advice needed please

[Lady Lilith]

Okay, I've noticed something with my girl Pickles, my LP, she's grown to about a 5.5" DLS, and seems pretty much okay, EXCEPT, when she walks, or crawls over her tank logs etc, the carapace seems to separate from the abdomen far too much to leave me comfortable, I SWEAR I can see so much flesh, and almost the intestinal tract it looks like, almost as if she could completely bend in half. Is this normal, if she had a fall I was unaware of caused by a handling I was unaware of (perhaps by the pet sitter I hire when I go on vaca) wouldn't she have passed if it were an injury this severe? Plus, for an LP, she doesn't eat nearly as often as most others do, perhaps one or two crickets a month, though they are offered weekly, and the D. roaches she just scurries away from. I've posted this concern before, but now noticing she's eating far less than even an LP nearing a molt would I'm truly concerned and offering the question up again. I've tried to get some pics, unfortunately to no avail.

Is this at all normal for this sp of T? I thank you guys in advance

 

[Fleas]

Pictures would be best, is it leaking fluid?

 

[RedCapTrio]

No, a video would be much better. Could be critical if the degradation is gradual.

 

[Lady Lilith]

 

[Lady Lilith]

as much as I wish I could catch a video of it, these pics are the best I can do for now, and even these don't show her doing much but sitting. It's when she is creeping around her tank and she comes to a log or something she needs to crawl over that this "bending in half" thing takes place.

That having been said, has anyone ever noticed anything similar in their sp? If you have a larger T, such as an LP or T. blondi etc, have you noticed the abdomen bend away from the carapace in such a way as to show a great amount of flesh between the two. There is nothing leaking that I can see, and, as if to prove me a fanatically worried mother hen, when I went to take these pics, she was standing on tip toe to leave room for the adult female Dubia she was happily munching on, so I crept back a few hours later and shot them sans food in her mouth.

 

[MassExodus]

I'd have to see more to say one way or another, but I've seen big gaps like that between the carapace and abdomen on spiders. Some just show it more. The bending thing sounds..weird though, could you try to get a pic? I'd be interested to see it.

 

[Lady Lilith]

I'll give it a go tomorrow. Thanks so much for your patience and advice.

 

[Lady Lilith]

Okay, this morning I attempted to prod her into a position where I might grab a photo better depicting what I've seen. I also spent some more time on line last night researching T anatomy, and think I have a possible answer. I've included a pic off the net so we can all see better what I'm describing. Where the carapace meets the abdomen there seems to be a layer of skin that covers the internal stomach and heart "organs". It seems to me, after what I've witnessed, that this occurred when she was a juvie. I remember posting on AB once almost a year ago my concern that her bottom was much too large in comparison to the rest of her body. I had gone to rehouse her and notice when she scrambled to the top of the side of her tank that when I lifted her little enclosure, her butt would wiggle and wave around almost as if it were ready to drop off, like a bobble head on a car dashboard. People being how some of them can be on AB laughed or called me a noob or overly concerned, noone ever hearing of such a thing, what was I doing wrong, put her in the freezer immediately etc, and the only thing I was told was she had a syndrome called "bobble but". Fine. I left it alone as she went into molt a few days later and I attributed her larger than comfy abdomen to that, also it was black and shiny so, duh, yes, she was getting ready to molt. What I am thinking now, however, is that while she was that large she had a fall and the skin between her carapace and abdomen that covers the internal organs split open and has not yet healed, hence my viewing what I thought were tendons or something. Sigh.. Pure conjecture on my part. Pics are included, but none are showing what I've seen. She ate yesterday, moves about normally, has molted as normally as I guess they should, and when I was prodding her over her various logs to try to get her to bend and show the doctor what the complaint is, she didn't present with any defensive postures at all, aside from a quick, hardly serious hair flick or two. I'm not going to even think about putting her in a freezer, thank you very much, as I doubt if she were in any pain she wouldn't be moving, or eating, and would have died during a molt. I thank you all here for being so comforting and helpful.

Namaste

 

[RedCapTrio]

Oh I see what you mean. I think that adjusting feeding schedule would make a difference. Try feeding every two weeks with a roach or two. It might be dragging its abdomen due to being overfed. I am currently having the same issue with my albo. It has a reddish spot under her on the abdomen from dragging its huge butt around. I am currently adjusting her feeding schedule.

 

[Nunua]

The "flesh" you're seeing is tarantula's waist, called pedicel. Tarantulas don't (necessary) have hair on that part, so it might look like flesh or organs.
Since it's not leaking it's not broken or anything, and that is always a good thing.

Could it be that your LP happens to have a bit too long / weak pedicel to hold the weight of the abdomen properly?
Also the abdomen is plump and healthy, so I don't think that you need to be concerned about her eating less. A bit smaller abdomen could even help her pedicel to hold the butt up a bit better.

 

[Lady Lilith]

Well, she's not dragging her abdomen at all really. It's when she walks about her tank and encounters something she needs to climb over. Imagine yourself hoisting your waist over a wall and your torso bending on one side of it and your legs on the other. And now imagine not having any skin on your torso and seeing your internals as you bent over the wall. There you go Best way I can describe it. She walks, lifts herself to eat or cool off just fine. So wish I could get a photo or video. Here is a pic of a T anatomy

 

[Lady Lilith]

The "flesh" you're seeing is tarantula's waist, called pedicel. Tarantulas don't have hair on that part, so it might look like flesh or organs.
Since it's not leaking it's not broken or anything, and that is always a good thing.

Could it be that your LP happens to have a bit too long / weak pedicel to hold the weight of the abdomen properly?
Also the abdomen is plump and healthy, so I don't think that you need to be concerned about her eating less. A bit smaller abdomen could even help her pedicel to hold the butt up a bit better.

BRILLIANT!!!!! Thank you sooooooo much! I do believe you are quite correct in your estimation that the pedicel is too long or weak to hold her phat bottom's weight. So pleased to finally have an explanation. Well done and welcome to the boards Nunua

 

[Lady Lilith]

Oh I see what you mean. I think that adjusting feeding schedule would make a difference. Try feeding every two weeks with a roach or two. It might be dragging its abdomen due to being overfed. I am currently having the same issue with my albo. It has a reddish spot under her on the abdomen from dragging its huge butt around. I am currently adjusting her feeding schedule.

Not really dragging her bottom, more like splits open when bent at the waist. I tried to describe it as over a wall and all the goods are showing. Thank you for your reply though I'm sorry to hear about yours having a rug burn, so to speak. My scorps get like that before they go into hibernation, eat so much they have to drag their tails behind them cause there's no space between substrate and tummy

 

[Nunua]

BRILLIANT!!!!! Thank you sooooooo much! I do believe you are quite correct in your estimation that the pedicel is too long or weak to hold her phat bottom's weight. So pleased to finally have an explanation. Well done and welcome to the boards Nunua

Thank you But please, remember that it was only a guess. I don't own a T yet, so all I say is based on forums, books etc. so I might be completely wrong. I based my hypothesis on the fact that you noticed this "wobbling" some time ago, and if I understood correctly, your girl has gone through normal molting after that - I also believe that if she would've hurt herself and ripped her pedicel area, you should've noticed some leaking body fluids.

Maybe one of the more experienced hobbyist have something to say/guess ( @Enn49 , @Scoolman , @Chubbs )? Could tarantula have a slightly malformed/abnormal pedicel which causes this?

 

[Enn49]

@Nunua I'm sorry I can't help, it's not something I've come across before.

 

[Matt<3Ts]

If the part in the circled area looks like what you saw then it's the T's waist like what @Nunua mentioned above. Nothing to worry about.

 

[Lady Lilith]

Thank you But please, remember that it was only a guess. I don't own a T yet, so all I say is based on forums, books etc. so I might be completely wrong. I based my hypothesis on the fact that you noticed this "wobbling" some time ago, and if I understood correctly, your girl has gone through normal molting after that - I also believe that if she would've hurt herself and ripped her pedicel area, you should've noticed some leaking body fluids.

Maybe one of the more experienced hobbyist have something to say/guess ( @Enn49 , @Scoolman , @Chubbs )? Could tarantula have a slightly malformed/abnormal pedicel which causes this?

In this case, I don't think you are wrong. It stands to reason that, as you all have said, her bum is phat and healthy and FAB, she moves and molts normally, and nothing is leaking, that I've ever noticed. And Matt, yes, that is something of what it looks like, only with Picklez, when she moves about her tank, if she gets to a "wall" she must crawl over, that pedicel opens wide and all I see inside is pink tissue, for lack of a better word, or maybe membrane, and white strips that look like tendons. It's as if you were to take your T and bend it at the waist like a slinky, and the middle opens up to what I've described. At any rate, she seems okay despite this. And if she's not panicking, I'm not panicking (yeah right lol)

 

[Lady Lilith]

and while we are at it, ya'll don't see any signs of mites do you? so far I've managed to avoid them. Also, I have a lovely little A. versicolor that's about 1.5 DSL right now and happily inhabiting an Exo terra mesh top arboreal enclosure. I know they need good cross ventilation, and as she grows this current home will need to be replaced with something more suitable. For now, at her size, I think she gets enough. Any advice on a good enclosure for Arboreals like Avics or Pokies? thank you
Namaste

 

[Nunua]

Well, whatever is the reason for your girl's slightly weird pedicel, I hope it won't start bothering her at any point

 

[MiaWolf42]

@Nunua I'm sorry I can't help, it's not something I've come across before.

I've been raising tarantulas for 19 years and there's so much I haven't delt with yet.