Concerned for my Tarantula. Could it be dehydrated?

Jonathan Lasswell

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Mar 20, 2017
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8
Well this is my first time posting here. My Tarantula, Itsy (I believe it is a Chilean Rose but might be wrong) looks as if it has its lost a lot of weight. I noticed she (I d KIMG0342.JPG on't know it's sex but I've always just referred to it as a female based on the tendency for female spiders to be larger than males) had started developing a bald patch on her abdomen probably about 6 weeks ago. I was concerned because I thought she might be agitated or something before I read some stuff about them darkening and sometimes developing a bald patch as they get closer to molting. She has only molted once since I got her a few years ago. Honestly I have no clue how long ago that was but it's probably been between 2 and 3 years. Yesterday evening I noticed her hovering over her water dish but this morning I woke up to find her pretty much sitting in it and her abdomen looks extremely small compared to how big I remember it being. I have some photos of her from a while back and some of her today. I think she might be dehydrated and so I put her in a large plastic container on some moist paper towels. She sat her head down on themfor a few seconds but then she started stretching out along the side like she wanted out. After about a half hour of being in there I decided to just put her back in her tank by the water dish. I even made sure she knew there was water in it by shepherding her into sticking a foot in it. She has wandered around her tank some but hasn't gotten back inside the water dish. She ate a cricket last Thursday evening. About a week ago my mom took the hollow tree stump thing I had in there as a hide to put in my brother's Tokay geckos tank as Itsy has never used it. She put a big rock that we had left over from a ball pythons tank that is completely hollow with one entrance. Itsy hasn't went inside it.
I wanted some advice on what to do now. It's been about 4 hours since I put her back in.
 

Gman32176

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Oct 1, 2016
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31
Hopefully someone with more experience will chime in, as I'm a very fresh noob to the hobby.
That being said, with what you've described even I wouldn't be too worried. It does look a bit small, but it doesn't look shrunken/wrinkled either.
Just make sure she always has water in her dish and leave her be. If she just had a cricket last Thursday, you could try feeding her again and see if she takes it.
 

Venom1080

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looks very leggy.. it may be a mature male, they dont eat much and usually die after about a year maybe a year and a half.
you can tell by the first pair of legs, there will be hooks of a sort on the underside of the tibia. (third joint of the leg) the pedipalps will be enlarged as well.if it is, theres nothing really wrong with it, its cage on the other hand...
do not put it back in a icu, ICUs are bad for arid species. the very humid environment is not good for them. just let it be in its cage with a full water dish.
post a pic of the whole cage please, it does not look correctly set up... substrate should fill the tank so there is a distance of no more than 1.5-2x the spiders legspan between the lid and the sub. remove the rocks from the dish as well. they do nothing and take up space that could be used by more water.
dont bother trying to make sure the spider can reach the water, it can find it easily enough on its own. prodding it towards the dish is also stressful.
 

KezyGLA

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Apr 8, 2016
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Yup thats another mature male slowly coming to the end of its life cycle. It sucks but thats just the way ot goes :(
 

Jonathan Lasswell

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Mar 20, 2017
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8
Okay thanks for the responses. I'm working on getting more substrate for them and he is now actually in that rock KIMG0350.JPG , after having never used a hide since his last molt. I'm going to take the pebbles out of the water dishes now. I'll also include a pic of the other ones setup. KIMG0351.JPG
 

Jonathan Lasswell

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Mar 20, 2017
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That 2nd picture is of Bitsy. Since he's out right now and there is absolutely no way I could touch that water bowl without probably pulling him partway off the ground given his liberal use of his spinnerets. I'm not so sure it's a him given how off I was on Itsy though. :rolleyes:
I've almost ripped the entire surface of his cage when removing dead crickets from it.
2+ years and these two still baffle me.
 

darkness975

Latrodectus
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The picture is blurry but the second one appears to be female based on my limited ability to see anything in it. Try to get some clear pictures. The first one looks like a mature male like others have said.
 

Jonathan Lasswell

Arachnopeon
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Mar 20, 2017
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8
The picture is blurry but the second one appears to be female based on my limited ability to see anything in it. Try to get some clear pictures. The first one looks like a mature male like others have said.
The pictures I took that weren't as focused were replies to inquiries about the setup. Bitsy should show up clearer in these as the focus was on him/her. KIMG0285.JPG KIMG0286.JPG KIMG0291.JPG Thanks for the interest and responses y'all. I'm both relieved and kindof saddened by this events but such is life eh?
I will check this thread again tomorrow morning and give another update if warranted. Thanks again
 

Jonathan Lasswell

Arachnopeon
Joined
Mar 20, 2017
Messages
8
He seems to be okay. He's still in that new rock and I'm not going to bother him to take a picture. He is sitting/standing in the corner of it, kind of huddled up. He isn't upside down or lying right on the ground.
I definitely understand what the person who called tarantula "keeping a bit of a grey hair grower" :D
Regardless, if it is his time and I do see him again in another life... I'm okay with a 'hairing' for putting him through this :p
At the very least I learned there is still some hope for any shriveled and dehydrated but still alive house spiders I come across.
Any odd grammar is the fault of my phone and/or Google autocorrect.
 
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