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Any Instances of DKS? Dyskinetic Syndrome in Tarantulas.

boo boo 86

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Well she a chili roses just turned 3 years old. I noticed the odd behaviour beginning of December so its been 2 months. I'm not sure of size.
 

micheldied

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I'm pretty sure premolt doesn't cause abnormal limb function. But it's good to hear she's still around.
 

Steve123

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I'm pretty sure premolt doesn't cause abnormal limb function. But it's good to hear she's still around.
Ooo, very true, I should have said associated, not cause, my bad. Might be two different things going on. Do you have a link to your thread on her boo? Is there video? Current pics?
 

Steve123

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Saw that video of your T walking boo. I don't know why she is walking that way. It doesn't look quite normal, but not terribly abnormal. At least it doesn't look like what other's have posted as "DKS." I keep thinking there are not many ways a T can show something is wrong with it. Besides things that can be caught in a photo (lesions, masses, worms, e.g.), it either doesn't move, or it moves abnormally (slow, fast, chaotic); it may not eat (which isn't always abnormal). I've never given a premolt T an good walk test like that. If she is indeed in premolt, it will be interesting to see how she walks after she molts and hardens up. Be interesting too to hear what others think.
 

Jbyd

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Hi, I would like to start by saying this is the first post to a forum, I apologize for anything done incorrectly but I am hoping for some input. My first tarantula is a Rosie, I haven't had her for a long time either. I picked her up from a local pet store. She moulted without any issues a few months ago. After two weeks I began feeding her normally after she hardened. She ate two or three crickets every week and a half to two weeks. Lately she has been acting really strange. If there is any vibration she flails her legs quickly and runs around. Not like she had ever acted before. She was then showing signs of dehydration so I have kept her in a high humidity ICU with plenty of water and she is drinking. Although not looking as dehydrated she will still run around almost like she lost control of her legs. I hate to cause her more stress but I will try and get a video in the hopes of trying to save her. Any suggestions would be welcome.
 

Tomoran

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Hi, I would like to start by saying this is the first post to a forum, I apologize for anything done incorrectly but I am hoping for some input. My first tarantula is a Rosie, I haven't had her for a long time either. I picked her up from a local pet store. She moulted without any issues a few months ago. After two weeks I began feeding her normally after she hardened. She ate two or three crickets every week and a half to two weeks. Lately she has been acting really strange. If there is any vibration she flails her legs quickly and runs around. Not like she had ever acted before. She was then showing signs of dehydration so I have kept her in a high humidity ICU with plenty of water and she is drinking. Although not looking as dehydrated she will still run around almost like she lost control of her legs. I hate to cause her more stress but I will try and get a video in the hopes of trying to save her. Any suggestions would be welcome.

Do her movements look like this?


I had a very similar situation with the tarantula in this video. It molted, ate a few times, then developed those spastic movements. He died a couple days after I shot that video.

Did she have access to water before this? A water dish perhaps? If it's a Rosie, I wouldn't put her in a high-humidity environment for long. They actually abhor moisture, and the moist environment will stress her even more. I know the ICU idea is really popular, and can be great for a dehydrated T, but it fails to take into account that some species do NOT do well in moist environments.

Keep us updated, and get some video if you can!
 
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Jbyd

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Hopefully the video shows up well. Before this happened I kept her tank nice and dry, with a medium sized water dish that I cleaned and filled every day. I would usually clean off the furniture or hiding decorations in the tank every week or two. I always felt like I was doing what I could correctly. Her symptoms have not altered berry much. Before she was in the ICU she was noticeably more curled in which is why I kept her in there for a few days. As of right now her actions are still the same, but she does not appear as dehydrated.

Please know I hate causing her stress or to be uncomfortable, but getting the video was only with the intention of helping her.
I would handle her every day for almost an hour without any problems until one morning when she was acting like this.
 

Tomoran

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Hopefully the video shows up well. Before this happened I kept her tank nice and dry, with a medium sized water dish that I cleaned and filled every day. I would usually clean off the furniture or hiding decorations in the tank every week or two. I always felt like I was doing what I could correctly. Her symptoms have not altered berry much. Before she was in the ICU she was noticeably more curled in which is why I kept her in there for a few days. As of right now her actions are still the same, but she does not appear as dehydrated.

Please know I hate causing her stress or to be uncomfortable, but getting the video was only with the intention of helping her.
I would handle her every day for almost an hour without any problems until one morning when she was acting like this.

I recorded the video of mine for the exact same reasons. I hate to say it, but that looks like the symptoms known as DKS to me. Generally, spiders that show these symptoms don't make it (although, there are some rare cases that they have). It sounds like you're doing all you can for her. :( I hope she pulls through.
 

Jbyd

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Hello. DKS are symptoms which can happen after some kind of poisoning issues. You speak about cleaning a lot: waterdish, furniture, etc. Is it possible your rosea was in contact with some cleaning products residues?


Envoyé de mon iPhone en utilisant Tapatalk

While I did make sure everything was clean for her, and I guess it could be possible I can't think of a time that this would have happened. Usually I would take out the fake plant, water dish, and fake rock (cave type hiding spot) I would brush any substrate off of them by hand and rinse under super hot water to sanitize. I would then dry everything with a clean papertowl. I avoided using any chemicals during the cleaning process.
Update: she seems very calm when left completely alone. She is back in her full tank with plenty of water, I am draping a moist papertowl only on one corner of the lid for a bit of humidity. I am trying not to mess with anything around her to avoid causing anymore stress.
I do really appreciate all of the response. It's heartbreaking though and I feel so terrible right now.
I can only think of two possibilities really for right now. Do you guys think that using a light dusting of calcium powder would cause this. I was told it would be good by the pet shop but reading more into this I have a feeling that was bull. The only Neg. Impacts though I can see are related to moulting.
I only have one other thing I could ever think it would be. My landlords have someone spray under the kitchen sink once a month and I'm generally not home when they do this. My kitchen and livingroom are connected, but I always take her up to my room before I leave the house, and then bring her back down when I get home at night. I can't say if something would have happened since I wasn't home, but I don't think he would've gone upstairs, let alone mess with her. IDK if maybe there was something in the air or what, but it's the only other thing I can think of. :'(
She still acting the same though. It pains me to see her like this but I would like an opinion. If she isn't getting better, do I keep her close and do what I have been as long as I can? If so should I try and feed her or not. I can't watch her starve if she stays this way, but with her being this sensitive I'm doubtful she'll eat. I'm sorry for the long posts but I'm just torn and sad for her.
 

kormath

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paper towel over the top is just wasting paper towels ;) overflow the waterdish and let it dry out to increase the humidity, but as @Tomoran said too much humidity for this one is bad. They like it bone dry.

Calcium powder is bad, calcium inhibits the growth of chitin, making it more difficult to molt.
 

Tomoran

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Yeah, unfortunately the calcium powder isn't something they need. For a while, folks tried to say that you shouldn't feed them vertebrates (mice especially) because the calcium can cause molting issues, but that hasn't been proven. Also, many species eat vertebrates in wild. That said, I would stop dusting them. In the very least, it has no benefit for the spider. Personally, I wouldn't take the chance.

What were they spraying under your sink? Was it pesticides?

I'm very sorry you're going through this. In most cases I've heard of, including my own, the spider doesn't eat again and dies within days. I would not put a prey item in there, as it is vulnerable and the cricket is sure to stress it out. As this species has been known to fast for over a year, she won't starve, so no worries there.
 
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Jbyd

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Thank you very much Tomoran for responding and sharing experiences. I am very sad so say Nikki has passed. I came home from work today and she was close to the end. All of her legs were curled under. I kept her with me and tried to offer water but at that point she could barely move her legs. We stayed on the couch and watched tv (she always had to face the tv or she would adjust to see it....yes I know she probably couldn't see it but it seemed like it) but after a bit she wouldn't move at all and was in a death curl...

I know a lot of people are scared of tarantulas or don't like them, but just like with other pets I feel like I lost one of the family, cause I guess I did. Anyways, if anything I want to use any experience I gain from this and progress with any future T's and go from there. Even before this I was hoping to get a few others, and if anything be very cautious and hopefully have a large healthy collection of them. As I want to be apart of this community for as long as I can. Looking through all the forums most people say it starts with one and doesn't always stop there. I look forward to future conversations and experiences and just want to thank everyone again.
 

kormath

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Sorry @Jbyd sucks to lose one :(

It's true that when you lose one, buying 2 or more to take your mind off the loss really helps ;) What are you looking for to be the next one(s)?
 

Jbyd

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Sorry @Jbyd sucks to lose one :(

It's true that when you lose one, buying 2 or more to take your mind off the loss really helps ;) What are you looking for to be the next one(s)?


Hey everyone, It's been a while but I wanted to thank everyone again for the support with the previous T. Just the other day things fell into place and I met an awesome employee at a local pet shop who was looking to re-home her Rosie. I'd like to introduce Elvira. Name given but I like it, and hopefully more soon on the way. I only want to grow and learn from experience, and hopefully I can be a lot more active on here as well.
 

Phil

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Thank you very much Tomoran for responding and sharing experiences. I am very sad so say Nikki has passed. I came home from work today and she was close to the end. All of her legs were curled under. I kept her with me and tried to offer water but at that point she could barely move her legs. We stayed on the couch and watched tv (she always had to face the tv or she would adjust to see it....yes I know she probably couldn't see it but it seemed like it) but after a bit she wouldn't move at all and was in a death curl...

I know a lot of people are scared of tarantulas or don't like them, but just like with other pets I feel like I lost one of the family, cause I guess I did. Anyways, if anything I want to use any experience I gain from this and progress with any future T's and go from there. Even before this I was hoping to get a few others, and if anything be very cautious and hopefully have a large healthy collection of them. As I want to be apart of this community for as long as I can. Looking through all the forums most people say it starts with one and doesn't always stop there. I look forward to future conversations and experiences and just want to thank everyone again.
I came late to this post but have read all of the updates and I am so sorry for your loss. you sound like a really caring fella and obviously miss your pet dearly. I hope you still continue with this wonderful hobby and look forward to future posts and hopefully a new T or two in your life.
 
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