Also if the humidity was the issue why was she activily going the water to drink?
-
Are you a Tarantula hobbyist? If so, we invite you to join our community! Once you join you'll be able to post messages, upload pictures of your pets and enclosures and chat with other Tarantula enthusiasts. Sign up today!
Help i think my T is dying?
- Thread starter Luvs
- Start date
- Messages
- 6,382
- Location
- The Oregon rain forest
Find a tall plastic container you can punch a bunch of holes in for now.
- Messages
- 6,382
- Location
- The Oregon rain forest
These are $3.00 at Wal-Mart
- Messages
- 1,811
- Location
- UK
Ignore what the store has said and listen to Arachnoclowns advice I wouldn't question someone with 38 yrs of expertise .. Those pet stores no nothing about how to care for tarantulas properly...
So upon inspection it looke like she grabbed onto one of her plants a piece broke off. The stem part was tucked under her fangs. She wouldnt let go it. We manged to get it out and she immediately uncurled. But now shes back to curling and flinching. Was this plant piece keeping her from drinking and was the cause of all this.
- Messages
- 1,811
- Location
- UK
I doubt the plant piece was causing all the problems but it does sound like you've got an exposed and scared tarantula there..
Best thing is to improve her environment by setting her up an enclosure like Arachnoclown has said above as soon as possible - it's your best chance of helping your T
The reality is your setup is wrong and your going to kill your spider. You can either listen to the advice you’ve been given by a legitimate expert....or you can listen to a pet shop that don’t care if your spider dies as you’ll just go back to them to buy another 1.
We found a piece of plant stem stuck under her fangs. We removed it and she bounced back for a sec and is back to curling. Could that have been the whole problem?
We moved her into a proper set up with proper temp and humid like was suggested.
Ive done nothing but research on this taking advice from as many people as possible.
I already feel horrible as is. i didnt do any of this intentionally. If your not going to provide helpful critisism right now dont bother posting.
And no i wont get another one after this im not some five year old who kills my pets. Its extreamly asswholeish of you to say so
The reason I came across as an asshole was I was telling you that the advice was there and yet you still took it upon yourself to question it. I’d consider revising how you research , just a simple google search of the species will tell you they live in trees so straight away your setup should have raised a red flag for you.
I apologise for being blunt but what you’re having issues with right now is very common with new keepers because they don’t research simple care requirements and it’s always Avicularia. It gets frustrating
I apologise for being blunt but what you’re having issues with right now is very common with new keepers because they don’t research simple care requirements and it’s always Avicularia. It gets frustrating
Thank you for being concerned, i understand it can be frustrating. Id like to say i was asking questions from all the advise because i want to make sure im taking the immediate right course of action. So many people think they know the best. And yet everyone will have conflicting advice.
Ive had many people come at me cause of all the animals we've owned over the years. Frogs, turtles, snakes, lizards both big and small, birds, fish, rabbits and normal house hold pets. 9 times out of 10 our animals reached old age. (Weve had cancer show up time to time or freak accidents.) And i know tarantulas are harder to take care of then all listed above. It just sucks i went into this with as much knowledge i could get and things still went wrong.
Anyways, sorry for the rant. I just wanted to point out that im not someone who buys living things on a whim without at least reading on it first.
- Messages
- 6,382
- Location
- The Oregon rain forest
Suicide??? They do stupid stuff when they are dying. No one knows.
Lmao....idiots. The 70%-80% humidity these fools are telling you is at the floor level in the jungles of Guyana. In the high canopy many meters off the jungle floor the humidity is much less. That's where the spiders live...up in the breeze.
If your car is broke are you going to ask a car sales man for advise or the mechanic? Salesman just wants to sell another car...
Yeah i dont trust pet stores much, i mostly called cause my mom was conserned. And would stop till i at least asked them.Suicide??? They do stupid stuff when they are dying. No one knows.
Lmao....idiots. The 70%-80% humidity these fools are telling you is at the floor level in the jungles of Guyana. In the high canopy many meters off the jungle floor the humidity is much less. That's where the spiders live...up in the breeze.
If your car is broke are you going to ask a car sales man for advise or the mechanic? Salesman just wants to sell another car...
Thank you for the advice, and tips tho. If she suddenly bounces back during the night ill definatly let you know but im not putting my hopes up right now.
I was so excited to finally do something i dreamed of doing since i was a kid. Ive had experience with all kinds of animals, but i guess i just wasnt fully prepared for this. Its on me for what happened so ill apologize for it.
I wont be getting another tarantula. Not for the foreseeable future. Im already breaking down as is. T-T
- Messages
- 6,382
- Location
- The Oregon rain forest
No reason to quit. Ive killed lots of spiders over the years from trial and error. Back in the early 80s when I started there wasn't any help to be found. Only old books in the library only talking about a few spiders in there natural environment...not how to care for as pets. No internet, forums or Google. Brush it off and try again...learn as you go.
- Messages
- 1,744
- Location
- Queens, NY
I do not want to be a Debbie Downer but your description of her behavior matches exactly the one of my pink toe which was also about the same size as yours. She was gone fairly fast
I hope this is just a coincidence and that your little one will be back to her old self very soon.
I hope this is just a coincidence and that your little one will be back to her old self very soon.
- Messages
- 98
- Location
- Anywhere in North America.
First off, you all should remember that Kritter Keepers have a lid that's all grill. Unless the OP did something to cover it over (e.g., wrap it in Saran wrap), there should be plenty of ventilation. I think we can reasonably discount that as a cause, at least in the sense that many of you mention.
But there are at least two other possibilities that you need to consider. The fact that it's having trouble walking, with its legs in a pre-death curl, or in an actual death curl, could easily be explained by the tarantula being dehydrated and unable to extend its legs or control its walking very well.
First, you just received the tarantula within the past week. It still hasn't completely settled into its new quarters. And the Avicularia/Carabena group of tarantulas are notorious for not surviving shipping very well. In the industry it's called shipping shock, and is possibly caused by rough handling. E.g., the spider was beat up by being shaken around in its shipping container like a maraca. The wet sponge or cotton ball and substrate in the cup didn't help either! Or it got too hot in the belly of a plane, or a courier's truck. There are other less likely possible causes as well. But in general, tarantulas are hardy enough that it may take them a week or more to get sick enough to die.
With shipping shock, about the only thing you can do is supply supportive treatment and hope the tarantula snaps out of it before it dies. For this, an ICU is about the only option. (See below.)
Another possible cause might be too low humidity. A lot depends on how old (or young) the tarantula is, and whether the breeder kept it in an inordinately high humidity. Too young a tarantula may not have had a chance to develop a sufficiently impermeable exoskeleton and might be suffering because it has TOO MUCH ventilation, and thereby too low a humidity.
Or, a tarantula that is large enough that it should already have developed an impermeable exoskeleton may not do so if it's kept too damp as it's growing with the same result in such an open cage. You're changing conditions on it too fast. It can't keep up.
Our problem here is ignorance. No one has actually studied this aspect of tarantula physiology, development, and husbandry. At what point does any given tarantula actually develop an impermeable exoskeleton? Does this point vary with species, sex, details of care? Probably. Maybe. Sometimes. <blank looks> from everybody!
If that were my spider I'd get it into an ICU as soon as possible, and keep it there for about 24 hours. If it shows any improvement, I'd leave it in the ICU another 24 hours, then return it to its cage for another day, noting carefully how it reacts to the ICU, and how it reacts after being taken out of the ICU.
Is this a sure cure? Not by a long shot! But, it's better than just sitting there and watching it die.
Best of luck.
But there are at least two other possibilities that you need to consider. The fact that it's having trouble walking, with its legs in a pre-death curl, or in an actual death curl, could easily be explained by the tarantula being dehydrated and unable to extend its legs or control its walking very well.
First, you just received the tarantula within the past week. It still hasn't completely settled into its new quarters. And the Avicularia/Carabena group of tarantulas are notorious for not surviving shipping very well. In the industry it's called shipping shock, and is possibly caused by rough handling. E.g., the spider was beat up by being shaken around in its shipping container like a maraca. The wet sponge or cotton ball and substrate in the cup didn't help either! Or it got too hot in the belly of a plane, or a courier's truck. There are other less likely possible causes as well. But in general, tarantulas are hardy enough that it may take them a week or more to get sick enough to die.
With shipping shock, about the only thing you can do is supply supportive treatment and hope the tarantula snaps out of it before it dies. For this, an ICU is about the only option. (See below.)
Another possible cause might be too low humidity. A lot depends on how old (or young) the tarantula is, and whether the breeder kept it in an inordinately high humidity. Too young a tarantula may not have had a chance to develop a sufficiently impermeable exoskeleton and might be suffering because it has TOO MUCH ventilation, and thereby too low a humidity.
Or, a tarantula that is large enough that it should already have developed an impermeable exoskeleton may not do so if it's kept too damp as it's growing with the same result in such an open cage. You're changing conditions on it too fast. It can't keep up.
Our problem here is ignorance. No one has actually studied this aspect of tarantula physiology, development, and husbandry. At what point does any given tarantula actually develop an impermeable exoskeleton? Does this point vary with species, sex, details of care? Probably. Maybe. Sometimes. <blank looks> from everybody!
If that were my spider I'd get it into an ICU as soon as possible, and keep it there for about 24 hours. If it shows any improvement, I'd leave it in the ICU another 24 hours, then return it to its cage for another day, noting carefully how it reacts to the ICU, and how it reacts after being taken out of the ICU.
Is this a sure cure? Not by a long shot! But, it's better than just sitting there and watching it die.
Best of luck.
I took arach advide and with better ventilation and some water she has bounced back. She no longer curled.
Also there was no shipping involved. I personly went and picked her up. She was secure in a tub that was strapped down in my car for a 40min drive. No potholes or high speeds. If she was shipped to the people i got her from no clue.
Considering her bounce back its looking like the ventilation and tank was the key factor. She got stressed, and dehydrated.
She is fine now. Probably pissed off and not very happy with what happened.
I learned this lesson the extreamly hard way. But i have a friend i got in touch with that helped alot last night. So hopfully nothing like this happens again.
Thank you all for the advice and putting up with me.
Also there was no shipping involved. I personly went and picked her up. She was secure in a tub that was strapped down in my car for a 40min drive. No potholes or high speeds. If she was shipped to the people i got her from no clue.
Considering her bounce back its looking like the ventilation and tank was the key factor. She got stressed, and dehydrated.
She is fine now. Probably pissed off and not very happy with what happened.
I learned this lesson the extreamly hard way. But i have a friend i got in touch with that helped alot last night. So hopfully nothing like this happens again.
Thank you all for the advice and putting up with me.
