Have you ever had to put a T down?

[Faunya]

I've got a friend with a pink zebra beauty. I guess it just went through a really really tough molt, and now it's got some really serious physical problems. I haven't seen the spider, myself, so I am just repeating the description she gave me...

Apparently, the poor thing has several "protrusions" on the abdomen, which sorta look like large lumps. In addition to that, several of its legs are quite twisted, and the spider just hobbles.

He/she is still eating (although my friend had to switch to mealworms since the poor thing couldn't catch crickets anymore). It's been about 6 weeks since the moult.

Is there any chance this thing will straighten out in it's next couple of moults, or would it be better to put it out of its misery?

Thanks for any help you guys can offer...
-Faunya

 

[invertepet]

If it's eating, I wouldn't necessarily suggest euthanasia. Seems like maybe it'll be rough sailing until the next molt, but it could improve after that.

bill

 

[Faunya]

Thanks for the response, bill...that's about what I told her, but I don't really know what I'm talking about when it comes to these things, so...

One other thought that came to my mind is the fact that maybe this could be an adult male that has made it to a post ultimate moult. I've seen a few pictures of some strange looking males once they've made it this far, and my friend's description didn't sound that far off. How likely is it for a PZB to make it to a post-ultimate molt?

Thanks,
-Faunya

 

[Faunya]

Just to clarify, I have no idea what the sex of the spider is...I'm just throwing out ideas...