By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Hugo_Moss]Hugo Moss
I have not come across a vet that is willing to work with a sick tarantula and therefore, we as owners must be willing to try for ourselves. The information is based only on experiences with tarantulas.
Traumatized Tarantula:
If your tarantula falls and it is severe enough to cause bleeding from the pedicel or abdomen then the survival chance is poor. However, the most important thing to do for any spider that suffers loss of body fluid is to get it a drink of water. Spiders have a partially hydraulic muscle system and extend their legs using blood pressure, not muscles. Therefore if they lose blood they need to drink to replace the blood fluid volume lost.
Puncture wounds:
If a tarantula suffers a puncture wound it can be plugged with an adhesion patch. You will have to consider how to hold the spider so you can patch the wound. Another solution is to anaesthetize the spider by chilling it in the refrigerator for 15-20 minutes. For a bandage you can use a small piece of plastic with petroleum jelly on it slapped over the leak. If the spider can reach the bandage, it will pull it off, so you may need to try a blob of petroleum jelly alone. An alternative is to use a fast-drying adhesive like superglue. The wounded area will be completely healed at the next moult, although you may notice a slight discolouration.
Leg Loss:
If a tarantula loses a leg it is in far better shape than you might imagine as most grow another one. Spiders have the ability to shed legs the way some lizards shed tails. Better to lose a leg than your life, especially if you have eight to begin with! All spiders have a joint in their legs near the base which breaks away when the leg is grabbed. The open stump is closed off by muscular contraction at the joint and blood loss is immediately stopped. If a leg is injured in any way the tarantula may decide that it is more trouble than it is worth and pull it off itself. Tarantulas will often eat the leg to make up for the nutrients they invested in growing it in the first place. The leg will not totally be replaced with the next moult, it will take several sheds for the new leg to be the same length as the other legs.
Having a bad Moult:
Shedding is a big event for a tarantula and a lot of things can go wrong, the best thing you can do is offer water. All tarantulas especially young ones can encounter problems to shed when the conditions are too dry. Over water to tarantulas that get stuck in the old skin. It can be as minor as having a patch of old cuticle stick to the abdomen, In this case you can soften the dry skin with water and gently pull the old skin off. Dont jerk, just pull gently. A crises is when the tarantula fail to free old legs. If the legs are most of the way out and stuck then you might be able to soften the old skin with water and gently pull the old skin off. If the legs are stuck most of the way in forced autotomy may be your best choice. If only one or two legs are stuck you can induce autotomy of the stuck legs by pinching them through the old cuticle using a tweezers. If most legs are stuck and the new cuticle has already hardened then your best bet in this case is to euthanize the spider. You can do this by placing the spider in the freezer.
Cuticular Conditions:
Fungal infections:
A grey patch on the abdomen is probably a fungal infection, it most often occur in moist cages. The first thing you need to do is to let the cage dry out. This will slow or stop the growth of the fungus. You can try treating the fungus with a topical treatment but this will only be experimental. When the spider moults the fungus will be she with the old cuticle.
Lumps:
Adult females can develop lumps on the abdomen for no apparent reason. They can moult out of it. http://reptile-parrots.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?86-Tarantulas
Article Source: [http://EzineArticles.com/?Caring-for-Your-Sick-Tarantula&id=6557752] Caring for Your Sick Tarantula
No comments:
Post a Comment