HELP! bald spot/injury on abdomen of tliltocatl albopilosus? (NOT from urticating hairs) need advice ASAP

[falrantula]

My girl is usually a cave dweller, shes turning 5 years old in march. I've had her that entire time, shes my first female tarantula of many.
She climbed up today and to my horror i saw this on her stomach area.
I'm worried sick and don't want anything bad to happen to her
Heres all the relevant information about her.

my substrate is half Jurassic (ABG) Tarantula Mix and half coco coir. I put torn up jackfruit leaf litter (clean leaves bought from the pet store) on top of her dirt, she has moss and cork bark, and some fake plants, and a moisture gradient in the enclosure. I only feed her live crickets (head crushed, they shouldn't fight back.)
I'm starting by taking all sticks, leaves or anything else out of her enclosure's dirt that might have caused this.
i dont think theres enough height in her enclosure for her to fall.

The dirt mix and jackfruit leaves were new additions just recently, i think i did it in early october 2024. (before that it was just straight coco coir, but i wanted something more enriching for my Ts. should i go back?)
I included an overhead photo of her so you can see if shes overfed or not. I dont think she is THAT fat, i skip feedings often with her to prevent that. She doesn't drag her bum while she walks when i pick up her enclosure, she lifts it up, at least while im watching. I dont let anyone handle her, including myself. Her comfort&boundaries are my top priority.

Please give me any advice you can, I'm not a new keeper, but its my first time dealing with this.
My current plan:
is to stop feeding her until her next molt and make the dirt as soft as possible, removing all leaves and sticks. Advice was according to this thread ( https://www.reddit.com/r/tarantulas/comments/oervcd )

I'm terrified it might be an abscess like shown at the bottom of this website (https://www.giantspiders.com/captive-care/common-ailments/) please tell me what you think. I hope these pictures i attached are clear enough.

Her cave entrance is kind of on a slope, and there was a leaf there that kinda rubbed this spot. Im really hoping thats all it is, just some wear and tear from coming and going from her hide.
Please anyone who has any experience with this, let me know what happened to your Ts and what i should do to help her!!

 

[spideyspinneret78]

It looks like a drag injury from being obese and dragging her abdomen on the ground. Make sure that the substrate is soft and remove any rough/ grainy material that could worsen the injury. Also, be very careful about how much you're feeding her. With an abdomen that size, she doesn't need to eat for a long time (think possibly months), make sure that she has fresh water available at all times. Also make sure that the distance between the substrate and the top of her enclosure isn't more than about 1.5x her legspan. Obese spiders are more vulnerable to injuries if they fall. Hopefully she'll molt out of it, and in the future reduce her feeding amount. Adult females especially need much less food than you'd expect. I feed my adult females of slow- growing species 1-2 medium sized prey items every few weeks to maintain their body condition. If their abdomen is bigger than their carapace, then I skip feeding day.

 

[falrantula]

It looks like a drag injury from being obese and dragging her abdomen on the ground. Make sure that the substrate is soft and remove any rough/ grainy material that could worsen the injury. Also, be very careful about how much you're feeding her. With an abdomen that size, she doesn't need to eat for a long time (think possibly months), make sure that she has fresh water available at all times. Also make sure that the distance between the substrate and the top of her enclosure isn't more than about 1.5x her legspan. Obese spiders are more vulnerable to injuries if they fall. Hopefully she'll molt out of it, and in the future reduce her feeding amount. Adult females especially need much less food than you'd expect. I feed my adult females of slow- growing species 1-2 medium sized prey items every few weeks to maintain their body condition. If their abdomen is bigger than their carapace, then I skip feeding day.

On it! I will follow all of this advice! i was only feeding her one cricket every 7-10 or so days, sometimes every 2 wks which i thought wasn't much but ill cut back even more for her and all my other adult females. The enclosure height is not tall enough for her to fall, and thankfully she doesn't climb much. Im switching her back to pure, soft coco coir right now. Thank you!

 

[Ultum4Spiderz]

Not much you can do I lost one to an injury like this last year. Just watch it and hope it gets better.

 

[falrantula]

Not much you can do I lost one to an injury like this last year. Just watch it and hope it gets better.

Really hope it doesn't come to that.. thank you for your reply, ill definitely be watching her like a hawk.

 

[falrantula]

While im here, does anyone know anything i could do to increase her chances of survival/comfort? I replaced everything i could that might drag on her abdomen, but i dont think shes going to molt for a while, probably in late july/early august if my prediction is correct. my copy of the tarantula keepers guide mentions a similar issue that affects t.albo on page 216 and mentions applying a "moisturizing salve" or glycerin to the wound for a few weeks before their molt. Has anyone tried this? what kind of moisturizing salve would be safe for Ts? Or should i just let her do her own thing? I obviously want to make the chances of her surviving her next molt as high as possible. thank you

 

[spideyspinneret78]

While im here, does anyone know anything i could do to increase her chances of survival/comfort? I replaced everything i could that might drag on her abdomen, but i dont think shes going to molt for a while, probably in late july/early august if my prediction is correct. my copy of the tarantula keepers guide mentions a similar issue that affects t.albo on page 216 and mentions applying a "moisturizing salve" or glycerin to the wound for a few weeks before their molt. Has anyone tried this? what kind of moisturizing salve would be safe for Ts? Or should i just let her do her own thing? I obviously want to make the chances of her surviving her next molt as high as possible. thank you

Honestly just feeding her much less before her next molt ( if at all, depending on when she might molt) is pretty much the most important thing you can do. The hair has been rubbed off, but it looks like you noticed it somewhat early on. I've seen tarantulas with much more severe drag injuries molt out of them and fully recover. One of my tarantulas was severely obese with a very concerning drag injury when I first got her, and after slimming down and going through a successful molt, she's almost 100% recovered. However nothing is guaranteed.

 

[falrantula]

Honestly just feeding her much less before her next molt ( if at all, depending on when she might molt) is pretty much the most important thing you can do. The hair has been rubbed off, but it looks like you noticed it somewhat early on. I've seen tarantulas with much more severe drag injuries molt out of them and fully recover. One of my tarantulas was severely obese with a very concerning drag injury when I first got her, and after slimming down and going through a successful molt, she's almost 100% recovered. However nothing is guaranteed.

Gotcha!! That's very good to hear <3 I'll prepare myself for the worst just in case, but shes a very strong beautiful girl, i believe in her !! Ill try to remember to update when she molts.
I love these spiders like my own children, i swear i will never ever make this mistake again. Fingers crossed she pulls through !!
Thank you so much for replies, they've been extremely helpful and reassuring to me.

 

[viper69]

Stop feeding

Could be drag though