Tarantula drooling near mouth?

Danish99

Arachnopeon
Joined
Jan 5, 2020
Messages
3
Hello,
I have a Lasiodora parahybana that likes to climb in her terrarium a bit. It's one of those thrive glass 10-gallon ones with the metal mesh top. I noticed she was climbing again and I was discussing with one of my tarantula expert buddies about moving her to a bigger enclosure because I think she's not too happy with size. I went to fill her water bowl and noticed a small puddle of clear fluid coming through the mesh (likely where she was climbing around at I was busy writing my final paper for college) and she seems to have a small droplet coming from what looks to be her mouth. I'm an entomologist so I know about hemolymph and all that fun jazz, but wasn't sure if this was common for tarantulas to do or if I should be worried? She's not moving much so I can't get a great look but it definitely isn't coming from any of the joints. I can't get a good enough pic to really explain what I'm seeing but it's essentially a tiny clear droplet. If there are any suggestions or help you can offer me that would be great, she's the first spider I've ever owned and she made it 2 and a half strong years with me I'd really like her to keep living to get full size. I believe she's still a juvie, however, they don't teach you much about spiders at Purdue so that's fantastic...
 

Poonjab

Arachnoking
Active Member
Joined
Nov 4, 2019
Messages
2,755
Grooming fluid. Normal. Also.... you’re going to have to make some adjustments on the enclosure. It’s not suitable.
 

Smotzer

ArachnoGod
Arachnosupporter +
Joined
Jan 17, 2020
Messages
5,275
Digestive fluid, I suggest you post a picture of your enclosure there are some red flags here in your description.
 

The Grym Reaper

Arachnoreaper
Joined
Jul 19, 2016
Messages
4,835
It's digestive fluid, they use it for grooming.

It's one of those thrive glass 10-gallon ones with the metal mesh top.
If it's woven wire mesh then you'll need to replace/cover it as tarantulas can get their tarsal claws stuck where the wires overlap and either lose legs or kill themselves trying to get free. People generally use acrylic with holes drilled in but expanded metal and perforated sheet metal are safe mesh alternatives.
 

Danish99

Arachnopeon
Joined
Jan 5, 2020
Messages
3
Hi everyone, thank you for the feedback! Haven’t been on in a while and I checked a few days after I posted but didn’t see anything so these posts are surprising! An update to the housing situation, I have since removed said LP into a sterilize gasket container. Also, it’s a boy after a good molt!! I agree it likely was grooming fluid, but ma boy is thriving n the larger enclosure now :)! Hope you all are having an awesome 2023!
 

tarantulas118

Arachnoknight
Joined
Oct 16, 2022
Messages
195
wait a second, wouldn’t your “expert Tarantula buddy” know that it was grooming fluids? Good to hear he had a successful molT, Congrats on your boy. And actually so far 2023 is shaping up to be an amazing year for me, 2022 wasn’t exactly the best year…
 

Danish99

Arachnopeon
Joined
Jan 5, 2020
Messages
3
wait a second, wouldn’t your “expert Tarantula buddy” know that it was grooming fluids? Good to hear he had a successful molT, Congrats on your boy. And actually so far 2023 is shaping up to be an amazing year for me, 2022 wasn’t exactly the best year…
Yeah, he figured it out which was the reason I didn’t get back to arachnoboards for a minute. I told him after the enclosure discussion since that’s when it happened. Also glad to hear 2023 is better than 2022!
 
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