T. Stirmi fang stuck completely out

samatwwe · Jun 14, 2014

So I went to the Hamburg reptile show today and picked up a few T's. One was a Huge adult "female" T. Stirmi. When I looked at her I noticed one fang was sticking straight out like she was cleaning it or so I assumed. I didn't pay it much attention unfortunately and it is now 5 hours later and the fang is still sticking out while the other fang is perfectly fine and tucked in like normal. Any ideas what I can do? This T is new to me so I don't have a whole lot of info on its background. I have her in a 10 gallon aquarium halfway filled with a moist mixture of topsoil/EcoEarth with a hide and water dish. She's wondering about just fine and looks okay besides the fang. I will try to upload pics later today. I hope someone can help me out. Thanks

P.S. I tried touching the fang lightly with a Q-tip to see if it would actually move and it moved very easily. When she leans on the Fang it moves in but when she's off of it, it seems like "spring-loaded" as it points right back out.

Cavedweller · Jun 14, 2014

My MF Aphonopelma did this recently as well (though not to the extreme degree of your strimi). Her fang was like that for a couple weeks, I'm still not sure what happened. I assumed she injured it somehow, since I noticed it right after she ate, but I fed her two weeks later and she had no problem eating again.

samatwwe · Jun 15, 2014

Cavedweller said:
My MF Aphonopelma did this recently as well (though not to the extreme degree of your strimi). Her fang was like that for a couple weeks, I'm still not sure what happened. I assumed she injured it somehow, since I noticed it right after she ate, but I fed her two weeks later and she had no problem eating again.

Did you feed her while the fang was still out and it went back in after?

samatwwe · Jun 15, 2014

Does anybody have advice? Should I still feed her?

Hobo · Jun 15, 2014

Yeah, of course you want to try feeding her. If she is eating you can't really do much else than keep an eye on it and hope it corrects itself soon, or on the next molt.

Cavedweller · Jun 15, 2014

samatwwe said:
Did you feed her while the fang was still out and it went back in after?

Yeah, I think it went back in after eating. She's quite plump and has been doing a ton of home renovations since then, so I'm not real worried about it.

samatwwe · Jun 16, 2014

So I offered her a nice fat dubia roach and she took it instantly and stopped it's squirming real quick

she's been eating it just fine but I realized she is actually only using her fang that seems to work fine. The fang that hangs out still just hangs there as she eats. Should I just not worry and see what happens next molt? I'm definitely less stressed since she ate.

Cavedweller · Jun 16, 2014

I'm no expert, but if she's eating fine it sounds like it won't be a problem. Hopefully you'll be able to inspect her next molt and examine the fang.

Edit: Just got a look at mine, her fang is still out too.

samatwwe · Jul 2, 2014

Pics

Here are some pictures finally View attachment 128026 View attachment 128027

Cavedweller · Jul 2, 2014

Wow, that things really far out! I still wonder how this kinda thing happens.

awiec · Jul 3, 2014

Cavedweller said:
Wow, that things really far out! I still wonder how this kinda thing happens.

There may have been some muscle damage at where the fang is on the chelicerae since they can retract their fangs in the "out" and "in" position; but she cannot do that so it just stays "out"

Cavedweller · Jul 3, 2014

awiec said:
There may have been some muscle damage at where the fang is on the chelicerae since they can retract their fangs in the "out" and "in" position; but she cannot do that so it just stays "out"

Any idea how that might happen? I wondered if mine somehow damaged her tooth while carrying around her water bowl, but its just a flimsy plastic deli cup so that doesn't seem real likely.

awiec · Jul 3, 2014

Cavedweller said:
Any idea how that might happen? I wondered if mine somehow damaged her tooth while carrying around her water bowl, but its just a flimsy plastic deli cup so that doesn't seem real likely.

Just could have been some improper muscle attachment before she molted as a spider has to attach its muscles to its new skin before it molts; which may explain the un-coordination and sluggishness some Ts have before they molt, I know mine do.

samatwwe · Jul 4, 2014

So she's been eating great for me so far. I noticed last night that she caught the dubia with her only "working" fang and the other fang just kind of hung there and didn't do anything. She seems to be able to eat fine though

Cavedweller · Jul 4, 2014

That's great to hear! In that case all you gotta do is wait for it to get fixed in a molt.

T. Stirmi fang stuck completely out

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