versicolor webbed up his foot?

[Lucara]

Okay so this is a complete first. My versicolor seems to have completely webbed up its back foot? Almost like a cast? I'm getting worried because the webbing on his foot is sticking to the webbing in..well..his web! He gets caught up and I'm worried hes going to rip his leg off in an attempt to get loose. I cant see any way of removing it from his foot without taking the foot off, its just would too tightly. I've removed the webbing from the cage in hopes of him not catching it on anything but.. of course, hes started webbing it again, and hes gotten caught again. Any ideas on what to do or why the heck he seemed to think this was a good idea?

 

[xhexdx]

I'm willing to bet this wasn't intentional, unless you happened to observe it. In that case, I wouldn't know what to tell you.

You might be able to get the web damp; I'm not sure that it would help to remove it, but that might be your best option at this point.

The good news is, if it does cast the leg, that it'll regenerate. You already knew that though.

Good luck with it! Let us know how it goes!

--Joe

 

[Ether Imp]

I would try to move him into a small container and use tweezers to pull the webbing off. It may all come off at once if you're lucky. If you think it's worth the risk, you may want to consider sedating him while you do so.

Joe, do you really think the webbing is stronger than the leg? I mean.. if she did attept to pull the webbing off with tweezers do you think it would come off before the leg?

 

[xhexdx]

I think the leg would come off before the webbing does.

If you're able to get tweezers in there and stretch the webbing so it'll come off, great, but I don't think it's very realistic.

 

[Ether Imp]

I think the leg would come off before the webbing does.

If you're able to get tweezers in there and stretch the webbing so it'll come off, great, but I don't think it's very realistic.

Guess it depends on how tightly it's webbed, but as said above it looks pretty much like a cast... may be difficult to mess with.

 

[Zoltan]

Could you post a picture of its enclosure?

I suppose you could attempt to carefully remove the part that is not actually around its leg.

 

[xhexdx]

I agree with Zoltan.

I'd think if it molts, it shouldn't really have an issue removing the leg (depending on how tightly wrapped it is, of course). So I suppose a viable option would be to just wait for a molt.

 

[Lucara]

Could you post a picture of its enclosure?

I suppose you could attempt to carefully remove the part that is not actually around its leg.

Its in a fairly small vial as it is. I can try to upload a pic later on though once I'm back home.

I've tried cutting the end of it off in hopes of it not catching on the webbing but I'm worried about cutting its actual foot.

No, I dont think pulling it off would help or he would have been able to pull it off himself when it was stuck to the webbing.

 

[Moltar]

If nothing else maybe you could cut away the excess that trails behind the foot. Probably it will help with the tangling problem. Good luck getting him to sit still for you though!

 

[Lucara]

If nothing else maybe you could cut away the excess that trails behind the foot. Probably it will help with the tangling problem. Good luck getting him to sit still for you though!

Haha yeah I've tried trimming off as much as I can (I did it after the picture) its a mad dash to try and get it off before he moves again. Hopefully he tries to molt soon and keeps his stinkin foot out of the way of his spinnerets next time! :wall:

 

[Teal]

I would try wetting the webbing and seeing if that might loosen it.

Very strange!

 

[Moltar]

Now is a good oppurtunity to try a "pinch grab" or "cup grab" technique. These are methods of picking up your t in a way they can't bite you or escape. When you do this and hold the T upside down they sort of freeze in place, allowing you better access to do things like examine them closely, ventrally sex them or trim some webbing off their foot. You may not be able to get the "cast" pff but it should help you in trimming the dangley bit.

Here's a video of how to pick up a larger specimen, you'll want to do basically the same, just gentler.

[YOUTUBE]<object width="445" height="364"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/hiawCkqKemk&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0&border=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/hiawCkqKemk&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0&border=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="445" height="364"></embed></object>[/YOUTUBE]

Edit: I'm assuming your versi is at least 2". If not you may have a pretty hard time doing this.

 

[Sarcastro]

this has happened to me but many many years ago.I did get it off with out removing the leg but it was a 2 man job that and I have the hands of a surgeon and it was still very difficult.what we did was a friend restrained the T then I with 2 pairs of super fine edge tweezers grabbed one side at the center and then grabbed the other side of the center and pulled apart kinda like opening the center a book with 2 hands..with that much webbing on the foot if you wet it it's just gonna make it stronger

 

[Red Beard]

this has happened to me but many many years ago.I did get it off with out removing the leg but it was a 2 man job that and I have the hands of a surgeon and it was still very difficult.what we did was a friend restrained the T then I with 2 pairs of super fine edge tweezers grabbed one side at the center and then grabbed the other side of the center and pulled apart kinda like opening the center a book with 2 hands..with that much webbing on the foot if you wet it it's just gonna make it stronger

A. versicolor as well?

 

[Tindalos]

all i can say is you got a new name for your T "socks"

hope everything turns out alright

 

[Sarcastro]

A. versicolor as well?

No it was a A.purpurea she was about 3-3 1/2inches or so when she did it. it was attached to her web like it was some kind of safety harness but I think she did it on accident.

 

[Ritzman]

This has happened to me as well with my versicolor. I left it on there and this happened:

It never affected her, and the next molt, her leg looked fine.
BTW that is L#4 leg