T. Blondi Questions

BooyaTarantula

Arachnosquire
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Hey everybody, I have a question about a mark on the rear end of my T. Blondi I just noticed, I will post the picture so you all can see. Really funny coloration, not sure what it means. Also, do you think she is getting fat? Her abdomen seems a little large to me and I can't beleive it is growing on one crick a week. Finally, she has webbed down her entire enclosure so does that mean she is coming up on a molt and that patch on the back is another symbol? Anyways, would love to hear your thoughts...
 

demode

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I think she consideres the entire enclosure her dungeon, they do web up their lairs. Otherwise she might be pregnant or something, dont think she's gonna molt by the look of her bald patch.
 

Talkenlate04

ArachnoGod
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Her webbing herself in is a sign of an upcoming molt. Pre molt can be months before a molt. That patch of hair in question is just those great hairs they can kick at you that itch like a mo.
Dont be suprised if she stays in there and comes out with a new body. And sometimes they come out and just start eating again, one way to find out. Wait wait and well wait some more!
She looks big what size is she at?
 

BooyaTarantula

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she's a good four inches right now in body length and probably around 7 or eight with legs included (just a guess). She's so fast I don't feel comfortable trying to get a good measurement! So it's just a bald patch from kicking then? That's weird because i've never made her kick yet but maybe something set her off that I wasn't aware of. Anybody besides me think she's too fat?
 

chris 71

Arachnoknight
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she does,nt look too fat to me i think they can kick off hairs for diffrent reasons maby its puting some down for a molting mat or just lining its lair with them or somthing nice spider when i first seen your pics i thought of Theraphosa apophysis
 

BooyaTarantula

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Allright next up on the list of Theraphosa questions is what exactly is this yellow sphere I see in her tank... I found another one not very far away and I really don't know what they are, so what exactly do theraphosa's create that is yellow and round like this?
 

Talkenlate04

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It looks like you are using potting soil and some soils you can buy have fish eggs in them. That might be what that is. I don't think it was produced by the T. Unless it's food remains, but it does not look like that.
 

Alice

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even if you don't provoke her into kicking, many nw ts including t. blondi will us some of their urticating hairs to make their hide safer. they just rub them off and attach them to their webbing. this is meant to keep rodents and other predators away.
i have a brachy that is totally bald without ever having kicked - but i get an itch when i touch anything inside her tank :evil:
 

BooyaTarantula

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Allright, good to know! They don't seem to be spontaneous so much as I may have just not noticed them before and now that the blondi has been renovating they have been unearthed. However, fungus sounds plausible too and that's what my dealer thought so I may do a little excavating of my own just to clear that up before it becomes a problem... Still getting the hang of blondi humidity since this is the first "fickle" T i've owned and want to do it right and keep her happy. Thanks for the ideas, when I know for sure what i'm dealing with i'll post!
 

BooyaTarantula

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Ok update. I removed two of the yellow bulbous items and they are crispy with a white powdery substance inside. All I can say is please say this isn't fertilizer, the bag specifically said NO FERTILIZER... Any ideas?
 

Talkenlate04

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Fish eggs are just like that when dry. They are in potting soils, I am almost positive thats what it is.
 

IdahoBiteyThing

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how big?

are the little balls? They do sound like the time-release fertilizer balls that come in some potting soils. Those would not be good in a T tank. But sounds unlikely if your potting soil says "fertilizer free". More likely could be fungus spore balls. These are little round balls that many fungus produce similar to puffball mushrooms (actually puffball mushrooms are just really big spore balls). If you google fungus spore balls (images) you'll get a ton of pics that might help you id.
 

BooyaTarantula

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Allright, another update. I am beginning to agree with the whole fish egg theory simply because this soil has been in with my blondi for a good month now and there have been no adverse affects, she seems to be healthy. And I also don't think it is a fungus because I just found the same little balls in my rosie cage today which I keep completely dry except for her water dish and the same substrate. This leads me to beleive that they were already in the potting soil when I bought it and must be fish eggs since neither of my T's have had any bad effects at all, though if anyone has had experience with this before to the contrary please feel free to let me know so I can change out their cages before anything bad does happen.
 

By-Tor

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I'm trying to imagine how fish eggs will help your plants? I mean, I know some plants are fancy and all, but do they seriously require caviar?
 

IdahoBiteyThing

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Fish eggs?

Fish eggs are just like that when dry. They are in potting soils, I am almost positive thats what it is.
I have led a sheltered life (um, not really), but I DO have about 400 more plants than tarantulas and I have never heard of fish eggs in potting soil. Fish eggs would decompose, and HOW WOULD THEY GET THERE? I'm pretty sure the only little round balls I've seen in potting soil are timed release fertilizer balls.
 

Talkenlate04

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I have no clue what the eggs specifically provide for the soil. Ill end up looking it up now though. And you find time sometimes in the organic soils because its free of chemicals.
 

Lorgakor

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I highly doubt it's fish eggs.

It is most likely poo. Tarantula poo can come out looking like a little round glob and then dry until it is chalky white. I've seen it range in colour from brown to white to grey. Most of the time it gets covered in substrate but every now and then I come across a little round dried ball of it. Just pick it out with some tweezers.
 
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