A. Chalcodes Returns From 1 Year Leave From its Enclosure. Now What?

[warhorse333]

About July of last year, in a dumb accident the enclosure of my juvenile 3" Aphonopelma Chalcodes was left wide open for a while and it escaped. Then about 2 days ago at 6:30 am, my mom woke up me and my brother because she found a tarantula on its back, curled up downstairs on the floor. It was mid death curl, but still able to move its legs slightly if poked. With some water dropped onto its mouth parts its limbs began to unfurl and with more water it was back on its legs and crawling around. We brought it back upstairs, put it back in its enclosure and gave it a full water dish, in which it stood and drank from until its abdomen was plump. From my observations, it has lost a lot of hair, stayed about the same size and its abdomen had shriveled up over the last year, but no obvious injuries or sickness. My question now is if there's anything I should do apart from normal maintenance and feeding in order to accommodate the fact that it's been crawling around upstairs somewhere for nearly a whole year.

 

[moricollins]

Really cool that the Tarantula was found .
I wouldn't suggest anything different than regular care,

 

[RezonantVoid]

Absolutely phenomenal

Just keep up regular T care, make sure it has access to hydration, food and a hide

 

[Coradams]

Amazing that you found it after all that time and good job pulling it out of a death curl! You don't hear of that very often! Glad it's back!

 

[ErikElvis]

Very cool! Have to see some pics!

 

[Smotzer]

Wow! This is incredible that not only you found it but found it alive!

all you can do is give it the exact same care you normally do and hope for the best!

 

[Chebe6886]

That’s one smart T. Despite evading you for a year it knew you were it’s only chance and threw itself at your mercy.
pretty sure if I was with my parents and they saw a huge spider on the floor my mom definitely would have not calmly come for me

 

[viper69]

About July of last year, in a dumb accident the enclosure of my juvenile 3" Aphonopelma Chalcodes was left wide open for a while and it escaped. Then about 2 days ago at 6:30 am, my mom woke up me and my brother because she found a tarantula on its back, curled up downstairs on the floor. It was mid death curl, but still able to move its legs slightly if poked. With some water dropped onto its mouth parts its limbs began to unfurl and with more water it was back on its legs and crawling around. We brought it back upstairs, put it back in its enclosure and gave it a full water dish, in which it stood and drank from until its abdomen was plump. From my observations, it has lost a lot of hair, stayed about the same size and its abdomen had shriveled up over the last year, but no obvious injuries or sickness. My question now is if there's anything I should do apart from normal maintenance and feeding in order to accommodate the fact that it's been crawling around upstairs somewhere for nearly a whole year.

Yea feed the hell out of it AND improve your husbandry so the poor little guy doesn't escape and die.

 

[SharkNATO]

Gotta love how tough desert species are

 

[mack1855]

Pin a medal of valor on his/her chest.Above and beyond the call of duty!.

 

[Ungoliant]

My question now is if there's anything I should do apart from normal maintenance and feeding in order to accommodate the fact that it's been crawling around upstairs somewhere for nearly a whole year.

Any updates on how it's doing?

 

[warhorse333]

Any updates on how it's doing?

Heheheh, funny story...

It escaped again. Less than a week after we put it back in its enclosure (at this point the Chalcodes hasn't taken any food yet, but its abdomen is plump with water), my little brother wanted to look at it one midnight. The next morning shook me awake to tell me that the enclosure was, once again, left open over night. Of course the tarantula climbed up and escape. I have my fit and blame my brother for doing this again, but he's just as sad and disappointed as I am, so I let him be. We spend a couple hours looking but the Chalcodes most definitely escaped at night, so it could have easily waltzed anywhere in the house under the cover of darkness. We don't find it. We have no idea how long it'll be before it reveals itself again. For all we know it hasn't eaten since July 2019, and even though it's fat with water that's not gonna sustain it for another year. It could easily starve to death before we can feed it. All hope is lost.


Fast forward a week, I'm playing DnD with my younger siblings and a couple minutes after we wrap up and I go downstairs (we played in the same room as the tarantula enclosures because it's pretty big), my sister yells for me and my brother. I come back up stairs and my sister tells me that a tarantula is on the floor and crawled on top of the combat map. My brother smiles and gets excited, "The Chalcodes, it's back!" I am relieved that we won't have to leave the tarantula's well-being to chance again, especially not for another year. Then I look at it. It's shrunk almost a whole inch in diameter, lost all its blonde hairs, and is much skinnier than last time. Something's wrong. It then dawns on me. It's definitely a tarantula, it's at least 1.5"-2" and isn't leggy enough to be some kind of big wolf spider, but this isn't my A Chalcodes. Close cousin actually, but different species all the same. Somehow my Aphonopelma Seemani sling, which buried itself last October, had not only unblocked its burrow without me noticing (its in an old plastic salsa container and I only periodically open it to water the enclosure since I can see into the burrow from the outside), but also managed to push the lid of its enclosure open and escape. My brother is disappointed and confused. I am speechless. And the A Chalcodes is still unfound.


Fast forward about a week and a half and my brother finds the A Chalcodes chilling on the floor one night, same room that it escaped its enclosure in. He quickly scoops it up with a catch cup, gently puts it back in its enclosure, and notifies me. I am now at peace. Just a couple days ago it ate a nice juvenile dubia roach, its abdomen is plump and the tarantula looks great. Let's hope no one forgets to lock the enclosure again.

 

[Ungoliant]

@warhorse333 I'm glad that both of the missing tarantulas have been accounted for. I hope you are able to implement better procedures to keep them from escaping again.

Fast forward a week, I'm playing DnD with my younger siblings and a couple minutes after we wrap up and I go downstairs (we played in the same room as the tarantula enclosures because it's pretty big), my sister yells for me and my brother. I come back up stairs and my sister tells me that a tarantula is on the floor and crawled on top of the combat map.

When the giant spider rolls a nat 1 for stealth.

 

[Smotzer]

Heheheh, funny story...

It escaped again. Less than a week after we put it back in its enclosure (at this point the Chalcodes hasn't taken any food yet, but its abdomen is plump with water), my little brother wanted to look at it one midnight. The next morning shook me awake to tell me that the enclosure was, once again, left open over night. Of course the tarantula climbed up and escape. I have my fit and blame my brother for doing this again, but he's just as sad and disappointed as I am, so I let him be. We spend a couple hours looking but the Chalcodes most definitely escaped at night, so it could have easily waltzed anywhere in the house under the cover of darkness. We don't find it. We have no idea how long it'll be before it reveals itself again. For all we know it hasn't eaten since July 2019, and even though it's fat with water that's not gonna sustain it for another year. It could easily starve to death before we can feed it. All hope is lost.


Fast forward a week, I'm playing DnD with my younger siblings and a couple minutes after we wrap up and I go downstairs (we played in the same room as the tarantula enclosures because it's pretty big), my sister yells for me and my brother. I come back up stairs and my sister tells me that a tarantula is on the floor and crawled on top of the combat map. My brother smiles and gets excited, "The Chalcodes, it's back!" I am relieved that we won't have to leave the tarantula's well-being to chance again, especially not for another year. Then I look at it. It's shrunk almost a whole inch in diameter, lost all its blonde hairs, and is much skinnier than last time. Something's wrong. It then dawns on me. It's definitely a tarantula, it's at least 1.5"-2" and isn't leggy enough to be some kind of big wolf spider, but this isn't my A Chalcodes. Close cousin actually, but different species all the same. Somehow my Aphonopelma Seemani sling, which buried itself last October, had not only unblocked its burrow without me noticing (its in an old plastic salsa container and I only periodically open it to water the enclosure since I can see into the burrow from the outside), but also managed to push the lid of its enclosure open and escape. My brother is disappointed and confused. I am speechless. And the A Chalcodes is still unfound.


Fast forward about a week and a half and my brother finds the A Chalcodes chilling on the floor one night, same room that it escaped its enclosure in. He quickly scoops it up with a catch cup, gently puts it back in its enclosure, and notifies me. I am now at peace. Just a couple days ago it ate a nice juvenile dubia roach, its abdomen is plump and the tarantula looks great. Let's hope no one forgets to lock the enclosure again.

Okay lol you need to invest in some magnets, locking latches, or at the very least tape so that nothing can escape on its own at least. I was excited to read how it was doing only to find out that not only it but another escaped

maybe it’s time to supervise your other family members interactions with your tarantulas!! Not sure you can afford a 3rd and fourth escape.... youre been lucky enough!

Happy to read it’s back and it’s plumped back up that’s great to read but boy what a story this thread has been! Ha

 

[Seemannnni]

im amazed of how often they seem to escape. if you have any others, CHECK THEIR ENCLOSURES! lmao