tarantula injury help?

[Immortal_sin]

well,
before I kill my child, whos fault this is, can anyone here tell me the best way to deal with this?
I have an A versicolor baby about 1.25" legspan. Legs I & II on the left side are now broken, and hanging at an odd angle...
Hemolymph was leaking, I swabbed the area with a cotton swab, and applied nail hardener. Now the two legs are stuck together. I am assuming they need to come off? She'll never molt like that.
Or, should I wait and see if she throws them herself?
Any advice?
Holley

 

[Botar]

I recall reading a post a while back about how to remove a leg, but with a sling that small I don't think it would work. The writer indicated you should grasp the leg with a pair of tweezers and pull up on it and the T would "release" it. (I'm not sure of the terminology) But with one that small, I would think you'd just be picking it up. How did it happen and is your child okay? I doubt it was intentional, so undo the duct tape and let him/her out of the closet. You know people from the govt will come visit you if he/she doesn't show up in school on Monday.

 

[Immortal_sin]

LOL Botar! I know she didn't mean to, and if the sling doesn't make it, she will be devastated...but I'm STILL pissed off at her.
She and a friend were wanting to hold the baby. I had them sit on the rug, like always. Her friend was holding the sling, and Shelby decided she needed to get up, and get something. Before I could get 'SIT DOWN'!!! out of my mouth, she stepped between Zach (who was holding the sling) and myself, and her rubber boot kicked Zach's arm, that the sling was on. I'm just surprised she didn't completely squish the baby right then and there, and that just two legs were injured. The sling hid in Zach's sleeve, and when I got her out, I saw that the damage to both legs was extensive. I know about pulling legs off, but she is so damn small, I don't know that I would do it right.
Now they are completely stuck together, and crossed over one another. There is NO WAY she can now molt like that.

 

[Code Monkey]

Yeah, not sure how you would be able to anchor a sling that small and apply the tension to the femur segment enough to get the legs off without further injuring the little guy. Other than that, you've got two possible "solutions" based upon your description:

First, leave well enough alone and assume the sling is more likely to self induce automy of the limbs if they're stuck together.

Second, try and see if you've got the surgeon's touch and cut *just* the hardener coating to separate the legs. Although given how delicate a sling is that size, you're probably right back at the problem with amputating yourself. Even if you succeed, who knows if this will help any with regards to the next moult.

I suppose if it were me, I'd probably go one of two extremes: leave it alone and let the chips fall where they wanted, or go all out and try to see if I could amputate without killing the sling. I wish you luck whatever you go with.

(you can probably leave Shelby in the closet until tomorrow night )

 

[Immortal_sin]

ok guys.....she self automized, or autonomized her legs herself
I got home, and the two legs in question were lying at the bottom of her container. I took her out and examined her...no bleeding that I can see at the amputation site.
Looks like she took care of the problem herself.
Poor little bugger, I think she's gonna be ok though...thanks for the replys...
I'll keep you posted
Holley
PS- I let Shelby out of the closet

 

[savian]

I'm glad to hear your T is doing ok. Hope Shelby is ok to.

 

[skinheaddave]

I'm glad things are working out. I guess at that size you won't have to wait too long for it to regenerate its limbs, either.

Cheers,
Dave