Subfusca white fluid around mouth

[jwlp]

So I just noticed some milky white discharge coming out of my T's mouth. Since receiving it a few days ago it has eaten 1 time and been moving around. I have read a few horror stories that this could be nematodes. If that is the case then it has no chance of survival. I have also read it may just be discharge after eating, but it ate 2 days ago. The T has been isolated from the rest of my collection for fear of a nematodes infestation.

What do you guys think this could be?

Another thing to note would be that after it spits this white stuff out, it will suck it back up again. Kind of weird. Just never saw this from any of my other T's.

 

[catfishrod69]

I have never had to deal with nemotodes, or anything like it yet. But i have read that you can take a q-tip, wipe it on the white stuff, then dip it into a little cup of water. If it is nemotodes, you will see tiny worms in the water. If you try this however, i suggest using something disposable, and tossing it afterwards.

 

[jwlp]

I will try the qtip trick to rule out nematodes.

I happened to throw in a cricket lastnight to see if it would eat, and when I woke up the cricket was gone. This to me kind of rules out nematodes for the simple fact that if the T was infected, it wouldn't eat.... huge relief. I have read that this is common in Avics, they tend to often spit out the same kind of whitish fluid. It comes from the coxal or cheliceral gland supposedly, I think. Also this could be fluid used for cleaning/grooming.

So far since lastnight the T has eaten and moved around, so no other signs of this white substance. Anyone that has seen this before with a healthy T please chime in.

 

[cmcghee358]

2 of my slings has this going on. My T. gigas has had it over 3 weeks. He eats fairly regularly and has even molted. My A. purpurea has a few white spots on her mouth and she seems perfectly normal. I have fed them dubias and crickets. I am concerned as well, but they seem to not mind.

So I'm going to stick to the idea that they know what they are doing, and I don't want to care my spiders to death. When they start acting strange I'll investigate further.

 

[patrick86]

Be darn careful wiping anything off the business end of a Poecilotheria.

From what I've read if nematodes are coming out of the mouth they're usually coming out the other end too and it isn't long before the T is gone.

Over the years I've seen this question a few times. Most of the time the white stuff turns out to be suspected poo. Could have caught it in the middle of cleaning itself or possibly a bad ricochet. That stuff comes out with some force at times.

Just keep caring for it like normal and keep it isolated for now. Best of luck to you jwlp.

 

[jwlp]

I haven't touched the spider or messed with the white stuff. It seemed to have only left a very little on the side of the enclosure, and ingested the rest. I am leaning towards this being some type of "spit up" or fluid that was used to clean it's fangs.

So far it looks fine, but I will be monitoring it very closely. Thanks for the tips Patrick.

Be darn careful wiping anything off the business end of a Poecilotheria.

From what I've read if nematodes are coming out of the mouth they're usually coming out the other end too and it isn't long before the T is gone.

Over the years I've seen this question a few times. Most of the time the white stuff turns out to be suspected poo. Could have caught it in the middle of cleaning itself or possibly a bad ricochet. That stuff comes out with some force at times.

Just keep caring for it like normal and keep it isolated for now. Best of luck to you jwlp.