L. parahybana Has Damaged Her Fangs. Advice?

[MaelRadec]

So I recently started noticing that my LP has been attacking Dubias and then letting them go. I was wondering what the problem could be, usually LPs are ravenous eaters, so I knew there was something wrong. Today I was doing some maintenance so I removed her from the cage and saw both fangs were pretty messed up. When I put her back, I gave her a cricket to see if she could eat it, as opposed to a large Dubia. She was able to kill it but I don't know yet if she's going to able to eat it. I'm going to post some pictures of her fangs. I would like to know if you guys will think she's going to be fine until she molts or if I should try crushing up some crickets or something.

 

[viper69]

So I recently started noticing that my LP has been attacking Dubias and then letting them go. I was wondering what the problem could be, usually LPs are ravenous eaters, so I knew there was something wrong. Today I was doing some maintenance so I removed her from the cage and saw both fangs were pretty messed up. When I put her back, I gave her a cricket to see if she could eat it, as opposed to a large Dubia. She was able to kill it but I don't know yet if she's going to able to eat it. I'm going to post some pictures of her fangs. I would like to know if you guys will think she's going to be fine until she molts or if I should try crushing up some crickets or something.

I lost an AF due to both fangs being lost in a molt. Your T is a bit better off visually. One fang MIGHT be somewhat functional. You may have to go the route of cricket soup. I would wait and see. If she can eat mealworms I would definitely give her those because they are high in fat, and will likely make her molt faster compared to crickets.

Make sure she has water available. If you see her drinking more often than usual, and her abdomen is smaller, then she is losing mass and she may die if she will not eat the cricket/insect soup.

If she doesn't take in enough food, she won't make it to the next molt.

In the meantime monitor/verify she is actually eating whatever you give her.

 

[MaelRadec]

I lost an AF due to both fangs being lost in a molt. Your T is a bit better off visually. One fang MIGHT be somewhat functional. You may have to go the route of cricket soup. I would wait and see. If she can eat mealworms I would definitely give her those because they are high in fat, and will likely make her molt faster compared to crickets.

Make sure she has water available. If you see her drinking more often than usual, and her abdomen is smaller, then she is losing mass and she may die if she will not eat the cricket/insect soup.

If she doesn't take in enough food, she won't make it to the next molt.

In the meantime monitor/verify she is actually eating whatever you give her.

Luckily it seems like she was able to eat the cricket without much problem, maybe the dubia was a bit too much for her in her state. I'm going to pick up some mealworms when I go to the petshop this weekend, see if she takes them. However if I do notice her abdomen getting smaller I'm definitely going to try cricket soup. Sorry about your T

 

[viper69]

Thanks! I bought her as a sling and was lucky she turned out female. It was the first of her species I bought many years, not many people had them yet. I thought I was "one and done".

11-2013

• viper69
• Dec 1, 2013
• hapalopus sp. columbia "large"

 

[Cavedweller]

She'll probably molt ahead of schedule to regenerate her fangs sooner. Has anybody tried providing a broken fanged T with soft prey like hornworms?

 

[viper69]

It would be nice if she did molt sooner, but it's no guarantee trust me I know

 

[MaelRadec]

Thanks! I bought her as a sling and was lucky she turned out female. It was the first of her species I bought many years, not many people had them yet. I thought I was "one and done".

11-2013

• viper69
• Dec 1, 2013
• hapalopus sp. columbia "large"

She was a very pretty T! I've never kept one, but I've always loved the orange and black coloration on that species.

 

[MaelRadec]

She'll probably molt ahead of schedule to regenerate her fangs sooner. Has anybody tried providing a broken fanged T with soft prey like hornworms?

I have heard tarantulas do this on occasion, as for the hornworms, I have never fed them.

 

[Cavedweller]

I have heard tarantulas do this on occasion, as for the hornworms, I have never fed them.

Yeah, my MF A. moellendorfi molted a few months early to fix a crooked fang, it wasn't nearly this bad though.

 

[EulersK]

You may find this interesting:
http://arachnoboards.com/threads/macro-shots-of-damaged-fangs.283691/

Your LP's right fang is not recently damaged - it is regenerating. That's what a fang looks like after it has been broken and the spider molted. That's good in the sense that it's a functioning fang, but it's bad in the sense that your tarantula may have no venom to work with (see my thread linked above). The left fang was clearly broken during this molting cycle. Please do not take this as me getting down on you, but something about your husbandry needs to change assuming you've had this spider for awhile, because this is clearly a recurring problem. How long are you waiting to feed after a molt?

In terms of your T, it's got one semi-functioning fang, which is great for you. Feeding it dubias is just fine, but I'd suggest literally cutting the dubia in half and feeding her the abdomen end. It will kick long enough to trigger a feeding response, but it also won't put up a fight. Remember, she likely has no venom to work with, meaning you have to baby her along until this next molt. The left fang will still be damaged after this molt, but the right fang will be good as new. You want to fatten her up as quickly as possible to encourage a molt. Winter is coming, and when that hits, it's unlikely that she'll molt.

 

[YagerManJennsen]

You may find this interesting:
http://arachnoboards.com/threads/macro-shots-of-damaged-fangs.283691/

Your LP's right fang is not recently damaged - it is regenerating. That's what a fang looks like after it has been broken and the spider molted. That's good in the sense that it's a functioning fang, but it's bad in the sense that your tarantula may have no venom to work with (see my thread linked above). The left fang was clearly broken during this molting cycle. Please do not take this as me getting down on you, but something about your husbandry needs to change assuming you've had this spider for awhile, because this is clearly a recurring problem. How long are you waiting to feed after a molt?

In terms of your T, it's got one semi-functioning fang, which is great for you. Feeding it dubias is just fine, but I'd suggest literally cutting the dubia in half and feeding her the abdomen end. It will kick long enough to trigger a feeding response, but it also won't put up a fight. Remember, she likely has no venom to work with, meaning you have to baby her along until this next molt. The left fang will still be damaged after this molt, but the right fang will be good as new. You want to fatten her up as quickly as possible to encourage a molt. Winter is coming, and when that hits, it's unlikely that she'll molt.

Off topic by a longshot but.....was that a Game of Thrones reference?

 

[MaelRadec]

You may find this interesting:
http://arachnoboards.com/threads/macro-shots-of-damaged-fangs.283691/

Your LP's right fang is not recently damaged - it is regenerating. That's what a fang looks like after it has been broken and the spider molted. That's good in the sense that it's a functioning fang, but it's bad in the sense that your tarantula may have no venom to work with (see my thread linked above). The left fang was clearly broken during this molting cycle. Please do not take this as me getting down on you, but something about your husbandry needs to change assuming you've had this spider for awhile, because this is clearly a recurring problem. How long are you waiting to feed after a molt?

In terms of your T, it's got one semi-functioning fang, which is great for you. Feeding it dubias is just fine, but I'd suggest literally cutting the dubia in half and feeding her the abdomen end. It will kick long enough to trigger a feeding response, but it also won't put up a fight. Remember, she likely has no venom to work with, meaning you have to baby her along until this next molt. The left fang will still be damaged after this molt, but the right fang will be good as new. You want to fatten her up as quickly as possible to encourage a molt. Winter is coming, and when that hits, it's unlikely that she'll molt.

You're probably right about the venom, it would explain why the dubia that escaped her survived. This is the only time I've ever had this problem with any of my T's. I've had her for about 4 years and never had this problem until now. However I might know what the issue is. All my other T's are kept in kritter keeper enclosures, while my LP was moved not too long ago to a small 5 gallon terrarium I had. I dont usually keep tarantulas in these,but considering her size I figured she would need something a bit bigger. However, the problem I realized while doing some more research last night is that part of the top of the terrarium is wire mesh. What more than likely happened is that she was biting it and got injured in the process. I'm going to move her to a different enclosure ASAP to prevent this from happening again. I feel pretty bad about this, in the 9 years I've been in the hobby I never knew how dangerous wire mesh could be for T's. I just wish I could have noticed this sooner.

 

[EulersK]

You're probably right about the venom, it would explain why the dubia that escaped her survived. This is the only time I've ever had this problem with any of my T's. I've had her for about 4 years and never had this problem until now. However I might know what the issue is. All my other T's are kept in kritter keeper enclosures, while my LP was moved not too long ago to a small 5 gallon terrarium I had. I dont usually keep tarantulas in these,but considering her size I figured she would need something a bit bigger. However, the problem I realized while doing some more research last night is that part of the top of the terrarium is wire mesh. What more than likely happened is that she was biting it and got injured in the process. I'm going to move her to a different enclosure ASAP to prevent this from happening again. I feel pretty bad about this, in the 9 years I've been in the hobby I never knew how dangerous wire mesh could be for T's. I just wish I could have noticed this sooner.

No need to beat yourself up, lesson learned. Like I said, she's got one semi-functioning fang. I'd be pretty surprised if she ends up dying of starvation. Just keep babying her along with food until the next molt. Luckily, since it's an LP, That won't be too long.

 

[Ranitomeya]

Do you ever leave prey items in the enclosure? It looks to me like they were chewed on before they had hardened.

 

[MaelRadec]

Thanks for the advice everybody, luckily it seems like she's going to be alright. Gave her a pre killed mealworm a while ago and she's eating it. Here's hoping she molts soon!

 

[MaelRadec]

Do you ever leave prey items in the enclosure? It looks to me like they were chewed on before they had hardened.

No, I make sure there's never any prey in there if it hasn't been eaten. Especially if I know she's in premolt.

 

[MaelRadec]

Update:
Well my LP molted earlier today, I haven't gotten a look at the fangs yet but I'm guessing most of the damage should be fixed. I also transferred her to a new enclosure a couple of weeks ago so this wouldn't happen again. Thanks again everybody for the advice.