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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Eighth Eye Blind" data-source="post: 239178" data-attributes="member: 49683">I know that this is an older thread and I'm kinda throwing a curveball at it, but . . . The fact that two individuals with the same problem came from the same pet store raises the specter of insecticide poisoning.Neonicotinoid insecticides like imidacloprid are found in some flea and tick collars and medications (e.g. - Seresto, Advantage, etc.). This class of pesticides isn't as generally toxic to spiders and other invertebrates as some chemicals, but they do have nasty non-lethal effects.One of those nasty effects is a breakdown of the cuticle and separation of the epidermis from the endocuticle. (Or, in regular person language, the exoskeleton gets detached from the internal tissue with fluid filling up the space between them.) Although I’ve never seen the effects of this in person, I’d expect it to look a lot like what happened to your T’s legs during their molts.Imidacloprid also causes generalized weakness and temporary paralysis in spiders that would lead to trouble molting as well. Neonicotinoids are also known to affect molting and post-molt mortality in blue crabs so there’s evidence of these effects in other inverts.It’s therefore possible that the shop where you got them was using a flea and tick treatment containing imidacloprid on some of their furry offerings and it ended up contaminating the tarantula enclosure. This is really easy to do by not washing hands after handling some puppies and then going over to take care of the spiders. Looking at what happened to the two T’s that came from the same source and knowing what (little) we do about the effects of imidacloprid I’d say there’s at least a chance that it’s the villain that got to your T’s.I’m really sorry you lost those animals. I hope that you’ve been able to replace them.</blockquote>

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