Is my A. chalcodes sick?

[TheFredricus]

Hi guys, I really need some good advice.

About half a year ago, I adopted an Aphonopelma chalcodes (assumably female) that was unfortunately maltreated by her previous owners. I noticed right away that her abdomen was very thin for her size, but she did eat a cricket after moving here. I also noticed that one of her booklungs looked a bit swollen (see picture).
She molted one month ago, and she looks really ameciated. She absolutely refuses to eat anything, dead or alive. She walks around with her fangs out, I've never seen this behaviour in a tarantula before, and she is often seen preening and cleaning her fangs. Today I noticed moisture around the strange-looking booklung (see picture). It might just be that she dipped her abdomen in the water bowl, but I'm really worried about her condition nontheless. She moves around normally and has both been drinking and defacating after molting. But her fangs, lung and refusal to have any food worries me sick.
I have risen the temperature in her enclosure which made her a little more active, but she's still refusing food. The funny thing is that she does seem to have a feeding response at first, but just ignores the food or slowly backs away from it when it gets too close.

The pictures show her strange "swollen" booklung (right after molting), how she keeps her fangs out and how the T looks with her small abdomen.

 

[birdonfire]

This is an Az blond?

 

[WolfSpider]

@Arachnoclown : is there a post molt fang problem here?

 

[octanejunkie]

Do you still have the molt/exo you can share pics of?

 

[TheFredricus]

This is an Az blond?

It's supposed to be, yes. I know it doesn't look like one though. It was much more blonde before molting.

 

[TheFredricus]

Do you still have the molt/exo you can share pics of?

I do, I can upload pics when I'm back from work. Are there any areas in particular you're interested in?

 

[octanejunkie]

I do, I can upload pics when I'm back from work. Are there any areas in particular you're interested in?

Yes

Sucking stomach

Everyone gets excited to have their spider finally molt and examine it for its sex. Theres one other thing you should be looking for and it's super easy to spot...the sucking stomach. I recently had a already sexed juvenile Tliltocatl Sabulosum molt so I just tossed her molt in the trash. A few...

tarantulaforum.com

There are other concerns but that area in particular may prove telling

 

[Arachnoclown]

What's the spiders history? Wild caught? Recovery from a parasite? Nerve damage from a attack? Alphonopelma chalcodes often are wild caught, may have many things wrong with it.

 

[TheFredricus]

What's the spiders history? Wild caught? Recovery from a parasite? Nerve damage from a attack? Alphonopelma chalcodes often are wild caught, may have many things wrong with it.

@Arachnoclown I don't think it's wildly caught since I live in Sweden and the species is rare here in the hobby. But you never know, maybe it was imported as a sling. The T was previously owned by an "old lady", and when she couldn't take care of it anymore it ended up in a home with reptiles where the owners unfortunately mistreated the spider out of ignorance. I managed to talk them over to sell it to me. They couldn't give me any information about the T since they were very ignorant about tarantulas, unfortunately.

 

[regalspottedbeast]

The shriveled abdomen is a red flag to me. Looks dehydrated. Could be a sucking stomach issue.

 

[TheFredricus]

The shriveled abdomen is a red flag to me. Looks dehydrated. Could be a sucking stomach issue.

Yeah, it might be. I'm on my way home now, gonna check her latest molt for details.

 

[TheFredricus]

The shriveled abdomen is a red flag to me. Looks dehydrated. Could be a sucking stomach issue.

Yeah, it might be. I'm on my way home now, gonna check her latest molt for details

Yeah, it might be. I'm on my way home now, gonna check her latest molt for details.

 

[TheFredricus]

@octanejunkie @Arachnoclown
I took a closer look at her latest molt now, and it looks like the sucking stomache is there? I tried my best at taking a decent photo.
It occurred to me though that I caught her drinking after molting. Not sure if that's any help.

 

[Oursapoil]

@octanejunkie @Arachnoclown
I took a closer look at her latest molt now, and it looks like the sucking stomache is there? I tried my best at taking a decent photo.
It occurred to me though that I caught her drinking after molting. Not sure if that's any help.

It is definitely there and not missing any part. At least it is one thing to remove from all our hypotheses.

 

[TheFredricus]

It is definitely there and not missing any part. At least it is one thing to remove from all our hypotheses.

Thanks for the input, that's a relief to hear. I guess I'll just have to wait and see. Still, I'm happy for all the ideas I can get!

 

[octanejunkie]

It is definitely there and not missing any part. At least it is one thing to remove from all our hypotheses.

Thanks for the input, that's a relief to hear. I guess I'll just have to wait and see. Still, I'm happy for all the ideas I can get!

I was going to suggest a different angle pic...

 

[Oursapoil]

I was going to suggest a different angle pic...

Please accept my apologies, I sometimes forget how old you are and do not take in consideration your bad eyesight

 

[TheFredricus]

I was going to suggest a different angle pic...

Anything in particular we're looking for?
As far as I can tell, it looks like a normal molt, no injuries.

 

[Oursapoil]

You got it from a lady and she was already adult size. Would you happen to know when the lady acquired it and how old or big was it when she first got it (how long did she care for it?)? A. chalcodes are one of the Ts that lives the longest but I am wondering if this is not a grandma toward the end of her life.

 

[TheFredricus]

You got it from a lady and she was already adult size. Would you happen to know when the lady acquired it and how old or big was it when she first got it (how long did she care for it?)? A. chalcodes are one of the Ts that lives the longest but I am wondering if this is not a grandma toward the end of her life.

The couple who sold the T to me said that she was 5-6 years old, which I'm not sure I believe if it's a mature female, also considering the size of her head and fangs. I will contact them tomorrow and see if I can get any more information. But it's hard since they got it from some aquantice who knew a lady who had the spider, plus the fact that they knew absolutely nothing about tarantulas. They didn't even know that females live longer than males and thought that keeping tarantulas with rocks for substrate and throwing in 10 crickets at a time was a good idea... to mention some things. One of her spineretts have been bitten off and one of the lungs look swollen and strange, but she did eat once before molting.