Question about my B smithi

Octagon

Arachnoperson
Joined
Feb 15, 2016
Messages
39
IMG_0383.JPG IMG_0387.JPG Hi all,

I am hoping someone might be kind enough to give me their thoughts. I know there is something wrong with my B smithi adult female. She has been showing the following unusual behaviour for about a week.

1. She has her front (carapace) end elevated off the substrate but her abdomen is angled downward so the end of it is touching the ground. She is in this position 100% of the time. Definitely not normal for such an extended period.

2. She is leaving spots of white fluid all over the substrate in the middle of her cage. See pics attached. Some of them are 1/4 inch in diameter, some smaller. I assume it is poop. Normally she never poops anywhere but neatly in the corners of her cage and in smaller quantities than this. It seems like she has diarrhea. There are some areas where there are several spots in a row where she obviously was walking along and this fluid was coming out in a series of drips while she walked.

3. She is rubbing her spinnerets/(or anus?) a lot.

4. She's not eating. Last time she ate was 4 weeks ago. Previous to that, she was eating normally.

5. She is moving around constantly. Again, not normal for her.

When she ate 4 weeks ago, it was 2 crickets from a different supplier than usual. Also, they were crickets with a banded pattern rather than the normal plain ones. It is almost like those crickets did not agree with her digestive system. Does this make sense, and secondly, would it be normal to have such a delayed reaction? Anything I should do?

Many thanks in advance for any advice, much appreciated.
 

SausageinaNet

Arachnopeon
Joined
Nov 26, 2015
Messages
33
All sounds pretty normal to me. Yes the white stuff is poop. Never heard of tarantula diarrhea. The angled abdomen and movement in her spinnerets could just mean that she is webbing. Also Brachypelmas are one of the species that fast so nothing odd there.
 

Octagon

Arachnoperson
Joined
Feb 15, 2016
Messages
39
All sounds pretty normal to me. Yes the white stuff is poop. Never heard of tarantula diarrhea. The angled abdomen and movement in her spinnerets could just mean that she is webbing. Also Brachypelmas are one of the species that fast so nothing odd there.
Thanks, @SausageinaNet, I appreciate it. Guess I may be worrying unnecessarily.
 

Goodlukwitthat

Arachnoknight
Joined
Mar 10, 2015
Messages
178
Sounds like normal B. smithi behavior. Although, you'll definitely want to clean the poo out of the cage so there's no risk of mites or other pests.
 

Andrea82

Arachnoemperor
Joined
Jan 12, 2016
Messages
3,686
Her abdomen looks plump, but not overly fat.
When did she last molt? Are you sure it is a female?
Did anything else change for her to go wandering like that?
 

Octagon

Arachnoperson
Joined
Feb 15, 2016
Messages
39
Her abdomen looks plump, but not overly fat.
When did she last molt? Are you sure it is a female?
Did anything else change for her to go wandering like that?
Thanks for your questions, @Andrea82 . We have had her for 6 years. We purchased her as an adult of unknown age. She was sold to us as female, and has no bulbs or spurs.

I estimate her last moult was 2-3 years ago (stupidly I did not record the date). I have been wondering if she may be fairly old because it has been so long.

The only other thing I can attribute the wandering to is a slightly higher ambient temp due to central heating, but that happens every year and she never moves around this consistently. Putting that together with the sudden change in her bathroom habits, plus noticing her scratching her rear end, is what led me to wonder if maybe she is uncomfortable due to a digestive upset.

The size of her abdomen has always been as you see it. She was eating normally up to four weeks ago, when she had the two crickets of a different kind than normal. Normally I would not be concerned with her fasting, but, again, it was the other behaviour in conjunction with it that has raised a red flag and made me wonder if those different crickets have made her sick.

Ironically, since then I read on this forum that crickets from unfamiliar sources can sometimes carry parasites, and that of course pushed my worry button.

Hopefully this is just a passing disturbance, but I will not deviate from my normal supplier again.
 
Last edited:

viper69

ArachnoGod
Old Timer
Joined
Dec 8, 2006
Messages
17,851
View attachment 228009 View attachment 228008 Hi all,

I am hoping someone might be kind enough to give me their thoughts. I know there is something wrong with my B smithi adult female. She has been showing the following unusual behaviour for about a week.

1. She has her front (carapace) end elevated off the substrate but her abdomen is angled downward so the end of it is touching the ground. She is in this position 100% of the time. Definitely not normal for such an extended period.

2. She is leaving spots of white fluid all over the substrate in the middle of her cage. See pics attached. Some of them are 1/4 inch in diameter, some smaller. I assume it is poop. Normally she never poops anywhere but neatly in the corners of her cage and in smaller quantities than this. It seems like she has diarrhea. There are some areas where there are several spots in a row where she obviously was walking along and this fluid was coming out in a series of drips while she walked.

3. She is rubbing her spinnerets/(or anus?) a lot.

4. She's not eating. Last time she ate was 4 weeks ago. Previous to that, she was eating normally.

5. She is moving around constantly. Again, not normal for her.

When she ate 4 weeks ago, it was 2 crickets from a different supplier than usual. Also, they were crickets with a banded pattern rather than the normal plain ones. It is almost like those crickets did not agree with her digestive system. Does this make sense, and secondly, would it be normal to have such a delayed reaction? Anything I should do?

Many thanks in advance for any advice, much appreciated.
There's nothing you mentioned that sounds unusual from what you wrote.

Also been using banded crickets for years, nothing wrong w/them. They were introduced into the USA system when some parasite or something almost wiped out all the cricket producers. They were forced to go w/another cricket to stay in business.
 

viper69

ArachnoGod
Old Timer
Joined
Dec 8, 2006
Messages
17,851
I estimate her last moult was 2-3 years ago (stupidly I did not record the date). I have been wondering if she may be fairly old because it has been so long.
I have an AF female, she was about 3 years old when I got her as I knew the original owner when she was a sling. She is now ~13 yrs old for the past 6 years she molts once every 2 or 3 years. Recently it was 3 yrs between molts.

Ironically, since then I read on this forum that crickets from unfamiliar sources can sometimes carry parasites, and that of course pushed my worry button.
Parasites can come from any vendor, any cricket etc.
 

Andrea82

Arachnoemperor
Joined
Jan 12, 2016
Messages
3,686
Thanks for your questions, @Andrea82 . We have had her for 6 years. We purchased her as an adult of unknown age. She was sold to us as female, and has no bulbs or spurs.

I estimate her last moult was 2-3 years ago (stupidly I did not record the date). I have been wondering if she may be fairly old because it has been so long.

The only other thing I can attribute the wandering to is a slightly higher ambient temp due to central heating, but that happens every year and she never moves around this consistently. Putting that together with the sudden change in her bathroom habits, plus noticing her scratching her rear end, is what led me to wonder if maybe she is uncomfortable due to a digestive upset.

The size of her abdomen has always been as you see it. She was eating normally up to four weeks ago, when she had the two crickets of a different kind than normal. Normally I would not be concerned with her fasting, but, again, it was the other behaviour in conjunction with it that has raised a red flag and made me wonder if those different crickets have made her sick.

Ironically, since then I read on this forum that crickets from unfamiliar sources can sometimes carry parasites, and that of course pushed my worry button.

Hopefully this is just a passing disturbance, but I will not deviate from my normal supplier again.
I would be concerned if those issues rose at the same time as well. Unfortunately there is not much you can do for her, even if she is sick or infected with something, than keeping her waterdish full, and her warm and quiet. I hope it passes soon.
 

Octagon

Arachnoperson
Joined
Feb 15, 2016
Messages
39
There's nothing you mentioned that sounds unusual from what you wrote.

Also been using banded crickets for years, nothing wrong w/them. They were introduced into the USA system when some parasite or something almost wiped out all the cricket producers. They were forced to go w/another cricket to stay in business.
Thank you, @viper69, I appreciate your reassurance that her behaviour sounds to be within normal parameters. And it is good to know that banded crickets are fine. As you say in your further post, I know there cannot be an ironclad guarantee of safety from any supplier/feeder.
 

Octagon

Arachnoperson
Joined
Feb 15, 2016
Messages
39
I would be concerned if those issues rose at the same time as well. Unfortunately there is not much you can do for her, even if she is sick or infected with something, than keeping her waterdish full, and her warm and quiet. I hope it passes soon.
Thank you so much! Her dish is always full and our apartment is warm and quiet. Hopefully if there is something wrong, she will shake it off.
 

Octagon

Arachnoperson
Joined
Feb 15, 2016
Messages
39
I have an AF female, she was about 3 years old when I got her as I knew the original owner when she was a sling. She is now ~13 yrs old for the past 6 years she molts once every 2 or 3 years. Recently it was 3 yrs between molts.



Parasites can come from any vendor, any cricket etc.
Good to know yours is molting on a similar schedule. It will be worthy of a celebration when it finally happens!
 
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