Layla has died :(

[Gizalba]

I have had quite a few deaths recently due to old age, but losing Layla hit me hard as it was completely out of the blue. I'd had her 2 years, 3 months and grown her from a sling. So devastated.

Can anyone tell me what they think happened? Is the white stuff around her fangs a wound due to falling when trying to moult?

A few months ago I had rehoused her (see first pic) to give her more space but she never did any new webbing to make a safe place for moulting. Since avics tend to moult high up I was scared she'd fall, so after 6 weeks of no webbing I moved her back to her old enclosure with her old webbing (3rd pic).

I am also gutted as I'd previously lost my other avic and c. versicolor slings Maisy, Ele and Nevele. I've kept them all the same with a dry enclosure and a full water dish with cross-ventilation. I know many avics die due to too much moisture and lack of ventilation, so I'm at a loss as to what I'm doing wrong? If I didn't see them come down to drink I'd occasionally put a few drops of water on the web, but Layla always seemed good at using the water dish. My only remaining T of a similar genus is my Ybyrapora diversipes Luna, who I've had a similar time as I had Layla.

 

[Gizalba]

P.s. I'd put the moss in at the bottom as padding to try to break any falls

 

[Spiders&Snakes]

Oh no. I'm sorry to hear this Gizalba. I remember that we both bought our C. Versi sling from the Spider Shop in the same week, and so we both had slings from the same batch.

Sorry to hear that you have had such bad luck.

Your enclosures look good to me, so I doubt it's anything to do with that. Do you keep them at the correct temps year round? And do you have a rough idea of the humidity in your enclosures? I bought a thermometer/hygrometer combo off Amazon (it's only 1 inch in size!) and goes inside the enclosure so I can keep everything peachy at all times.

My versi is still with us, but he is a boy and he will only have about 4-6 months left to live now.

My condolences.

 

[Enn49]

I'm so sorry for your loss.
I'm no expert when it comes to sexing but judging by those boxing gloves on its pedipalps I'd say your Layla was in fact a mature male.

 

[Spiders&Snakes]

I'm so sorry for your loss.
I'm no expert when it comes to sexing but judging by those boxing gloves on its pedipalps I'd say your Layla was in fact a mature male.

That was also my initial thought. Might have not been anything Gizalba has done wrong at all, could simply be old age for a mature male. Mine is due to leave us any time now and we had Versi's from the same egg sac.

 

[Gizalba]

Oh no. I'm sorry to hear this Gizalba. I remember that we both bought our C. Versi sling from the Spider Shop in the same week, and so we both had slings from the same batch.

Sorry to hear that you have had such bad luck.

Your enclosures look good to me, so I doubt it's anything to do with that. Do you keep them at the correct temps year round? And do you have a rough idea of the humidity in your enclosures? I bought a thermometer/hygrometer combo off Amazon (it's only 1 inch in size!) and goes inside the enclosure so I can keep everything peachy at all times.

My versi is still with us, but he is a boy and he will only have about 4-6 months left to live now.

My condolences.

You have a good memory, thanks so much. Happy to hear your versi man is good

I keep them about 21-22 degrees C in the day time year round (about 70 fahrenheit I think that is). At night I let it drop to around 18 degrees C in the winter (figuring that in the wild the temp would drop at night) and use an electric radiator (positioned around 2/3 of a metre away from the enclosures) to maintain that when I switch the central heating off at night. I know this is on the lower end of what some people keep them at so I have slower growth rates, but I have repetitively read that room temperature is fine? I do keep wondering if I should up the heat though, it is a hard balance with energy bills rising.

Humidity-wise: I did have a hydrometer in Layla's enclosure, stuck to the bottom you can see it a bit in the picture. It says it is 70% but is near the water dish so the rest of the enclosure may be lower if that is true. I have long since stopped putting them in enclosures though following advice from Tom Moran (youtube) as apparently they are really unreliable and unnecessary/can encourage over-doing the moisture to get up to a certain reading.

 

[Gizalba]

I'm so sorry for your loss.
I'm no expert when it comes to sexing but judging by those boxing gloves on its pedipalps I'd say your Layla was in fact a mature male.

Thank you. I hadn't thought of that - I couldn't see any tibial hooks but being so fluffy maybe they were disguised. She/he was only around 4cm leg-span though, maybe hard to tell from the photos, so I feel like that was too small for a mature male in this species? She was an Avicularia juruensis I think.

 

[mrsoul1974]

I am truly sorry to hear of your loss.

 

[Gizalba]

I am truly sorry to hear of your loss.

Thanks I appreciate it, RIP Layla.

 

[Arachnoclown]

Sad news. That white stuff is mold or mildew along with fluids from the spider. This mold happens really fast after passing and isn't what it died from. By the age and the looks of those pedipalps it may have been a boy.

 

[Gizalba]

Sad news. That white stuff is mold or mildew along with fluids from the spider. This mold happens really fast after passing and isn't what it died from. By the age and the looks of those pedipalps it may have been a boy.

Thanks very much for explaining the white stuff and reassurance it probably wasn't him bursting from a fall. I am very relieved if she was actually a boy and due to go anyway - would explain maybe why he never webbed again. I had just got it into my head he was still a juvenile and had more growing to do

 

[Lawrence b]

Sorry or your loss.