Please Help

[blackacidevil]

Today I found my H_Maculata out and about (for a change) and she put herself right on the side of the tank so I could get a real good look at her undersides. I must admit that I don't mess with her very much since she is always hiding and seems to be the most skittish of my T's.

Anyway, I found this around her "mouth" and I'd like to know what would be the best way to get rid of it--->

 

[blackacidevil]

Same pic....pretty much

different angle


just in case.......I'm talking about the very white stuff on the bottom of her mouth.

 

[rosehaired1979]

I am unsure what it is but it will be hard to do that if she is skittish and you close to her mouth because she might get defensive and may attack as well.

 

[TheWidowsPeak]

maybe its crusted food on the hair. I would spray the walls that way maybe as she walks over them it will wipe off. I seen a scorpion with something like this before but it died a week later. still don't know what it was.

 

[Buspirone]

Might be nematodes. Its hard to tell from the pic.

 

[Kali]

sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but my H.m had a yucky fungus like that on her right before she died. perhaps it is unrelated, but just to let you know. raising the humidity/moisture just makes it worse. good luck! hope yours just has food or something.

Kristin

 

[skadiwolf]

this is just a suggestion, but i've read also that molds and fungus can start to grow on Ts if the area is too humid or has poor ventilation.

in the TKG it suggests perhaps "swabbing with a gentian violet solution presumably of the same strength used to quash fungus infections in humans".

it says that the T in question recovered thereafter and shed normally.

good luck.

 

[blackacidevil]

bringing it back

Maybe somebody who can help me missed this.


I want to try to get it off but I've never stuck a T in the fridge to calm it down or anything. Anybody have experience with "drugging" their T's...if so, how did you do it. It seems to be mold, not nematode worms.

 

[The_Phantom]

My first pinktoe had something like this.....not soo much though. I remember seeing her wiping her mouth against the glass of her aquarium. She stopped eating and eventually died. I hope its not the same thing, and I hope you can come up w/a cure better than I did.

 

[RugbyDave]

Hey there!

Spidersaviour: There's a "mysterious" disease around the T world involving a whitish fluid or material around the anus and/or mouth. Soon after this is seen, the T usually dies. (I say mysterious because there's only conjectures regarding this illness, and you have to send the dead T to an arachnologist who can confirm it, and not many people do that... Plus every article i see uses the word 'mysterious', so.. )

I know in the past 6 months there have been 2 or 3 posts regarding this. I know I've lost 1 T to this, and either Kellygirl or Pategirl did too. One of the "-girl" girls ;P I think it was kellygirl and her t.blondi if i can remember correctly...

i've been reading a few articles and such (when i can find them) about this, and i think its an external manifestation of nematodes or 'worms' inside the T.

The sad thing is I don't think I remember a way to get rid of it IF ITS TOO LATE (i think there's a way, but maybe there's no way to get rid of it? -- any arachnologists/entomologists know?)... And as skadi said, the TKG gives a pretty good solution if you can find the ingredients needed,andif you can catch it in time

I saw my avic with this the other day too, but now its gone. I don't think it was actually the mold or worm things, i think its that whole "don't sleep where you sh*t" deal.. you know, she makes her tube web, does EVERYTHING in there, and eventually she's goign to get some on her some time, right?....

but I'm not giving your T a death sentence, and I'm certainly not being negative here, I'm just giving you the facts as I know them. It could be, literally, ANYTHING. But keep an eye on the T. The only way to know for sure if thats what it is, after it dies, you can send the dead T to an arachnologist and they can better determine the cause of death.

Again, i'm not trying to crush your T-hopes, i'm trying to be realistic here. Possibly the doctor in me, but theres a line between hope and reality. And in that line lay the smart things to do (caution and a keen eye). Check out the TKG and try to find a violet solution Otherwise keep on feeding and treating the T as normal. I don't think an ICU would help at all, as the T already has.. well, whatever it has!

good luck!
peace
dave

 

[skadiwolf]

yes, you can try cooling your T to calm/slow it down. i have no idea how long you should do it for, etc. and of course you'd have to 'mess around' with it to make sure it's calm/slow.

i'd try dabbing gentian violet as i suggested when you do succeed in this.

good luck.

 

[blackacidevil]

Some of you may know....

I got advice from another forum to euthanize my spider and to remove the tank so that the nematode worms don't spread to the rest of my collection. I removed the terrarium from my Spider closet but I am not ready to kill my spider. What else can I do?

I can't remember where I read that there is another way to immobilize your T's. Some of you dealers out there must know.

 

[Lopez]

You could always try the "pin" method of picking up the spider - I wouldn't fancy trying it on an H maculata.
I gave my P murinus the fridge treatment recently whilst removing its damaged leg. After 5 minutes in the cooler it was certainly more sluggish, but the effects of the cold wore off in under a minute.

Keep the spider isolated while you attempt to treat it - I would not Euthanise until I knew for certain it was going to die.

 

[MizM]

It took my h. lividium 15 minutes in the fridge to slow it down. Look in TKG... they do recommend an amount of time.

If fungus of some sort is involved, I would think a DRY ICU environment would benefit. Very dry and slightly cooler... wouldn't that discourage the spread of a fungus?:?

At any rate... best of luck to you. I just lost two within a month of each other and it's a real downer!!!

 

[RugbyDave]

dry or wet, you need to get the parasites (or whatever) out of the T, and at this time, if its too late, there's no trouble.

DEF isolate it. I wouldn't say euthanisize now, i don't care who gave you that advice

I know there was a talk at the last Minn.Herp.Society in regs to this whole mystery, and theres someone at the University of Minnesota who's studying this. I'm going to try to get in contact with him, as i'm sure he has the most up-to-date info on this. I don't know though..

If it were me (and i'm not saying this is any way the right or best thing to do, but..). I would isolate the T for 3 weeks and if nothing changed (even with the violet?) I would put the T down.

but thats just me.

good luck, seriously! I'll PM you if i get any info straight from the doctors-of-Ts

peace
dave

 

[invadermike]

Keep us updated, Thing still going strong? is it eating??
Mike

 

[ithuriel]

go with the advice of keeping her seperated and see what happens.
had to move my salmon pink last week n she is a real nasty bitch so i put her in the fridge to slow her down , checking on her to see how she was doing. after fort five minutes in the fridge she was slow enough to gently prod into a jar but still full of fight , hope thiongs work out for you.