Ralph