HUGE tarantula abdomen

[The Iso Psycho]

A friend owns this tarantula and I'm genuinely concerned for it. I know it's rare, however, at this point I feel as though it's impaction.

One day she went to feed her Brazilian White Kne (A. Geniculata) and noticed just how large the abdomen is, so she decided to wait a month to feed them again, checking occasionally. One month later and no change. I've never seen this before personally and can't find any images like it online. Figured if anything, this is the place to find out what's going on and what to do!

Thank you!

 

[Poonjab]

They are dumpsters. Probably just “”over feeding”

 

[Tarantuland]

nothing to indicate impaction. Don't feed until molting

 

[Tarantulafeets]

It can probably go the rest of the year without eating. How often and what did your friend feed it?

As @viper69 says: "Fatter than Jupiter!"

 

[The Iso Psycho]

She just let me know she was feeding 6 crickets once a week, however, im not sure what size cricket

 

[Hardus nameous]

Unless the spider gets dehydrated or goes an insane amount of time without eating the abdomen won't shrink until it moults.

 

[Benzen]

6 crickets once a week

So, basically she fed it daily? Holy moly, tell her that spider needs to fast for the rest of the year. These aren't pets that you need to feed daily. They can go months without food. Their metabolism works way differently than those of mammals or fish etc.

 

[Wolfram1]

Fat tarantulas only get thinner after molting...no amount of time fasting will result in a smaller abdomen, that's just not how it works. It could be a year from now and the answer would be the same.

Some tarantulas you will never see excrete, that does not mean it has impaction.



Make sure it has a water dish and that your friend stops feeding for the next few months it already has enough girth to molt safely.

good luck

 

[The Grym Reaper]

One day she went to feed her Brazilian White Kne (A. Geniculata) and noticed just how large the abdomen is, so she decided to wait a month to feed them again, checking occasionally. One month later and no change.

There won't be any change, tarantulas really only lose any significant amount of abdominal mass through moulting.

She just let me know she was feeding 6 crickets once a week, however, im not sure what size cricket

That's ridiculous, as a reference I feed my adult female 3-4 MM red runners or 1 adult dubia once every 3 weeks.

 

[NMTs]

If that T falls from an inch off the ground it's going to pop like a balloon. You can see where the abdomen is already splitting in a couple spots. You might encourage your friend to remove everything from the enclosure besides a water dish, then bury the hide just leaving a small opening and add a couple more inches of sub. Not like it's going to climb much in that condition, but if it does it could easily be fatal. Also, soft surfaces will reduce the likelihood of drag injuries resulting from it not being able to lift it's abdomen off the ground when it walks.

 

[spideyspinneret78]

It's extremely obese. Your friend is feeding it WAY too much. No need to feed it any more until after it molts, and then reduce it substantially.

 

[cold blood]

Some tarantulas you will never see excrete, that does not mean it has impaction.

I said nothing about impaction, the post you quoted had nothing to do with it...in fact that quote isn't even from this thread.

 

[NMTs]

I said nothing about impaction, the quote had nothing to do with it...in fact that quote isn't even from this thread.

I thought you were just being quoted to show the OP when to expect the T to start slimming down, and the content about impaction was an aside. FWIW...

 

[Wolfram1]

I said nothing about impaction, the quote had nothing to do with it...in fact that quote isn't even from this thread.

i know i just used your words instead of writing them down myself and added the impaction part myself since the question was regarding that in particular, sry for the confusion i caused you

i thought it couldn't hurt to tag-on other threads that have a similar focus.

You can see where the abdomen is already splitting in a couple spots

what?

 

[NMTs]

what?

Nobody else sees a large gash on the upper right edge of the abdomen? I swear, sometimes I feel like I'm looking at different pics from everyone else...

 

[Wolfram1]

Nobody else sees a large gash on the upper right edge of the abdomen? I swear, sometimes I feel like I'm looking at different pics from everyone else...

those are just some loose urticating setae

 

[NMTs]

those are just some loose urticating setae

OK. Looks like an injury to me.

 

[cold blood]

I thought you were just being quoted to show the OP when to expect the T to start slimming down, and the content about impaction was an aside. FWIW...

i know i just used your words instead of writing them down myself and added the impaction part myself since the question was regarding that in particular, sry for the confusion i caused you

i thought it couldn't hurt to tag-on other threads that have a similar focus.


what?

Ahh, ok, thanks peoples...I was wondering....

OK. Looks like an injury to me.

I just see an area that was flicked a bit

 

[The Snark]

Personally I'd contact an expert and inquire about intestinal nutrients and abdominal fluid retention. If you get lucky there is probably a study or two in the subject. Down side would be the study is likely to be in ultra technicaleeze.

 

[The Grym Reaper]

Nobody else sees a large gash on the upper right edge of the abdomen?

That's just a patch of loose setae from where it's kicked at some point