ailing pink toe...is there any hope?

[msfairydust]

Hi guys, I hate that lately the only time I come back to this board is when I have a problem but since becoming a mother my free time has been sparse.

Anyhow, here is my problem (I'll try to be brief). Abigail (pink toe) has been fasting for almost a year. We still kept offering her crickets and a few times we tried the super worms, she'd shoo them away...annoyed. A few months ago we cleaned of the tank and she never bothered to rebuild a web. I think she tried a few times because I saw her do that web-dance, but it looked like nothing was coming out of her spinnerets. She just seemed tired.

We don't know her age, heck we don't even know for sure if she is a she...but my strong guess was female. So there is a slight possibilty she is a male who had his final molt.

Yesterday she was upright, on the bottom of the tank in the death curl. She was slow to respond to touch. I dumped a ton of water in her tank hoping she was just getting ready to molt, and it brought her over to the side...which thrilled me because I thought she was drinking.

Well, she's been in that spot for almost a day, she's completely unresponsive to being sprayed with water and being blown on or touched. If she were on the ground I'd think for sure she was dead. What's keeping my hope up is the fact that she isn't flat on the ground...she's on the side of the tank a little bit off the ground. What's not good is that she's all curled up...but still, if she was dead would she be able to hang on to the side of the tank? There is a little ledge there and perhaps that's what she is resting on, but still....she isn't on the ground.

Any advice? Do you think she's dying? If so, what can I do to make her more comfortable. This breaks my heart...

 

[Code Monkey]

To make this short, she's dead. I've had Ts die with their tarsal claws hooked into cork bark or other material and were posed quite life like, except for the all being dead stuff.

Sorry.

 

[msfairydust]

well crap. This is the second one we lost this year.

how long would you leave her like that...I just want to be 100% sure.

 

[cricket54]

I'm so sorry! Others on here have lost Avicularias and it is painfull. Sounds like she has lived out her life. I have a versicolor that I've had several yrs from a tiny baby that isn't eating like she used to. Wonder if she is getting old. You'll hurt, but I would get another "pink toe" now. Sorry for your loss!

Sharon

 

[Code Monkey]

how long would you leave her like that...I just want to be 100% sure.

Well, depending on the size of the spider, moisture in the environment, and humidity, one of two things will happen:

it'll dry up into a shrivelled up mummy, obviously dead

or

it'll be quite stinky, really obviously dead

Either way, it's your call, but going by the zero response for a day preceeded by a year of not doing well, it's not coming back.

 

[Gesticulator]

You said you are not sure if it is male or not. You can easily look at its palps and legs and see if it was indeed a mature male. I had a mature male die while seemingly hanging out on a branch. It wasn't until my daughter said...Ma, he's been in the same spot for three days and another leg is hanging down, that I realized he was dead. Sorry for your loss.

 

[Code Monkey]

I didn't mention this earlier, but not eating for a year, refusing to build a typical Avic retreat, and just "stopping" would all add up to likely being a mature male.

Any way for you to get pics of the pedipalps, even if you're not sure what to look for, somebody here can tell you.

 

[msfairydust]

I never saw hooks under the pedipalps and they never got that boxing glove look to them. I have these photos...this is her a year ago:

The only one I could fine of her from underneath and the photo's all blurry from the water spots on the glass

****

And these I just took...this is what she looks like right now. WHat do you think?

 

[Code Monkey]

It's all kind of scrunched up, but I don't see any signs of palpal bulbs. That puts us back to an old female that died for explaining it.

 

[ghost6303]

my a.avic just died on thursday, she had a bad molt about 2 weeks ago but of course i didnt notice untill it was too late, she was enclosed in her web the entire time. i think it had something to do with my air conditioner drying the room out constantly. but its either that or toast them in 100 degree weather...

 

[verry_sweet]

To make this short, she's dead. I've had Ts die with their tarsal claws hooked into cork bark or other material and were posed quite life like, except for the all being dead stuff.

Sorry.

it'll dry up into a shrivelled up mummy, obviously dead

or

it'll be quite stinky, really obviously dead

CodeMonkey you are a trip….haha your bluntness and strait to point remarks crack me up . However if I ever need sympathy I will stay far away from you ;P .



msfairydust I’m Sorry for your loss . Also wanted to congratulate you on being a new mommy :clap: .

Steph

 

[msfairydust]

Thanks Steph. Yeah, I greatly appreciated the information he gave me, but there was no huggy-feely sympathy peppered anywhere, lol. I guess some people are more attached to their pets than others. To me, she's more than just a tarantula. I shared my life with her for about 4-5 years. I'm pretty upset over this. Plus I lost my other avic just a few months ago...and my beloved cat. This hasn't been a good year for the pets.

My daughter just turned 3...so I haven't become a new mom...just a new mom to a very over-active toddler At night, I practically fall in bed..ahhhh sleep!!!

Take care~
maddi

 

[Juraki]

I haven't been around here for a huge amount of time, but one thing I have noticed is that when people post "Help my t is sick" type posts, you either get people who are pretty sure of what going on and won't hold back or give false hope when they are 99% sure the t is on it's way out or dead already. Or you get people who ignore the signs and tell the owner to move it to an ICU, raise the temps and drip water in it's mouth the whole while the poor owner is unknowingly attemping reanimation rather than treating a sick animal.

I'm sure CM didn't mean to sound harsh or uncaring. In fact I think he went with his approach because he didn't want to give false hope, and make the process more difficult than it already is.

I'm very sorry for your loss, it's never easy losing a pet.

 

[msfairydust]

I understand what you are saying and like I said I completely appreciated his help and hey, he even came back asking for pictures, etc. That was nice! Some people appreciate the blunt approach. Some people dont. I didn't complain but do admit to being initially taken aback to what almost sounded like mocking but I ignored it and just wanted to deal with the facts.

Look, I'm 37 years old. I've been through loss in my lieftime. It's never easy. Be it a person or a pet or a pet spider. I do admit it is nice when people are a little more sympathetic to your circumstance. It helps ease the blow.

I know the "is my tarantula dead" posts are probably as annoying as the "my tarantula is upside-down, is it dead" posts. But if tarantulas were easier to diagnose as "dead" there would be a lot less people asking that question. There is no pulse to take, no breathing to check, and I remember once reading about a person initially thinking their tarantula was dead, he moved it to the window because he was going to bury it but then never got around to it (thankfully) because a week later it moved. So I have that story playing on a loop in my brain.

I dont want to bury her alive. I just want to be CERTAIN. I love her.

Like I said originally, had she been on the ground in the death curl I wouldn't have bothered coming here. But since she was on the side of the tank I still had hope. I wanted to know what the consensus thought since I've known this board to be full of extremely knowledgeable people. I first started visiting this board way back in 2002-ish, when we got our first tarantula, and was blown away by the amount of intelligence here. So I have a great deal of respect for this board and the people on it, even if the delivery is somewhat blunt.

take care
maddi

 

[Juraki]

I know the "is my tarantula dead" posts are probably as annoying as the "my tarantula is upside-down, is it dead" posts. But if tarantulas were easier to diagnose as "dead" there would be a lot less people asking that question. There is no pulse to take, no breathing to check, and I remember once reading about a person initially thinking their tarantula was dead, he moved it to the window because he was going to bury it but then never got around to it (thankfully) because a week later it moved. So I have that story playing on a loop in my brain.

I actually am drawn to these types of post, simply because I want to jump in and say that I'm sorry for their loss. I know it helps some people quite a bit, I know it would help me feel better. I don't blame you at all for wanting to make sure before doing anything rash. I'm hoping for the best, good luck and welcome back to the boards.

 

[msfairydust]

Thank you so much. I do appreciate it~

 

[Code Monkey]

I understand what you are saying and like I said I completely appreciated his help and hey, he even came back asking for pictures, etc. That was nice! Some people appreciate the blunt approach. Some people dont. I didn't complain but do admit to being initially taken aback to what almost sounded like mocking but I ignored it and just wanted to deal with the facts.

I am sorry that you lost something that obviously meant a lot to you, but I'm not the sort to fake more sentiment than is there. Nor would I ever go for the false hope route as that's just ignorantly cruel in my book.

My role is to give the best advice I can and help people understand what's going on with their Ts. For better or worse, though, I hand out that advice about as softly as a sledge hammer.

 

[msfairydust]

I truly did appreciate your help

For better or worse, though, I hand out that advice about as softly as a sledge hammer.

Lol, at least you're honest too

 

[Gesticulator]

I see nothing resembling emboli (boxing gloves) either. Have you taken her out yet?

 

[msfairydust]

I see nothing resembling emboli (boxing gloves) either. Have you taken her out yet?

No I just keep waiting for her to move...I know it's probably wishful thinking at this point but I'm not losing hope just yet. I've decided to give it 3 days. If she hasn't moved in three days I'll throw in the towel. I just feel terrible over this.

Thanks for your responses..I do appreciate your help~