I have only had her since Aug 2 08 and she was in pre-molt when I got her and only ate once B.Dubia (I feed all feeders a very healthy diet). The guy who had her before fed her Pinkie mice a lot he stated, I believe this was the cause or led up to it, to much calcium??
I think you pinpointed the problem IMO. Calcium does play a factor in invertebrate health IMO as well.
It is the only logical explanation. I feed my B.Dubia colonies fresh veggies/fruits/grain/cat food (low calcium)....your feeders must be fed as good as your T's it is essential to there health IMHO.
Wow, that is really interesting and also worrisome. This is the second time I've heard of problems from feeing pinkie mice. It makes me concerned about future transactions from people, and what they feed their Ts.
I believe it is the cause of this, I looked at back E-mails he had sent me and he stated her main diet was pinkie mice, I have heard this messes with the formation of the exoskelton (this may be what happened).....her Exco didn't form all the way and know she is left with this, she has hair missing on the legs and her pads. her pads are not there like on most pokies (legs get thicker at the end)....they are just straight. I feed my huge Blondi females a invertabrate's only twice a year if I am breeding, if not they do not get any, and know none of my T;s will get them, noway!!!!. I feed mostly B.Dubia's and vary the feeders diet and the T's will get a varied diet......rob
I strongly believe that the mice feeding is the culprit.....robhey rob, im obviously not an expert im only 15 but ive read in a lot of places liek you set if you feed your t's vertebrates often, it screws up their exo like you said. i wonder if the diet that guy had her on was what caused this to happen. if thats the case, all i can think of is that it caused her to have trouble molting, but since she got out of her old skin she can only get better. it looks like she can climb fine in the video, and she looks a LOT better than the first pics you took. i hope for the best for you beauty, i have a feeling shell be alright
I dont keep it constant, I let the enclosure dry out also....rob
I keep my regalis at around 65%-70% and have never had any problems with eggsac production. I had a few bad molts when I go lower than the above humidity but, eggsac production is best at around 67% humidity and at around 78-79 degrees farenheit with regalis IME. I also average around 4 sacs a year.
Diet is critical to invertebrate health. It has been proven that healthy feeders=healthy invertebrates. The problem is however, that the formula has yet to be mastered for the perfect critter chow so we have to constantly modify the menu.
Very good info and appreciate the posts....rob
It's a learning process that I am more than happy to share. Thanks for the kind words.
The metallica I just had die from a wet molt was in 100% dry conditions. I have had them happen in medium humidity, and high. And none had ever been fed inverts.
Well it is appreciated....rob
That I agree with 100% based on useable information out there on this subject.
You keep saying inverts when you mean verts. Just so you know.
It's not just him, it's everyone! It's driving me nuts!!!
I do the same thing all the time...we all know what we mean...I misspell tarantula a lot...thankfully I can just abbreviate it to T on the boards.
