Hornet'sNest
New Member
- Messages
- 1
- Location
- UK
Hi everyone - any advice of the below is greatly welcomed.
Just to preface this by saying I've been keeping tarantulas for 5 or so years now, (not that that means I know everything!) and I'm in a situation that has me stumped.
I had an adult vagans who had never had any issues molting or feeding, she went into pre-molt as normal and molted 2 weeks later. It was a clean, whole molt, with no indication of trauma.
My Ts always have a water dish just in case and I was vigilant with the general moisture levels coming up to the vagans molt.
She was going to be rehoused following this next molt as her current enclosure would be getting a bit tight for her, but with more than enough space for 2-3 x DLS width and length.
Anyway -
Following the molt she stayed down in her burrow and she was very limp, not holding her own body up, and her legs were fallen over. I left her to it as I thought she might have had a tough molt and just needed some extra time to harden but she didn't make any significant moves for two weeks, only half an inch every few days - I could see she wasn't in a death curl though.
I had never had a T take this long to bounce back, nor have I ever seen one so unresponsive. As always - the ventilation was good, temp is around 20 degrees C, nothing that would be causing her stress.
She started looking even more for slack and crumpled so I dropped a pipette of water into the substrate nearby (minding her booklungs), and no luck.
I couple of days later I found her in a death curl. She was a perfectly healthy (from the looks of it!) 2 year old T, ate well, no prior issues.
Despite being upset and feeling very guilty for anything I may have missed, I've been searching the Internet for any other cases like this and I can't seem to find any on the forums.
This week my N. tripepii has molted. Loads of space to molt, good ventilation, proper substrate moisture levels, eating very well, no risk of physical injury. Showing similar issues.
This T is younger, only around a year and a half, 2 inches DLS. The only difference is that this T seems to have a deformed leg following this most recent molt - the leg doesn't appear to be able to bend.
He looks weak and the joints at the bends in each leg look strange like they haven't pulled together tight enough (poor description, I'm sure!) - just like the vagans.
I'm perhaps being overly cautious with this 2nd T due to the death of the first, but I have a feeling that it's going the same way.
I've been going over and over this and the only thing I can think that these two enclosures share is the substrate mix. Slightly different amounts, but a mix of cocofibre, top soil, a little vermiculite, some spagnum moss for the top layer - so maybe something in the substrate? But I can't see how this would only impact during molting.
Just to confirm - the substrate was sufficiently deep in both cases, they could both go down into their burrows if they wished.
Any suggestions, or if anyone can share hearing or experiencing this before, please do let me know so that I can avoid any errors being made.
I've not lost any Ts other than a couple of slings over the years, so this has upset me. I enjoy the hobby, but this has shaken me and I'm concerned I'm not doing right by my Ts.
I couldn't get very clear photos of the vagans other than when I emptied the enclosure to get her out once dead. I'll leave it a couple of days and then see if I can get a clear photo of the tripepii - I would sooner but I don't want to stress him out more than necessary.
Just to preface this by saying I've been keeping tarantulas for 5 or so years now, (not that that means I know everything!) and I'm in a situation that has me stumped.
I had an adult vagans who had never had any issues molting or feeding, she went into pre-molt as normal and molted 2 weeks later. It was a clean, whole molt, with no indication of trauma.
My Ts always have a water dish just in case and I was vigilant with the general moisture levels coming up to the vagans molt.
She was going to be rehoused following this next molt as her current enclosure would be getting a bit tight for her, but with more than enough space for 2-3 x DLS width and length.
Anyway -
Following the molt she stayed down in her burrow and she was very limp, not holding her own body up, and her legs were fallen over. I left her to it as I thought she might have had a tough molt and just needed some extra time to harden but she didn't make any significant moves for two weeks, only half an inch every few days - I could see she wasn't in a death curl though.
I had never had a T take this long to bounce back, nor have I ever seen one so unresponsive. As always - the ventilation was good, temp is around 20 degrees C, nothing that would be causing her stress.
She started looking even more for slack and crumpled so I dropped a pipette of water into the substrate nearby (minding her booklungs), and no luck.
I couple of days later I found her in a death curl. She was a perfectly healthy (from the looks of it!) 2 year old T, ate well, no prior issues.
Despite being upset and feeling very guilty for anything I may have missed, I've been searching the Internet for any other cases like this and I can't seem to find any on the forums.
This week my N. tripepii has molted. Loads of space to molt, good ventilation, proper substrate moisture levels, eating very well, no risk of physical injury. Showing similar issues.
This T is younger, only around a year and a half, 2 inches DLS. The only difference is that this T seems to have a deformed leg following this most recent molt - the leg doesn't appear to be able to bend.
He looks weak and the joints at the bends in each leg look strange like they haven't pulled together tight enough (poor description, I'm sure!) - just like the vagans.
I'm perhaps being overly cautious with this 2nd T due to the death of the first, but I have a feeling that it's going the same way.
I've been going over and over this and the only thing I can think that these two enclosures share is the substrate mix. Slightly different amounts, but a mix of cocofibre, top soil, a little vermiculite, some spagnum moss for the top layer - so maybe something in the substrate? But I can't see how this would only impact during molting.
Just to confirm - the substrate was sufficiently deep in both cases, they could both go down into their burrows if they wished.
Any suggestions, or if anyone can share hearing or experiencing this before, please do let me know so that I can avoid any errors being made.
I've not lost any Ts other than a couple of slings over the years, so this has upset me. I enjoy the hobby, but this has shaken me and I'm concerned I'm not doing right by my Ts.
I couldn't get very clear photos of the vagans other than when I emptied the enclosure to get her out once dead. I'll leave it a couple of days and then see if I can get a clear photo of the tripepii - I would sooner but I don't want to stress him out more than necessary.
