Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Ok, so my 6.5" L. striata (so we're leaning towards her being) shed Tuesday night. Still soft of course.

The shed was right-side-up, instead of the normal upsidedown shed. She had problems getting the legs out from one side of her body. The pedipalp on that side broke off, and she has one leg with the bottom two parts mangled-looking (turned the wrong way, not solid-looking in any way) and she seems to be having an issue with using the legs on that side...

Should I attempt to get rid of the bottom part of that leg if it's still causing her issues in a month? Or should I just let her go with it all? Also, might she have problems with eating since she lost that one pedipalp? Thanks!

ps - I'm also putting this on Arachnoboards. I just want many ideas on this! I like my kids... lol!

I'd say leave her be. Unless the leg is an obvious hinderance (like can't get around at all), she'll get used to it. It should fix itself by next molt.

2 things come to mind that might have caused this. First is not humid enough. Second is possibly being fed a lot of vertebrate prey and not a majority of vertebrates. The extra calcium they get from a diet of mice has been linked to molt issues in T. blondi.

You may have the right setup and the right diet, but if this is a new acquisition to you, it might have been poor husbandry from the previous owner.

Can you post a pic of the molt. At that size it should be very easy to sex for certain (if you want a second opinion).
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KJ Vezino
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It's quite possible it wasn't humid enough - though we have always kept the water dish filled... I THINK the biggest problem was how she shed. With her being right-side-up, she struggled to get her legs out from one side (fell to one side in the process) She got two legs out with not TOO much problem, but the two back legs were hard (they were on the side she fell on, so it was quite aukward to get those legs out). And by the time she was on her back, only the back two legs and the pedipalp on the one side were still stuck. I think she didn't have enough other stuff to help push and pull to get the legs out easily. The back leg came out, then the third leg came out. By then, nothing was there to help her get the pedipalp out... I watched it all, facinated with the process, but I did notice she had lots of trouble. I ALMOST decided to help her get that last leg out if I could since she struggled with it for about 30 minutes, just for that one leg!

I won't do anything unless it looks like she can't function with the lame leg in 3-4 weeks. If nothing else, I can help feed her directly every 3-4 days (I'll over-feed just to help her get to her next shed, I think, if it's needed)... We'll see. And there's absolutely that little two-horned flap on the shed. I'll post a pic of her shortly, I think.

Thanks a ton. I'm going to make sure her tank is much damper from now on so as to not let this happen again. She's also getting a new cage soon, so I'll be able to tell better when it needs to be dampened.

Thanks again!