Please Help: Large amount of white mold on tarantula, lethargic, bleeding. (PICTURES)

I bought a 4" female versicolor about a month ago, she was a little skinny, but freshly molted, active, and hungry. Her diet has been mature male dubia. About four days ago I saw she had a dime-sized amount of white fuzz growing on the top of her abdomen, I am assuming fungus. She was alert and active, not lethargic.

I gently rubbed a q-tip on her to try to determine what it was and she began to bleed. I wiped away the blood and as much of the white mold as I could and applied liquid bandaid. It seemed to work for a day, but the next day she was bleeding again so I cleaned her and applied more liquid bandaid. The next two days she seemed fine, the bandaid was dry, and no mold.

It has been four days, the mold is back, and she's bleeding, there is obviously a hole but it seems to be the size of a large pinprick. Now she is lethargic and he abdomen is looking a little deflated.

I was reluctant to put her in an ICU, because the mold would flourish in that environment, but she is so dehydrated now I have no choice.

Any advice would be much appreciated. Pictures shown below were taken when I found her today before I cleaned her up again. (The liquid behind the mold is a large amount of blood.)
I have never seen something like this happen before and I have been in the hobby for eight years.

Thanks for the help, Frank IV

What you can do is put her in something like an ICU BUT just provide her with a water dish as she will be able to drink (or cup her and dip her mouth in the water dish to drink) but it won't be super moist for the fungus/mold. For the wound I'd suggest putting cornstarch or super glue on it to keep the wound from opening back up again. First time I've seen fungus/mold on a spider but this is the best idea I have.

I like the liquid bandaid more than unforgiving superglue. I have to wonder just how damp its enclosure is. I keep mine dry, with only a water dish for humidity and excellent cross ventilation...I can't imagine mold being able to grow in that environment. I know you're an experienced keeper, so I doubt its being kept too damp. I almost wonder if the wound itself isn't what attracted the mold in the first place. The only way I know of to halt mold is with dry conditions and excellent ventilation...if you already have that, I am at a loss. I agree though, I'd worry about "normal" ICU conditions as it would make for an environment ripe for mold growth. Have you offered her water with a syringe or something? I'd try that along with a dry ICU.

Hopefully someone has better ideas, it may take more of an "out of the box" approach. Best of luck with her, she's otherwise gorgeous.

If it's still growing in the dry ICU then it's probably getting it's moisture from your Ts insides. Try to get some spring tails or sow bugs to eat the mold (would that work?) or put her in the freezer. Good luck with your T.

Arachnomaniac19 said:

If it's still growing in the dry ICU then it's probably getting it's moisture from your Ts insides. Try to get some spring tails or sow bugs to eat the mold (would that work?) or put her in the freezer. Good luck with your T.

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Ignore this.

Sorry to hear about your T man. If it was me, I would go all or nothing. I would go get some athletes foot medication (anti-fungal), wipes if possible, clean up the would as best as you can with a cotton swab, close the wound with superglue (it may be unforgiving but it is effective) and then swab with the athletes foot medication very gently. At best it kills whatever mold or fungus is attacking your poor T and worst case scenario it speeds up the inevitable. I don't know if it would help but it seems as good as anything else. Keep us posted friend.

Edit: One more thing, you can put a T in the freezer for just a few minutes to slow them down. It sounds cruel but a little discomfort for the T may make it easier to work with. In a situation like this, I wouldn't worry about doing anymore damage as it sounds pretty terminal as it is. Desperate times and all that. All the best my friend.

Python said:

Edit: One more thing, you can put a T in the freezer for just a few minutes to slow them down. It sounds cruel but a little discomfort for the T may make it easier to work with. In a situation like this, I wouldn't worry about doing anymore damage as it sounds pretty terminal as it is. Desperate times and all that. All the best my friend.

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A better way would be to make it take a nap by placing the spider in a small container and filling it with CO2

I don't know how a steroidal antifungal would affect a tarantula. Plain baking soda is an antifungal and because it is a powder it is drying and has the ability to aid in clotting/scabing. I also thought about tea tree oil but it is used in natural spider repellant so that might not be so good to use.

Whatever you do I hope she pulls through, that looks pretty awful.

Did you mention this to the dealer..?

telepatella said:

Did you mention this to the dealer..?

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I don't think that would do any good. That pinhole could've been made by a roach leg. That really sucks Frank. I hope you can get her patched up. She's such a pretty girl. Good luck bro.

I'm reluctant to post because I have zero experience with anything like this, and am very new to the hobby. But this is breaking my heart, poor girl. I googled, and I've found this first aid page on applying betadine (10% iodine, water based) to the affected area.

I have no idea if that's helpful or not, but it's what I found. I saw conflicting reports on iodine, but that was straight iodine.

I sure hope you figure something out though. :[

Actually I think the betadine may help. I use betadine to help with my athletes foot problem and it seems to keep things better under control. Also I use it on just about every cut or scrape I ever have and my cuts and scrapes will heal up within a day or two vs. a week or more if I don't use betadine. That's important since my diabetes can make healing cuts and stuff problematic.

any update on your girl?

This is going to sound very strange but try Monistat external cream it works very quickly on fungal of all kinds I have used it on a T that was attacked by ants and grew a patch on its leg, the cream wiped it out almost over night and because it's a cream it stays put. I have also used it on my dog who has allergic reactions and it clears it up right away.

goodoldneon said:

Ignore this.

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Why? If I'm saying something incorrect it would be better to point it out and explain it than just say it's wrong with no explanation as to why.

Blue Jaye said:

This is going to sound very strange but try Monistat external cream it works very quickly on fungal of all kinds I have used it on a T that was attacked by ants and grew a patch on its leg, the cream wiped it out almost over night and because it's a cream it stays put. I have also used it on my dog who has allergic reactions and it clears it up right away.

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I've heard of doing this too to treat mold infections in T's.... I can't imagine why it would hurt at any rate.

When I used it on my vagens he was very weak from the ant attack and 4 months later he is doing well eating and roaming about, the cream seemed to have no side effect and mold was gone and hasn't returned

NewAgePrimal said:

I don't think that would do any good. That pinhole could've been made by a roach leg. That really sucks Frank. I hope you can get her patched up. She's such a pretty girl. Good luck bro.

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The dealer should be aware of this. I'm not suggesting you seek a refund.

Please Help: Large amount of white mold on tarantula, lethargic, bleeding. (P...

Hello, I hope she is strong, I think her wounds keep reopening because it is located at a body part that is subjected to stress motion, so it is probably good that you put her in a tight space to restrict her moving too much whilst her wound heals. You might want to explore a natural clotting agent - chitosan - it's safe and made from shrimp/shellfish. If you get it from the health store - get the the capsule form - otherwise the medical ones used for treating bleeding from the pharmacy comes in bandage form (I think it sells under name CELOX) - do not use styptic powder as some contains copper sulphate and are toxic to invertebrates.
The chitosan turns into a gel that will stop the bleeding and will eventually dry to a scab. I think you can explore the baking soda when the bleeding is under control and you need to stop the mould. Chitosan has anti bacterial properties and it will bind with the hemolymph. Good luck and my best wishes for a full recovery for your T


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