HELP!! What is wrong with my spider??

AimeeT86

Arachnopeon
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Mar 18, 2017
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Crickets pose no threat to a t that isn't freshly molted.
Everyone always has something different to say, website aren't any better. Take crickets out, leave crickets in, heat, no heat, 65f, 75f, 85f, mist, don't mist, give water, don't give water.... My spiders have always been fine until this one got this weird scabby looking build up so I'm just going to do what I've been doing. Thanks for all of your opinions and funny faces.
 

cold blood

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Facts, not opinions. All based on extensive experience....and science....all brought up strictly for the purpose of helping.

Care sheets are worthless, as are most places providing tarantula info on the web. This site, where you get info from long time keepers, is by far the most accurate and the only place you should look for your info...here you will find the info pretty darn consistent.
 

AimeeT86

Arachnopeon
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Mar 18, 2017
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Facts, not opinions. All based on extensive experience....and science....all brought up strictly for the purpose of helping.

Care sheets are worthless, as are most places providing tarantula info on the web. This site, where you get info from long time keepers, is by far the most accurate and the only place you should look for your info...here you will find the info pretty darn consistent.
You said earlier, with your funny face, that my spider needed no heat. You must've read that I said my house stays about 65f. I found this info HERE on this site, here is what I found. So, again, different opinions on the same site. Also found MANY people say that crickets shouldn't be left more than a day because they could injure the spider.
 

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cold blood

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Mine lived in a basement without supplimental heat for 3 years...never once did that basement get over 65...usually closer to 60...the t was and is fine. Their home range gets considerably colder. link that so we can see the rest of the context...is it really old?

The reason people say to remove crickets and prey, is because of the t molts, it will get eaten....molts aren't always predictable. A t would never sit there long enough to be chewed on unless it was in a helpless freshly molted state...their jaws would also be pretty useless against the ts exo when hardened.
 

AimeeT86

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Mine lived in a basement without supplimental heat for 3 years...never once did that basement get over 65...usually closer to 60...the t was and is fine. Their home range gets considerably colder. link that so we can see the rest of the context...is it really old?

The reason people say to remove crickets and prey, is because of the t molts, it will get eaten....molts aren't always predictable. A t would never sit there long enough to be chewed on unless it was in a helpless freshly molted state...their jaws would also be pretty useless against the ts exo when hardened.
http://arachnoboards.com/threads/ro...how-to-really-take-care-of-your-g-rosea.5292/
 

cold blood

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As I suspected, that's 14 years old. Concentrate your searches on the last 5 years, or current knowledge.
 

AimeeT86

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http://arachnoboards.com/threads/ro...how-to-really-take-care-of-your-g-rosea.5292/[/
Mine lived in a basement without supplimental heat for 3 years...never once did that basement get over 65...usually closer to 60...the t was and is fine. Their home range gets considerably colder. link that so we can see the rest of the context...is it really old?

The reason people say to remove crickets and prey, is because of the t molts, it will get eaten....molts aren't always predictable. A t would never sit there long enough to be chewed on unless it was in a helpless freshly molted state...their jaws would also be pretty useless against the ts exo when hardened.
what do you have against using the pad? It only raises the temp about 10-15 degrees.
As I suspected, that's 14 years old. Concentrate your searches on the last 5 years, or current knowledge.
maybe you might have a link for me to read??
 

Hellblazer

Arachnosquire
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May 13, 2016
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134
So what is so wrong with keeping it around 75f?
Nothing, but the heat mat you're using probably gets much hotter than that, or it could at some point. I only use them for snakes, and even then only with a thermostat regulating them.
 

boina

Lady of the mites
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Everyone always has something different to say, website aren't any better. Take crickets out, leave crickets in, heat, no heat, 65f, 75f, 85f, mist, don't mist, give water, don't give water.... My spiders have always been fine until this one got this weird scabby looking build up so I'm just going to do what I've been doing. Thanks for all of your opinions and funny faces.
With that attitude what are you even doing on here, asking questions?

Everything @cold blood said was absolutely right, but it won't matter for you because G. porteri are hardy creatures and difficult to kill anyway, so do whatever you want.

(And I'm a biologist with a degree in Animal Behaviour and years of experience setting up enclosures in research zoos - I know how to sift good info from bad)
 

boina

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Ok, here's the essay about heat:

Chasing a specific temperature no matter what is always a bad idea. You'll have to consider where that heat is coming from and how it is applied. Reptiles for example, bask in the sun tho raise ther temp and when they get too hot they will move to a cooler spot. That's there natural behaviour. Therefore in the enclosure you give them basking spots and heat gradients to regulate their own body temp accordingly.
Ts, on the other hand, live in hiding places or burrows. They don't bask to regulate their heat, but rely on ambient temperatures available to them. Accordingly, they seem to have very little sense of when they become to hot. And before temperature itself becomes a problem dehydration will. Many tarantulas, especially desert species, do not seem to feel "thirst". In nature they wouldn't have the luxury to walk over to a water bowl and drink. In fact there usually won't be a water source available in reach of their burrow. So they will sit around and wait for juicy prey to come along to rehydrate. Since prey is scarce in nature they are almost always able to eat when that prey does appear. Now in the enclosure they are very well fed. Now they sit on the heated portion of the enclosure, because in nature they would seek out heat - and it would never become too hot. This heat pad, however, doesn't raise the ambient temps, it provides spot heat, that may get much higher than is good for the T. The T doesn't know how to deal with that - it's simply not equiped with the right senses, since for the last 100.000 years it's ancestors haven't basked. It get's hot and slowly starts to dehydrate. It doesn't know how to deal with that either. The "idea" of walking over to the water bowl and drink doesn't occur to it, because in the last 100.000 years that was not feasible for it's ancestors. It's also very well fed by T standards, so it isn't hungry, so it won't take the juicy prey it needs. So it just sits there and gets more and more dehydrated. Now, Ts can get dehydrated a lot before things become critical. But even slightly dehydrated they may not be able to pull off a successful molt.

That's why, with Ts, you raise the ambient temps, if you feel you need to raise the temps at all, and do not use heat pads.
 

KezyGLA

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My G. porteri has been fine in temps 16-19C for 10 years. Infact she survived through 4 days at temps of 4C in her burrow. I am not going to get into how that happened here. But it is clear that this sp. is very hardy.

It would be much easier to kill a porteri with a heat mat than it would be with temps of 65C. They will bask in warmth and not budge. This can result in them sustaining a burn or dehydrating theirselves suverely.
 
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KezyGLA

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their natural habitat also get considerably warmer than 65 as well
Yes they do and can rise to 40C(104F) during the day. This is why they are seen burrowing in the wild. There is a reason they are happily out on the surface in captivity.

The 'natural' average night temperatures drop to 5C(41F).

We were all trying to give you advice. I see you have looked some things up which is good. However, husbandry has changed so much in the last 10+ years. If you want to keep your T in crap conditions go ahead. It will be more than a white spot you will be worrying about In the next post.

Your T is healthy. It will moult soon and that spot will probably be gone. Just because it survives in your care doesnt mean it is being cared for right.
 
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Thistles

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Give her a break. She used the search function and found some info. She asked for help and has overall been pretty open to it. The thing about this site is that it's an open forum and there are a lot of morons around. How is a new person to know whether the info they read here comes from someone experienced or from another new keeper? If there is contradictory info, how is she supposed to know who to trust? Furthermore, opinions change over the years. Books and info that once contained the best info in the hobby are now considered obsolete. A nice paperback looks a lot more trustworthy to a novice than some schmuck on a forum.

Give advice, sure, but don't take it personally if she doesn't think you're spider Jesus. I bet she'll be more open to it if you're nice and explain things patiently rather than taking offense. If your goal is to help the spider, you'll persuade more people with good humor than by getting sour.

Hemolymph is basically tarantula blood. Wounds in the opisthosoma (the abdomen) are pretty serious, but if it isn't still bleeding it could molt out. Y'know, assuming it's a wound in the first place. I can't really tell from the picture, but that's what it looked like to me. Either way, the best thing to do is just wait for her to molt. If it's poop stuck there, it'll come off. If it's a wound, either it will molt off or tear badly and kill her and there's not much you can do about it.

Pack down the substrate like Ellenantula said, which basically means make it like hard ground rather than a soft pile of dirt. They like a firm floor instead of slippery, crumbly stuff. Like CB says, you don't need the heat mat, but a mat on that size tank isn't the end of the world. It's just not a best practice. As Kezy suggested, I'm sure she'd appreciate a proper hide.

Generally you don't need to change out tarantula substrate like you do with hamsters or whatever. Think of it more like scoopable cat litter. As long as you remove the bolus after feeding and wipe down the poop on the sides, you don't really need to do a complete change unless something goes wrong.

The people posting on this thread are trying to help you, and they know what they're doing. I would listen to them even if it might look like everyone's getting testy in writing.
 

KezyGLA

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I was open to begin with but whats the point in asking questions if you dont want to hear answers? :confused:
 
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