T blondi red markings

[wayne randall]

Hi guys, had a blondi for a little over a week now, she was fresh out of moult when i bought her and have noticed 3 red markings on her abdomen they look quite sore, any tips, i would hate to lose her, she is drinking loads but not fed yet, she is around 7 inches at the mo

[wayne balcombe]

hi wayne, firstly is there any chance you could get a picture of the red marks up on here? maybe a few people here that could identify it. where abouts on its abdomen are the marks?

dont worrie too much about the not feeding at the moment some spiders will go 2 or 3 weeks sometimes more after a molt before feeding, if its drinking its keeping its fluids up which is a good sign.

where did u get the T.blondi from? do you know if its a captive bred or wild caught specimen?

hope i can help.

wayne.

[wayne randall]

T blondi

I'll try and get some photos up, she is captive bred and was bought from prestwood petzone, stourton west mids, i have alot of experience with tarantulas but a newbie with goliaths, i spray her enclosure every morning and keep it around 78 degrees

[Mrs Linda Street]

Hi Wayne, we tend to keep our Blondi's on the dry side, a light spray once or twice a week, as we've found a lot of pest problems keeping the substrate too wet. Are the marks where he exuvium may have adhered a little bit, that can happen sometimes

[wayne randall]

help blondi

hi guys n gals, got blondi checked out and was told its a common problem with goliath's she has irritated herself flicking hairs, but i was just filling up her water bowl and she decided to have a kick and i seen clear fluid leaking from her abdomen, need some guidance please.

[Colin D Wilson]

Hi Wayne, sorry i didn't see this earlier, Elaines just pointed it out to me.

I would try a "dry ICU" basically a large tub with an inch of dry substrate, largish waterbowl (3 inch flowerpot dish is fine) and a hide with no sharp edges (terracotta flower pot in half will do)
leave her like this at a higher temp than normal for about 7-10 days giving her enough time to harden up (no disturbance/no food items)

People do tend to keep blondis on the damper side and i think this has come from info gained from when the spiders are out and active in their natural habitat.
a friend of mine who has seen this points it towards a heavy rainy period leading to the spiders evacuating their burrow/scrape and wandering about trying to find another shelter or prey items that are out at the time having a well earned drink themselves.
Some people i know successful in keeping and breeding these have not followed the "normal" swamp like environment so it does pose the question "Do they really need such a damp enclosure"
I think if i were to keep one for any length of time i personally would keep it on the dryer side and only increase the humidity when in moult

Hope this helps

Colin

[wayne randall]

t blondi irritatated

cheers colin, i have kept her on the dry side for around 4 days now, i may place her in a bigger viv with a heat bulb on so she can relax a little

[Mrs Linda Street]

Hi Wayne, I wouldn't recommend a heat bulb, T's don't like them.

[wayne randall]

ok, will thread her heat mat thru. ta

[Mrs Linda Street]

Hi Wayne, ok, be sure to put the heat mat on the OUTSIDE of the tank, either on the side or the end, not underneath.

[wayne randall]

blondi on the mend

hi guys, thanks for the advice when i needed it, barbarella(blondi) seems to be making a really good recovery, the redness is going down the and the abdomen is getting its fur back, still no eating tho, i'll give it another week or so and try her with a pinky

[Craig Mackay]

Glad to hear that. They're very resilient creatures. The bristles on her abdomen won't grow back until she moults though. Once she's flicked them thats it.

[Mrs Linda Street]

hi guys, thanks for the advice when i needed it, barbarella(blondi) seems to be making a really good recovery, the redness is going down the and the abdomen is getting its fur back, still no eating tho, i'll give it another week or so and try her with a pinky

Hi Wayne, nice to hear she's responded to that t l c, mind that the pinky doesn't blow her abdomen up too quickly.

[wayne randall]

thats ok, she gave me a couple of slaps when changing her water bowl earlier, she don't move far from it, women and their drink eh?

[Mrs Linda Street]

Wayne, keep the last bit quite lol