Molted-still on back

[Jess S]

I know I'm probably going to get slated for saying this but-if it were mine I would have flipped it back by now-its trying to move along which suggests to me its tried and failed to flip and with the spider being so old I would worry that it will wear itself out-
at least if its turned up the right way gently it has more chance to recuperate and drink properly-
not saying I'm right but if it were me that's what I would do

That makes sense to me. After all, any harm that could be caused by turning her as gently as possible, has got to be less than the danger of not being able to turn at all. Its been nearly 3 days now. She has travelled quite a way from where she moulted, desperately trying to upright herself. I'd doubt that she would have any energy left, like you and @Enn49 said.

The trouble with these situations, is knowing when to intervene, especially if the action you need to take goes against the grain of accepted thinking. It's one of those damned if you do, damned if you don't scenarios. If you don't, and then the T. unfortunately dies, then you get told you didn't act soon enough!

I think the OP has done everything right and has given it enough time to flip. Good luck, I really hope you can get her back on her feetses (sorry, that's what I like to call them!!)

 

[SpunkySpider]

I know I'm probably going to get slated for saying this but-if it were mine I would have flipped it back by now-its trying to move along which suggests to me its tried and failed to flip and with the spider being so old I would worry that it will wear itself out-
at least if its turned up the right way gently it has more chance to recuperate and drink properly-
not saying I'm right but if it were me that's what I would do

I agree that she’s trying to flip- she keeps flailing her legs. But I don’t want to hurt her when she just molted. What is a gentle way to turn her?

 

[Jess S]

I agree that she’s trying to flip- she keeps flailing her legs. But I don’t want to hurt her when she just molted. What is a gentle way to turn her?

I've never done this before, but if I had to go about it, the way I could imagine it working is by using 2 pieces of cardboard. Cafefully + gently sliding 1 underneath her, then rolling her over, while holding the 2nd piece on her other side at an angle, to sort of manage the roll + keep it gentle. Her exoskeleton is still soft so you don't want to hurt her by applying undue pressure.

However, you may prefer to wait for one of the forums more knowledgeable, experienced keepers to get back to you on this. I just thought I'd share how I would try

 

[MassExodus]

She's still on her back?

 

[ilovebrachys]

I agree that she’s trying to flip- she keeps flailing her legs. But I don’t want to hurt her when she just molted. What is a gentle way to turn her?

Something along the lines of what @Jess S would probably be a good idea to be honest it's hard to think of anything to use off hand- take your time doing it and try to lift her as gently as possible as be very careful about lifting her as you go you may find as you gently turn her on her side she will right herself-do let us know how you get on and if you do manage to get her up the right way? make sure she has a big dish of water right in front of her I'm sure she will be thirsty!

 

[SpunkySpider]

Update: I flipped her today. As soon as I sort of got her on her side, she readily righted herself. She took several steps around he tank, which was a relief, since I worried that some sort of injury was keeping her on her back. She’s basically been standing still since then, which is typical after a molt. I’m still concerned, since she’s old and has never had this problem before, and will keep a careful watch.

Thanks to everyone for your ideas. Anything else I should be doing right now? I topped up her water, but am not sure she’s had any.

(Please excuse messy tank- I’ll handle that after more recovery time.)

 

[Enn49]

That is good news , Just make sure her water bowl is close by.

 

[ilovebrachys]

Update: I flipped her today. As soon as I sort of got her on her side, she readily righted herself. She took several steps around he tank, which was a relief, since I worried that some sort of injury was keeping her on her back. She’s basically been standing still since then, which is typical after a molt. I’m still concerned, since she’s old and has never had this problem before, and will keep a careful watch.

Thanks to everyone for your ideas. Anything else I should be doing right now? I topped up her water, but am not sure she’s had any.

(Please excuse messy tank- I’ll handle that after more recovery time.)

Great I'm glad you flipped her
I wouldn't expect her to be to active as shes gonna take a while to recover and harden up-but like @Enn49 says keep her water bowl close by almost under her mouth if need be and full
as she is so old and had so much trouble with this moult I would imagine that she will struggle with the next one-but sometimes they have a way of surprising us so I'm sure she will be just fine
thanks for letting us know

 

[Jess S]

That's fantastic news! Thanks for letting us know, she looks good and also, pretty darn cute in the picture!

I tried looking for any obvious signs of injury and couldn't see anything. I thought I noticed a baldish kind of L shaped spot on the top of her abdomen, but that could be either a trick of the light or a consequence of struggling when she was on her back. It's probably down to her age that she lacked the strength to flip.

What you're saying about keeping a close eye on her while keeping disturbance to a minimum over the next couple weeks, is the totally right thing to do. She needs to rest and recuperate from her ordeal.
@ilovebrachys + @Enn49 have said about keeping waterbowls full. For peace of mind, you could put 1 or 2 smaller waterbowls down in other corners of the enclosure in case she moves away from her current one + doesn't seem to have the energy to go back to it. But at the moment, she is facing her bowl so that's good stuff.

I'm so happy for you that you managed to help her! It'd be great if you could give some more updates, Id love to hear that shes back to her old self!

 

[DreadedNeith]

I'm glad she seems to be improving. I'm commenting for any updates.

 

[Arachnoclown]

Good news. Shes still a young lady though. I know of someone that has a 30-35 year old rosie in the other forum.

 

[MassExodus]

Now that you've flipped her over, if she dies you'll have one more question to add to the rest. Maybe she was on her back because she IS really old, and she was taking more time to get back up because she needed it. Maybe it was just too much at her age. Maybe maybe maybe. Interfering might end up killing her. Bah, never mind. I would have left her alone though, a week on her back is no different from a week standing. And we might have learned something..

 

[Arachnoclown]

@MassExodus I agree...pushing close to 40 years doing this and I would have left her alone too. It takes a long time for older tarantulas to recover from molting. Some of my old girls take many weeks to recover...seen them on their backs for many days too.

 

[MassExodus]

@MassExodus I agree...pushing close to 40 years doing this and I would have left her alone too. It takes a long time for older tarantulas to recover from molting. Some of my old girls take many weeks to recover...seen them on their backs for many days too.

You see, everyone? We just learned something...

 

[Arachnoclown]

My male stirmi was on his back for over a week and a half after his maturing molt. He went right to making his first sperm web without ever flipping.

 

[MassExodus]

My male stirmi was on his back for over a week and a half after his maturing molt. He went right to making his first sperm web without ever flipping.

^

 

[Jess S]

No offence guys, I respect you both A LOT. But you could have said all those specifics before the OP ended up taking the advice to flip her over. You both saw the thread. It would have gone a long way to ease their worry

 

[Arachnoclown]

I commented to give it a drink and leave it be. I work 70 hours a week and cant follow this thread through its entirety. Hopefully the spider will be ok...I'm sure care was taken.

 

[MassExodus]

No offence guys, I respect you both A LOT. But you could have said all those specifics before the OP ended up taking the advice to flip her over. You both saw the thread. It would have gone a long way to ease their worry

I had no idea they could lay like that for a week until Clown said something. I had heard of them chilling for a few days a couple times, but..I DID say something, my advice wasn't taken. Not that I'm butthurt about it, most times its probably wise to ignore me.

 

[Jess S]

Thats ok guys . Just wish someone would have said, hey I've had a T that was on its back for over a week then flipped. Leave it alone still raises the question how long? Mentioning it after is like shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted.

Anyway, I still think flipping it was the right thing to do. I am the only creature on earth lazy enough to enjoy lieing down that length of time.