Pinktoe Problems

[ayton]

I bought what was labelled as a Metallic Pink Toe (C. Metallica) a few months ago. She's been fine and would eat and I'm in the process of making her a new enclosure but as of a few days ago I noticed her acting strangely.

I would catch her on the bottom sitting on the substrate and she'd shoot right back up. Today she was sitting there and came back up and I got nervous about what she was doing and looked into it, it said she may be looking for food or water so I provided both.

I came back and she had been sitting on the water dish. Later she was back up top and there was this weird white stuff all over?

I don't know what it is, I'm very worried about her. She needs a rehousing but I didn't think it was this serious.

I included pictures of the white stuff and her after she climbed back up after being on the water dish.

Is she okay? Does she have something? What do I need to do for her?

Update: She came down to the water dish and has been drinking for about 10 minutes...

 

[cold blood]

!. Its A. metallica...or it was...its now A. avicularia morphotype #6

2. The white stuff is poop.

3. Avics go down to hunt, or to drink....as long as its not constant, going down for a bit is fine.

Avics have very specific needs, and if its not well ventilated and is moist, it could be the start of problems...post pics of both enclosures, the old, and the one you are moving it to.

 

[viper69]

there was this weird white stuff all over?

Poops isn't invisible

 

[Andrea82]

Avicularia exe has executed poop cannon.

 

[PidderPeets]

The white stuff is just poop, nothing to worry about.

The reason it's climbing down is because 1) it's looking for food, 2) it's getting a drink, and/or 3) because that enclosure is so small that it's not a huge distinction between the upper and lower areas (that last one is admittedly a bit of speculation on my part). As long as it's dry in there, I wouldn't be worried.

When you upgrade it's home, I would also suggest a larger water bowl if possible (doesn't have to be deeper, just wider), as the bottle cap might be a little too small and it might have difficulty drinking from it. But don't be too worried about 10 minutes drinking, because tarantulas drink much slower than a human or mammal might.

 

[ayton]

!. Its A. metallica...or it was...its now A. avicularia morphotype #6

2. The white stuff is poop.

3. Avics go down to hunt, or to drink....as long as its not constant, going down for a bit is fine.

Avics have very specific needs, and if its not well ventilated and is moist, it could be the start of problems...post pics of both enclosures, the old, and the one you are moving it to.

Ever since she drank she hasn't gone back down, I think she was just really thirsty and not able to access her water dish properly but she's been doing a lot better from what I have observed, thank you for your help. I haven't quite finished the enclosure but I'm going to finish it sometime in the next few days, I was having some difficulty putting it together.

The white stuff is just poop, nothing to worry about.

The reason it's climbing down is because 1) it's looking for food, 2) it's getting a drink, and/or 3) because that enclosure is so small that it's not a huge distinction between the upper and lower areas (that last one is admittedly a bit of speculation on my part). As long as it's dry in there, I wouldn't be worried.

When you upgrade it's home, I would also suggest a larger water bowl if possible (doesn't have to be deeper, just wider), as the bottle cap might be a little too small and it might have difficulty drinking from it. But don't be too worried about 10 minutes drinking, because tarantulas drink much slower than a human or mammal might.

Thank you for your reasoning about why she might have been doing that. I could see the speculation, I've been trying to work on her new enclosure but it has been a bit of a process.
Thank you for the suggestions as well, I'm going to implement a better water bowl for her and try to put it up closer to her so she only has to come down to hunt.

Avicularia exe has executed poop cannon.

I've never seen one poop before I was horrified!

 

[NukaMedia Exotics]

Yup that's spider poop.

 

[ayton]

So... A lot of things have happened. She molted suddenly in her really small enclosure, so I waited and put her in the new one until she seemed safely hardened. It took about a week for her to finally leave the old then she seemed to acclimate really well despite being small compared to what I put her in. I'm having trouble figuring out the best way to feed her, so if anyone has anything for that I'd appreciate it.
Along with any other advice... Pink toes are a little weird and if anything specific can help them a lot I'd love to hear about it.
Thank you all for your help so far! Sorry for such a late response.

 

[TwiztedNinja]

I have 3 avics and havent had much luck leaving prey in there for them to hunt. So I just feed one with tongs. Another has a web funnel where I can just throw food in there. And the other has a web barrier configured, and hasnt eaten in a while

 

[ayton]

I have 3 avics and havent had much luck leaving prey in there for them to hunt. So I just feed one with tongs. Another has a web funnel where I can just throw food in there. And the other has a web barrier configured, and hasnt eaten in a while

She ate a cricket she managed to catch herself then tried catching another which she was unsuccessful in doing so I attempted to tong feed her which was super confusing to her. She's still chilling on the ground waiting for food but I'm not sure what more I can do for her.

 

[cold blood]

Just drop in a cricket and let the t hunt.

I have raised hundreds of avics, they dont need help eating. On top of that, because they molt in thick web tubes at elevated positions, roaming crickets dont present the danger they can to most other species....so there is no hurry for them to eat.

 

[ayton]

Just drop in a cricket and let the t hunt.

I have raised hundreds of avics, they dont need help eating. On top of that, because they molt in thick web tubes at elevated positions, roaming crickets dont present the danger they can to most other species....so there is no hurry for them to eat.

Okay, I'll leave her be with the remaining cricket. Thank you for all of your comments!