I see a dent on my T

DrAntlion

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More or less to the center of its cephalothorax. What is that? Premolt? It's sort of getting a little dark bald spot on the abdomen.


"Normal is an illusion. What is normal to the spider is chaos for the fly"

---------- Post added 05-08-2014 at 11:14 PM ----------




"Normal is an illusion. What is normal to the spider is chaos for the fly"
 

Keith B

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The "dent" you see in the prosoma (cephalothorax is a debatable term, but still often used) is the central apodeme or fovea. It serves as an anchor for the muscles the tarantula needs to move the chelicera and legs, and provide the power it needs to overcome prey, excavate soil, and flee predators, etc.
 
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awiec

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Yup completely normal, it gets more prominent as the T gets larger in most species or you have some that get a horn like C.darlingi.
 

Formerphobe

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The dent in the carapace is the fovea or apodeme or tergal apodeme. It is the structure that the musculature attaches to internally.
Your spider's abdomen looks a little shriveled, though it could be the angle of the photos. If it is shriveled, you need to offer a more spider friendly water source.
I'm not really seeing a dark bald spot either.
NW tarantulas with abdominal urticating hairs develop bald spots as a result of kicking hairs, not as a sign of premolt.
IF there is a bald spot, it can act as a 'window' to see if the normally pinkish abdomen is turning black in pre-molt.
Some spiders will develop hair 'thinning' as they line their burrow or molting mat with hairs prior to a molt.
 

DrAntlion

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The dent in the carapace is the fovea or apodeme or tergal apodeme. It is the structure that the musculature attaches to internally.
Your spider's abdomen looks a little shriveled, though it could be the angle of the photos. If it is shriveled, you need to offer a more spider friendly water source.
I'm not really seeing a dark bald spot either.
NW tarantulas with abdominal urticating hairs develop bald spots as a result of kicking hairs, not as a sign of premolt.
IF there is a bald spot, it can act as a 'window' to see if the normally pinkish abdomen is turning black in pre-molt.
Some spiders will develop hair 'thinning' as they line their burrow or molting mat with hairs prior to a molt.
I recently got it, and I read that I shouldn't feed it that quickly after buying it, that I should wait a week or so. The abdomen I find to be a tad small so I want to feed it a bit more. Also, what do you suggest as a spider-friendly water source. I gave it a bottle cap.



"Normal is an illusion. What is normal to the spider is chaos for the fly"
 

Formerphobe

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I recently got it, and I read that I shouldn't feed it that quickly after buying it, that I should wait a week or so. The abdomen I find to be a tad small so I want to feed it a bit more. Also, what do you suggest as a spider-friendly water source. I gave it a bottle cap.
"Normal is an illusion. What is normal to the spider is chaos for the fly"
Bottle cap should suffice. Plastic condiment cups work well, too, and are cheap enough to throw away and replace with a new one when they get soiled.
I usually feed my tarantulas the same day I get them. I received eight today and fed all of them. Four of the eight took their prey immediately - just moments after being unpacked and placed in their new enclosures. Two others snagged their prey within a couple of hours. I pulled the cricket from the one that looked to be in pre-molt. And one sling is currently sitting beside its pre-killed cricket.
Some people like to wait a week... No right or wrong, just personal preference.

A spider that size could have one large cricket per week, or 3 - 4 crickets every 2 - 3 weeks. Roseas are famous for going on random 'fasts' that are not associated with pre-molt. IME, the more heavily fed, the sooner the fast.
 

DrAntlion

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Bottle cap should suffice. Plastic condiment cups work well, too, and are cheap enough to throw away and replace with a new one when they get soiled.
I usually feed my tarantulas the same day I get them. I received eight today and fed all of them. Four of the eight took their prey immediately - just moments after being unpacked and placed in their new enclosures. Two others snagged their prey within a couple of hours. I pulled the cricket from the one that looked to be in pre-molt. And one sling is currently sitting beside its pre-killed cricket.
Some people like to wait a week... No right or wrong, just personal preference.

A spider that size could have one large cricket per week, or 3 - 4 crickets every 2 - 3 weeks. Roseas are famous for going on random 'fasts' that are not associated with pre-molt. IME, the more heavily fed, the sooner the fast.

I'll feed it soon since every time I prod it with a brush it quickly takes a bite out if it. It's quite hungry. Another thing I found is that it's beginning to form a mat with web and soil so could it be a molt mat? It's been doing it for a while now.


"Normal is an illusion. What is normal to the spider is chaos for the fly"
 

Formerphobe

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I'll feed it soon since every time I prod it with a brush it quickly takes a bite out if it. It's quite hungry. Another thing I found is that it's beginning to form a mat with web and soil so could it be a molt mat? It's been doing it for a while now.


"Normal is an illusion. What is normal to the spider is chaos for the fly"
Ummm, don't prod it. They don't normally appreciate that. :) Biting the brush may mean irritated, not hungry. Though it could be hungry, too.
Tarantulas lay webs. They have very poor eyesight and depend on other senses to guide them. Especially when on strange soil, they will lay 'tracking' webs to establish pathways around their new home territory. They'll also construct 'dining mats', 'basking mats', molting mats, mature males make sperm webs, etc. Some spiders will roll them up and push them to the side after awhile, others just keep laying more web over top of old.
 

DrAntlion

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Ummm, don't prod it. They don't normally appreciate that. :) Biting the brush may mean irritated, not hungry. Though it could be hungry, too.
Tarantulas lay webs. They have very poor eyesight and depend on other senses to guide them. Especially when on strange soil, they will lay 'tracking' webs to establish pathways around their new home territory. They'll also construct 'dining mats', 'basking mats', molting mats, mature males make sperm webs, etc. Some spiders will roll them up and push them to the side after awhile, others just keep laying more web over top of old.
Alright! I'll keep all of this in mind! Thank you so much for your help!!


"Normal is an illusion. What is normal to the spider is chaos for the fly"
 

Keith B

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I usually feed my tarantulas the same day I get them. I received eight today and fed all of them. Four of the eight took their prey immediately - just moments after being unpacked and placed in their new enclosures. Two others snagged their prey within a couple of hours. I pulled the cricket from the one that looked to be in pre-molt. And one sling is currently sitting beside its pre-killed cricket.
Some people like to wait a week... No right or wrong, just personal preference.
Agreed. All a matter of preference. Many wait a week to let them settle in without disturbances. Nothing wrong with that. I, like Formerphobe, also feed right away and then give them some time undisturbed. IME, and in regards to their instincts, they seem to settle in much faster once they have a meal. I've noticed they sometimes roam for long periods of time until they happen upon food and determine it's readily available, particularly with Avicularia. I recently had a versicolor sling roam it's vial in circles for 2 days straight until I tossed in a cricket. It grabbed it immediately, and to my amazement, built an entire base tube hide while eating it. No visible webbing for two days, then a whole visible tube in less than an hour once it had food. Quite fascinating :)
 
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