My Poorly Spider!! Can Some1 Advise?

[Kraig Williams]

I have just been in to check on my mexican red rump and have noticed he has what im labelling as a bald patch on his abdomen,
I am unable to deter what a bald patch looks like as i have never seen one b4, am i right in believing that it would be the loss of hair and skin to abdomen, showing only a yellow skin colour?

If im wrong and this is not a bald patch could someone plz advise me of what it could be or what I cud do it help the poor guy??

[Clinton Hogben]

I have just been in to check on my mexican red rump and have noticed he has what im labelling as a bald patch on his abdomen,
I am unable to deter what a bald patch looks like as i have never seen one b4, am i right in believing that it would be the loss of hair and skin to abdomen, showing only a yellow skin colour?

If im wrong and this is not a bald patch could someone plz advise me of what it could be or what I cud do it help the poor guy??

Hi mate
its probably due to moult if the bald patch has become pronounced or its become narked at something and flicked off the hair

if you can post a piccy it may help

dont worry toooo much

all the best

[Kate Arbon]

A bald patch on the abdomen is not at all harmful to your T, nothing to worry about

You may or may not know that tarantulas from America have irritating hairs on their abdomen which they can flick off with their back legs, as a form of defense. If they get scared or stressed they will flick. Some of them don't do it much but I'm guessing from the common name that yours is from the genus Brachypelma, and they have a reputation for being a bit trigger-happy with their hairs.

When your T moults it will get all its hairs back. And in fact the bald patch will help you to tell when a moult is coming. If you see the patch turn from yellow to black, you know your spider is a few days from moulting.

[patsyking]

My mexican red rump also has a bald patch on the abdomen from a couple of weeks ago when it got annoyed and lost some hairs. That's good to know Kate, that when that patch turns black it is going to moult. Mine is off his food a the moment and I'm told they don't often go off their food as they are usually very good eaters so now I'll watch his bald patch.

[Andrew Ferguson]

Here's my B. smithi with its bald rump. The patch started off small when I got it mid February. Now its a huge orangey yellow patch. Hope this picture helps. Compare it to one taken not so long ago

Now


1 month ago


The tarantula has just had a good feed and is walking about at its leisure.

[Kraig Williams]

Thanks for the replys,

He seems happy and normal enough but jus with a large worryin yella patch on his behind, he has recently moulted in the past 6 months, would it be abnormal for him to start to ready for another?

[jason holland]

no... especially if hes young. my smithi is probably a year and a half... maybe 2 years old. and it moulted on the first of jan, then again on the 14 of feb. so i wouldnt worry about it

[Kraig Williams]

They are quite elegant creatures, i can understand completely why ppl wud like them as pets. I am really quite worried tho, I am having to move away soon and this means transportation of my spider, my main concern is that he is stressed as it is its not going to help moving him around is it... What makes it worse is that theres a 3 hour ferry trip involved!

Can any1 advise me further on anything please?? Sorry to be annoying lol

[Kate Arbon]

He will be okay. He won't enjoy it, but it won't do him any harm to be moved around. My spiders all go back and forth with me between home and uni several times a year. It does stress them out but after a few days they forget all about it.

Just ensure when you move him that you remove anything from his tank which might come loose and collapse, such as pieces of wood or stones. If he has a flowerpot or something as a hide that should be ok as it won't fall on him. Also if he buries himself that's ok too because even if the dirt falls in on him he will be able to dig himself out.

It's natural to worry about the beasties we care about but tarantulas are very tough and resiliant and I'm sure they mostly stress us out deliberately, lol.

[Peter Lacey]

Best advice is to get a book on tarantula off ebay, cheap as chips that will answer your issues now and give a good foundation for the future.
If the T stops eating food & has a dark patch on its abdomen its a good indicator the moult is coming up, but sometimes this can seem to last for ages.
Continue feeding but only leave food items in for a day or 2. If the T goes into moult remove all food and leave alone. Moult will prob occur over a day but a few days to a week is required before the body completely hardens so don't feed again for a week. Ts are used to not having food so no worries. Try to provide some water, via a bowl or dampening the substrate a little and try not to disturb it too much. The T may moult if it feels there's no disturbance from yourself or live food in the enclosure however I've had 2 instances where Ts have moulted during postage of little over 24hrs, so its no real disaster but nowhere near perfect conditions if it decides to moult during your move.

[Mark Pennell]

Kriag
Go to our main page - link at the top of this forum
look at and read the beginners guides these cover pretty much all you need to know for now.

These are listed in the menu at the top of the page.

Hope this helps you.

All the best
Mark

[Nicola Dolby]

Good luck with the moult Kraig. I know about the concern as I've just had a B. smithi moult and now I've got a B. bohemi at it. Brachys take ages so keep calm, keep the water bowl topped up and minimal disturbance. All the best!

[Kraig Williams]

Again thx for the replys guys,

The move was ok, he didnt seem in the slightest bit phased by it all and was up n crawling about shortly after we arrived and has fed since.

One last query that I have!! Really sorry again!!

In the past 2-3 weeks iv noticed he has had a rather strange sudden character change, from being always quite relaxed n chilled out to becoming very highly active, always constantly on a mission all night, as its only a little tank that he has (the adequate size accordinly) he is quite limited to where he can go and do etc, I am watchin him now and its almost as if hes desperate to get to upside down on the roof of his tank. Hes not very good at doing this tho and keeps falling, its worryin that he might hurt himself, as i sed he is like this every night.

Do you think this behavioural change cud be to do with reaching mature'ity?
Possibly on a constant mission to find a mate?

Or jus generally fed up with sittin about doing nothing all the time and is after a change of lifestyle prehaps?

He was about a year old wen I bought him and I have had him 7-10 months, correct me if im wrong here, but as he is a male this means that he is not so young nemore?
I have checked various websites and guides but have not been successful in finding nething useful relating to this.

Im sure theres nothing wrong, but if ne1 has ne feedback it wud be great

Thx again

Kraig

[Kraig Williams]

Hi again,

I think i answered my own question in that last post. I found the faq's u mentioned!

Cheers

[Kraig Williams]

Hi again,

I found the faq's u mentioned! I think my assumption to his change was pretty much right

Newho Cheers