Is this old age or can I save her?

[Banshee]

Hello

I adopted my rose hair about 12 or 13 years ago so I’m not sure how old she is or how long her previous owner had her. I’ve kept her in the same enclosure I adopted her in and fill it about halfway with loose coconut fiber substrate, since her glass tank is too tall for her (I think it’s about 12”?) but she doesn’t climb on the glass at all.

She’s been fine up until about a week ago when I noticed her in what I assumed was a death curl. She’s eaten in the past month (I used to feed her crickets but lately I’ve been feeding her mealworms because they’re easier to get in my town, we offer them about once a week but she doesn’t always go for it).

I thought she might be dehydrated so I moved her to an icu overnight. I was researching some more and found some comments about icu’s causing more harm than good, and her condition hadn’t improved at all over the night so I moved her back to her enclosure, with her mouth over her water dish.

She can’t support her own weight but her legs move when I touch her or disturb her tank. But she did manage to scoot away from her dish whenever I moved her over it. My boyfriend said if she had the strength to move away from it, she’d move to it if she needed water, right? I dont know if that’s how it works with Ts as she is the first and only one I’ve ever had.

She hasn’t improved at all but she’s still moving. Last night and this morning I picked her up (which I don’t normally do) and placed a few drops of water directly over her mouth. The first time I couldn’t really see if she drank some of it but this morning she didn’t, it just sat as a drop over her fangs.

I’m so worried I’m doing something wrong. I don’t want to stress her out if she’s just dying of old age but also I don’t want to give up on her Incase this is something she can overcome? Please help

 

[Whitelightning777]

I'm not sure, but try putting her in a shallow slightly tilted waterdish with her fangs in the water and abdomen just out. Use lukewarm water between. 80 to 90 degrees.

I've heard that this is way more effective then traditional ICUs are.

Hopefully, she's just dehydrated. If she improves, try feeding something soft like a hornworm or an earthworm.

 

[Banshee]

I can’t get her mouth in the water because her legs are curled so tight. I try to gently pull her legs straight at least to go over the dish but I can’t get her fangs in the water withought pushing her down which I don’t want to do

EDIT: okay I got a smaller dish and I got her fangs in at at least, they’re moving so I hope that means she’s drinking. It was a bit of an ordeal but I hope I didn’t stress her out too much..

 

[ArdorAphonopelma]

I can’t get her mouth in the water because her legs are curled so tight. I try to gently pull her legs straight at least to go over the dish but I can’t get her fangs in the water withought pushing her down which I don’t want to do

EDIT: okay I got a smaller dish and I got her fangs in at at least, they’re moving so I hope that means she’s drinking. It was a bit of an ordeal but I hope I didn’t stress her out too much..

They don't drink through their fangs, they have a small "mouth" where the fang tips meet, If you can you can try a syringe to give her water.

 

[Banshee]

She can’t reach the water even if it’s up to her fangs?

I don’t have a syringe, I was using a straw to get small drops of water over her mouth, maybe why it didn’t seem to work...

 

[ArdorAphonopelma]

She can’t reach the water even if it’s up to her fangs?

I don’t have a syringe, I was using a straw to get small drops of water over her mouth, maybe why it didn’t seem to work...

a straw will work, it sometimes takes a while to see results, depends on how dehydrated she was.

 

[Banshee]

a straw will work, it sometimes takes a while to see results, depends on how dehydrated she was.

Okay that makes sense. I’m overthinking things, I just don’t want to jostle her around too much. So she won’t spring back within a day if she is dehydrated, that does make me feel better. I’ll keep trying until she either gets better or dies

I also did want to know, if the water is up to her fangs can she get the water into her mouth?

 

[ArdorAphonopelma]

Okay that makes sense. I’m overthinking things, I just don’t want to jostle her around too much. So she won’t spring back within a day if she is dehydrated, that does make me feel better. I’ll keep trying until she either gets better or dies

yeah till then I suggest you keep her hydrated till she shows any signs of improvement, I've seen people have inverts that are having tea with death come back after intense care, of course all situations are different and it's not guaranteed survival, giving the care she needs is what will give her a chance.

 

[Banshee]

okay guys, I can’t tell you how grateful I am for the help. But now I’ve got another problem....

I’m worried I messed up and hurt two of her legs. I had her over a small dish and gently pulled her legs out from under her so that she could reach the water. At the time it looked okay and each legs was gently curled still.

But I picked her up to try giving her a drop of water directly to her mouth and noticed two of her legs were stretched out and I could see the white bands underneath. I’ve not put her over the dish again and now those legs seems to be bent at an awkward angle. They move when she’s bothered but they can’t seem to curl in. I don’t know what to do about this. She doesn’t seem to be bleeding anywhere but I don’t want to try moving those legs if they are injured. I took a pic when I first settled her over the dish yesterday, her legs look fine to me, and two of her now with her legs bent up...

In the side view image she was flexing a little bit as I had accidentally bumped the stand her tank is on.

I can’t tell you how awful I feel that I’ve done this to her....I feel like I’m making things worse by overthinking everything.

 

[ArdorAphonopelma]

okay guys, I can’t tell you how grateful I am for the help. But now I’ve got another problem....

I’m worried I messed up and hurt two of her legs. I had her over a small dish and gently pulled her legs out from under her so that she could reach the water. At the time it looked okay and each legs was gently curled still.

But I picked her up to try giving her a drop of water directly to her mouth and noticed two of her legs were stretched out and I could see the white bands underneath. I’ve not put her over the dish again and now those legs seems to be bent at an awkward angle. They move when she’s bothered but they can’t seem to curl in. I don’t know what to do about this. She doesn’t seem to be bleeding anywhere but I don’t want to try moving those legs if they are injured. I took a pic when I first settled her over the dish yesterday, her legs look fine to me, and two of her now with her legs bent up...
View attachment 33137 View attachment 33136 View attachment 33138

In the side view image she was flexing a little bit as I had accidentally bumped the stand her tank is on.

I can’t tell you how awful I feel that I’ve done this to her....I feel like I’m making things worse by overthinking everything.

a dehydrated spider is easily pose-able so her legs could just be weak, also they pop off their legs and regrow them if they were damaged, however I would recommend to just leave her by the water, moving her around too much will just stress her.
also, given that you don't know her age, If she doesn't improve I would say that it is age, once they're adults it's hard to age them.

 

[Banshee]

Okay thank you so much. I knew they could discard injured limbs I wasn’t sure if she would be able to in her state or if it bothered her.

My last question would be should I continue to try giving her drops of water directly to her mouth?

 

[ArdorAphonopelma]

Okay thank you so much. I knew they could discard injured limbs I wasn’t sure if she would be able to in her state or if it bothered her.

My last question would be should I continue to try giving her drops of water directly to her mouth?

At this point it's up to you if you had seen her improve from when she went into death curl to now, if she did improve then keep on with the care. Remember don't overthink as it'll only cloud your judgement and cause you to make mistakes.

 

[Arachnoclown]

Sorry but it looks as if shes ready to pass. Im sure she has lived a long happy life. Shes been lucky to have you to take care of her. I see that you live in Oregon, I am as well. If your up to care for another tarantula for 20 plus years, I can hook you up with a sling or two.

 

[Whitelightning777]

Just keep her over that water. Tarantulas basically can't drown. The book lungs are in the underside of the abdomen.

In extreme cases, people have flipped them over into their backs and used water droppers to get water in between the fangs one drop at a time over a period of hours until the tarantula can right itself and help itself to the water dish.

Always have a full water dish!!

Don't give up!! Many, but not all, have come back.

 

[Banshee]

Just keep her over that water. Tarantulas basically can't drown. The book lungs are in the underside of the abdomen.

In extreme cases, people have flipped them over into their backs and used water droppers to get water in between the fangs one drop at a time over a period of hours until the tarantula can right itself and help itself to the water dish.

Always have a full water dish!!

Don't give up!! Many, but not all, have come back.

Oh! I didn’t know about flipping her over, I’ve just been pinch-holding her. She’s got two injured legs On the same side, would that impede her ability to right herself if/when she gets her strength back?

 

[ArdorAphonopelma]

Oh! I didn’t know about flipping her over, I’ve just been pinch-holding her. She’s got two injured legs On the same side, would that impede her ability to right herself if/when she gets her strength back?

No it wouldn't, as long as her other legs work she can right herself. I suggest turning her by underside rather than grabbing her legs and flipping her.

 

[Banshee]

No it wouldn't, as long as her other legs work she can right herself. I suggest turning her by underside rather than grabbing her legs and flipping her.

Would she be okay if I left to go to work? Or should I leave her be if I can’t be here to monitor her?

Forgot to mention I have a roommate who can check in on her and give her water on their lunch/breaks every two hours or so until I get home

 

[ArdorAphonopelma]

Would she be okay if I left to go to work? Or should I leave her be if I can’t be here to monitor her?

Forgot to mention I have a roommate who can check in on her and give her water on their lunch/breaks every two hours or so until I get home

she should be fine while you go to work, every two hours shouldn't be too long for her.

 

[Banshee]

Sorry but it looks as if shes ready to pass. Im sure she has lived a long happy life. Shes been lucky to have you to take care of her. I see that you live in Oregon, I am as well. If your up to care for another tarantula for 20 plus years, I can hook you up with a sling or two.

Thank you, I appreciate it. But I think after this I’m gonna take a break from caring for another critter, at least for a little while.

 

[Banshee]

I thought I’d wrap this up since you were all so helpful, and again I really appreciate it, but it seems she passed away last night despite my best efforts. I’m glad I found this site and maybe some day I’ll look into adopting another rose hair But for now I’m really going to miss her.