help Lp with scab on the bottom of abdomen!!!

Chicken Farmer

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I was watering my female L. parhybana and decided to take her out and look her over. She hairs when you mess with her too much making me itchy for a week... Anyway i pinch grabbed her and she had a scab on the bottom of her abdomen. Im not sure how long it has been there as i have had her for almost a month. She has been eating up until last week about.

Is there anything i can do for her? It seems as little red around it. Sorry for the bad pics.







 

jakykong

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I'm sorry I don't have a good answer for you, but just to maybe help someone who does, I thought I'd pose a few probative questions:

You said she was eating until a week ago. When she last ate, did she viciously grab the prey item? (That's pretty normal for this species, in my experience so far and watching Youtube videos for hours on end :p ) Or was she lethargic and not really caring much about it?

Any lethargy? If she has a bald spot at all, is it turning dark? Is she wild-caught or captive-bred? (Do you know which?)

Did the seller say when she last molted?

I'm curious where you're seeing red around it. First because, honestly, I don't see any red around it in the pictures, and second because tarantulas don't have much "red" to them. Their haemolymph is very light blue, not red. And AFAIK, they don't have the sort of swelling reaction we do, because they don't have capillaries to do that with.

Taking a total stab in the dark and not at all sure of this, but could it be a piece of leftover exo from her last molt? Maybe a burn?

Sorry I don't have more answers, but maybe some more details could help someone find a better answer.
 

Chicken Farmer

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I'm sorry I don't have a good answer for you, but just to maybe help someone who does, I thought I'd pose a few probative questions:

You said she was eating until a week ago. When she last ate, did she viciously grab the prey item? (That's pretty normal for this species, in my experience so far and watching Youtube videos for hours on end :p ) Or was she lethargic and not really caring much about it?

Any lethargy? If she has a bald spot at all, is it turning dark? Is she wild-caught or captive-bred? (Do you know which?)

Did the seller say when she last molted?

I'm curious where you're seeing red around it. First because, honestly, I don't see any red around it in the pictures, and second because tarantulas don't have much "red" to them. Their haemolymph is very light blue, not red. And AFAIK, they don't have the sort of swelling reaction we do, because they don't have capillaries to do that with.

Taking a total stab in the dark and not at all sure of this, but could it be a piece of leftover exo from her last molt? Maybe a burn?

Sorry I don't have more answers, but maybe some more details could help someone find a better answer.
I just threw the roach in a went to bed so not sure if she attacked it or what. I actually found the roach but i think she didn't eat it because she may have been full and the basment flooded and there was noisy fans blowing 24/7 for a few days. (all the T's are in the basment).

No darkening, not really bald besides the hair she flicked, which is on me. Not positive when she molted. several months he said.
I think captive breed. The guy i got her from had her for a year, and said she came from someone off here i think in florida.


It just seemed pinkish/ red around the area. maybe from being irritated by the ground???

There is a stick on heater on the side as it gets really cold where where the guy i got her from lives. I don't use it as they ttay 70-80 by the heat ducts.

thanks for the help!
 

jakykong

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It just seemed pinkish/ red around the area. maybe from being irritated by the ground???
Well, that's what I mean. Humans get red/pink from irritations, but tarantulas aren't humans. That redness in humans is the result of capillaries expanding, and it's red because that's the color of our blood. But tarantulas don't have capillaries (instead, they have an open circulatory system), and their 'blood' is very light blue, not red.

That's why it seems strange to me that it would be red because of irritation. I would think it would just be the color of the normal tissues in the area, except for the injury.

By stick-on heater, do you mean a heat pad? Is it on the vertical side of the container, or on the bottom? (Just being clear, I think you mean the vertical side.)

Still sorry I can't offer a more solid answer; I wouldn't stress too much, she sounds to me like she's behaving normally otherwise, so it should be fine to be a bit patient while other people have a look at this thread.
 

tmcv

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Hey man...
well... I can see this pinkish you've said!!! But Jakykong is right, T's cannot present rubor on inflamatory responses.
So, redness can came from two ways:
1- fungus, dosn't appear to be a common fungii infection, but this microorganisms can present many forms and colors.
2 - Burn... heat pads on the floor are extremely danger for tarantulas... this pinkish is not from the burn itself, but from the hairs.

It really looks like burn, especially because of the region... if the T is ok, don't worry with that, it will came out in the molt. But if you don't use heat pad, and it can't be burn anyway, I advice you to proceed a cytologic examination (fungus culture). I know that's dificult to find a veterinary that care of T's, but, if you needed I can help you teling the proceedure, and you can take the material to a lab for a diagnosis.
 

Hobo

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help Lp with scab on the botom of abdomen!!!

It doesn't look like a burn.

It looks like it had an issue with its last molt and a lesion has scabbed over on the underside of the abdomen. These lesions have been know to happen from time to time, especially in B. albopilosum.
Anyway, you will have to hope that it will molt out of this, but there are a couple of common sense things you should be doing until then.
Firstly, you'll want to make sure that there are no abrasive surfaces in the enclosure that may aggravate the scab. That means remove any hard, sharp or rough decorations, and avoid similarly abrasive substrate like sand or wood chips.
Second, you'll want to eliminate any risks of fall damage, which means you should have the substrate about a half a legspan - a legspan from the lid. Along with this, you must keep feedings to a minimum. I know the temptation to powerfeed is strong, but consider the fact that you are creating potentially fatal pressure on a compromised abdomen by keeping it unnecessarily obese. Try to keep the abdomen just slightly larger than the carapace; feed very lightly until the next molt. The last thing you want to happen is for that hard scab to split because of a fall or obesity.
She's looking pretty huge already so personally I would hold off on the food until she molts.
Finally, you should keep disturbances and handling to a minimum.

Good luck, and hope it molts out of it.
 

Tarac

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Oct 6, 2011
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Hey man...
well... I can see this pinkish you've said!!! But Jakykong is right, T's cannot present rubor on inflamatory responses.
So, redness can came from two ways:
1- fungus, dosn't appear to be a common fungii infection, but this microorganisms can present many forms and colors.
2 - Burn... heat pads on the floor are extremely danger for tarantulas... this pinkish is not from the burn itself, but from the hairs.

It really looks like burn, especially because of the region... if the T is ok, don't worry with that, it will came out in the molt. But if you don't use heat pad, and it can't be burn anyway, I advice you to proceed a cytologic examination (fungus culture). I know that's dificult to find a veterinary that care of T's, but, if you needed I can help you teling the proceedure, and you can take the material to a lab for a diagnosis.
And what fungus would the OP be looking for? 100% chance that some fungus will grow, they are ubiquitous even in extremely clean environments. The trick is to be able to ID which fungus is bad and which is good, something I don't think we have relevant data for to date or any data that suggest there are fungus related complications in Ts at all, only conjecture about blocking or colonizing the book lungs and I don't think that has been verified in a meaningful way either.

T is not going to show redness around a burn either, it's another kind of inflammatory response.

I'm agree with Hobo, looks like a scab from some kind of injury- troublesome molt, scraping, etc. I did not know albopilosum were prone to such a thing, do you know why? Common cultural mistake or something structural, like their long setae or something?
 

madamoisele

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Regrettably, I had the exact same type of spot on a tarantula that was given to me (adult female b. albopilosum) about a year ago. After some researching online, it was recommended I try glycerine to soften the spot and attempt to remove it - this was a miserable failure.

Unfortunately, it just stopped eating and eventually died. I really hope that doesn't happen to you but I have no comforting news - you'll just have to wait and see if it managers to molt it out.
 

Chicken Farmer

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thanks everyone from the help. The heating pad is on the side of the tank so I doubt a burn also.

I have been cutting her down on feeding since i got her. I don't ussualy handle her as she tries to go up my arm and on my back and the hairs.....

What should i be watching for this fungus????
 

Hobo

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help Lp with scab on the botom of abdomen!!!

Just keep her dry with a water dish. I don't think there is any fungus.
 

grayzone

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just as a precaution, i would remove the heat pad anyways.
I wouldnt rule out the burn possibility just yet. Ts are attracted to warmth, and she could have easily just laid sideways on the glass.
that thing looks like it got a cigarette put out on it honestly (but im sure thats not the case)
 

tmcv

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Just keep her dry with a water dish. I don't think there is any fungus.
Hobo i don't think there's fungus either, but we can ignore this possibility just looking a photo.... About molt problems, I've already see lesions similar (but not equal) when the owner try to push the stuck molt, but usually there's some protuberances due to hemolymph coagulation, and not "smooth" and "perfect circular" like this. That's why I think about fungus, even being far similar to common white dots that we find routinely in T's.

---------- Post added 01-29-2013 at 03:19 PM ----------

And what fungus would the OP be looking for? 100% chance that some fungus will grow, they are ubiquitous even in extremely clean environments. The trick is to be able to ID which fungus is bad and which is good, something I don't think we have relevant data for to date or any data that suggest there are fungus related complications in Ts at all, only conjecture about blocking or colonizing the book lungs and I don't think that has been verified in a meaningful way either.

T is not going to show redness around a burn either, it's another kind of inflammatory response.

I'm agree with Hobo, looks like a scab from some kind of injury- troublesome molt, scraping, etc. I did not know albopilosum were prone to such a thing, do you know why? Common cultural mistake or something structural, like their long setae or something?
Hey Tarac!
You're right about witch fungus can harm the T's. There's a lot of veterinary questions yet to be answered regarding T's. I have a paper here describing fungal infection in wild T's from Europe, and these fungus are zoonotic!! We've always listen that T's are free from zoonotic diseases (with exception of Panagrolaimide infection). Here there's a lot of hobbyists, and I think great when someone came with a "my T is acting strange" or "there's something on my T's exoeskeleton", because we can collect information regarding diseases and problems.
In the practice I can medicate the animals, proceed cytology examinations, but here I can only encourage to collect data.... and I thank who provide this informations, because the veterinary routine is very low. I work in a huge arthropod vivarium in Brazil, so the T°C, moisture and everything is very controlled, so that's why I really apreciate to read "problems" regarding T's kept as pets!!
 

grayzone

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I work in a huge arthropod vivarium in Brazil, so the T°C, moisture and everything is very controlled, so that's why I really apreciate to read "problems" regarding T's kept as pets!!
I just want to say i envy your job. Sounds fascinating. You get paid to do what all of us do (to a degree at least) as a hobby. Have you ever thought of starting a pic/photo thread of stuff you work with?
 

tmcv

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I just want to say i envy your job. Sounds fascinating. You get paid to do what all of us do (to a degree at least) as a hobby. Have you ever thought of starting a pic/photo thread of stuff you work with?
Hey grayzone, I can tell you that a envy the facility to have T's in US!! unfortunately we can't have T's as pets here in Brazil, so I can't care T patients from hobbyists!!!
I do have some pictures, and I can post some, from the rooms, some animals and some problems that I deal with.

We have a few rooms, one with T's, one with Scorpions, one with Centipedes/milipedes, one with Phoneutria nigriventer, and one with Loxosceles spp. I'll post some things!
 

grayzone

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that is strange that your country is swarming with bug life, but you cant own any. Certainly you could always tuck some away with no one the wiser? Then again, im not sure about your countrys laws and such, so the penalties could be a lot worse than i imagine?
 

tmcv

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that is strange that your country is swarming with bug life, but you cant own any. Certainly you could always tuck some away with no one the wiser? Then again, im not sure about your countrys laws and such, so the penalties could be a lot worse than i imagine?
Is a little complicated here!! This vivarium that I work belongs to the goverment, and it's goal is to provide venom from Loxosceles, Phoneutria and Tityus serrulatus for the anti-venom serum production.
But there's a lot of surveys regarding centipedes venom, other scorpions species and some T's, that's why we keep a lot of diferent species here.
About the T's, we are a "depository" as we say here, from animals rescued from ilegal animal trade. So every animal in here have a number, any animal that dies here is reported to authorities, every animal borned here is reported to. So is very dificult to take one and take to home!!! I only take animals home when they are in treatment with antibiotics or in some critical situation and needed of intensive care, otherwise I can't take any animal home, and the penalties are fines or jail!!!

As you know, Brazil have a huge fauna, so it's very targeted by dealers, that's why the laws don't suport the exotic animals as pet. Only a few birds and some chelonians are legal here, and this legal animals are VERY expensive!!!! Lots of people support the idea that the controled liberation of exotic pet trade can combat the ilegal trades, so that's a constant discution, and taking other countries as example, the laws will probally change in a distant future!!!
 

grayzone

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well, i didnt mean try to take one from WORK, but im starting to get a better understanding.

Very interesting to me, but i wont hijack this thread any further. Thanks for beginning to explain.
 

alpine

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just as a precaution, i would remove the heat pad anyways.
I wouldnt rule out the burn possibility just yet. Ts are attracted to warmth, and she could have easily just laid sideways on the glass.
that thing looks like it got a cigarette put out on it honestly (but im sure thats not the case)
You did see that she doesn't use it correct? They are kept warm through residual heat.
 
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