Missing leg

MrsHaas · Aug 3, 2015

Woke up this morning to find that my H. incei was missing a leg. The whole leg, not just part. Not sure how it happened, but she doesn't appear to be bleeding. I did feed her a few small crickets yesterday. Should I do anything? I'm leaning towards just leaving her be. Also, how long will it take to regenerate? Like does it grow back little by little each molt? Seems odd to think in one molt it would be back all the way, but I don't know. Thanks guys.

Chris11 · Aug 3, 2015

Ive heard they grow limbs back little by little with each molt, and actually I too woke up this morning to the same situation but worse.

im not gonna hijack your thread so ill start a new one. One leg missing though im sure itll be fine just look for more damage that might be hard to notice.

MrsHaas · Aug 3, 2015

I saw your post good luck w that! :-( however, my girl did not molt. She seems to be mobile. I'll keep checking on her. Is there anything I should look for behavior wise that might allude to bigger problems? I know often times Ts will remove a limb when it is hurt and become cumbersome. I didn't notice if she has hurt herself previously, though.

Chris11 · Aug 3, 2015

As long as shes eating and behaving normally I wouldnt worry at all... thanks for the wish of good luck!

edgeofthefreak · Aug 3, 2015

Chris11 said:
As long as shes eating and behaving normally I wouldnt worry at all... thanks for the wish of good luck!

+1

They can remove a leg, and there's an auto-mechanism in place to stop fluid leaking. They can get stuck in odd places, and if something damages a leg, or a segment, they can remove it themselves.

MrsHaas, have you found the missing leg anywhere in the enclosure? I would worry about your H. incei, as they can take care of themselves. Finding the leg might help you find a reason that it's missing in the first place.

miserykills · Aug 4, 2015

In my experience (which is limited) it will grow back a surprising amount of the leg in one molt but it will look pretty thin and not fully developed is how I would describe it. It will fix its self no problem though. Losing one leg is no big deal. I had a T. stirmi lose two legs from an absolutely awful molt and it is now an 8 legged spider again. It only took one molt for both legs grow back but like i said they are thin and a little shorter than the rest.

alexcta · Aug 4, 2015

It will grow back. Don't worry. My L. violaceopes lost a leg and it grew back to normal size in 3 molts.

MrsHaas · Aug 4, 2015

edgeofthefreak said:
+1

They can remove a leg, and there's an auto-mechanism in place to stop fluid leaking. They can get stuck in odd places, and if something damages a leg, or a segment, they can remove it themselves.

MrsHaas, have you found the missing leg anywhere in the enclosure? I would worry about your H. incei, as they can take care of themselves. Finding the leg might help you find a reason that it's missing in the first place.

I have not found the leg, and I doubt I will, especially bc she is so small (2" approx.) and she has a very elaborate set up. Good to know that she will be fine and I will continue checking on her to make sure not other appendages go missing. If another leg detaches I'm definitely going to lauch a full investigation!! Lol

---------- Post added 08-04-2015 at 08:29 PM ----------

Photos of her enclosure:

Doubt I'll find the leg in here. It probably got stuck somewhere and she just pulled it off. I will continue to monitor her every day until she molts to make sure all is well. Thanks guys for all the help!

--J.Haas

cold blood · Aug 5, 2015

You must have the little guy radio tagged to be able to find it in there.

If I told you I could see the missing leg in the pic, would you believe me??:unsure:

Pokie Master · Aug 5, 2015

You have nothing to worry about unless it was a hungry cricket trying to eat the spider. With the next molt the entire leg should be back and be fully functional. It will look smaller or thinner than the others. And with the next molt after that it should look about the same as the others.

MrsHaas · Aug 6, 2015

cold blood said:
You must have the little guy radio tagged to be able to find it in there.

If I told you I could see the missing leg in the pic, would you believe me??:unsure:

Lol, looks like an I-spy book, huh? Well, she kicks it usually in a certain dug out corner and is surprisingly easy to locate lol. Just shine a light and her golden striped bumble bee booty is illuminated, giving her location away immediately! It's a neat trick I learned on accident...

Ellenantula · Aug 6, 2015

Love the enclosure decor

(and sorry about the leg loss but sure it will moult back eventually)

MrsHaas · Aug 7, 2015

Ellenantula said:
Love the enclosure decor

(and sorry about the leg loss but sure it will moult back eventually)

Thanks!! My hubby always goes a little overboard lol we actually made the enclosure too

El Consciente · Aug 7, 2015

It's not unusual to lose a leg or two now and again. One of the bothersome downsides of having segmented appendages...

Unless it's some egregious injury a wound will seal itself off and the T will go about its business. A missing leg will regenerate fully functional following the next molt, although it'll take few molts before it returns to the original size. Severed legs are generally nothing to worry about in a captive T

Missing leg

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