911 911 911 SOMEONE PLEASE ADVISE ME

[Lady Lilith]

OMG my LP, Pickles, seems to have a very serious abdominal injury, as it looks like it is separated from his carapace a bit!!!!!!! I went in to clean his tank and when I went to transfer him to his waiting room, so to speak (just a small critter keeper he can stay in till I'm done, I noticed that his abdomen was wiggling around on its own while I was moving him and then it sort of fell away from his carapace, not all the way mind you, but it looks like someone tried to chop him in half at that connection point and stopped 1/3rd to 1/2 way through!!!! I have him in an ICU tank with an IR heat lamp about 6 inches away and have raised the humidity level. What can I do?? Is this a bad molt or is he injured? I'm afraid to do anything lest I make it worse. I don't really see any blood so to speak so don't know if applying superglue will do any good I'm going to cry. He is just a juvenile and I have no idea how this could have happened. Will post a pic of him in a moment

 

[Logan D]

can you post pictures and take the heat lamp off it will just dry him out

 

[PetTarantulaWorld.com]

OMG my LP, Pickles, seems to have a very serious abdominal injury, as it looks like it is separated from his carapace a bit!!!!!!! I went in to clean his tank and when I went to transfer him to his waiting room, so to speak (just a small critter keeper he can stay in till I'm done, I noticed that his abdomen was wiggling around on its own while I was moving him and then it sort of fell away from his carapace, not all the way mind you, but it looks like someone tried to chop him in half at that connection point and stopped 1/3rd to 1/2 way through!!!! I have him in an ICU tank with an IR heat lamp about 6 inches away and have raised the humidity level. What can I do?? Is this a bad molt or is he injured? I'm afraid to do anything lest I make it worse. I don't really see any blood so to speak so don't know if applying superglue will do any good I'm going to cry. He is just a juvenile and I have no idea how this could have happened. Will post a pic of him in a moment

 

[Lady Lilith]

can you post pictures and take the heat lamp off it will just dry him out

HI. I've been advised not to use superglue and to simply euthanize him as it is probably an injury to his pedicel due to a late night hunting fall from the side of is tank or a female cricket he attacked a bit too viciously and its ovipositors stabbed him These are the best pics I felt safe getting. It's terrible! His little abdomen just wiggles around on its own as if there is nothing connecting it to his carapace. I thought maybe, because his abdomen is so swollen and bald almost, that it was the beginning of his molt. I have him in an ICU tank and have taken the light off so as not to dehydrate him

 

[Payden King]

Is he acting weird or like he's hurt? I can't really see anything in the pictures :/

 

[DVirginiana]

Is he still moving around on his own and holding himself normally? I doubt one would move willingly if they were in pain. If he's not acting terribly injured, it may be something that looks worse than it is. Either way, best wishes for the little guy

 

[god61021]

I wouldn't eauthanize him just keep him safe and see how it plays out. so many times ive seen animals recover from "fatal" injurys

 

[Lady Lilith]

Thank you. Yes, he has crawled up onto a rock after taking a drink from his water dish and again, Thank you so much for all your advice and help. The pics don't show the injury well because in order to see it, I would have had to video his abdomen wiggling around while he was on the side of his critter keeper and I shook it a little bit or bent That's what first alerted me to the problem. I put him in his waiting room to search his very extensive burrow for left over molts or blouses he's perhaps not brought to the surface (he's in a 20 gal with about 6-7 inches of coco fiber to play in which he does) and picked it up to check him out and noticed his abdomen wiggling around. Then I took him out and as he was crawling on my hand and reached he came to my finger and that's when I thought I spotted his abdomen separate a bit from his carapace. He has taken some water and is sitting on a rock in his ICU. I hope I don't have to freeze him, but I don't know how long to wait and don't know how I will know. He will either die or he won't I guess.
Thank you all again.

 

[Lady Lilith]

:_(

 

[Logan D]

as long as he is moving around without any problems he should be fine just keep a close eye on him

 

[Lady Lilith]

as long as he is moving around without any problems he should be fine just keep a close eye on him

I will and thank you. I'm beginning to think he's actually at the end of a molt and maybe that has not dryed yet. But that's wishful thinking. He only moved to his rock to get off the substrate that was too wet for an LP but that was purposeful to help raise humidity. I will keep all posted. Thank you all for your help and best wishes.

 

[hellknite]

I can see a good area of flesh between the abdomen and carapace when my LP bends during feeding.. I also thought its abdomen is gonna separate.. I think I know what you observed.. I had the same too.. and my LP is still fine..

 

[Lady Lilith]

I can see a good area of flesh between the abdomen and carapace when my LP bends during feeding.. I also thought its abdomen is gonna separate.. I think I know what you observed.. I had the same too.. and my LP is still fine..

Thank you Hellknite. Do you know why it wiggled so? It only wiggled during movement as if it were some kind of bobble head in a car

 

[Ceratogyrus]

I am going to take a shot here and say that other than being a little overweight, the spider is fine. If the carapace was seperated from the abdomen then the spider would be dead already IMO.

 

[Lady Lilith]

I am going to take a shot here and say that other than being a little overweight, the spider is fine. If the carapace was seperated from the abdomen then the spider would be dead already IMO.

Thank you Ceratogyrus. Perhaps he is still pre-molt (but AFTER a month??) or just finished one. I've no idea but I've posted a pic that doesn't necessarily show much other than the size of his abdomen which is, indeed and as you mentioned, FAT. It's almost bald now, too. And, as others suggested he might be, he is fine this morning and sitting on his rock. And, as you and others suggested, also, if there were really the sort of catastrophic damage I thought there was he would have passed by now, and most certainly not be sitting on a rock as if he owned the world. I have just never, ever, ever in all the times I've ever handled my T's seen such a movement. I really thought his carapace had become almost severed from his abdomen somehow. When he sat on the side of his critter keeper while I clean his tank and then picked it up to look at him and his abdomen shook like a child's loose tooth or a bobble head in a car, not of his own accord mind you but only because I was shaking the container (ever so slightly so don't get me wrong, I wasn't whipping the container around) I freaked. And then, when I took him out and handled him and he climbed onto my finger and his body curled around it and I saw that split open at his pedicel area, I freaked even more. Lord what a night. I must have peeked in on him a dozen times. At any rate, thank you, and to all of those, who were so patient and informative.

Kelly and Pickles

 

[Ceratogyrus]

I would cut down altogether on the feeding. A fall with the abdomen that size could easily kill the spider. I know what you are talking about regarding the pedicel looking damaged but my money is still on there being absolutely nothing wrong other than a concerned 'parent'

 

[Lady Lilith]

I would cut down altogether on the feeding. A fall with the abdomen that size could easily kill the spider. I know what you are talking about regarding the pedicel looking damaged but my money is still on there being absolutely nothing wrong other than a concerned 'parent'

Hello. Well, he must have been in preempt and extremely fat from eating as much as he did. His abdomen has gone from that white bald spot to a very dark grey and shiny abdomen, same size as before. My scorplings (P. Imperator) are also in the middle of molting. One has stayed white for 12 hours now and they are only 2 and a half inches or so long. Talk about a nervous mother! However, I've learned, thanks to all here on the boards, that micro managing them is the worst thing one can do, so, aside from peeking into the back of their hide with a small penlight I've decided to let nature take her time and do what she does best. Thanks for all the help. If you happen to know how long the process for scorplings to molt lasts or if and when I should demonstrate legitimate concern for them, or Pickles, that would be helpful. I've searched for the information but have gotten only symptoms of pre molt mostly. And nothing about the post molt being white, or what Pickles should look like if all was normal.

 

[Ceratogyrus]

Sorry, no idea on the scorpion moulting signs

 

[Rick Stallard]

Read this post on another board. It all turned out ok I think you said. On the scorps, I've raised many many from newborn to adults. Just let whatever happens happen. I never had any that seem to have any problems molting, but I did something many say not to do, I kept the humidity on the high side all the time. I raised Arizona Barks and kept humidity at around 50%. They molted and grew like weeds.

 

[Lady Lilith]

Read this post on another board. It all turned out ok I think you said. On the scorps, I've raised many many from newborn to adults. Just let whatever happens happen. I never had any that seem to have any problems molting, but I did something many say not to do, I kept the humidity on the high side all the time. I raised Arizona Barks and kept humidity at around 50%. They molted and grew like weeds.

Hello Rick and thank you. They have both molted, at least it seems so as they are now back to dark brown/black and shiny shiny shiny! And I agree, I think a good misting with my Monsoon mister once a day in the morning when I turn up the heat (ceramic heater during the day at 100 W and IR at night at 50 W) is about what they need to thrive. As for my T's, Pickles, the FAT LP I was worried about, is now sitting in his web mat waiting on a molt to begin (for a little over a week now.. gads lol), and Jewlz, the GBB, has webbed a nice hammock for herself at the top of her vivarium she has occupied awaiting her own molt.. My question now, if you have any info, is to heat or not to heat? I am worried about heating with these T's, especially as juveniles getting ready to molt, because they're both species that prefer a drier environment, and I usually only keep any type of humidity from simply overpowering the water dishes for them. However, I live in NY and winter has set in. My personal environmental room temp is never over 68, or rarely, and so I've taken to suspending an IR about 6 inches away from the T's cages and have the 8 inch dome the bulb is housed in pointed sort of away from the cage, so really all they get is the 'left over' side of the lamp's heat. What has kept me doing this for a few hours a day is the fact that when I have it on, Jewlz, the GBB, ALWAYS moves from the side of her web that doesn't get any residual heat to the side that has the most. I know most people will tell me to not heat so as not to cook my little buddies, but I can't help but feel after watching her behavior and knowing the lamp isn't shining directly into the cage, that she's seeking the heat out. 'll post a pic below. I know the light seems bright, but I think its just the flash, and you can see Jewlz sitting as high up in her enclosure, almost pressed against the wire mesh top as much as possible and with the rest of the tank receiving no heat, or VERY much less "residual", and her able to move to a cooler spot if she needs to, the no heat isn't making sense. And you can't see it, but Pickle's web mat is right against the side of the tank that gets the little heat spot. Thoughts anyone please and thank you