B. boehmei molt issue

Formerphobe · Aug 12, 2012

This female is ~4.0" DLS. I've had her for 19 months, since she was ~0.25 inch. All molts have been uneventful, last one before this one was in April. She gets fed a small to moderate sized meal every 7 to 14 days. She's never been a fat spider. There have been no changes in enclosure or husbandry. I caught these pics of her the day she molted (8/8/2012) before she had righted herself. I thought the epigastric furrow looked a little 'poochy' but figured as she hardened it would return to normal.

Yesterday (4 days post molt) I caught these pics of her when she was up on the glass. (Sorry for the poor quality - best I could do through webbed glass with a cell phone camera...)

Sort of looks like she is trying to prolapse her girl parts. Anyone ever seen this before? I'm planning on putting her on near starvation rations until next molt so as not to put undue pressure on the area.

mmfh · Aug 13, 2012

Never seen this but it does somewhat look like a prolapse. Hope someone can help you out

Formerphobe · Aug 16, 2012

Thoughts? Anyone?

Formerphobe · Aug 19, 2012

Bumping thread

Formerphobe · Jan 31, 2013

Here's what this girl's ventrum looks like 5 months post molt. I've been feeding her sparingly and praying that her next molt is good.

Palespider · Feb 2, 2013

Wow, never seen this happen before. Wish her the best of luck next molt.

Storm76 · Feb 2, 2013

Doesn't look good. I hope it's not some form of zyst or inner injury, Joyce. Crossing fingers she's gonna molt it out just fine.

web eviction · Feb 2, 2013

My B. smithi got a spot like that last molt as well, hers is just a bit lower then your spiders... Hoping it goes away next molt but its gonna be a long wait as she just molted a few months back and her last time between molts was over two years!

jakykong · Feb 2, 2013

web eviction said:
My B. smithi got a spot like that last molt as well, hers is just a bit lower then your spiders... Hoping it goes away next molt but its gonna be a long wait as she just molted a few months back and her last time between molts was over two years!

Think about it this way: You know you get at least 2 more years, right?

Formerphobe · Jul 17, 2013

This girl molted on 6/20/13, a little over 10 months between molts. She's been getting fed one medium sized cricket per month. The exuvium measured a little over 4 inches. Today was the first day she's been positioned that I could get pictures of her epigynal area. It's not fixed. :-(
If anything, it's protruding more. She appears to be doing fine otherwise and took her monthly meal with her regular gusto.

paassatt · Jul 17, 2013

If there were a "dislike this post" option available, I'd be clicking it. This is terrible...sorry to hear the situation didn't remedy itself.

Formerphobe · Jul 17, 2013

paassatt said:
If there were a "dislike this post" option available, I'd be clicking it. This is terrible...sorry to hear the situation didn't remedy itself.

Thanks. Other than to continue the limited rations, I'm sort of at a loss as to what else to do. It will be at least another year, or more, until she molts again. I guess I'll just apply tincture of time and hope for the best.

Storm76 · Jul 20, 2013

That's truely unfortunate, Joyce. I can only hope she'll be able to fix it herself within one of the upcoming molts maybe, but for me that looks like as if it has transformed into some form of cyst.

Formerphobe · Mar 26, 2014

Another molt

It's been nine months since her last molt. Unfortunately I had to go to work today and missed it, so my daughter snapped a couple of pictures of her before she turned over. It's hard to judge by the pictures but, the spermathacae may be prolapsed just a bit more than previously.
Preparing to molt.

Post molt

You can see the aberrant spermathacae in the exuvium beside her.

She may have just been stretching, but her fangs look a little off in this picture.

Exuvium measured 4.75+"

I was thinking, if I had been there right as she came out of the exuvium, I might have gently pushed the prolapse back in and superglued it. Attempts to do that will have to wait another year...

viper69 · Mar 27, 2014

Wouldn't be concerned about the fangs yet. When everything is soft they do A LOT of shifting around, fangs legs etc, it's like a stretching/hardening dance hah.

They should be OK. The other area beyond my experience.

Formerphobe · Mar 27, 2014

viper69 said:
Wouldn't be concerned about the fangs yet. When everything is soft they do A LOT of shifting around, fangs legs etc, it's like a stretching/hardening dance hah.

They should be OK. The other area beyond my experience.

Yes, thank you, Viper. I will try to remember that... :sarcasm:

viper69 · Mar 27, 2014

I was only offering some help, forget I even bothered jeez.

korg · Mar 27, 2014

First time going through this thread... definitely an unfortunate sight.

Formerphobe said:
I was thinking, if I had been there right as she came out of the exuvium, I might have gently pushed the prolapse back in and superglued it. Attempts to do that will have to wait another year...

Do you envision the gluing as just a stopgap measure to lower the risk of tearing/splitting at the "prolapse" site or as something that might actually help the next exoskeleton form in a healthier way?

Formerphobe · Mar 27, 2014

korg said:
First time going through this thread... definitely an unfortunate sight.
Do you envision the gluing as just a stopgap measure to lower the risk of tearing/splitting at the "prolapse" site or as something that might actually help the next exoskeleton form in a healthier way?

I'm thinking after 19 months of it being 'prolapsed' (for lack of a better term...) and sclerotized in that position, it has lost the memory of where it belongs. If I can catch her during ecdysis next year and can reduce or replace it and secure it with a dab of super glue, then maybe it will stay put during the molting process the following year. I've only seen it via pictures this molt. Once she hardens up and is more mobile, I can get a better look to see if it appears to be protruding any further than before.

I just don't know what caused it to start with. She's never been exposed to any chitin inhibitors. No known injuries. Never been bred (and never will be.)

She is normal in all other respects. Excellent feeding response since she only gets one small/medium prey item a month. She thinks I'm starving her! LOL Even on limited rations she grew noticeably. Exuvium from June 2013 measured just a shade over 4.0 inches. Yesterdays' exuvium was greater than 4.75 inches, I could probably get 5" if I were to really flatten it out.

korg · Mar 27, 2014

Formerphobe said:
I'm thinking after 19 months of it being 'prolapsed' (for lack of a better term...) and sclerotized in that position, it has lost the memory of where it belongs. If I can catch her during ecdysis next year and can reduce or replace it and secure it with a dab of super glue, then maybe it will stay put during the molting process the following year. I've only seen it via pictures this molt. Once she hardens up and is more mobile, I can get a better look to see if it appears to be protruding any further than before.

Certainly seems like a reasonable theory. My only concern would be that pushing the prolapsed area back in might create some kind of internal disruption that could complicate the development of the next molt even further. Obviously can't be sure either way, though... will be interested to see how it works out if you do get a chance to try.

Formerphobe said:
I just don't know what caused it to start with. She's never been exposed to any chitin inhibitors. No known injuries. Never been bred (and never will be.)

Perhaps some kind of genetic issue? Maybe a cyst displacing the surrounding tissue out through the epigastric furrow as it grows? When it does die (hopefully many years from now!) it could be enlightening to perform a bit of an autopsy and see if there is actually something unusual/cyst-like up in there.

B. boehmei molt issue

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