advise on the recovery of damaged limbs

[vincent winyard]

hi all i need some help. i was in my local exotic pet shop today and they have a t blondi in there with a bad leg. i ask what the problem was and lets just say they didn't know. poor thing looks in a right state. i was thinking of getting it to give it a desent home and try to take care of it. i just want to know if there's any chance it will make a good recovery thanks.

[martin hudson]

To be honest, i wouldnt touch it.
its easy to tack on all the 'poore' 'Ts' that we all see in our local pet shops, but it will only be replaced with another
'poore' 'T'!!! If they dont sell it maybe thay wont get another one?
As to if it would recover or not well,it has two chances & if i were you i wouldnt try, i know that sounds harsh but in the
long run better that one dies &they dont get another!sorry.

[vincent winyard]

your right there martin they would probably replace it with another t of some description. it just makes me sick that the spider has to suffer so much neglect untill someone takes it on or till it dies. i think it maybe from someone's collection as they tend to have quite a few chilli roses and when they do get something in out of the ordinery i would say someone's taken it in there for what ever reason. maybe i'll give it a miss and hope it dont suffer to long what ever the outcome is. thanks for your help mate.

[martin hudson]

No prob's Vincent,if its any comfort mate, i feel you are doing the right thing.

[vincent winyard]

i think your right thanks again martin

[Stanley A. Schultz]

hi all i need some help. i was in my local exotic pet shop today and they have a t blondi in there with a bad leg. i ask what the problem was and lets just say they didn't know. poor thing looks in a right state. i was thinking of getting it to give it a desent home and try to take care of it. i just want to know if there's any chance it will make a good recovery thanks.

And, I will play the Devil's advocate here. If I were interested in the tarantula I'd offer them half the current price for it. Even if it's already marked down. Bargaining points are:

1> Something like 80% to 90% of wild caught T. blondi will die within the first two years in captivity. They have terrible reputations for survival. Neither you nor any of their other customers have a snowball's chances in Hell of keeping it for very long.

2> They obviously don't know how to care for it, judging from its current state. They'll lose it themselves even faster.

3> Keeping damaged or defective merchandise on the sale's floor is bad advertising. They need to get rid of it ASAP!

4> You'll take it off their hands now for (whatever price) for humanitarian reasons.

And, I'm not kidding about the mortality rate!

Be forewarned that in order to keep it alive you'll need to maintain a 100% humidity around it for at least the next two molts. Such a high humidity will promote all sorts of infections and infestations. You need to study everything ever written about these tarantulas to have any hope of long term success.

One trick you need to know is to always have an empty, dry cage set up and stored away someplace for the day when you notice that something isn't right about the tarantula or it's environment. As soon as you see something wrong (e.g., mites, slimy patches on the tarantula, etc.) you wet down the empty cage and switch the tarantula into it on a moment's notice. Immediately clean and set up the contaminated cage in preparation for the next crisis.

And, for the rest of you, trust me. The pet shop has little or no intention of selling or making a profit on that tarantula. It's there so they can show it off and brag that they have one of the world's largest spiders on display. When it dies, they'll just order in another. It's good advertising. The girls squeal, the guys stand there with their mouths agape, and everybody goes away amazed. Then they come back tomorrow to buy something because it's such a cool pet shop!

Battery's going dead. Gotta go!

[vincent winyard]

hi there stan. first of all i haven't a clue if the spider is wild caught or not but if it is it sounds like a mission and half just to keep it going for how long who knows. also from what your saying about having to keep the humidity so high for so long might cause allsorts of problems includeing causing unnecessary stress to the spider on top of everything else. most of the stock in the shop looks quite looked after but as you say it does make you wondrer if they keep it on show as some sort of trophy or something along those lines.it makes me so angry when sometimes you see something like this and no one seems to give a damn about the spiders well being. i wont be rushing back there to bring it home i just hope that what ever happens it happens quick. thank's for your help and advise stan.

[Stanley A. Schultz]

... having to keep the humidity so high for so long might cause allsorts of problems includeing causing unnecessary stress to the spider ..

No, no, no! The high humidity reduces physiological stress on the tarantula. T. blondi are native to the deep rain forests of northern South America. The humidity at the forest's floor is near 100% during the day and becomes absolutely saturated after dark. The place becomes a spooky, foggy, dark, haunted forest after dark, populated by all your fondest nightmares! T. blondi are among the few tarantulas that must have a very high humidity to survive. Apparently they either lost their ability to endure arid conditions, or never evolved them to begin with.

Wild caught individuals in captivity, if they survive long enough, will eventually adjust to a somewhat drier cage, but not an arid one by any means. This adjustment apparently requires at least two molt cycles, however.

If you ever decide to keep one of the giant tarantulas, consider Lasiodora parahybana. They get as large as T. blondi in captivity, are a lot easier to keep alive, and look rather pretty. Much less expensive too!

Enjoy your little 8-legged buddies!

[vincent winyard]

sorry stan i completely misunderstood what you said about the humidity it's just that i have read somewhare before that the humidity should sit around the 75 to 80 mark but i thought straight away problems would occur if it had to be any higher this meaning having to move the t too and thro every now and then would just keep upsetting the spider. many thanks for all your help and information on these tarantula's.