Did I just kill my spider?

[InternetSwag]

Man I feel terrible.

I was gonna feed my Pulchra Sling, I put his enclosure on my desk and opened it, preparing to crush a roach and throw it in.

I grabbed the roach by the leg and it fell on the table and ran and in my attempt to catch it quickly I knocked my slings enclosure sending it flying.
Substrate everywhere everything went flying like a meter.

I found my sling on the carpet floor. I encouraged him onto my finger and quickly fixed his enclosure and put him in. Now he is hiding all bunched up and I'm scared he is injured or gonna die.

I feel so stupid and angry at my mistake. arghhh

 

[G. pulchra]

If it crawled up on your finger then obviously it isn't dead. It could be "bunched" up from stress, or damage from the impact. At this point all you can do is keep an eye on it. Leave it alone and don't go poking it etc.... And now you know, prepare your feeders away from the enclosure. Also, get in the habit of NOT using your hands to move it. If for some reason it does get out, use a container to move it not your finger.

 

[Gogyeng]

The business of roach loosing a leg an escaping happens. Plenty of times with crickets too. Where you can improve is in the placement of the sling enclosure and catch cups-ready. Good preparation is key, With practice you will be able to calmly use the catch cup, contain the escapee, and proceed. I use myself locusts, but that's because I have mostly arboreals, I tend to grab by the cephalotorax, close to the eyes.

 

[Vanessa]

Use a small vial to scoop up the roach and put it in the enclosure.
And I would edit the language that you've used as it is against forum guidelines.

 

[Gogyeng]

Ok. I think I addressed the issue.

 

[mack1855]

No you didn't kill your spood,but it will never trust you again..
It only takes one "OH CRAP",to wipe out 10 "THAT WENT WELL".

 

[Kitara]

I feel your frustration. I had escapee too recently. I threw it in my GBB's enclosure and it ran across the webbing and straight out of the enclosure. I literally freaked out, screamed like a little girl, and flailed about because I couldn't catch the little jerk even though I did have a catch cup. I didn't hit the sling enclosure, but easily could have and it would have fallen from eye level. Only time will tell if your baby is OK, but I hope she is. Sound like she's just scared/stressed in her positioning.

Ok, kinda funny, but the first (and only) time I tried to get the b. lateralis with my tweezers I ended up ripping off all the legs. I felt so terrible even though I hate them so much that I can't bring myself to even try again. No tweezers for me.

Use a small vial to scoop up the roach and put it in the enclosure.

Yep, this is what I do now. I bring the b. lats outside and I use the little vial that my sling came in (has a lid) to trap one and then bring it to my babies. With the b. lat secure in it's vial I open the lid of the enclosure and then throw it in. It takes two in order to feed my GBB because she runs straight towards the top of the enclosure like she's going to run out so my daughter holds to lid while I throw the b. lat in and then quickly close the enclosure. We have a catch cup handy just in case.

 

[InternetSwag]

Thank you guys. I was freaking out at the time.
I felt really bad after, felt like I shouldn't even have spiders since I'm new to the hobby, but I vowed to try harder and be better. I won't make this mistake again.

As for the lil guy. I really hope he doesn't die. How long would it take for him to die from injury? Days? Weeks?

He went under his little rock I put in his enclosure, and seemed to take up a 'stressed out posture'. But when I came home tonight and checked up on him he had moved, albeit not much. I will throw in a dead roach tonight and see what's up tomorrow morning.

 

[WeightedAbyss75]

Thank you guys. I was freaking out at the time.
I felt really bad after, felt like I shouldn't even have spiders since I'm new to the hobby, but I vowed to try harder and be better. I won't make this mistake again.

As for the lil guy. I really hope he doesn't die. How long would it take for him to die from injury? Days? Weeks?

He went under his little rock I put in his enclosure, and seemed to take up a 'stressed out posture'. But when I came home tonight and checked up on him he had moved, albeit not much. I will throw in a dead roach tonight and see what's up tomorrow morning.

IME, most tarantulas are fine with a fall onto a soft material like carpet, especially when your T is a sling. Not much force behind the impact. Most injuries that lead to death on a tarantula are gashes when the “hemolymph” or blood will pour out. If your T survived this long, I would say it’s fine. Death-causing injuries take a few hours from what I have seen. Probably a little shaken up, but slings are much harder to kill with a fall. Make sure to get it water more than food, especially if it has a possible injury. Fluids help replenish blood/help the tarantula move around. Other than that, I’d say this is a good learning experience Things like this happen to the best keepers, and what’s more important is preventing this in the future. Don’t feel too bad, I’ve done this exact same thing multiple times Hope this helps!

 

[Mirandarachnid]

off

Thank you guys. I was freaking out at the time.
I felt really bad after, felt like I shouldn't even have spiders since I'm new to the hobby, but I vowed to try harder and be better. I won't make this mistake again.

As for the lil guy. I really hope he doesn't die. How long would it take for him to die from injury? Days? Weeks?

He went under his little rock I put in his enclosure, and seemed to take up a 'stressed out posture'. But when I came home tonight and checked up on him he had moved, albeit not much. I will throw in a dead roach tonight and see what's up tomorrow morning.

Don't let one mistake put you off of keeping T's, just learn from it.

It's hard to say how long it would take for it to die from injury.

Once it molts, you will be out of the woods and know for sure that it is okay.

On a side note, rocks aren't good to put in enclosures. Slings tend to dig a bit, and if it digs too much under the rock, the rock could fall and crush it. I'd remove the rock. You want something light, like cork bark. If you have a heavy hide, it needs to be resting on the floor of the enclosure or glued in place on the side, not just the surface of the substrate.

 

[Urzeitmensch]

The most important rule for me in such a situation is to stay calm. As with all urgent stress situations keeping your cool is of utmost importance. Getting hectic, flailing about jumping and running around can easily lead to desaster. Whenever I got paniced or hectic in such a situation it just got worse.

That is not to say that fast reflexes are bad. Mine have improves significantly since I use crickets

The other important aspect is preparation.
Prepare your working environment well with no clutter and everything important (catch-cup etc.) in reach and in such a way that you won't hit an enclosure or feeder box when reaching for it in a hurry. Work on the floor or a large table, ideally in a room with few hiding or escape possibilities.