Shrunken abdomen on non-eating B. smithi adult...what to do?

[k2power]

I have a B. smithi adult female (4") that I got off Craigslist 2 years ago.For the first year I had it it was an excellent eater and had one of the best responses to food of any of my tarantulas. It molted in October 2011 and has had food sparingly since. Its abdomen is noticeably shrunken now and it refuses to eat more than once every 2 months or so. I am concerned about it more so than my A. hentzi that has only had a few meals since August 2011 but still looks the same. The shrinking abdomen has me worried that it has a problem other than typical fasting. I am hopeful the B. smithi will molt soon and get back to normal but am worried that it often sits up like it is eating but is not. (precursor to death curl?) It is on vermiculite and is kept bone dry except for a water dish. Temps are in the upper to mid 70s typically.

 

[Storm76]

Pictures of the T and the enclosure?

 

[metallica]

adult male?

 

[k2power]

I finally got around to getting a photograph. Still no eating and the abdomen is slightly smaller. It is a molt confirmed female so I am not sure what the problem is. I postulate that it had internal problems on the last molt causing the dramatic change in behavior (it used to be my best feeder) or maybe picked up a parasite from a feeder. I don't recall giving it any wild caught feeders. Stinks that it is a valuable CITES listed species. I don't hold out hope but maybe cooling it for a month will help. I don't know what to do.

 

[Storm76]

Although it is not related to the initial problem, but does she have a hide? If not, provide one, she'll feel more secure with one around probably. What kind of feeders did you try?

 

[k2power]

She used to have one but I never saw her use it once. I have tried crickets, superworms, dubia, mealworms. Not sure what other options there are. Last time I saw her eating, was a superworm about 1-2 months ago and it looked like she was having trouble feeding on it. There seemed to be little progress on its consumption. She eventually dropped it. Right now her shoebox is in a slot of a bedside table in the animal room so it is quite dark and she doesn't see much traffic going by. I don't think lack of comfort is the problem since she used to be a ravenous feeder but drastically reduced her feed over the last year and is apparently losing weight.

 

[charm271]

It may be time to start using a dropper to feed her either with a "bug broth" (fluid made from feeders) or animal blood. Get a food scale start watching her weight and intake if any. You may want to remove her substrate to see if she has been having any "movements" and what they look like. Her next molt should be coming soon hopefully that may solve the problem. Can you get closer picture of her from the top and from the bottom?

 

[captmarga]

Have you turned her over to look at her fangs? Have you seen her grooming and moving her fangs at all? I'd try offering bug soup too - you can do it with a dropper, or put it in a little flat bottlecap (water bottles have shallow caps) right under her fangs.

Good luck!

Marga

 

[ZILLA SUZUYA]

I know this post is old but did annyone ever figure this out? I’m having same problem with my female Skeleton Leg right now

 

[A guy]

I know this post is old but did annyone ever figure this out? I’m having same problem with my female Skeleton Leg right now

It might have been sucking stomach problems. If they don't molt out their sucking stomachs properly, they wouldn't be able to take any nutrition in

 

[l4nsky]

I know this post is old but did annyone ever figure this out? I’m having same problem with my female Skeleton Leg right now

You're better off starting a new thread. Most people might not check the date and accidently give you the wrong advice because this historical situation long since resolved might not exactly match yours.

To @A guy's point, sucking stomach issues maybe to blame as is likely in the case presented in 2012, but an E. murinus is a completely separate species than a B. smithi with vastly different care requirements and tolerances.

 

[cold blood]

According to the OP, it's eaten, but only "sparingly"....so it has eaten since its last molt....this rules out molting complications like a sucking stomach or missing both fangs unless they were lost after it's last meal.....so "cricket soup" shouldn't be necessary.

OP, when you offer food, offer larger prey...fattier prey would also be a good idea....try something like a hornworm if you have access to them.

 

[l4nsky]

According to the OP, it's eaten, but only "sparingly"....so it has eaten since its last molt....this rules out molting complications like a sucking stomach or missing both fangs unless they were lost after it's last meal.....so "cricket soup" shouldn't be necessary.

Unfortunately eating or more accurately appearing to eat after a molt doesn't rule out a sucking stomach issue, atleast in my experience (3 molt confirmed cases that followed the same pattern). Initially after molting, they will continue to macerate their prey and web it up into a bolus as normal, just they're no longer actually capable of intaking the water and nutrients. As they get further from the molt, they get weaker and start losing the ability to produce silk. Prey items will start only being partially macerated and partially webbed before being disposed of. To someone not well versed in invertebrates, the prey might appear to have been partially eaten when in reality it hasn't been eaten at all, which was a behaviour noted by the original poster (not the necro poster) over 12 years ago:

Last time I saw her eating, was a superworm about 1-2 months ago and it looked like she was having trouble feeding on it. There seemed to be little progress on its consumption. She eventually dropped it.

Eventually, they lose the ability to hunt, they stop attempting to scavenge feed, hover near water sources or over moist substrate, and wither away, resulting in a death curled carcass.

This decline will coincide with a noticeable reduction in weight and abdomen size, however that is a symptom of dehydration which is an effect of the sucking stomach issue, not the other way around.

Dehydration itself might just be the issue in the necro poster's case because if a 'Skeleton Leg' tarantula is an Ephebopus spp and they're being kept bone dry and on vermiculite like the OP's Brachypelma sp in 2012, then that's a problem in and of itself lol.

Again, muddying the waters here @ZILLA SUZUYA. Best to start a new thread for help.

 

[ZILLA SUZUYA]

It might have been sucking stomach problems. If they don't molt out their sucking stomachs properly, they wouldn't be able to take any nutrition in

Yeah that’s what I’m figuring because she molted like a couple months ago and since then she’s been getting thinner but I didn’t realize how much smaller she got til like a few weeks ago so. She’s still acting herself but just looks rough. Hopefully she can molt again and get out of it.