Death curl after molt?

[kirihime]

Hey guys. so my GBB molted for the first time on Saturday since I got her as a 2nd instar. she was fine up until that point and post molt she was very skittish which is understandable. a couple days after the molt she started to death curl. she was starting to fold her legs under not over her head like a stress curl. Following the advice of another T hobbyist we put her in an icu. Yesterday morning it seemed like she was gone since she was completely motionless and unresponsive. I decided to leave her in there overnight and this morning she responded to my opening her lid by pulling her legs in tighter, albeit still in a death curl. is she suffering? is she just so stressed out she's faking it? what should I do?

 

[Tgotty90]

Could just be adjusting itself, I see mine sit in all kinds of positions after a molt, give it some time and make sure there's fresh water.

 

[Enn49]

May I suggest you read this thread http://www.tarantulaforum.com/threads/had-to-put-gbb-into-icu.20721/.

 

[kirihime]

Thank you, I moved her out of the ICU yesterday after I read that. she stretched out two of her legs and has been like that since last night. still alive though whether that's a good or bad thing (if she's suffering). I'm just going to keep her substrate moist and let her do her thing.

 

[Enn49]

Fingers crossed she pulls through. Moulting itself is a stressful process and she's been moved twice so it may take few days to recover.

 

[kirihime]

Still no real change..

So for future reference is an ICU ever a good idea if a T isn't dehydrated? She was never shriveling to begin with and I never changed the amount of water I added to her enclosure to risk dessication. so I wasn't sure why she suggested but I figured she definitely knows more than I do. I knew that they were native to desert regions but still took the advice since she was the one that had suggest I start with a GBB

 

[Enn49]

Still no real change..

So for future reference is an ICU ever a good idea if a T isn't dehydrated? She was never shriveling to begin with and I never changed the amount of water I added to her enclosure to risk dessication. so I wasn't sure why she suggested but I figured she definitely knows more than I do. I knew that they were native to desert regions but still took the advice since she was the one that had suggest I start with a GBB

An ICU was always recommended but recently people have begun to realise that it doesn't help and just adds more stress to the T. Personally I prefer to leave them alone.

 

[WolfSpider]

I hope your T pulls through. GBBs are fairly hearty. I wish yours well. Obviously, we don't know why some tarantulas struggle and some do not.....we have a lot to learn. I agree with @Enn49. An ICU is probably not a good idea for a GBB. I think the ICU idea was to provide moisture to a T, like yours, that had trouble molting. There is some sporadic science that says that Ts have an easier molt when they are hydrated. Dessication can be a death knell for a vulnerable T that can't eat. However, I think the prevailing wisdom today is to keep the enclosure hydrated and leave them alone (unless they get stuck in a molt). I'd be curious to hear what @kormath has to say about this (wiser than I am).

 

[Brachypelma albopilosum]

I'm scared that mine is in a death curl too! We just had it for 3 weeks and it was trying to molt for like a week now and I'm concerned he is in a death curl too he ate a baby mouse last week and has water available all time. I flipped him over and he didn't even move! Please help I don't want him to be in pain

 

[Enn49]

I'm scared that mine is in a death curl too! We just had it for 3 weeks and it was trying to molt for like a week now and I'm concerned he is in a death curl too he ate a baby mouse last week and has water available all time. I flipped him over and he didn't even move! Please help I don't want him to be in pain

Can you provide some photos of the T and its container? I'm guessing it's not a sling as you say you fed it a small mouse.

 

[Mr. P]

You say you flipped him over? Was he upside down on his back. If that is the case then they are molting. A tarantula will flip on to their back when they are about to molt. Many owners think they are dying at that point but they may be in that position for a few hours or more.. Leave them be and just watch them, time will tell.

 

[Brachypelma albopilosum]

Can you provide some photos of the T and its container? I'm guessing it's not a sling as you say you fed it a small mouse.

I'm sorry for the late response but I couldn't reply for some reason but here's some photos

 

[Brachypelma albopilosum]

You say you flipped him over? Was he upside down on his back. If that is the case then they are molting. A tarantula will flip on to their back when they are about to molt. Many owners think they are dying at that point but they may be in that position for a few hours or more.. Leave them be and just watch them, time will tell.

It was on its legs when I flipped her over so she wasn't molding.. I think

 

[Arachnoclown]

It was trying to molt for a week...did it succeed??? If it's not responding at all to touch it may be already gone. You can try to give it a drop of water on its mouth between it's fangs...I still would like to know if it actually molted though.

 

[Brachypelma albopilosum]

It did not mold but I see a slight movement in his legs but not that much

 

[Arachnoclown]

I'd give it a drop of water and leave it alone. In the future I would avoid give your tarantulas mice to eat. In the wild they are optimistic hunters and do eat them but they can lead to complications. Tarantulas are meant to eat insects. Eating a mouse may rob the Tarantula of fluids to molt by using it to digest such a large meal instead (just my thought). Tarantulas pump water between their new and old exoskeletons to molt. Hopefully it's just dehydrated and pulls through for you.

 

[MassExodus]

When is the last time you saw it move? I've never heard of a week long molt. It looks dead. Tighltly curled legs + no movement = death.

 

[Brachypelma albopilosum]

When is the last time you saw it move? I've never heard of a week long molt. It looks dead. Tighltly curled legs + no movement = death.

Yesterday I saw it move and this morning a little bit. Did I do anything wrong with the enclosure? I don't know what I did wrong beside feeding her a mouse. Any tips what i should do when I buy a new one? It was or is idk a brachypelma albopilosum

 

[MassExodus]

It doesn't look good..the enclosure looks fine to me, as long as it was dry in there with just a water dish. Molting tarantulas will constrict their legs, but then they release them. If they stay tightly curled and dont release them, its bad. I need a close up of the spider. Set your camera to macro if you can.

 

[Brachypelma albopilosum]

It doesn't look good..the enclosure looks fine to me, as long as it was dry in there with just a water dish. Molting tarantulas will constrict their legs, but then they release them. If they stay tightly curled and dont release them, its bad. I need a close up of the spider. Set your camera to macro if you can.

I'm not at home right now so I cannot take a macro picture but she has a water dish available at all time and the enclosure is not bonedry but a little bit moist. I think not too moist but I don't know. There was a little bit water drops on the glass. If I'm home ill take a close up. What part of the spider do you want in the close up?