Is my tarantula fang broken/damaged?

inverts and chill

Arachnopeon
Joined
Mar 31, 2022
Messages
10
Ok guys something's bothering me. I fed Luna my fem. P irminia a Sub-adult hissing cockroach yesterday.she's around 5.5-5.7" she just molted for almost a month ago. P irminias are ferocious eaters as we all know so, I was pretty confident that my pretty girl would take it down easily but I was wrong. She kinda struggled with that MHC coz it's almost as big as her. After about 15 minutes, she finally did it. But after I saw this view in my video that I took, I found it looking kinda strange for me because it's fang is really curved like idk. i know tarantulas' fangs are curved but I think this is too much of a curve so yeah I hope I'm just wrong and she's ok . I just want you to help me confirm if its fang is broken/damanged coz he alwas bit the head of that MHC and we know MHC's heads are hard as f*ck. So, what do you guys think, is her fang broken/damaged or is it just a normal fang shape of a tarantula? Let me know your opinion guys if I am wrong or correct TYIA 🙂.

Screenshot_2022-09-25-10-12-56-27_99c04817c0de5652397fc8b56c3b3817.jpg
 

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HooahArmy

Arachnoknight
Joined
Jul 12, 2022
Messages
239
If your pal hasn't a problem taking out a smaller feeder (usually one about the size of their carapace or smaller is best), she should be alright. My family's Ts have always struggled a little more with larger roaches, and especially with Madagascars' exceptional tough backs (you're totally right), I'm not too surprised that your girl had a tougher fight, especially with the size that you offered her. I have a T. albo myself who has fangs so curved and looking like the letter C, I've considered calling her/him 'Snaggletooth', so variations in T fangs shouldn't be a concern unless the T is completely incapable of eating. Having very curved fangs can also be a boon for the T, as the 'hook' of them keeps prey closer versus those with straighter fangs that might have a slippery cricket get away. Snaggletooth gets a good grip every time!
I'd keep an eye on your girl as she goes and give a try offering her a cricket or a smaller roach. If she's struggling to grip onto those too, assess how long it's taking her to make a takedown. You might have an issue if the feeder is constantly getting away from her all day, or if she just cannot maintain a grip. However, if she still is able to take prey, and can snag a meal within 24 hours, she should be fine. Curved fangs are just a part of individual variation, and might even change with her next molt!
 

inverts and chill

Arachnopeon
Joined
Mar 31, 2022
Messages
10
If your pal hasn't a problem taking out a smaller feeder (usually one about the size of their carapace or smaller is best), she should be alright. My family's Ts have always struggled a little more with larger roaches, and especially with Madagascars' exceptional tough backs (you're totally right), I'm not too surprised that your girl had a tougher fight, especially with the size that you offered her. I have a T. albo myself who has fangs so curved and looking like the letter C, I've considered calling her/him 'Snaggletooth', so variations in T fangs shouldn't be a concern unless the T is completely incapable of eating. Having very curved fangs can also be a boon for the T, as the 'hook' of them keeps prey closer versus those with straighter fangs that might have a slippery cricket get away. Snaggletooth gets a good grip every time!
I'd keep an eye on your girl as she goes and give a try offering her a cricket or a smaller roach. If she's struggling to grip onto those too, assess how long it's taking her to make a takedown. You might have an issue if the feeder is constantly getting away from her all day, or if she just cannot maintain a grip. However, if she still is able to take prey, and can snag a meal within 24 hours, she should be fine. Curved fangs are just a part of individual variation, and might even change with her next molt!
Oh! That makes sense. So some individual tarantulas can actually have C-type fangs. That's pretty cool tho. I thought it wasn't normal. So now I will just keep an eye if my girl is struggling for the next feeding. But she seems to have devoured the MHC that I gave her yesterday, so I hope she's just fine. Thank you, this is very informative.
 

IntermittentSygnal

Arachnotic
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Aug 7, 2022
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654
Kinda hard to see here, but is the tip broken off of that fang? Could just be the light reflecting though at the insertion point.
 

inverts and chill

Arachnopeon
Joined
Mar 31, 2022
Messages
10
Kinda hard to see here, but is the tip broken off of that fang? Could just be the light reflecting though at the insertion point.
The other fang is fine, I only doubt the one with the arrow that I put. Maybe it's just normal that she has c type fangs but not really sure, still need to keep an eye on it. BTW I can send here the clip so you can see it clearly.look at it at 4 seconds
 

NMTs

Spider Wrangler
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Jan 22, 2022
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1,331
I still can't tell from the pics or the video if it's fang is damaged or not, but when you fed your T an armor-plated roach that is twice it's size you definitely took an unneeded risk. I hope your T is OK and can recover if it's injured.
 

inverts and chill

Arachnopeon
Joined
Mar 31, 2022
Messages
10
I still can't tell from the pics or the video if it's fang is damaged or not, but when you fed your T an armor-plated roach that is twice it's size you definitely took an unneeded risk. I hope your T is OK and can recover if it's injured.
Yeah that's my bad, will not probably feed her another hisser next time. Hope she really is ok .Thanks.
 
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