T.apophysis Dillema-To cut or not to cut?

[Najakeeper]

Hey Guys,

So I gut this teeny tiny T.apophysis sling with some other spiders. Breeder advised to wait until a couple more molts as these are prone to have bad molts when they are little but he lives a couple hours away from my house and I did not wanna drive again for a single spider.

So Murphy rule applies and the little sling has a terrible molt. When I found it, the two "back" legs were tentacle like and pointing upward. It has pretty much no control over them. Also, the abdomen was completely stuck and the spider was upright and hardening so with a q tip and very small tongs I removed the stuck molt covering its abdomen after tedious effort.

2 days later she is alive, no twitching or uncontrolled leg movements but having hard time walking `cos of the damaged legs, which are still tentacle like, longer than usual and useless. So my question is, after it eats a few meals (if it ever eats) should I cut the useless legs off before it`s next molt (assuming that it survives)? Will it make an easier job for spider or will I mess things up more with blood loss and whatnot?

Here is what she looks like now:

Thanks in advance for the advices.

 

[Falk]

If the legs are causing a problem she will cut them herself, so dont play veterinary if you dont know what you are doing

 

[Najakeeper]

If the legs are causing a problem she will cut them herself, so dont play veterinary if you dont know what you are doing

Thanks for the advice mate but that's why I am asking, to know what I might end up doing. Also, if I haven't tried out my junior vet skills, she would already have suffocated in the old molt.

 

[PitViper]

If the legs are causing a problem she will cut them herself, so dont play veterinary if you dont know what you are doing

Agreed, I had a P Pederseni(about 3-4") get 4 legs stuck in a molt 3 months ago, after about 2-3 hours of removing the molt, the stuck legs didn't look too good, she just molted again, she detached 2 of her legs before the molt and molted successfully.

 

[Fran]

If she eats,she will molt, so let her be.

 

[Najakeeper]

Thanks guys.

 

[billopelma]

I had this 2" guy molt in transit, cast off only one leg on the next molt. Eventually molted out 'normal' with all 8 legs and made it to adulthood just fine. Usually if it's not leaking fluid, leave it alone...

Bill

 

[Mez]

What is that?

 

[Falk]

What is that?

Megaphobema robustum

 

[Mez]

Thanks, i should have known that. I love how the dark runs down the leg but you can see 'peach' either side.

 

[Glory]

What causes that to happen?

 

[JC]

What causes that to happen?

Not sufficient space during molting.(M. robustum)

 

[Falk]

The soft legs can also be damaged if a freshly molted spider gets scared and tries to run

 

[Glory]

I think i would cry if mine came out of a molt like that, mostly because I'm not the most experienced keeper and I would have no idea what to do. It's a good thing I've joined this board!

 

[Najakeeper]

It has been over a week so I offered food but no interest. It has a nice full abdomen so I think it can survive until next molt if it refuses to eat.

 

[Najakeeper]

Ok so it has been just about a month or so. I have never observed it feeding on anything and it surely does not touch the dubia babies but two S.lateralis babies I have put in there dissepeared. Now they may have burrowed, which is more likely, but I can not find them. And the slings abdomen looks a bit fuller (this may be wishful thinking).

The two problematic legs are still being dragged around with no use but all the other legs seem to function to a degree at least. The sling is active when disturbed, moves around freely when it wants to and the abdomen does not look so worrying. Maybe it will survive the coming molt, which I believe should be soon with this much damage and this little size.

I hope it survives, I kinda like it a lot. Very cute and fuzzy.

Here is how it looks:

 

[Falk]

Dont wurry it will be fine

 

[treeweta]

if its been a months since she moulted she must have eaten, her abdomen looks bigger than in the first picture, if she hadnt eaten in that time im sure her abdomen would have got much smaller as she tries grow for the next moult.