Is my A. chalcodes sick?

[Oursapoil]

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.

What are you using to feed her if you do not mind me asking? It might be interesting to offer her something soft and cut in half that you would at least leave overnight. A. chalcodes have a slow growth and mine goes sometimes many months without eating while staying plump but yours appearance is concerning, especially the wrinkles on her abdomen. As @regalspottedbeast mentioned, I thought about dehydration first but with her sucking stomach intact on her molt it is no longer likely. Please try the "soft" prey cut in half and let us know, if it doesn't work I would leave her alone a whole week without disturbance to avoid the stress before trying to offer her food again.

 

[TheFredricus]

What are you using to feed her if you do not mind me asking? It might be interesting to offer her something soft and cut in half that you would at least leave overnight. A. chalcodes have a slow growth and mine goes sometimes many months without eating while staying plump but yours appearance is concerning, especially the wrinkles on her abdomen. As @regalspottedbeast mentioned, I thought about dehydration first but with her sucking stomach intact on her molt it is no longer likely. Please try the "soft" prey cut in half and let us know, if it doesn't work I would leave her alone a whole week without disturbance to avoid the stress before trying to offer her food again.

I tried with crickets, Dubia roaches and superworms, both dead and alive. Never cut them in half though, I will try that, thanks for the tip!
I let them stay in for a day and night and then wait around 5 days before trying again. I keep my T:s in a calm room (and I'm away all day) so there's not a lot of disturbance.
And yeah, I'm used to my oldest spiders going on long hunger strikes, but just as you say, they're already big and plump when they do so.

 

[WolfSpider]

I am still worried about those fangs. are they stuck in that outward position?

 

[TheFredricus]

I am still worried about those fangs. are they stuck in that outward position?

Yeah, they were last time I checked.
Any ideas of what it might be?

 

[regalspottedbeast]

Is it possible that she may have been injured? Possibly from a fall, puncture, or molting issue that caused her to lose some hemolymph?

 

[TheFredricus]

Is it possible that she may have been injured? Possibly from a fall, puncture, or molting issue that caused her to lose some hemolymph?

Maybe, but not likely. She was in a bad condition when I got her, but she got drastically thinner after the molt. The molting itself went on normally, no bleeding from what I could see. The only thing of concern is her left booklung that looks swollen, almost. But it did so before the molt as well. I did catch her with a droplet on the underside of her abdomen the other day, but it could also be water since she has two water bowls that she casually walks over.
I'm wondering though, if she is bleeding or has problems with a lung, that she should have died already? It's been almost exactly one month post molt and she seems just fine.

 

[MBullock]

Swollen booklung may be a sign of small-headed fly parasitoidism.

Small-headed flies attack a wide array of arachnida, but some target tarantulas exclusively- the species in north america that go after aphonopelma actually need a few years to develop- the first larval stage is called a planidium stage which seeks the tarantula, then lodges into a booklung, then goes dormant, waiting til approximately around the ultimate molt to begin consuming its host, they probably wait.

 

[MBullock]

...they probably wait til the final instar to catch the females while males emerge (sorry accidentally cut myself off lol) otherwise they'd have no prey when the spiders seal off during brooding

 

[TheFredricus]

...they probably wait til the final instar to catch the females while males emerge (sorry accidentally cut myself off lol) otherwise they'd have no prey when the spiders seal off during brooding

Yikes, that doesn't sound good at all. But she has been living in captivity in Sweden for at least 6 years, which makes it hard to believe that she's suffering from parasites.

 

[MBullock]

Yikes, that doesn't sound good at all. But she has been living in captivity in Sweden for at least 6 years, which makes it hard to believe that she's suffering from parasites.

Just a possibility, is all. Whenever i see something wrong with booklungs i immediately think of this.

 

[Arachnoclown]

Your decor could be the problem for the book lung. Often with terrestrial spiders, dragging their abdomen on hard surfaces and even rough substrate causes problems with the abdomen and booklungs. Most of these problems are more common with heavier terrestrial spiders but I would say that skull could do the trick in your photos.

 

[regalspottedbeast]

Swollen booklung may be a sign of small-headed fly parasitoidism.

Small-headed flies attack a wide array of arachnida, but some target tarantulas exclusively- the species in north america that go after aphonopelma actually need a few years to develop- the first larval stage is called a planidium stage which seeks the tarantula, then lodges into a booklung, then goes dormant, waiting til approximately around the ultimate molt to begin consuming its host, they probably wait.

Wow.....I've heard of spider fly maggots but never heard of this before. Do you have a link/ some more info on this? I'd love to learn more about it.

 

[TheFredricus]

Your decor could be the problem for the book lung. Often with terrestrial spiders, dragging their abdomen on hard surfaces and even rough substrate causes problems with the abdomen and booklungs. Most of these problems are more common with heavier terrestrial spiders but I would say that skull could do the trick in your photos.

Thank you for the tip @Arachnoclown ! It's the only enclosure I use a "hard" item in, since this T doesn't climb around like most of my other terrestrials do. But I will change things around for her.
Just want to stress that her booklung was damaged before she moved here. The old owners used rocks for substrate for their 3 spiders. (Needless to say I bought 2 of them and made sure they sold their 3rd one to an experienced keeper.)
I'll try feeding her again tomorrow, fingers crossed.

 

[Teresaisrad]

Just want to stress that her booklung was damaged before she moved here. The old owners used rocks for substrate for their 3 spiders.

That makes sense then. Poor BB was dragging about rocks >.<

 

[TheFredricus]

That makes sense then. Poor BB was dragging about rocks >.<

Yes, it definetly makes sense. The skull is removed now, and tomorrow I'll make another feeding attempt.

 

[TheFredricus]

@Arachnoclown Her fangs are still slightly "folded out", is this something to worry about? I'm thinking if her fangs are somehow not usable. Also, she grooms them often.
Would hand feeding her with a pipette be a reasonable last resort? (I'll keep on feeding her normally for now, of course.)

 

[Arachnoclown]

@Arachnoclown Her fangs are still slightly "folded out", is this something to worry about? I'm thinking if her fangs are somehow not usable. Also, she grooms them often.
Would hand feeding her with a pipette be a reasonable last resort? (I'll keep on feeding her normally for now, of course.)

As long as she's eating there's no problem. I once read about a spider that had "buck fangs" and it ate just fine. This spider was always like that.
Maybe yours will correct itself over time molting. As long as she's eating I wouldn't worry. If she can't eat you can always grind up her food and feed her that way. I once fed a spider (Brachypelma hamorii) with no fangs at all for a year waiting for her to molt new fangs.
Being a chalcodes she may or may not eat for a long period of time. This may test your patience a bit. As long as she's drinking water I wouldn't worry too much about the food. Try feeding her ground up food once a week. I was feeding my hamorii with no fangs every two weeks once I got her to eat once. She then stayed pretty regular for me feeding then.

 

[TheFredricus]

As long as she's eating there's no problem. I once read about a spider that had "buck fangs" and it ate just fine. This spider was always like that.
Maybe yours will correct itself over time molting. As long as she's eating I wouldn't worry. If she can't eat you can always grind up her food and feed her that way. I once fed a spider (Brachypelma hamorii) with no fangs at all for a year waiting for her to molt new fangs.
Being a chalcodes she may or may not eat for a long period of time. This may test your patience a bit. As long as she's drinking water I wouldn't worry too much about the food. Try feeding her ground up food once a week. I was feeding my hamorii with no fangs every two weeks once I got her to eat once. She then stayed pretty regular for me feeding then.

Thanks for all the tips! I've had to hand feed my hamorii too one year ago, so I'll give it a try on my aphonopelma if she refuses to eat for a bit longer.
I've heard about the species' notorious hunger strikes, but I've never ever had an ameciated/dehydrated T refuse food.

 

[TheFredricus]

Thanks for all the tips! I've had to hand feed my hamorii too one year ago, so I'll give it a try on my aphonopelma if she refuses to eat for a bit longer.
I've heard about the species' notorious hunger strikes, but I've never ever had an ameciated/dehydrated T refuse food.

Today's update - I left one live and two dead crickets with her today. She FINALLY grabbed a dead one and it looked like she started eating it. I didn't want to disturb her, so when I returned a few hours later, she sat there preening, with the cricket next to her, uneaten. Can this mean that she failed to inject venom in it?

 

[x_raphael_xx]

Today's update - I left one live and two dead crickets with her today. She FINALLY grabbed a dead one and it looked like she started eating it. I didn't want to disturb her, so when I returned a few hours later, she sat there preening, with the cricket next to her, uneaten. Can this mean that she failed to inject venom in it?

If it was already dead, do they need to inject venom?
I assumed they masticated with their fangs to chew up the prey into mush.
Is it more of a liquify and drink dealio?