HELP PLEASE mexican red knee is not eating

[John2711]

Hi my daughter has a Mexican red knee and it's abdomen is bald and it hasn't eaten much in over 3 months.

I don't know what is up with him/her

I've put pickup to try and help

Any help is appreciated
Many thanks

 

[emartinm28]

Hello,

it’s best not to handle your T, as a fall from a short height can easily rupture the abdomen and kill it.

A tarantula’s abdomen will become bald when they kick the hairs off. Due to the amount it has kicked off, either you or whoever had it before you probably stressed this T out too much

as for the not eating, don’t worry that is totally normal, this species is long-lived and slow growing, they can go many months without food.

that all being said, a few pictures of the enclosure would help make sure there isn’t another cause for this behavior

 

[Smotzer]

Put it back in the enclosure and don’t handle it, it has a plump abdomen and a fall could kill it by rupturing it’s abdomen.

can you post pictures of the enclosure?

Not eating for 3 months isn’t concerning it had a healthy sized abdomen.

the bald patch is from kicking hairs not concerning it is a defense mechanisms. But could mean it is stressed out. But they are normal hair kickers to begin with.

can you explain how it is being kept in addition to the photos?

 

[John2711]

Its my daughters T and it was on a 2ft X 2ft vivarium.

It's now in a breeding box that is 15inches X 10inches with 6 inch deep coco substrate.

She was holding it almost every day and is backs up and runs away from food

 

[Smotzer]

She was holding it almost every day and is backs up and runs away from food

Everyday........How old is she? I would suggest you get her to stop holding it, it is actually very dangerous and if it jumps or falls from even small heights it can rupture its abdomen and die.....we have seen this happen quite a few times it never ends well. This could be the reason for all the hair kicking.

It's now in a breeding box that is 15inches X 10inches with 6 inch deep coco substrate.

This sounds okay, a photo would help though to make sure it is set up properly.

 

[John2711]

She is 17 and she has been told not to handle it all the time.

Should I be worried about it not eating.

And is it male or female as it's quite big and I've read males don't last long.

What about heat I'm completely lost with spiders...I normally keep snakes

 

[emartinm28]

She is 17 and she has been told not to handle it all the time.

Should I be worried about it not eating.

And is it male or female as it's quite big and I've read males don't last long.

What about heat I'm completely lost with spiders...I normally keep snakes

The over-handling really is dangerous, T’s die all the time because of it

the T’s abdomen is quite plump so it can go a while without food, that being said there’s some husbandry issues to correct

don’t use any supplemental heat with tarantulas, they do not thermoregulate like snakes do and they can burn themselves. Room temp is fine. Likewise, do not worry about humidity at all just make sure there is clean water in the water dish

substrate looks good, dry as it should be, and the T probably won’t burrow at this size. however, the T needs a hide to feel secure, this is another possible cause of the hair kicking. Even if it doesn’t use the hide it will be less stressed out if it knows it can retreat there. Also, imo it could use a larger enclosure (though not a 2ft x 2ft viv) but others may disagree

finally, the only way to tell definitively if it is male or female is to wait for a molt and look for the spermatheca. Unless you know the age, a 10+ year old spider that hasn’t matured out is probably female

edit: honestly though a deeper cage with more substrate wouldn’t hurt tho just in case the T does want to burrow at all

 

[John2711]

Thank you

My daughter is saying that it has hooks?? On the front legs...I don't know what that means

So just keep trying to feed or wait a few weeks.

 

[coolnweird]

Thank you

My daughter is saying that it has hooks?? On the front legs...I don't know what that means

So just keep trying to feed or wait a few weeks.

Hooks mean a mature male, which explains the fasting. Most males only live 12-18 months after they mature, and many of them won't eat again

 

[emartinm28]

Thank you

My daughter is saying that it has hooks?? On the front legs...I don't know what that means

So just keep trying to feed or wait a few weeks.

I would offer probably about once a month or once every two weeks or something just to see if it’s interested, remove any uneaten prey if it’s still there the next day

mature male tarantulas will have emboli and tibial hooks, tibial hooks are just that, hooks on the front two legs that hold the female’s fang at bay during mating. Emboli are on the pedipalps (the short ‘legs’ at the very front of the T’s body) on a female or an immature male the pedipalps will looks like normal mini legs but a mature male will have large ends with a specialized area to hold sperm.
If your T is a mature male it probably won’t have much of an appetite and will wander around a lot

 

[Smotzer]

[can you get side view pictures of the front two legs and the pedipalps for us to see if it is a mature male?

 

[basin79]

100% MM. You can literally see the emboli in the first pick in post 6.

 

[Smotzer]

100% MM. You can literally see the emboli in the first pick in post 6.

Didn’t catch that!!

 

[John2711]

What does that mean... Is it on its last legs or can't you tell...I was sold it as a 2 yr old female.

 

[emartinm28]

From the pictures it’s definitely a mature male. Has he molted in your care? For this species you can expect a MM to live 12-18 months after their molt, but up to 2 years is not unheard of. If he molted recently then you can expect to have him for a year or maybe two, but if not then there’s really no telling how much time he has left

 

[John2711]

No it hasn't molted in our care its last molt was the day before we had it in the shop the man showed it us as we collected it.

The last molt was late October last year

 

[emartinm28]

If it was sold to you as female like that then whoever sold it to you was either scamming you or doesn’t know much about tarantulas. Also, there’s no way this T is 2 years old, more like 6-8 probably more

 

[John2711]

I didn't know anything about them I just got her the spider she wanted.
It was a big local pet shop the guy is apparently a reptile specialist.

Like I said earlier I don't know anything about spiders that is why I joined this forum.

I'm annoyed it's not what I got told I was buying as I gave £80 for it 6 months ago.

 

[emartinm28]

Yeah, absolutely not your fault for what happened, unfortunately your daughter’s T will probably not eat very well and will pass within the next 6-12 months since he’s already 6 months mature. I’m not sure about T dealers in UK but i’m sure there are a few to choose from to get a new T, just make sure your daughter sets the enclosure up properly and refrains from handling

 

[viper69]

Its my daughters T and it was on a 2ft X 2ft vivarium.

It's now in a breeding box that is 15inches X 10inches with 6 inch deep coco substrate.

She was holding it almost every day and is backs up and runs away from food

Handling great way to KILL a T- good luck!!!!

Give it a hide- breeder box is fine I kept my AF in one- prevents fall death

MM rarely eat, still drink, and wander all over looking for females.