After molt behavior

[Brooke795]

hey all! I’m hoping someone will shed some light on what the heck is going on. I have had Fuzzy, a
Brachypelma emilia sling, two weeks. Fuzzy molted last night (upright too. That was a new one for me!) Needless to say I got a little stressed by that and was hoping the molt would go ok.

So this morning Fuzzy was running around the terrarium just fine. Taking little bit of time here and there to rest. I took the first picture at 7 pm. All seemed ok. I decided to go out and get a smaller water dish for Fuzzy (since the one I have had in there is bigger and maybe harder to crawl up to) and when I got home I noticed fuzzy looks to be in a death curl. Fuzzy shifted once but still is in that position. It’s been two hours. I’m attaching the one I took at 7 pm tonight where fuzzy was active. The second picture is how I found fuzzy when I got home. And the third is how fuzzy is now.

Any and all comments, opinions, and suggestions are welcome! Thank you in advance!



The top image in my second reply is current. The bottom one was two hours after fuzzy was last active

 

[tewebag]

Fuzzy does not look good. From what I can see there can be a couple of issues. That enclourse looks horrible for Fuzzy, can you take a better picture? Fall damage could be a factor there.

The shriveled up look at the second picture looks like a several dehydrated Fuzzy, you can try gently turning Fuzzy over and try placing a drop of water on its mouth part but by now I believe it is too late, that generally only works immediately after.

 

[EulersK]

That's definitely a death curl, and I agree, it looks severely dehydrated. That abdomen appears to be very shriveled - does it kind of look like a raisen? As was brought up, flip it over and try dropping water directly onto the mouthparts, directly below the fangs.

For once, I'd suggest an ICU. Get a plastic shoebox, line the bottom with several layers of paper towel, and moisten the entirety of it. Now listen, this is the important part - be sure to have plenty of ventilation. You can't have too much. That's where people usually go wrong, creating a stuffy box. Plenty of ventilation, plenty of moisture, and try manually watering it. Let us know how it's doing by morning.

 

[Brooke795]

It’s so crazy that fuzzy was fine at 7 pm and not ok by 9.. fuzzy responded quickly to the water. Still kind of curled up but I placed water by her fangs fuzzy went for it. Fuzzy got up and went to it.

I never had to worry about any of this with my rose hair. He’d molt and move on. I always kept a shallow water dish in as well. My setup hasn’t changed in 10 years. Idk why I’m so nervous with this one. Over protective.

ICU has been set up. How did this happen so fast? Fuzzy was fine a few hours ago! Water was always readily available as I had a dish with filtered water in that got changed religiously.

Ugh. I’m so upset. Idk what happened! I never had issues with my rose hair

 

[Greasylake]

It may not have had enough fluids going into the molt and then came out the other side already dehydrated (molting uses A LOT of fluid). You say its responding favorably to the water right? I think you should try giving it more water either on its fangs, dripping a little in front of it or by just sticking the water dish in front of its face and kind of nudging it towards the water. If it drinks from the dish and starts to rehydrate there shouldn't be a need for the ICU, but keep it around it around just in case.

 

[Brooke795]

It may not have had enough fluids going into the molt and then came out the other side already dehydrated (molting uses A LOT of fluid). You say its responding favorably to the water right? I think you should try giving it more water either on its fangs, dripping a little in front of it or by just sticking the water dish in front of its face and kind of nudging it towards the water. If it drinks from the dish and starts to rehydrate there shouldn't be a need for the ICU, but keep it around it around just in case.

It’s so bizarre how water has always been available and it chose to not drink?

I think I mentioned this but fuzzy molted while appearing to be upright. Front legs in the air. Almost resting the weight on the back legs. I’m doing my best to explain but it looked like fuzzy went to flip over and misjudged where the glass wall was and was leaning backward on it. I attached a picture. Would this be considered a bad molt? Fuzzy was moving around fine all day so I assumed it went ok. But it was unusual to say the least and I was worried all last night.

Update:

Idk why I might be too new still those pics are out of order. Start from the bottom... got up and walked but now curling up next to the water dish

 

[EulersK]

Idk why I might be too new still those pics are out of order. Start from the bottom... got up and walked but now curling up next to the water dish

Well, she's going to water. That's a good sign. How did manually watering her go?

 

[KezyGLA]

Lack of fluids and hydration, possible.

It looks like the enclosure may not be suitable for Fuzzy.

Can you share a pic of full setup?

 

[AnObeseHippo]

Since everyone above has helped with the problem, and he seems to be improving. For future reference, tarantulas float and can swim (queue someone posting the obligatory video) so get a deeper water dish which won't evaporate as quick. Secondly, it looks as if he was curled next to the water dish. That was a very good clue to what is wrong.

 

[Brooke795]

Lack of fluids and hydration, possible.

It looks like the enclosure may not be suitable for Fuzzy.

Can you share a pic of full setup?

Since everyone above has helped with the problem, and he seems to be improving. For future reference, tarantulas float and can swim (queue someone posting the obligatory video) so get a deeper water dish which won't evaporate as quick. Secondly, it looks as if he was curled next to the water dish. That was a very good clue to what is wrong.

Now that is something I didn’t know! Thank you!

The water dish that I’ve had in there was a bit taller and bigger. I got the smaller one last night so fuzzy can reach it better.

I check and change the water daily so the water dish was never empty. I don’t think fuzzy knew how to get to it.

The setup I’ve been using is the same one I used on my rose hair for 9.5 years until he passed a few weeks ago. From what I understood the care for fuzzy was going to be comparable to the care required for rose hair. Correct me if I’m wrong! I’m learning a lot here

Everyone- thank you so much for being kind and extremely helpful. Fuzzy is still alive this morning and no longer curled up. I’m still closely monitoring and will be over the next several days!

 

[Greasylake]

queue someone posting the obligatory video

 

[lostbrane]

Fall damage can still be an issue with that tank...

Also, sub looks fairly dry. Especially since Fuzzy was so dehydated. Overflow the dish or choosing a different corner works.

Anyways, hope Fuzzy continues to recover!

 

[Brooke795]

Reply to the video: omg that is the cutest thing I think I’ve ever seen!

To the comment about the terrarium- it’s equivalent to a 5 gallon- but if you have any other suggestions and point me to a better terrarium please do! I so appreciate absolutely everything everyone has offered me!

And i moistened the substrate as well! Thanks again everyone!!

Was I misinformed that the rose hair T care is virtually the same as my Mexican Red Leg?

 

[Albino Characterantula]

Ok, these are my opinions from what I have read:

1) Ditch that tank and get something smaller
2) Fill substrate so that the T only has 1.5 - 2 times its leg span to get to the top.
3) I'd burry the hid a bit, I have one that does well above ground but I'll be changing all that when I rehouse


Besides that, it's all you can do. I also had a B. Alb. randomly die on me from dehydration. These things happen, but its good
you kept an eye on Fuzzy.

 

[Brooke795]

Ok, these are my opinions from what I have read:

1) Ditch that tank and get something smaller
2) Fill substrate so that the T only has 1.5 - 2 times its leg span to get to the top.
3) I'd burry the hid a bit, I have one that does well above ground but I'll be changing all that when I rehouse


Besides that, it's all you can do. I also had a B. Alb. randomly die on me from dehydration. These things happen, but its good
you kept an eye on Fuzzy.

Thank you so much!! I’ll definitely be looking into things a bit further today!

 

[lostbrane]

Pretty much what albino said. Would be a shame to have gotten through the hydration hurdle only for Fuzzy to become victim to a fatal fall, if it ever decided one day that it was a good idea to start climbing around.

 

[Brooke795]

Pretty much what albino said. Would be a shame to have gotten through the hydration hurdle only for Fuzzy to become victim to a fatal fall, if it ever decided one day that it was a good idea to start climbing around.

Can you guys link me to something that would be more ideal? Would the terrarium I have now be better in the future when fuzzy is an adult?

 

[KezyGLA]

I keep spiders Fuzzy’s size in a 5.8L Braplast tub.

The one you have currently is suitable for an adult if filled up to the doors with substrate and more sub sloping to the rear wall

 

[Brooke795]

How about this for now?

 

[Albino Characterantula]

View attachment 280775 How about this for now?

That’s exactly what I have for mine! And just critter keepers in general.

@KezyGLA also has a solid recommendation.

Walmart/container store are also other great, cheap and fast resources