klandagi
Arachnopeon
- Joined
- Mar 28, 2004
- Messages
- 20
I have a T. Blondi which I've raised from a spiderling. At this point in time he's about oh...4 and a half inches with the leg spread (maybe 5 at most) and has molted 3 or 4 times while in my care. He's always done really well aside from being prone to losing a limb or two every now and then (I have NO idea why this is aside from the fact he likes to try to climb around a lot, yet there isn't anything for him to climb on). Regardless of this, he's always done well until about a few months ago.
He started rubbing his rear with his back legs and the skin began to be irritated. He had a red butt for a good week or more before it calmed down. Do make note that he never ever kicks. I have yet to see him do it once. So he scratched himself bald there and started to decline in health and overall happiness I think (I can just tell). I checked every single inch of him and the enclosure and there were no signs of any outside things like mites etc. (I've dealt with them before once so I know what they're like). I read up in all of my T books and looked things up on the web but found no answers. So I couldn't figure it out and decided to just leave him be and try to make him as comfy as possible as there was little I could do.
He did recover little by little and is doing alright again aside from feeding. Its odd. I have to corral the cricket over towards him with a chopstick repeatedly and he'll try to pounce on it, but miss. When he *does* manage to grab it, he has a hard time holding onto it even though I see he's digging his fangs into it (crunching included) and is doing the whole 'hold onto it' behavior. He gets into the feeding posture and maybe eats a little or just lets it go! I have no idea why he's not eating like crazy as he's still fairly young. Then again he may have hit a slow down with the growth as Ts sometimes do. I'm not sure. He is drinking and moving around and his rear isn't irritated at all these days. Just pink I have also checked around and in his mandibles to be sure there was nothing irritating him there causing problems with feeding. Nothing.
So I'm not sure what to make of all of this. I've kept the humidity between 70-80 percent and keep him at about 80 degrees constantly since I've had him. Is there anything at all I can be doing to help him out or encourage feeding? He's got a large kritter keeper with lots of surface space to move around on so its not as though he's cramped in the least. I just want to make him the happiest he can possibly be and figure out how to give him whatever he's needing that I may not be providing.
Any advice or comments would be most helpful! He's such a sweet little T and he's actually more docile than my G. roseas. I feel like such a bad mom
He's my special little guy and I can't bear the thought of losing him so early on in his life. Also, pictures of your Blondi setups would be great! Thank you all for reading and I look forward to reading what everyone has to say. I really appreciate it.
~Lor
EDIT: Good news! His abdomen is no longer pink but has been getting progressively darker. I'm sure it'll take awhile but he's getting ready to molt!
He started rubbing his rear with his back legs and the skin began to be irritated. He had a red butt for a good week or more before it calmed down. Do make note that he never ever kicks. I have yet to see him do it once. So he scratched himself bald there and started to decline in health and overall happiness I think (I can just tell). I checked every single inch of him and the enclosure and there were no signs of any outside things like mites etc. (I've dealt with them before once so I know what they're like). I read up in all of my T books and looked things up on the web but found no answers. So I couldn't figure it out and decided to just leave him be and try to make him as comfy as possible as there was little I could do.
He did recover little by little and is doing alright again aside from feeding. Its odd. I have to corral the cricket over towards him with a chopstick repeatedly and he'll try to pounce on it, but miss. When he *does* manage to grab it, he has a hard time holding onto it even though I see he's digging his fangs into it (crunching included) and is doing the whole 'hold onto it' behavior. He gets into the feeding posture and maybe eats a little or just lets it go! I have no idea why he's not eating like crazy as he's still fairly young. Then again he may have hit a slow down with the growth as Ts sometimes do. I'm not sure. He is drinking and moving around and his rear isn't irritated at all these days. Just pink I have also checked around and in his mandibles to be sure there was nothing irritating him there causing problems with feeding. Nothing.
So I'm not sure what to make of all of this. I've kept the humidity between 70-80 percent and keep him at about 80 degrees constantly since I've had him. Is there anything at all I can be doing to help him out or encourage feeding? He's got a large kritter keeper with lots of surface space to move around on so its not as though he's cramped in the least. I just want to make him the happiest he can possibly be and figure out how to give him whatever he's needing that I may not be providing.
Any advice or comments would be most helpful! He's such a sweet little T and he's actually more docile than my G. roseas. I feel like such a bad mom
He's my special little guy and I can't bear the thought of losing him so early on in his life. Also, pictures of your Blondi setups would be great! Thank you all for reading and I look forward to reading what everyone has to say. I really appreciate it.
~Lor
EDIT: Good news! His abdomen is no longer pink but has been getting progressively darker. I'm sure it'll take awhile but he's getting ready to molt!
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