P. fasciata health concerns

[Kagekumo]

I will apologize ahead of time if this has already been posted on, but I looked around for more than an hour and decided to try the direct aporach.:wall:

I recently purchased what was marketed as a P. regalis. I got it (unsexed at present) home and noticed that it lacked the indicative cream band on the underside of the opisthosoma and, after doing a little online research, have tenatively decided that it's a P. fasciata.

My concern is that after getting it home I noticed that the opisthosoma was somewhat misshapen. there is a kind of indentation on top that follows the rear curve of the opisthosoma, and the under side looks slightly shriveled for lack of a better word. I have had it for just under two weeks and she ate very heartily (2 medium to large discoid roaches) the first day. It has not taken food since and has gone as far as to "shoo" away any interloping prey I might introduce.

Its behavior is what puzzles me most. It has forsaken its arboreal hide and has taken to infrequently pacing the substrate round the large water dish on the bottom of the enclosure. It has spent so much time on the ground that I went and made a little lean-to hide for it that it seems to enjoy. It has lain a matt of silk over the available substrate and sort of patrols it at regular intervals. It is a juvenile of approx. 3 1/2" and I have read that the youngsters like to spend time on the ground. Am I just being overly concerned or is it unwell?

Any info would be greatly appreciated. I am skepitcal of the kind of care it recieved prior to my purchase. There was evidence of a molt in the small 2.5"X4.5" continer she was kept in. This is my first Pokie and even though I haven't had it long it is precious to me. Hopefully it just has an eccentric personality. The green highlighted area is the indentation I mentioned. These were taken when I first got it home. Its shape improved somewhat on the dorsal side after feeding. I have not been able to check the lateral side since this photo.

sorry about the novel I just wanted to be specific

 

[MindUtopia]

Honestly, that really doesn't look good. The shrunken abdomen is usually indicative of dehydration, which you said improved after feeding and access to water, so that is good. The mishapen underside of the opisthosoma is really troublesome though. Whoever sold is too you was clearly not reputable. You would have grounds to demand a refund, however, I'm not sure you'd want to return it to the conditions it was living in. Other than to keep an eye on it and continue to offer water and food, I'm not sure there is much else you can do. If it is refusing food and appears to have webbed on the ground, it may be preparing for a molt, as T's can force a molt to repair damage. However, in the meantime, I'd keep it seperate from your other T's just in case that bulging is somehow caused by an internal parasite. Good luck with it! Hope everything turns out okay.

 

[KJE]

Have you contacted the person you bought it from? If you bought it from a dealer they might not have noticed since they normally have thousands of t's.

I agree that it doesn't look good. Have you seen any drops of "blood"? It might have gotten injured during transport.

 

[Kagekumo]

There was no visible blood in the transport container or in the enclosure it is in now. I am hoping that the problem was cuased due to lack of room for the molt it had while in the shop. Parasites are probably the case tho. Thanks for the info guys I'll let you know if it shows any improvement.

 

[ShadowBlade]

Parasites are probably the case tho.

I seriously doubt it is parasites. However, things like mites could of course have complicated the problem.

Keep it with pleny of water, and offer food every once in awhile. Remove the prey if uneaten. Hope for the best.

-Sean

 

[Spyder 1.0]

could be a birth defect

 

[Kagekumo]

I seriously doubt it is parasites. However, things like mites could of course have complicated the problem.

Keep it with pleny of water, and offer food every once in awhile. Remove the prey if uneaten. Hope for the best.

-Sean

cool, I know that paraites are supposed to sap them of thier energy, but I couldn't think of anything that would cuase such deformation. You definitely took a load off my mind.

I have been keeping the humidity high (85%+) and the large water dish full. So hopefully it'll regain its appetite in the near future.

P.S. I did let the shop owner know so he can provide better care for the rest of his stock

 

[Kagekumo]

Well I gto another good look at her today and there are definitely mites or something on her. They are clustered around mouth very small (.5mm?) and white. What should I do. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[pinktoe23]

Well I gto another good look at her today and there are definitely mites or something on her. They are clustered around mouth very small (.5mm?) and white. What should I do. Any help would be appreciated.

can you take a pix of the specimens in question? I have no clue as I don't know much about this. Could it be nematodes protuding from its mouth?

 

[Kagekumo]

its definitely mites I looked around and cross referenced with my books. From what I read she is screwed. She must have had them since i got her. She cannot eat anymore and Schultz & Schultz say thatthe only thing that would make a small difference is if I took a soap solution and dabbed them away with a Q-tip. The prob with this is that They are mostly around her mouth and soap is a base which would just ruin her already messed up mouth and pumping stomach. I took a chance on a dealer and got burned; lesson learned. I just feel bad for the poor critter. She looks like she's wasting away. Thanks for the help all

 

[MindUtopia]

Mites tend to explode in high humidity environments. The only time I had them was when a set-up was too moist. I changed the tank and kept it dry and they went away. While it sounds like she has several complications, one possible solution to the mite problem is to keep the set-up dry. She doesn't necessarily need such high humidity anyway as long as she has access to a water dish. Best of luck with everything!

 

[Slash]

I recently purchased what was marketed as a P. regalis. I got it (unsexed at present) home and noticed that it lacked the indicative cream band on the underside of the opisthosoma and, after doing a little online research, have tenatively decided that it's a P. fasciata.

Folks, correct me if I'm wrong, but depending on the size of the specimen, P. regalis lacks the pale opisthosomal band while it is still in the spiderling-early juvenile stages. right?

My P. regalis has no sign of the pale band, it is about 1.5 inches, and I'm positive it is indeed a P. regalis. (Sorry, I know this doesnt do anything to help solve the dilemma you're in )

 

[KJE]

Have you contacted the dealer about the problem? If so, they should give you a refund since they sold you an unhealthy t.

Are you sure it's not nematodes? It sounds more like nematodes to me than mites. Although, if you searched your books perhaps you are correct. I agree with drying out the enclosure if it is, indeed, mites.

 

[Lorgakor]

Are the mites around the mouth parts or clustered on the chelicerae? The best way to get rid of these mites is to house the spider in a sterile (no substrate) container until it moults, pull the moult out as soon as possible after it is finished moulting, and then rehouse the spider back in it's container(after you have cleaned it out thouroughly including replacing the substrate). Most of the mites will remain on the moult. The other way to do it is to use a Q-tip with a bit of vaseline on it to remove the mites manually, but this would not be easy with a Poecilotheria sp. in my opinion. Because it is not eating, it could be getting ready for a moult.

Juvie P. regalis do not have the abdominal band as was mentioned above. Mine did not get the band until it was around 4 inches I believe.

The misshapen abdomen does not sound like parasites to me, it is very possible that due to poor conditions it had a problematic moult, perhaps some of the abdomen stayed attached to the spider for some time causing it to become misshapen. Just a thought.