I'm a nanny, and today I saved a Texas Brown from being stomped on by four scared kids. I don't kill things and this spider is so beautiful...so I caught her and made a make-shift habitat for today until I could get a decked out terrarium with some of my paycheck tomorrow. Before today, I knew nothing about Tarantulas until I started looking facts up online every chance I got. I went to the pet store to get a ballpark of how much I would be spending to keep her (I've decided she's a girl for now) and keep her happy...
I left for maybe an hour to shower and when I got back, the 14-year-old and 17-year-old told me she had been very still nearly the whole time I was gone. This surprised me because of how animated she had been all day, moving freely around, and even showing me her initial discomfort with her new captivity by baring her fangs and dripping venom...something even came out of her rear end and there was webbing involved.
Before I read more, I panicked of course. At that point, she was very still and I was caressing her back with a blade of grass, still unsure of what to do but terrified that she was dying...
Now I've read for over an hour, and I think she was actually trying to molt? I'm not sure, but when I first got her in the cup, she was trying to lie down and she was trying to put webbing around her. There was more webbing when I got her into a container with more room and a place to hide under a huge leaf with some grass (I'm sorry if that seems ameteur). She actually ate some of the greens and when I gave her water I was still scared so I poured some water onto a lid for her, missing just a bit so there was just a little extra water on the side. There were a few times that she tried to flip on her back but I turned her back over, not being familiar with molting.
I just feel like an utter failure. I keep going over everything in my head...finding reasons to blame myself for the state she's in now. I wanted to SAVE her, not hurt her and I feel so guilty.
Right now, I think she might be dying. I don't know what to do or if there is anything I CAN do?? Please help...
I left for maybe an hour to shower and when I got back, the 14-year-old and 17-year-old told me she had been very still nearly the whole time I was gone. This surprised me because of how animated she had been all day, moving freely around, and even showing me her initial discomfort with her new captivity by baring her fangs and dripping venom...something even came out of her rear end and there was webbing involved.
Before I read more, I panicked of course. At that point, she was very still and I was caressing her back with a blade of grass, still unsure of what to do but terrified that she was dying...
Now I've read for over an hour, and I think she was actually trying to molt? I'm not sure, but when I first got her in the cup, she was trying to lie down and she was trying to put webbing around her. There was more webbing when I got her into a container with more room and a place to hide under a huge leaf with some grass (I'm sorry if that seems ameteur). She actually ate some of the greens and when I gave her water I was still scared so I poured some water onto a lid for her, missing just a bit so there was just a little extra water on the side. There were a few times that she tried to flip on her back but I turned her back over, not being familiar with molting.
I just feel like an utter failure. I keep going over everything in my head...finding reasons to blame myself for the state she's in now. I wanted to SAVE her, not hurt her and I feel so guilty.
Right now, I think she might be dying. I don't know what to do or if there is anything I CAN do?? Please help...