A. avic paralyzed after molt!

christinas

Arachnosquire
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Aug 23, 2015
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My A. avic appears to be dying. He molted 4 days ago, and now is curled up in a ball and his legs don't work - they are bent at the edges and he is unable to walk up straight, instead just keeps dragging himself. I am linking a video:


I understand there is probably nothing I can do for him at this stage but want to know what I did wrong and how to prevent this in the future.
 

cold blood

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Legs curl because of dehydration most often (pesticides can cause it as well).

Give water.

Molting is a demanding process, it takes a lot out of them.
 

christinas

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Aug 23, 2015
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He has not been exposed to pestidices (I have another spider of the same size in an enclosure next to his that molted fine). I put him in a plastic cup with a wet paper towel on the bottom. Are you saying he might recover?
 

boina

Lady of the mites
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Yes, I agree, this may be severe dehydration. Hang the front end of the tarantula in a water bowl. It needs to drink. Wet paper towel does nothing except breed bacteria.
 

christinas

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How do I know if he is drinking? I stuck him in a water bowl and he's completely wet but I don't see any movement around his mouth.
 

Polenth

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Oh, he's not going to drown I hope
Tarantulas don't breathe through their mouths, so you can safety submerge the mouth. The book lungs are on the abdomen (the main body bit at the back). So stick the front in the water and keep the back out of the water.
 

chanda

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How do I know if he is drinking? I stuck him in a water bowl and he's completely wet but I don't see any movement around his mouth.
Completely wet - all over? I really hope you just put his mouthparts in the water, and not the entire spider! Tarantulas rarely drown - but if you submerged the underside of his abdomen (which is where his book lungs are located) and he's too weak to get out, that's exactly what you might have done.
 

christinas

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I was holding him with my fingers, submerging his head in the water. That part was completely wet, that's what I meant. Initially he was squirming but then after a while he stopped and has not moved since.

Edit: Actually that's not quite true, his legs were clasping at my fingers when I pulled him out of the water and was touching him. After a while even this movement stopped and now he is dead.
 
Last edited:

Stratton

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Sep 15, 2019
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I was holding him with my fingers, submerging his head in the water. That part was completely wet, that's what I meant. Initially he was squirming but then after a while he stopped and has not moved since.

Edit: Actually that's not quite true, his legs were clasping at my fingers when I pulled him out of the water and was touching him. After a while even this movement stopped and now he is dead.
Sorry to hear that. Sometimes a molt is just too stressful on their bodies. It could have been a lot of things that caused this. Either he was dehydrated and never drank any water in his premolt, possibly a feeder insect could have had something toxic in it's stomach when your T. ate it (such as a pesticide or Styrofoam which they have been known to eat) or there was a problem in his molt itself.
Unfortunately you may never know. I'd just recommend that you focus on your other T.s and make sure that their enclosures are maintained with a water dish of some kind in them, especially if you notice that they are in premolt.
 

christinas

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Aug 23, 2015
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All of my Ts have a water dish ... For avics I am using the adult enclosure from Jamie's tarantulas, so it should have proper ventilation. People on here advise not to mist so I didn't and the substrate itself was dry but the water dish was full.
 

TriMac33

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All of my Ts have a water dish ... For avics I am using the adult enclosure from Jamie's tarantulas, so it should have proper ventilation. People on here advise not to mist so I didn't and the substrate itself was dry but the water dish was full.
Was its water dish full all throughout it's premolt? My A. Avic is a drinking machine in premolt! I give her a dish and pipette her web with droplets and she'll drink it right in front of me if shes in premolt. It's hard to say in your case if it was dehydration, but I'm definitely leaning more towards that, if there was no chance of pesticides.
 

viper69

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He has not been exposed to pestidices (I have another spider of the same size in an enclosure next to his that molted fine)
This isn't proof your T wasn't exposed to toxins. We have people who had Ts in the same room, exposed to toxins, some died, the others didn't. Until you test for toxins (assuming there was something in the air) you won't know.
 
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