Please Help (Sling Orange Baboon Tarantula)

[Tawau Rianz]

Hello there guys. First of all im glad to be here. And this is my first tarantula. But I do have experience keeping my Huntsman for a year now. So yesterday, I bought the OBT. I saw one missing leg of him/her. But then, there was only 1 OBT atm, so I just bought him. So then I rehoused him into the reptile tank. And he is acting really weird. I have dried up the substrate before housing him as I read he really don't like wet substrate. But then he still climb up over the cover and circling around. And this morning I saw him not moving at all. I just wondered is he/she okay? Usually he will just run away when I open the tank. But now he/she just ignores me. Is he/she preparing to moult? As I am expecting he is going to moult, I provide several cotton sheets in case she dropped from the tank cover after moulting . Because I think sling Ts are so fragile especially Baboon Ts. Can any of experienced guys and girls out there help me to figure this out. This is my 1st Ts and I am really worried. Here are some of the photos.

 

[Josh]

Welcome to the forum! Is your T responsive at all? Generally pre-molt they'll be a bit more reclusive. How active is he?

 

[Christell Erasmus]

Hi welcome and congrats on your first T of many. Your T could be approaching pre-molt or he could still be adjusting to the re-housing. Just keep an eye on him. As long as his back side is nice and plump and not shriveled up or in a death curl he should be okay.

 

[Tawau Rianz]

Thank you for the welcome guys.

Welcome to the forum! Is your T responsive at all? Generally pre-molt they'll be a bit more reclusive. How active is he?

He is responsive now after several hours now. After I have rehoused it again in a small container. I actually searched and found out that the container as picture below is much more suitable for 'sling Ts'. Please correct me if I am wrong. I am learning and I would like to learn about Ts.

 

[Tawau Rianz]

Hi welcome and congrats on your first T of many. Your T could be approaching pre-molt or he could still be adjusting to the re-housing. Just keep an eye on him. As long as his back side is nice and plump and not shriveled up or in a death curl he should be okay.

Thanks for the welcome . Okay I am keeping an eye on him. I just want him to be happy and healthy. Only now I know how different it is in taking care between true spiders and Ts. By the way, I would like to ask your valuable opinions.

1. What are the signs that he would moult within the next 24 hours? I really2 would like to see the process. This T is beautiful.
2. Can you describe more about the death curls?
3. As you see the picture above, I have given him two mealworms. 1 is dead (crushed the head) and 1 is alive. But he completely ignores them. But, the pet store owner told me that he need to be feed today as his feeding schedule when the T was still in the pet store.

I hope you understand. Im not a native English speaker.

 

[trailblazin02]

Give it some fake plants or twigs to build a web with and keep it dry. And also be very cautious so you don't get bit. There incredibly fast. Just leave it be for a few days to get settled into its home then try feeding again

 

[Tawau Rianz]

Give it some fake plants or twigs to build a web with and keep it dry. And also be very cautious so you don't get bit. There incredibly fast. Just leave it be for a few days to get settled into its home then try feeding again

Alright, I'll try to get some fake plants. I'll wait for another few days and try feeding him again then. Your advice is appreciated. Thank you so much.

 

[Christell Erasmus]

I am glad he is doing better.
Well about your questions.
1. You cannot really tell the time witch your tarantula will molt, their time is their own. but here is some signs that a molt is coming up soon. Most tarantulas molt while lying on its back. but some of them so molt while lying on their sides. Don't freak out. Just leave him to do his thing. NEVER touch a molting tarantula.

• Eating Less - a tarantula getting ready for a molt will usually stop eating, sometime for as long as a few weeks before a molt.
• Inactivity - a tarantula getting ready to molt will often become quite suggish.
• Bald Spot - tarantulas also sometimes develop a bald spot on their abdomen that grows increasingly dark as the molt draws near (a bald spot can also occur in new world tarantulas that have been kicking off their urticating hairs). After molting, the bald spot will be gone.
• Increased use of webbing (they may make a mat out of silk for molting).
• Dull coloration.

2. Here is a picture how a death curl looks like. Don't poke at your tarantula if it looks like this. Poking puts a lot of stress on your tarantula. Rather put him in an ICU. If your tarantula is in a death curl he wont move or walk normal. He would be kind of sluggish, abdomen would be shriveled and small.

I hope this help. Just enjoy your tarantula, they are tougher than we think.

 

[mrotsliah]

Here is a picture how a death curl looks like. Don't poke at your tarantula if it looks like this. Poking puts a lot of stress on your tarantula. Rather put him in an ICU. If your tarantula is in a death curl he wont move or walk normal. He would be kind of sluggish, abdomen would be shriveled and small.

Other than death, why would a tarantula do a death curl? Does this position help loosen the old skin for an up coming molt? Kinda like tarantula yoga?