what does this mean? juvenile B. albo feeding incident

KristinaMG

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I have a juvenile B. albopilosum, at least 2.5 inches, probably closer to 3 inches. Calling it "she" but as yet unsexed. She molted about 2 weeks ago, so she is not premolt. She is normally a good eater. Her first meal after molting she took fine, and they were medium sized crickets. 2 days ago I dropped two large crickets in. It was the first time I offered large, but she is plenty big enough to handle them. They were also the smallest of the "large" I had, definitely not beasts by any stretch. Today I found them deposited on the farthest corner away from her burrow, both deposited together there. One looked like it may have been sucked on for a while, the other was very intact, though very dead and mushy looking. Why do you think she killed them but didn't eat them? Was she not hungry but needed to defend her turf, or do you think she was unhappy about the switch to larger prey? TIA for any insight.
 

viper69

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I have a juvenile B. albopilosum, at least 2.5 inches, probably closer to 3 inches. Calling it "she" but as yet unsexed. She molted about 2 weeks ago, so she is not premolt. She is normally a good eater. Her first meal after molting she took fine, and they were medium sized crickets. 2 days ago I dropped two large crickets in. It was the first time I offered large, but she is plenty big enough to handle them. They were also the smallest of the "large" I had, definitely not beasts by any stretch. Today I found them deposited on the farthest corner away from her burrow, both deposited together there. One looked like it may have been sucked on for a while, the other was very intact, though very dead and mushy looking. Why do you think she killed them but didn't eat them? Was she not hungry but needed to defend her turf, or do you think she was unhappy about the switch to larger prey? TIA for any insight.
She wasnt hungry. Many Ts do what you observed.

Albo's are excellent eaters, probably the best of the Brachy's IMO. One thing I have learned in some Ts, despite a specimen being large enough to eat a certain size cricket, there are some that simply won't and prefer smaller prey. Conversely as Ts get larger, some, esp all of my Brachy's, may tend to ignore the smaller crickets, simply not worth the energy they expend to get such a small meal. Mind you, my Brachy's aren't starving either, so they can wait for a juicy fat dinner.
 

KristinaMG

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She wasnt hungry. Many Ts do what you observed.

Albo's are excellent eaters, probably the best of the Brachy's IMO. One thing I have learned in some Ts, despite a specimen being large enough to eat a certain size cricket, there are some that simply won't and prefer smaller prey. Conversely as Ts get larger, some, esp all of my Brachy's, may tend to ignore the smaller crickets, simply not worth the energy they expend to get such a small meal. Mind you, my Brachy's aren't starving either, so they can wait for a juicy fat dinner.
Okay thanks. I have still had her on the more aggressive feeding schedule (feeding her twice per week) that I was using to get her out of the sling stage. Now that she is getting bigger it is probably time to drop to weekly feeding instead.
 

viper69

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Okay thanks. I have still had her on the more aggressive feeding schedule (feeding her twice per week) that I was using to get her out of the sling stage. Now that she is getting bigger it is probably time to drop to weekly feeding instead.
I feed mine only slightly less than when she was 2". She's a young female, about 4.5" DLS. I don't believe in rationing out food like she lives in a Nazi concentration camp. Though at one point she stopped eating for about 16 months straight, then she molted, and she's back to eating like a fiend now that she is larger.
 

KristinaMG

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I feed mine only slightly less than when she was 2". She's a young female, about 4.5" DLS. I don't believe in rationing out food like she lives in a Nazi concentration camp. Though at one point she stopped eating for about 16 months straight, then she molted, and she's back to eating like a fiend now that she is larger.
I definitely don't underfeed. If anything I sometimes worry about over-feeding my larger Ts. Obviously this one is still growing, but I have a hard time figuring out if it is possible to over feed an adult or subadult T that never rejects a meal. There seems to be conflicting information on that from what I have read. I have a 5 inch female B. smithi that will seriously never reject a meal unless premolt. She eats 4 crickets twice per week (so 8 per week total) and still acts like she's ready for more. I am unsure at what point you hold back, if at all.
 

Swifty

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Ok, what I'm going to say isn't to alarm you, but to just check it off your list of potential reasons. Check the mouth. Should have a clean mouth with dry reddish bristles. If it looks like an off white creamy wet look, you could have more serious problems, so I'd be safe and check that off your list first.
 

BobGrill

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Ok, what I'm going to say isn't to alarm you, but to just check it off your list of potential reasons. Check the mouth. Should have a clean mouth with dry reddish bristles. If it looks like an off white creamy wet look, you could have more serious problems, so I'd be safe and check that off your list first.
There's no need to be causing unnecessary panic. Nothing here has indicated the presence of what you're thinking. I think you're really jumping to conclusions.

Sent from my LG-D801 using Tapatalk
 

KristinaMG

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Ok, what I'm going to say isn't to alarm you, but to just check it off your list of potential reasons. Check the mouth. Should have a clean mouth with dry reddish bristles. If it looks like an off white creamy wet look, you could have more serious problems, so I'd be safe and check that off your list first.
She looks fine from above, but I can't really see her mouth parts from underneath unless I take her out. She is always either in her burrow out of view or standing over it so I don't get a good angle. She's one of yours by the way. What issue are you alluding to? Some kind of disease?
 

BobGrill

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She looks fine from above, but I can't really see her mouth parts from underneath unless I take her out. She is always either in her burrow out of view or standing over it so I don't get a good angle. She's one of yours by the way. What issue are you alluding to? Some kind of disease?
Nematodes will often appear as a white blob in and around the spider's mouth. Yours doesn't seem to be showing any signs of an infestation. That's why I don't think saying "your tarantula may have nematodes." when we have no reason to think this is just plain silly and not a good thing to tell someone who is relatively new to this hobby. That's like telling someone they have cancer when you have no evidence that suggests this. It's just a bad idea.

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viper69

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Nematodes will often appear as a white blob in and around the spider's mouth. Yours doesn't seem to be showing any signs of an infestation. That's why I don't think saying "your tarantula may have nematodes." when we have no reason to think this is just plain silly and not a good thing to tell someone who is relatively new to this hobby. That's like telling someone they have cancer when you have no evidence that suggests this. It's just a bad idea.

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I disagree. Swifty said he wasn't trying to cause alarm. There's no such thing as too much info when it comes to these exotic animals.
 

Swifty

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There's no need to be causing unnecessary panic. Nothing here has indicated the presence of what you're thinking. I think you're really jumping to conclusions.

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Hey Bob, I wasn't jumping to anything. I didn't say anything but just check it's mouth. I don't care who you are in this hobby, but if you want to be sure about something, you need information. I did state that I wasn't trying to alarm anyone, just simply check. Nematodes are more common in this hobby than you can imagine, and many hobbyist will either egnore the situation, thinking it's going to get better, or not be informed enough to seperate an infected animal from the rest of their collection. The odd eating situation, is exactly what a tarantula will do when it first gets infected. This may not be the "evidence", but I'd rather waste 10 seconds with a flashlight, than so eagerly just blow it off.

---------- Post added 10-04-2015 at 10:52 PM ----------

Nothing here has indicated the presence of what you're thinking. I think you're really jumping to conclusions.

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How do you know Bob? The OP said they hadn't looked there, so what makes you think I'm jumping to anything?

---------- Post added 10-04-2015 at 11:24 PM ----------

I disagree. Swifty said he wasn't trying to cause alarm. There's no such thing as too much info when it comes to these exotic animals.
Like I said, I'm not trying to alarm the OP, or anybody else for that matter, but after 35 years of owning thousands of tarantulas, and not to mention, I've had much expirience with nematodes, if your going to stop them, you better be ready to do it.
When a tarantula behaves oddly, it's best to make some sense as to why. When the OP stated that the tarantula had molted, and was feeding, then stopped leaving killed yet uneaten crickets, that my friends is exactly what an infected tarantula will do. Then as it progresses, it will simply have the will to kill it's prey, but can't subdue them. They will also have a strange haunched stance that looks as though they are hovered over prey, but they won't be. Finally the presence of the white paste in the mouth, which under magnification reveals the parasites. Once they are in your collection, Phorid flies will carry them to the mouths of your other tarantulas.
If you buy second hand crickets from any petstore to feed your spiders, be prepare to someday be a victom of this parasite. Don't pannick, just get a good bright flashlight and be diligent about odd feeding behavior, especially when the spider isn't approaching a molt. I'm saying this to help people, not to scare them or start arguments with them.

---------- Post added 10-05-2015 at 12:00 AM ----------

That's why I don't think saying "your tarantula may have nematodes." when we have no reason to think this is just plain silly and not a good thing to tell someone who is relatively new to this hobby. Sent from my LG-D801 using Tapatalk
You must not have read my post, because I don't remember saying that
.
 

KristinaMG

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Okay, well I will take her out and check what her mouth looks like to be safe.

I did have a bunch of tiny white worms hatch in my cricket container a few weeks ago. I discarded the remaining crickets and thoroughly cleaned the container. We do get a few of these flies hanging around that look like fruit flies but there is no fruit in the vicinity. They hang around our bathroom mirrors, and I have seen one (never more than one) hover around my T shelf. When I asked about the worms that hatched with my crickets on here someone suggested phorid fly larva. I don't know if this increases the likelihood of what you are talking about, but figured I'd mention.
 

BobGrill

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Hey Bob, I wasn't jumping to anything. I didn't say anything but just check it's mouth. I don't care who you are in this hobby, but if you want to be sure about something, you need information. I did state that I wasn't trying to alarm anyone, just simply check. Nematodes are more common in this hobby than you can imagine, and many hobbyist will either egnore the situation, thinking it's going to get better, or not be informed enough to seperate an infected animal from the rest of their collection. The odd eating situation, is exactly what a tarantula will do when it first gets infected. This may not be the "evidence", but I'd rather waste 10 seconds with a flashlight, than so eagerly just blow it off.

---------- Post added 10-04-2015 at 10:52 PM ----------



How do you know Bob? The OP said they hadn't looked there, so what makes you think I'm jumping to anything?

---------- Post added 10-04-2015 at 11:24 PM ----------



Like I said, I'm not trying to alarm the OP, or anybody else for that matter, but after 35 years of owning thousands of tarantulas, and not to mention, I've had much expirience with nematodes, if your going to stop them, you better be ready to do it.
When a tarantula behaves oddly, it's best to make some sense as to why. When the OP stated that the tarantula had molted, and was feeding, then stopped leaving killed yet uneaten crickets, that my friends is exactly what an infected tarantula will do. Then as it progresses, it will simply have the will to kill it's prey, but can't subdue them. They will also have a strange haunched stance that looks as though they are hovered over prey, but they won't be. Finally the presence of the white paste in the mouth, which under magnification reveals the parasites. Once they are in your collection, Phorid flies will carry them to the mouths of your other tarantulas.
If you buy second hand crickets from any petstore to feed your spiders, be prepare to someday be a victom of this parasite. Don't pannick, just get a good bright flashlight and be diligent about odd feeding behavior, especially when the spider isn't approaching a molt. I'm saying this to help people, not to scare them or start arguments with them.

---------- Post added 10-05-2015 at 12:00 AM ----------



You must not have read my post, because I don't remember saying that
.
, I should have said "suggesting."

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KristinaMG

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Her mouth was dry. Nothing looked amiss to me. But here are two pics. The catch cup is a bit opaque, sorry if it makes it harder to see.



 

MikeC

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Your tarantula looks like it's infected with "awesome." (Yes, that's the medical term.)
I hope it's contagious and spreads through the rest of your collection virulently. :)
 

KristinaMG

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Your tarantula looks like it's infected with "awesome." (Yes, that's the medical term.)
I hope it's contagious and spreads through the rest of your collection virulently. :)
Nice. Feel free to bring some of yours over and we'll have a pox party. :)
 

Exoskeleton Invertebrates

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There's no need to be causing unnecessary panic. Nothing here has indicated the presence of what you're thinking. I think you're really jumping to conclusions.

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Inexperience keepers will always jump the conclusion. An experience keeper will always give as much knowledge/information to someone that is fairly new to the hobby without alarming them.

One should always take every precaution necessary.

---------- Post added 10-06-2015 at 07:19 AM ----------

I have a juvenile B. albopilosum, at least 2.5 inches, probably closer to 3 inches. Calling it "she" but as yet unsexed. She molted about 2 weeks ago, so she is not premolt. She is normally a good eater. Her first meal after molting she took fine, and they were medium sized crickets. 2 days ago I dropped two large crickets in. It was the first time I offered large, but she is plenty big enough to handle them. They were also the smallest of the "large" I had, definitely not beasts by any stretch. Today I found them deposited on the farthest corner away from her burrow, both deposited together there. One looked like it may have been sucked on for a while, the other was very intact, though very dead and mushy looking. Why do you think she killed them but didn't eat them? Was she not hungry but needed to defend her turf, or do you think she was unhappy about the switch to larger prey? TIA for any insight.
I've had a few tarantulas that would kill their prey and not eat them eventually they started to eat again. I would start to worry about your spider not eating if it went without food for a long time.

I've had a few that went without food as little as a year up to almost two years without food and eventually died. Now it doesn't mean your spider will do the same, I'm sure your spider is fine and healthy.

Keep us updated if you would.
 
Last edited:

KristinaMG

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Well I offered small crickets today (thinking maybe she was not happy with the large). She went after both right away and appeared to be eating. A few hours later I checked on her and didn't see any trace of the crickets, so unless she was sitting on them I think she ate them with no issue.
 
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