Dying Citharischius crawshayi

[kitty_b]

so i acquired a small (4") female a few months ago. she took to her burrow and never came back. she molted the other month, and still hadn't accepted food. so i left her alone (and resisted the urge to dig her up, obviously) and waited.

her burrow was along the wall, so i could peek in occasionally and check on her. i noticed a while back that she seemed smaller, despite the molt. in the last couple days, i caught a glimpse of her now tiny abdomen. tonight i saw the beginning of a death curl.

so i dug the poor girl up, placed her in an ICU and gently laid her head over a shallow dish of water. when i went to dig her up, i found the below-ground burrow was intact, but the tunnel leading to the surface was filled in and compacted. she had walled herself up long before the molt, and for whatever reason never opened the tunnel back up. so obviously, she's been without water for a LONG time.

as many of you know, i've lost a lot of babies lately, mostly unexplainable. please keep this poor girl in your thoughts. i'll leave her alone for the rest of the night, and hopefully she'll have regained a bit of her strength by tomorrow. i still can't believe that i may lose *another* one.

here are some pictures to show how bad she is..

upon arrival:

now:

 

[von_z]

:8o Wow, I hope she makes it. ICU, water, and wait is all you can do. Please keep us posted.

 

[kitty_b]

she's already showing signs of improvement (or at least i hope so). after a little while, she uncurled her front legs and seemed to support herself over the dish a little better. now she's moved off the dish and back toward the dry side of the ICU. hopefully she's had her fill of water for the time being.

i'm comfortable enough (with her stability) to go to bed now, and i'll just have to check on her in the morning.

 

[Hamburglar]

can you tell if she actually drank any water from the dish? Good luck with her...

 

[kitty_b]

the water level appears lower. she definitely appears stronger. but only time will tell

 

[von_z]

Sounds like good news. Keep us updated with info./pics.

 

[kitty_b]

well, she's in the same spot she was at when i went to bed. i opened the container to put her back on a fresh bowl of water, half expecting her to spaz out on me (i can dream!).

she's still fairly unresponsive to being touched, but she did "protest" being moved by digging her little feet into the paper towels. she also tried raising her body up on her own so i couldn't move her as easily.

within 5 minutes of me "man-handling" her, she had gotten off the dish and walked to the back of the cage, so i pre-killed a roach and left it in that corner for her.

slow but steady...

 

[Rochelle]

Eck. She looks wretched.
I hope she makes it...all digits tangled for you, kitty..

~Blessed Be xo

 

[kitty_b]

she's definitely more active now. she's somehow spread the dirt ALL OVER the ICU.

 

[_bob_]

see if she will eat something!

 

[kitty_b]

so far she's ignoring the pre-killed roach. i think she may still be too weak to be interested in eating.

7:30 PM: she's standing up and responsive!

 

[Goomba]

I like where this story is going! Best of luck!

 

[RottweilExpress]

Indeed! Love the rescues :clap:

 

[kitty_b]

her abdomen is SOOOO tiny, but i'm more than happy just to see her stand on her own. i wish i had taken the opportunity to flip her over and examine her fangs when she was "unable to fight back" but there's no reason to think that's her problem. can't tell if she has touched the roach (though i doubt it).

lots of water and a few more days in the ICU should help.

 

[penny'smom]

Things seem to be looking up Kitty, we will keep all eights crossed here for her.

 

[von_z]

Sounds good kitty

 

[kitty_b]

i changed her icu last night to dry paper towels with a water dish, and she's been sitting normally all day. just saw her standing over the dish, though she wasn't drinking. she appears to still be weak (and shakes as she stands sometimes), but she's hanging in there. now if i could only get her to eat...

 

[Steven Valys]

why dry paper towels?

 

[PoPpiLLs]

Good luck kitty_b i hope she makes a full recovery, have you tried slicing the roach open or crushing it to exposing the juicy parts

 

[kitty_b]

she was on moist paper towels up through yesterday, but it seemed that the moisture was starting to stress her out (she moved to the other side, but the moisture wicked across to that side as well). i may try to keep one side moist again tomorrow, but i didn't want to upset her any more than i had to.

i've put a freshly killed (beheaded) roach in front of her tonight to see if she's got the strength to eat. so far, no munching.