My LP sling is missing a leg :(

[Jes]

Hi guys, when I woke up this morning, I noticed that my LP sling(around 1.5") is missing 1 front leg. I am new to the hobby and I don't know why or how that happened and I cannot find her leg .. She is currently in her temporary enclosure(pics below) and I plan to move her to a bigger acrylic enclosure after her next molt. I have read somewhere that the leg will eventually grow back but I want to know what you guys think I should do differently to prevent this from happening again when I move her to her new enclosure. Should I reduce the size of the vent holes(currently 3mm)? Or maybe I should remove the moss? Those are the things I can think of where she could have had her leg stuck. Is it normal for slings to just suddenly lose a leg? Thanks in advance!

 

[Volkswachter]

One of my M. balfouri males has a missing leg too; they do grow back. It takes 2 molts for a tarantula to completely regrow a lost limb but it will grow back. As long as your sling can still walk, it'll be fine.

 

[Volkswachter]

To answer your other questions; no, the moss is fine and those vent holes aren't small enough for your T to get it's leg stuck.

 

[T-Baby]

Tarantulas are very good at recognizing when something on their body isn’t right and dropping a limb or two, this may be the case for your one.
A small sling of mine was missing a leg, it moulted yesterday and has a new one although slightly smaller then the rest. Tarantulas can actually cope very well with several legs missing, you eventually won’t even notice
You don’t need to change anything.

 

[m0lsx]

I brought 4 B grade gimps from The Spider Shop in July last year. All were missing a leg & all regrew the leg the next molt.

With my 4, the first molt resulted in a thin, but perfectly usable leg. The second molt resulted in a normal leg.

 

[NorseDad]

One of my first T's was an N. incei. During the initial rehouse from the container it came in and it's enclosure, I accidentally messed up it's back leg when it bolted as I was closing the lid. The next day, the T had dropped the very clearly injured leg. After two molts, the leg was back.

Nothing looks off in your set up. It's very possible there was something wrong with the leg that could not be noticed by the naked eye. Don't worry about it.

 

[Arachnoclown]

Heres my male Brachypelma smithi before and after regenerating his leg. (First molt ) still waiting for the next molt.

 

[Jes]

Thank you guys for your response and for sharing your experience! It is such a relief to know that its not super uncommon for Ts to lose a leg or two and that it will regrow after just 2 molts. It also seems my LP sling doesn't mind missing a leg that much. She still roams around her enclosure and rearange the moss just like she normally does

 

[Phil]

Hi guys, when I woke up this morning, I noticed that my LP sling(around 1.5") is missing 1 front leg. I am new to the hobby and I don't know why or how that happened and I cannot find her leg .. She is currently in her temporary enclosure(pics below) and I plan to move her to a bigger acrylic enclosure after her next molt. I have read somewhere that the leg will eventually grow back but I want to know what you guys think I should do differently to prevent this from happening again when I move her to her new enclosure. Should I reduce the size of the vent holes(currently 3mm)? Or maybe I should remove the moss? Those are the things I can think of where she could have had her leg stuck. Is it normal for slings to just suddenly lose a leg? Thanks in advance!

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Everything said already is spot on. They will cast a limb if they want/need to and it will grow back good as new after a couple of moults. Savvy buyers actually take advantage of this when some retailers offer "gimp" or grade b spiders (e.g. missing a limb). The buyer usually gets the spider at a cheaper price and in a couple of moults nobody is none the wiser.

Your enclosure and set are all good. Keep doing what you are doing. You are doing great

 

[NorseDad]

Heres my male Brachypelma smithi before and after regenerating his leg. (First molt ) still waiting for the next molt.

Very similar to what my A. seemanni looks like. I bought her with a back leg significantly smaller than the others. Still waiting for her to molt again to see the progress.

 

[Phil]

Thank you guys for your response and for sharing your experience! It is such a relief to know that its not super uncommon for Ts to lose a leg or two and that it will regrow after just 2 molts. It also seems my LP sling doesn't mind missing a leg that much. She still roams around her enclosure and rearange the moss just like she normally does

I can guarantee you have been more stressed about it than the spider has been....LOL

 

[Jes]

Everything said already is spot on. They will cast a limb if they want/need to and it will grow back good as new after a couple of moults. Savvy buyers actually take advantage of this when some retailers offer "gimp" or grade b spiders (e.g. missing a limb). The buyer usually gets the spider at a cheaper price and in a couple of moults nobody is none the wiser.

Your enclosure and set are all good. Keep doing what you are doing. You are doing great

Thanks!