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I’m an amateur, please help :)

Julieta

New Member
Messages
2
Location
Mexico City
So I got my first tarantula about a month and a half ago. It’s a Brachypelma Smithi, she’s pretty young but I don’t know if I could call it a sling. The problem is, she hasn’t accepted any food in 20 days, and I know she might be in premolting, but i think it has been too long, and she hasn’t even started doing her web. I don’t know if it’s because she doesn’t like her enclosure, because she has been digging a lot
Another thing is, I’m pretty sure her leg was injured when I bought it, and it has just gotten worse.

I will insert pictures of the enclosure, the tarantula and her injured leg, and the digging she has done. Please tell me if I should be concerned and what should I change
 

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Jess S

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1,197
Location
South Wales
I have a B. Smithi sling ( yours has adult colours so not a sling anymore) and it's one of my worst eaters. Plus it also goes on fasts of a couple of weeks at a time and more. It however, is the picture of health. Sizewise, your one looks healthy too so dont worry about it not eating!

The injured leg to me looks like a regenerated leg, meaning that a previous leg got injured and the new one grew back in its place. If the new one is injured, then as the Clown says it will generate another one. The new one will be skinnier than the rest but over a couple of moults, it'll grow until you can't tell a difference between it and the other 7.

Finally, you could do with a lot more substrate in the enclosure to prevent your smithi from falling and injuring itself. A rough guide is that you should leave room of no more than 1.5 of your T's dls (diagonal leg span) between the lid of the enclosure and the substrate. For example, if you have a 1" spider, then the distance of substrate to lid should be around 1.5".

Hope that helps a bit.
 

Tarantulabas1993

Active Member
Messages
230
Location
Lynchburg,Va
I have experienced the same thing, dont worry about it. Typical behavior for taurantulas, just give her plenty of fresh water and let nature do its thing. Tarantulas especially this species are very hardy and can adapt to their environment. My arizona blonde burrowed when I forgot to turn the heat on, she made a burrow to escape the cold so they are pretty hardy.
 

Phil

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3 Year Member
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3,919
Location
UK.
That tarantula is obviously dying! Get her to your local ER, stat! It could be impaction or nematodes!

I'm j/k...
good to hear from you again!

To the OP @Julieta all the advice provided is spot on. Fresh water is all you need to worry about, the leg is not a worry at all. Some sites even sell "gimp" spiders at a discounted ate if missing a keg but they regenerate and so after a couple of moults you have a perfectly normal spider at a cheaper price if willing to take those on.

*"Gimp" is a term used by the sites, not me btw.
 

m0lsx

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Norwich, UK
Some sites even sell "gimp" spiders at a discounted rate if missing a leg but they regenerate and so after a couple of moults you have a perfectly normal spider at a cheaper price if willing to take those on.

*"Gimp" is a term used by the sites, not me btw.

@ Julieta

I brought a set of 4 B grade gimps from the Spider Shop for £70, back in July. All 4 were minus a leg, but all 4 now have all 8 legs again. And all 4 gained thier leg back after a single molt, even if the current leg is a little thin. They were a great buy & something I would do again.

I seem to remember reading on here about someone who rescued a wild T with only 5 legs too.

My post about buying my gimps..
https://www.tarantulaforum.com/threads/4-b-grade-gimps-from-the-spider-shop.24720/#post-156891
 

Domondios

New Member
Messages
21
Location
Johannesburg, South Africa
So I got my first tarantula about a month and a half ago. It’s a Brachypelma Smithi, she’s pretty young but I don’t know if I could call it a sling. The problem is, she hasn’t accepted any food in 20 days, and I know she might be in premolting, but i think it has been too long, and she hasn’t even started doing her web. I don’t know if it’s because she doesn’t like her enclosure, because she has been digging a lot
Another thing is, I’m pretty sure her leg was injured when I bought it, and it has just gotten worse.

I will insert pictures of the enclosure, the tarantula and her injured leg, and the digging she has done. Please tell me if I should be concerned and what should I change

You have a beautiful adult T. Can't wait to see my little fella grow into its adult attire :)

I would recommend that you put in a smaller feature for hiding and getting cover. Not much space around the enclosure for the T to move, which will result in a comfier environment without being squeezed into small spaces. This is only my opinion as I've only just recently bought my first ever T-sling... Mexican Fireleg. I've raised and bred with Bearded Dragons, so I've tried to apply what I learned from them as they originate from the Australian Desert. Good Luck
 

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