Gimpy slings?

skippydude

skippydude

Arachnobaron
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Feb 3, 2013
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I was given a few P irminia 2i slings because they were basically bottom of the barrel stock. 2 of them have one or two twisted legs which have acclimated to their enclosures quite well, webbing and eating just fine. One more that has 8 twisted legs which has not acclimated to it's enclosure, isn't noticeably eating and hasn't webbed anything. I've only had them for about a week or so. I have a huge question I need answered "Do y'all think these twisted sling issues are environmental or genetic?" I'm looking to raise a boyfriend for my AF and most definitely DO NOT want to weaken the gene pool of CB irminia. I'd rather squish a bad sling than pass bad genes on to others :confused:

I'm hoping it was a poor job on incubation and they will molt out of it.
 
Hobo

Hobo

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Wait for a molt and see how it looks then. Sometimes they will get curved limbs and other gimpy appendages because of circumstances during molting with a bunch of rowdy siblings milling about. Sometimes it is genetic and will remain that way indefinitely. One way to know for sure is if it corrects itself with successive molts or not.
 
AudreyElizabeth

AudreyElizabeth

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Wait and see, wait and see. You are a long way from pairing them with anything. :) I would wait several molts.
 
skippydude

skippydude

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edgeofthefreak said:
Agreed. I meant no offense, in fact, I believe I jumped at the use of "squish". My apologies.
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No apology needed, I knew I'd get some reactions from a bold statement like that. As a breeder of any species of animal, you have to make hard decisions sometimes. No way a guy that is bringing thousands of new lives in the world can care for every one that that is too weak to care for itself. On occasion Euthanasia is the only compassionate thing to do.

If it were possible to spay or neuter tarantulas I could see my way to adopting genetically deformed specimens out. My opinion is, anyone breeding T's,that releases bad genes into the general public even as a pet, should not be breeding. They would be giving the opportunity for these genes to spread through the hobby. To me this is actually crueler than squishing a couple gimpy slings now and then.
 
edgeofthefreak

edgeofthefreak

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skippydude said:
No apology needed, I knew I'd get some reactions from a bold statement like that. As a breeder of any species of animal, you have to make hard decisions sometimes. No way a guy that is bringing thousands of new lives in the world can care for every one that that is too weak to care for itself. On occasion Euthanasia is the only compassionate thing to do.

If it were possible to spay or neuter tarantulas I could see my way to adopting genetically deformed specimens out. My opinion is, anyone breeding T's,that releases bad genes into the general public even as a pet, should not be breeding. They would be giving the opportunity for these genes to spread through the hobby. To me this is actually crueler than squishing a couple gimpy slings now and then.
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I'm still so green, I can't even imagine taking care of that many at once. I have a mealworm farm, and a series of springtail colonies, and that's enough quantity for me. :D I know I'd have a hard time making the hard decisions, but you're right, if you can't devote good care, due to them being malformed (thus requiring EXTRA care), then the right thing to do is end the suffering.

I think I know why breeding of these lovelies scares the beejezus outta me. :) Hadn't considered the harder parts of it. When I first heard of keeping 2i together so "the strong would survive" I got heated as well. But it was cleverly pointed out, that's the reason some species have 2000+ babies, not all are born strong enough to make it anyway.... to breed THOSE would be adding weakness to the pool.

Oh learning, you are so cruel sometimes....
 
skippydude

skippydude

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UPDATE:

One of the gimpy slings molted yesterday. Came through a rough molt with only 6 legs. This morning I found it dead :(
 
lacrosse5001

lacrosse5001

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This just makes me sad. I was really hoping for a strong comeback story. I would guess the shape of the legs prevented effective removal of the new legs from the old Exo. Sad times.
 
awiec

awiec

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Hopefully the others make it. I've had a sling go through a bad molt and only had 5 usable legs, it has since molted and is a very active and healthy; the amazing thing about spiders is that with a little extra care they will fix themselves. But some individuals are just weak and most of the time nature will sort them out.
 
skippydude

skippydude

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Lost one more today, curled up and died, probably molting :(

The last of the three, was the least gimpy. The first pair of legs are slightly bent. Pretty sure this one isn't so deformed that it can't molt. Guess I'll know soon enough
 
skippydude

skippydude

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Finally some good news, gimpy sling #3 molted. It came through like a champ and the once twisted legs, appear to have straightened out :D
 
awiec

awiec

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skippydude said:
Finally some good news, gimpy sling #3 molted. It came through like a champ and the once twisted legs, appear to have straightened out :D
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Awesome, now you can enjoy your free spider. It should be fine now it has gone through this molt. My once gimpy sling has completed another molt since its recovery molt and seems quite fine and I expect to have it with me for a long time.
 
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