T blondi with white fluffy stuff on back of opisthosoma

[Nicolas Charrière]

Hello there.

I've got a Theraphosa blondi (born in captivity) for nine months now (adult or subadult), but the four last weeks she seemed to get worse. She has molted last december, and was doing fine since. But then she stopped eating a few weeks ago (the last cockroach was even able to crawl under her!). Moreover, she remains cloistered in her burrow.
Of course, I've read the excellent Tarantula Keeper's Guide and am aware of the difficulties in taking care of T blondi (especially for parasites or fungi).

Today, I gently pushed her out of the burrow to look closer. I thought she might have an injury at the hooks, but they seemed ok. But I noticed something looking as white fuzz (or fluffy white stuff) on the back of the opisthosoma and both legs IV. It was not much, and was put away when she bombed, but I wonder if there is not a link between such lack of appetite and perhaps a kind of infection caused by fungi.


Do you have any idea what's going on? Or am I worrying too much for nothing?

Thanks a lot for your help!

[Grant Brown]

She looks quite fat to me, so I would go with not being hungry being why she is not eating. I'd feed less - I try to keep the abdomen about the same size / slightly larger than the cephalothorax as a general rule of thumb.

As for the white fluff, I'm not sure I can see anything out of the ordinary - but I can't zoom in on those photos for some reason so can't be 100%.

I suppose I should add the usual - might be coming up for a moult etc etc.

[Nicolas Charrière]

Thanks Grant. All things considered, you might be right about molting soon. I thought she had to turn clear brown before (when I recieved her, she was beige), but someone told me it was not necessary. And as she's not completely grown-up (it seems), it could be such a simple explanation. The fluff could be just some of her silk beginning to come down before molt... I'll continue watching her close to check what'll happen.

Sorry for the pictures, I was not able to take better ones with my mediocre camera!