T.blondi - Possible blockage?

[synyster]

I wouldnt recommend putting ANYTHING ELSE on her...

(Give me a call if you want , or let me know when can I call u)

I'm at home all evening, just call no worries And no i'm not putting anything on her. So far she is still at oil mess stage.

---------- Post added at 09:15 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:02 PM ----------

Are they clean up mites that happened to find something on the T to clean up? I've had mites in a couple of enclosures that never got on the tarantulas or scorpions, but they didn't have olive oil on them either.

Would application of corn starch or baking soda result in a paste?

Has she pooped more?

She has evacuated a couple of times and everything seem's to be in order on that matter.

As I mentioned to Fran, i'm not applying anything to her for the moment until I know what those bugs are.

And i'm still skeptical about the fact that they could be mites... I just hate being in the dark here...

 

[salsalover]

either way shes a gorgeous T hopefully she'll molt soon

 

[PhobeToPhile]

If you happen to have a microscope, maybe you could collect one of the unknowns and examine them under it? Maybe post pictures of what the examination shows?

 

[synyster]

If you happen to have a microscope, maybe you could collect one of the unknowns and examine them under it? Maybe post pictures of what the examination shows?

I have thought of this so much but no I don't have a microscope, and i'm trying to find someone close to me who has one. If I can manage to take a close-up under magnification, I will post it for sure.

either way shes a gorgeous T hopefully she'll molt soon

Thank you, i'm hoping too

---------- Post added at 03:27 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:25 PM ----------

Currently, everything is status quo. She has returned to her burrow and stayed there. I've managed to see though that the oil mess is started to dry up a bit. I'll post whatever new develloppements happen...

 

[synyster]

*update*

Well, after months of waiting, she has finally molted all her troubles away. Inside the exuvium, you can easily notice some white residue in the opisthosoma. Here is a picture (after I soaked the molt:wall:

I guess this means she was blocked after all! The molting process went like a charm and she has already started webbing again. I might have underestimated her size a bit in my thread, as I measured the exuvium at 8.25" with the measurement taken by her "bad leg" (the good one broke while removing it). So the actual size could easily be 8.5" and I estimate her to be around 9" now as she has clearly gained in size. Here are the pics:

As to whatever organisms that had made a home in the tank, she has been rehoused and is doing fine. Thanks for all the input you guys had given at the time!

 

[Formerphobe]

I'm so glad to hear about a clean molt! I was wondering about her the other day.

 

[fartkowski]

I'm glad to hear the molt went smooth. That is very interesting.

 

[synyster]

Thanks guys, it's fun to know that some people still remembered the thread A week prior to the molt, I'll be honest and say I was sure I was losing her. She started going into partial death curls and when she would move, she was practically walking on the tibias! I had noticed at this time that some mold was building up in a dark side of her tank. 2 days prior to molting, I put her in a very humid ICU. When I noticed the carapace popped (she molted upright...) I couldn't be happier.

One thing is for sure, the olive oil had done way much more harm than good. The oil seems to have penetrated deep into the cuticle, and once dried up, made the skin twice as resistant. When examining the exuvium, I noticed that the whole abdominal section was round and hard. You can clearly see on the pictures what I'm talking about. So now, in my experience, olive oil should never be used on a spiders abdomen. Even though it was a flawless molt, she seemed to have alot of trouble popping, and getting out of the part that was oiled.

I will take and post pictures of the new skin as soon as she's visible to see if there are any side effects to the new exoskeleton. This would mean that the oil passed right through the cuticle, so I hope everything is nice and clean.