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Think I'm losing my smithii

Steph1304

Member
Messages
58
Location
UK
Hi, I've had my juvenile Smithii just over 6 weeks. Everything started fine - the Smithii ate well, although I was careful not to overfeed (a couple of meal worms and an 18mm cricket once a week). She/he has a good sized abdomen, so when she went iff her food last week I assumed she was coming up for a moult, as this was the same behavioural pattern my versicolor had pre moult, so I haven't offered any more food this week. Yesterday morning I was pleased to see she was out and about in her tank so I figured I might be wrong about the moult and decided I would offer some food before I went to bed.

When I went to feed her that evening I saw she was in a weird position at the side of the tank and looked dead. It was hard to tell even what position she was in i.e. on her front or back as her front legs pointed up but the rest pointed down. In the end I touched a back leg gently with a paintbrush but no response so I figured I'd leave the body there till morning then I could take photos in a better light and see if I could find out what I'd done wrong. Got up at 2am as I couldn't sleep and noticed more legs were pointing upwards so I hoped she was just moulting and that I'd get up this morning to see she'd finished, but this morning there's no change :(.

She is still alive as when I turned the tank slightly to see her in a better light she twitched. Is there anything I can do at all or just wait it out? The versicolor moulted over a few hours, but this looks very different.

I will attach photos when I get home but I'm currently on my way to a hospital appointment
 

Steph1304

Member
Messages
58
Location
UK
I called the shop up yesterday and sent them some really poor quality photos (but the best I could get). They reassured me that she was still alive as she hadn't curled up and that she did look as if she was about to moult or trying to moult. They also told me that juvies can take up to a week to moult, whereas I'd expected a few hours (which is how long my versicolor took).

The smithii hasn't moved at all this morning so I'll just wait and leave her to it and hope for the best. Apologies for the really poor pics, but I don't want to move the tank to disturb her, and lighting in my office is really dim. I'll also add a quick snap of my versicolor, just because I was able to snap a pic of her underneath yesterday and was fascinated to see her fangs and her book lungs
 

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Arachnoclown

Well-Known Member
1,000+ Post Club
3 Year Member
Tarantula Club Member
Messages
6,382
Location
The Oregon rain forest
The lotus seed pods may be ok for humans and have medicinal uses. Your spider is the first I've ever seen with them in a enclosure. However to fight oxidation, some sellers of dried lotus seeds bleach their products with hydrogen peroxide, sodium hydroxide, or other chemicals. They are no where near something your tarantula would have in its environment. I'd get rid of them. What else do you have in there?
 

Steph1304

Member
Messages
58
Location
UK
The lotus seed pods may be ok for humans and have medicinal uses. Your spider is the first I've ever seen with them in a enclosure. However to fight oxidation, some sellers of dried lotus seeds bleach their products with hydrogen peroxide, sodium hydroxide, or other chemicals. They are no where near something your tarantula would have in its environment. I'd get rid of them. What else do you have in there?
I bought the lotus pods from the spider shop when I bought the tank. I also have cork bark, substrate and a water bowl. Originally I had some plastic plants in there too but removed them after a week as I was concerned there would be too much decor for the spider to find her prey. Substrate is the one supplied by the shop - unfortunately I threw out the empty bag
 

Steph1304

Member
Messages
58
Location
UK
I have just taken more photos and although the shop said dead spiders curl up she hasn't moved in 24 hours and really looks dead. I moved the tank so I had better light to photograph her but she didn't twitch or move at all. I am gutted as I feel responsible but I would very much like to know what I may have done wrong, especially so I don't risk losing the other one too.

As I mentioned the Smithii seemed more active 2 days ago and seemed quite healthy but looked like she was getting ready to moult - 5 hours later she was like this.
 

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Steph1304

Member
Messages
58
Location
UK
Only other info I can think to give is tank is a constant 24C during the day and drops to 19.5C at night. I use a dechlorinator to treat the tap water before I put it in the bowl, 1 drop per 500ml. Diet has been meal worms which she would take and I have offered crickets but she refused them. I've had the meal worms since 12th January and I feed the worms with cricket pellets and the fruit jel. I always check the meal worms are healthy and active before I introduce them. Tank is 29cm diameter and I overfil the waterbowl once a week so approx 50ml goes onto the soil. If the water evaporates during the week I pipette a little more into the bowl but am careful not to overfill.

No flysprays, flea treatments, or scented candles in the house (I have kept tropical fish for 20 years so know how hazardous they can be). Any cleaning I do in the office is with antibacterial wipes and never near the tank.
 

Tarantulafeets

Well-Known Member
Messages
348
Location
Socal
I have just taken more photos and although the shop said dead spiders curl up she hasn't moved in 24 hours and really looks dead. I moved the tank so I had better light to photograph her but she didn't twitch or move at all. I am gutted as I feel responsible but I would very much like to know what I may have done wrong, especially so I don't risk losing the other one too.

As I mentioned the Smithii seemed more active 2 days ago and seemed quite healthy but looked like she was getting ready to moult - 5 hours later she was like this.
Looks like it tried molting upright but got stuck... did you have a water dish available in the enclosure? This could have happened from dehydration, which can cause a lot of mismolts. If it isn't responding to stimuli and hasn't moved in a while, I think that it would be dead. Sorry for you loss...
 

Steph1304

Member
Messages
58
Location
UK
Looks like it tried molting upright but got stuck... did you have a water dish available in the enclosure? This could have happened from dehydration, which can cause a lot of mismolts. If it isn't responding to stimuli and hasn't moved in a while, I think that it would be dead. Sorry for you loss...
Thanks for your response - yes she had a waterdish in the enclosure. I just tried gently touching her leg with the paintbrush but there is nothing. Even comparing the texture of her skin with yesterday it seems changed as if it is starting to degrade - I think she has gone too. :(
 

Steph1304

Member
Messages
58
Location
UK
No response at all and she is looking more dead each day. I think it's time to call it .

May I please double check about disposal? It may seem callous but out refuse is taken by the council and burned to fuel a local powerplant rather than sent to landfill. Should she have been carrying something nasty there is little to no chance of it infecting native spiders if she is disposed of that way. I also wonder how others here deal with that side of keeping tarantulas?

If it's ok too I'll stick up a photo of the setup? Just incase I have done something very wrong and not realised. I'll remove the lotus pods as directed, but assumed they were safe as I bought them from the same shop as tank decor.
 
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