Avicularia avicularia dehydration

Lumina

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Mature males can't be juveniles as they are fully grown/mature and won't grow anymore. It's normal for MM's to be much smaller than females. I think the other person meant that he had his final molt not too long ago, that's why he still has an appetite. Regardless, it's nice to see him doing okay! Good luck with him :)
Oh gotcha. That makes sense.
Thanks! :)
 

Ultum4Spiderz

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How long did they live?
all at least a. Year but no luck selling locally longest was g pulchripes 3-3.5 years shortest was 9 months or. A year I didn’t keep a journal like I used to. Fireleg lived 2.5 years or 3 post final molt 11 years total slower growing species generally lived longer.
 

AngelDeVille

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If I was a 4” spider I’d probably refuse pinhead crickets.

Are your prekilling them?
 

Crone Returns

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Yeah, as others have said, get it out of the ICU. It looks healthy enough, I wouldn't start to worry just yet... or at all, if I'm right.

In the first picture, the camera flash is right where I'm trying to look, but there's a halfway decent shot of the pedipalps. They look curled under the spider, and I don't see any pink toes. Meaning you have a mature male, which would explain 100% of the behavior you described as well as the skinny abdomen. Could you take one more picture of the spider, particularly of the pedipalps? Ventral shot or dorsal shot, it doesn't matter, whatever you can get :)
There's pink toes in the second pic.

Are either of these photos better? ...I was told by the previous owner that she was a confirmed female. I don't know if she got the information from a reputable source though.
View attachment 288887 View attachment 288888
Now I see these pics, yep you got a boy.
 
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cold blood

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@Lumina

For a mature male, you can just drop in a cricket and leave it roam until the t decides to eat...its not going to molt, so you don't have to worry about that risk.


Keeping him well hydrated is more important than well fed...most MMs that die early ether die from dehydration or just being runty. Bigger MMs, IMO, tend to live longer, and believe it or not, a 4" MM A. avic like yours, is actually on the larger side for a MM.
 

Ungoliant

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Because I haven't seen her go down to the floor at all. So that combined with refusing food
If you think your Avic is not drinking, you can drip some water into his webbing, so that it forms a puddle.
 

Lumina

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If I was a 4” spider I’d probably refuse pinhead crickets.

Are your prekilling them?
Wasn't just feeding the pinheads. When he kept refusing the medium roaches, I tried offering him those. ... He did end up eating a medium sized roach after I had him in the rehydration chamber for a bit.

If you think your Avic is not drinking, you can drip some water into his webbing, so that it forms a puddle.
Yea, doesn't have enough webbing to do that. He only has a few measly strings.

@Lumina

For a mature male, you can just drop in a cricket and leave it roam until the t decides to eat...its not going to molt, so you don't have to worry about that risk.


Keeping him well hydrated is more important than well fed...most MMs that die early ether die from dehydration or just being runty. Bigger MMs, IMO, tend to live longer, and believe it or not, a 4" MM A. avic like yours, is actually on the larger side for a MM.
Right-figured hydration was crucial. I hadn't seen him drink from his dish at all and with no webbing to add water droplets to, I wasn't sure how else to rehydrate him. So I put him in a 2 pint well-ventilated deli cup with paper towels moistened with luke warm water for a few hours. After I put him back in his enclosure that evening, he ate during the night/early morning. He was still chewing on tidbits of the roach when I woke up.
 
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Versijewels

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I recently got one as well, didnt eat for a good while when i got it then as soon as i got her eating i got her permanent enclosure and now she doesnt wanna eat again haha. I think most a.avics are this way. Yours will probably eat soon if you offer it more appropriate prey.
 

PidderPeets

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Hopefully you didn’t pay confirmed female prices for a MM. Either the seller lied to you, they got lied to and believed it, or the spider was sexed by someone who has no clue what they're doing.

If you do go for the route of finding him a mate, make sure it's definitely the same morphotype. There's like 7 morphotypes of A. avicularia right now (I believe morph#1 and #6 are the most common ones in the hobby), so you don't want to interbreed different morphs
 

EulersK

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@Lumina I'd personally suggest against breeding him yourself. Taking care of slings is a chore, one that even passionate hobbyists often dread. You're just getting started in this hobby, I'd hate to see you burnt out so quickly. Instead, just enjoy your little man while you have him :) Mature males can be fun, actually. They're much more active than their female counterparts, aside from the feeding response.
 

Lumina

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Hopefully you didn’t pay confirmed female prices for a MM. Either the seller lied to you, they got lied to and believed it, or the spider was sexed by someone who has no clue what they're doing.

If you do go for the route of finding him a mate, make sure it's definitely the same morphotype. There's like 7 morphotypes of A. avicularia right now (I believe morph#1 and #6 are the most common ones in the hobby), so you don't want to interbreed different morphs
I didn't pay for him. I rescued him from a woman who has cancer and is no longer able to care for him.

@Lumina I'd personally suggest against breeding him yourself. Taking care of slings is a chore, one that even passionate hobbyists often dread. You're just getting started in this hobby, I'd hate to see you burnt out so quickly. Instead, just enjoy your little man while you have him :) Mature males can be fun, actually. They're much more active than their female counterparts, aside from the feeding response.
Fully agreed. I don't want to bite off more than I can chew. I just hope I'll be able to provide him with a luxurious life while he's still here. ^_^
 
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Dragondrool

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I got this problem from each of my A. avics I had. They always get dehydrated after a molt, and given how weak my first one was, she couldn't reach the dish bowl and died. So with my current one when I saw she was dehydrated, I dripped water down on the ground and on top of her. She drank it up and is doing just fine :) I recommend dripping some water near her mouth, she should drink it. It's possible she doesn't know where the dish is if you have one. Also, pin heads are much too small. Mealworms are fantastic because they're wayyy easier to keep and hold a lot of water in them. When I feed them fruit they're super fat with moisture :)
I have a sub-adult female Avic avic (not sure on her age but her DLS is ~4"). I adopted her on 9/21 from a woman who was no longer able to care for her.
The previous owner fed her the day before I picked her up. But the only time I've gotten her to eat was Wednesday 9/26. I've been offering her live pinhead roaches every day with feeding tongs but she refuses to eat. She also hasn't started constructing a substantial web. I've noticed that her abdomen looks smallish so I'm beginning to get concerned. I don't believe she's near pre-molt either. She's grooming herself and somewhat active at night but I'm afraid she's getting dehydrated (or already is).
...I removed her from her enclosure and now have her in a deli cup with a vented lid and put paper towels (moistened with warm water) in it. The room i have her in is maintained at 75° F.
I've never dealt with a situation like this so I could use some pointers. My main question is how long should I leave her in "ICU"? And Should I try feeding her while she's in there? View attachment 288871 View attachment 288872
 

boina

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He did end up eating a medium sized roach after I had him in the rehydration chamber for a bit.
That's not a rehydration chamber, that's a killing chamber. Avics do not survive a high moisture environment for long. Please, please, please understand that all that happens when you put your Avic in there is that it will die after a while!! It was pure coincidence that it actually ate shortly afterwards, or maybe it ate because it was so relieved to get out of there - ever think of that?

Stop going overboards with the 'rehydration' stuff. I don't know what you think you are accomplishing. It is absolutely crucial to keep his environment DRY. Provide a water bowl and maybe spray a few drops of water against the side of the enclosure once or twice a week if there is no web.

From what you are saying it is very likely he isn't eating because all the misting made it too moist for his liking. Avics stop eating if they are kept too moist.
 
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