Blue Fang Sling Emergency - Dying??

[abigayle2996]

I just got home and went to check on my tarantulas and noticed something not right.
Everyone was fine when I left for work a few hours ago, all happy and content from eating yesterday, but I noticed something very noticeably wrong with my little 1 inch Blue Fang sling.

It almost looks like he is trying to molt up on the side of his tank wall. Except this is a molt like nothing I've ever seen before. The skin on top of his carapace and abdomen have almost completely peeled off and is just hanging on by his abdomen, but he hasn't shed skin anywhere else. His belly and bottom of abdomen look wrinkled and shrunken, and his legs just don't look right. They're bent in weird ways and he's wriggling like he's in pain. He is hanging onto the side of his tank with only his first leg on one side.

I've attached what decent pictures I could get, but he's tiny and even with a flashlight on my phone it still isn't super bright enough to get good shots.

Has anyone ever heard of this or had this happen? What should I do? Should I be worried. Cause I'm extremely worried and he's one of my favorite slings. He was fine not 4 hours ago when I left for work.

I'll try and get some better pictures but this is what I have for now:

 

[abigayle2996]

UPDATE:
He's fallen off the side of the tank wall. He landed mostly on his back but he's just laying there wriggling his legs. It almost looks now like he is attempting to molt - I think I see signs of a few extra legs emerging but only two from one side of his body. Is there anything I should do to help him or leave him the way he is?
I don't know whether to be relieved he's just molting (hopefully?) or annoyed at the stupid little guy for trying to do it vertically on a plastic wall -_-

 

[Formerphobe]

The substrate looks awful dry, though pictures can be deceiving. I would try to increase the humidity: add a little water to the substrate and decrease ventilation or, take enclosure in bathroom and run a hot shower. Technically, increasing humidity may not help at this stage, but it's doing something proactive. Not much else you can do when they're that small except monitor them.

 

[just1moreT]

He is molting if he is wiggling there is a chance he will get out of his old skin I have had sevral that have molted right side up

---------- Post added 03-04-2014 at 08:41 PM ----------

You could also try wetting his legs a little to help him in getting out of skin if it looks like he is not going to make it on his own

 

[abigayle2996]

The substrate is wetter than it looks - I watered him yesterday when I fed him. I'll try and see if I can get some water on his legs, though I'm kind of afraid of drowning him in the position he's in.

 

[just1moreT]

Use a q- tip if can, if he is still wiggling and has not made any head way moisting him some he want drown

---------- Post added 03-04-2014 at 09:03 PM ----------

Just try get it around his legs I think I see them in pic looks like he has part out that area there should try to get damp /moistened maybe it will soak down and help the little guy

 

[korg]

It's trying to molt. Don't touch it or move it... leave it completely alone and hope for the best. If it has been like that for more than a few hours I would imagine it's in serious trouble (and there is basically nothing you can do), so hopefully it's starting to pull out a bit. Not sure if pouring water on it or using swabs somehow will be more helpful than hurtful to the process...

 

[FishermanSteve]

Any update? Did your T make it brother?

 

[abigayle2996]

I thought he was dead when I woke up this morning for school, but when I came home I saw him twitching his two free back legs. Despite raising the humidity a ton, he couldn't seem to get out of his molt. I tried helping him out a bit, but he's so tiny it was hard to see or do anything. He ended up losing three legs and mangling one up really bad, and all of his molt still isn't off his face area. It's stuck on his fangs and peds, and one of the old, black fangs is sticking straight out all wonky in the front. At this point, I've given up on saving him, but I've left him where he is for now to see what happens. He's only responsive if he's poked, though.
It was going so well at first, I had his back legs out and was making some progress getting the other legs at least started, but it went to heck and I think it's my fault my $80 sling is dying. (Well, he was $40 but it was $40 for shipping LAG). Maybe his fault a little too for thinking molting upright on the tank wall was a good idea.

 

[just1moreT]

Sorry to hear this sounds like you did all you could do molting is a stressful time for T's and there owners ,get a chance post another pic not sure if it help though

 

[FishermanSteve]

Sorry to hear that man. We've all had those "worst case scenarios" happen to us and it freakin sucks. Best of luck in the future.

 

[abigayle2996]

He did end up dying sometime during today, unfortunately. It's probably for the better though, cause a 4 and a half legged, no pedipalp tarantula with old fang stuck to his new fangs probably wouldn't have lasted a long time. I'm kind of relieved he died on his own, because I didn't want to let him sit there and suffer but I didn't want to kill him myself. Something about killing an expensive pet who has a name and personality just didn't sit right with me.

I was planning on going to a local reptile expo this weekend, and since there are a lot of tarantula dealers there, I'm hoping someone will have a BF of around the same size. I hate to replace my little buddy, but, well, he's not really around anymore. Hopefully a replacement for him won't be the only thing I come back with.