Question about cornstarch

[hbobomb]

I have an adult tarantula (13 years ago when I got her I was told she was a G rosea, but now I have reason to believe she’s a G porteri) who molted Sunday, but then started leaking hemolymph from her right leg, second from the back. I’ve read mixed advice on whether to just leave it alone or to put some cornstarch (flour, glue, nail polish, Nu Skin) on it, but she was leaking a lot, and I felt I needed to do something and fast. I put some on cornstarch on, and that seemed to stop the leak. She’s moving around okay and has a full water bowl, and I’d really like to just leave her be to heal. My question is, she has a little bit of extra cornstarch on her, and I just want to make sure that’s okay. Will that hurt her or do any damage? Again, I’d really prefer to leave her alone if possible since she molted so recently.

 

[Mirandarachnid]

Corn starch is way less likely to cause complications than superglue. If the leg bothers her she will just drop it. I imagine she will be fine.

But, just so you know, leg injuries are not a big deal. The spider can close off the blood flow (I'm being lazy with technical terms right now) to the leg. So there's really no need to intervene with a leg injury.

Make sure she has water available after losing fluids.

 

[Vanessa]

I read many years ago, that they will only close off that valve if the leg is removed at the trochanter and not when an injury occurs anywhere else. If they were to close that valve off when an injury occurred at any other joint - they would not be able to use that leg anymore and it would basically just curl up. And if they don't close it off, then it can very much be an issue with loss of hemolymph.
Because they extend their legs using hemolymph through hydraulics, they would not be able to extend that leg anymore once they close the valve at the trochanter and that does not happen in my experience - they continue to use that leg like normal and it extends and contracts just like all the others. That would not occur without hemolymph being circulated through that leg.
I have had one individual lose a tarsus, and one other lose a tarsus and metatarsus, and the hemolymph would not stop without intervention. After using cornstarch to clot the area, they used that leg like normal. That would not have happened if the valve was shut off to the entire leg and hemolymph was not circulating through that leg to extend it.

 

[hbobomb]

Thank you for sharing this. In my 13ish years of owning and caring for tarantulas I have been lucky enough to never have had an issue with one losing hemolymph, or really any injuries or issues at all, and it was pretty scary, and I’m still pretty stressed over it. However, as I try to leave her be and just keep a watchful eye on her, she is still using that entire leg as normal with no issues that I can see, as of yet. Hopefully this means that something went right, and she’s in the clear.

 

[FrDoc]

If the injury is serious enough that it’s a danger the T will drop the leg (autotomy). The “valve” referred to above is at the trochanter (leg’s attachment point to the “body”). If it eases your mind, apply some cornstarch, it won’t hurt anything. I wouldn’t in the situation you described.

 

[Andrea82]

Additional info; if she has been leaking fluid, I'd keep a waterdish topped off so she can drink extra if needed.