Caribena Versicolor Extremely Ill

[Rmclean3]

I don't even know where to start this one, as the most traumatic thing happened to my Versi today. She lost 4 legs today...

I have had her about a year, and she's in the 3 inch size range. Has been perfectly healthy up till a few weeks ago when her colors started to dim a bit, but I thought it was just premolt. She hasn't eaten in a few weeks so the premolt story made sense, then today I check her enclosure and one leg had been automized and was laying there in her web.

Definitely wasn't fun to see, but looking at her color she didn't look good, so I thought maybe I should clean her enclosure as she had webbed over the water dish and pooped in it and I had to break up her web in order to get the dish out. When I went to move her she was barely moving, then when I pushed her a little more with her brush, she did a mini bolt and 3 more legs fell off, all on the back end.

I have kept her enclosure pretty wet, as I give her a few water spritzes every day and keep the water dish full. I dont have any idea what could have caused this and I feel so bad for her.

I have her in ICU right now and not sure if she's gonna make it.

Does anyone have any idea at all what could have happened to her?

 

[Liquifin]

ICU is not a good idea since it's basically something that 'll kill it easy due to stuffy conditions. I would leave her alone as T.'s can stop the bleeding of their legs by themselves. Also what I conclude about what happened was that it was freshly molted and you scared her which she bolted and dropped some legs because of flight response from danger. So basically it's your doing and also provide some pictures to help us get a visual aspect on what's going on.

 

[FrDoc]

Keeping its enclosure “pretty wet” is major mistake #1. Putting it in an ICU is major mistake (PLUS) #2. Get it out immediately! Put it in a dry enclosure with access to water.

 

[Rmclean3]

Thanks for the response. So she hadn't actually molted yet, I just thought she was about to soon. When i went to move her with the brush so I could clean out her enclosure, as I was concerned maybe there was something in there causing a problem, her legs would barely move. It was almost like DKS but no twitchiness or anything, they were just in weird positions. Then when she bolted, the back 3 remaining legs just came off. I will post pics of her currently.

I have taken her out of the ICU now as everyone has recommended. These are pics just before taking her out and after putting her back into her enclosure.

 

[Liquifin]

She looks a bit overweight, but I cannot tell you what is wrong since she looks fine besides being a bit overweight. Is that picture of her on that cork wood her enclosure?? She could use a lot of foliage or fake plants on the top for some coverage as an ideal enclosure. Other than that keep us updated later on about her health since dropping legs is odd without reason.

 

[Rmclean3]

Yes, that's her enclosure. I cleaned it out as I was thinking maybe there was something in there causing harm. I didnt see any mold or mites, but just thought I'd be safe. It was when I attempted to move her out to do the cleaning that all the terrible things happened.

I still went through and cleaned it but haven't put all the plants/foliage in again, otherwise there would be more in there. I will keep you updated on what happens. She had been perfectly healthy up until recently so not sure what caused this and if they were errors that I made or not.

 

[FrDoc]

I commend you on your quick response. I concur with @Liquifin ‘s observations of your spider. Other than the girth issue it’s a fine looking tarantula.

 

[Rmclean3]

Thank you FrDoc. I got on here as soon as I could to ask for advice so appreciate your help. I will keep you updated on if she is able to pull through on this one.

 

[PidderPeets]

The coloration and lethargy are still signs of premolt. The leg dropping is odd though. It's possible she dropped them because she wasn't able to run as well as a tarantula that isn't in premolt, sor she dropped them to distract you, "the predator". But I don't know if that's a normal thing that tarantulas do.

It should just be a matter of waiting to see how she's doing. She could have some type of issue from the wet conditions, or it it could just be premolt. As the others said, this is not a species to keep wet. Keep them like Avics: dry with a water dish and lots of anchor points.

 

[Rmclean3]

Yup could be. She had already lost one over the weekend. I was out of town for two days and when I came back one was on her web. Maybe the other ones were going to be automized as well or ya, maybe she freaked cuz she was premolt and they were left as a defense mechanism.

For now she seems stable and just gonna wait this out.

 

[AphonopelmaTX]

The leg dropping is odd though. It's possible she dropped them because she wasn't able to run as well as a tarantula that isn't in premolt, sor she dropped them to distract you, "the predator". But I don't know if that's a normal thing that tarantulas do.

Tarantulas don't drop legs to distract. Legs are important to tarantulas so they will only autotomize as a last ditch effort to avoid predation. Usually when something has a hold of it.

The pictures seem to show the same legs on both sides being removed (legs 3 and 4) which I don't think is a coincidence. The only way I can figure that half of its legs went missing is if they were caught on something and were pulled off somehow or the spider autotomized them due to being stuck and unable to be moved. Like I said though, autotomy is always a last resort so something had to have gone wrong.

@Rmclean3 Did your C. versicolor build a web along a screen lid we can't see in any of the photos? What does the whole enclosure look like?

 

[sasker]

Does your enclosure have a screen lid? Those things have cost many a tarantula a leg or two.

 

[Arachnophoric]

I'll add in that while it's certainly concerning for your T to have suddenly lost so many legs, there have been several instances in the past where Ts have lost legs for some reason or another (I believe @cold blood had an juvenile Avic that only had 2 or 3 left after helping it out of a bad molt?) and recovered just fine. They'll grow back over the process of a couple molts and look good as new. Though if she is already in premolt she may not have time to start regenerating them before molting just yet.

Losing legs is never fun, but as long as they can still catch/eat prey and molt again it's inconsequential overall.

 

[Rmclean3]

Sasker - No screen lid or anything she is likely to be caught on. The enclosure is plastic and I drilled holes for ventilation.

I can also say that this wasnt the cause of a drop or anything. I was away for 3 days this weekend and when I came back she had lost the first leg. No one was in my apartment at that time and if the enclosure had fallen it would have broken or cracked. She also had webbed up the enclosure as a typical Versi would so a fall within the enclosure would have had a soft landing.

And Thanks Arachnophoric. She actually seems to be doing ok today. Surprisingly she can maneuver with just the front 4 legs. Certainly amazing animals and look forward to her molting a couple of times and getting those legs back. I just hope the molt comes soon because it has been about 5 weeks since she last ate and it's usually 3 weeks that she molts, on average, after not eating.

 

[EtienneN]

I have kept her enclosure pretty wet

This is likely the direct cause for your tarantula's 'deconditioning' and dropping of legs. Versicolors should be kept predominantly dry with a water dish.

I give her a few water spritzes every day

Does this mean you were actually spraying the tarantula itself?

 

[Rmclean3]

I think the term "pretty wet" was inexact but basically every 3 to 4 days I'd give about 5 sprays into the enclosure and always keep the water dish full. There was never any condensation on sides of the enclosure or standing water but I think I will make those waterings less frequent now, especially if it could have potentially caused this.

Oh and I missed the question about spraying her directly. Absolutely not. I would do the web and sides of the enclosure.

 

[Teal]

How bizarre! The good news is that she will regenerate those legs in upcoming molts, at least.

Did you throw out the legs she dropped? Maybe examining them would have shown if there were issues and perhaps provide insight as to why she felt the need to be rid of them?

I didnt see any mold or mites

Which are not generally problems anyways.

 

[Andrea82]

This is likely the direct cause for your tarantula's 'deconditioning' and dropping of legs. Versicolors should be kept predominantly dry with a water dish.



Does this mean you were actually spraying the tarantula itself?

How would wet conditions be cause for legs to fall off? That's a bit of a stretch imo.

 

[EtienneN]

How would wet conditions be cause for legs to fall off? That's a bit of a stretch imo.

I think being overly wet air could weaken the connective tissues in the joints. Similar to how horses standing for days on end in wet muddy fields can get hoof rot or skin rot.

 

[Rmclean3]

How bizarre! The good news is that she will regenerate those legs in upcoming molts, at least.

Did you throw out the legs she dropped? Maybe examining them would have shown if there were issues and perhaps provide insight as to why she felt the need to be rid of them?

Didnt even think of that, great suggestion. I do actually still have them all and just gave them a look over. As far as I can see they look like perfectly healthy limbs, all severed at the same point and the end point where they were attached to the carapace is sealed off.