Dyskinetic syndrome (dks)

[Ultum4Spiderz]

Nicotine it's the basis for the pesticide roundup, one of the most powerful on Earth. Passive smoke had been proven harmful to humans.

Don’t lots of cities spray pesticides to keep mosquitoes populations down ?

 

[Ungoliant]

Don’t lots of cities spray pesticides to keep mosquitoes populations down ?

Yes.

 

[Ultum4Spiderz]

Yes.

Do air conditioning units filter this stuff out? I’d imagine someone who keeps windows open could possibly get some pesticides in there house. Dono if it would be enough to cause issues, I’ve noticed less & less wild inverts & moths in my local area. Each year seems like pesticides chip at native species to the city.
I’ve not had any dks issues in a few years now .
I’m Thinking flea killing powder, or the spray might have lingered in air , longer then expected. Last dks was p Metallica possibly due to this . Probably 3 years ago or more, can’t remember exact date.
Hope we can identify the cause Of dks.

 

[Ungoliant]

Do air conditioning units filter this stuff out? I’d imagine someone who keeps windows open could possibly get some pesticides in there house. Dono if it would be enough to cause issues, I’ve noticed less & less wild inverts & moths in my local area. Each year seems like pesticides chip at native species to the city.
I’ve not had any dks issues in a few years now .

I guess it would depend on what they are spraying and what kind of filters it uses.

Look up the mosquito abatement schedule in your area so that you can take appropriate precautions. Find out what they are spraying, how, and when. (Google the chemical name to find out how long it lingers in the air.)

There may be a process for beekeepers to register. I registered this year so that I would get notifications on nights when they planned to spray from trucks. (I explained that even though I don't keep bees, I keep pet tarantulas, which, like other invertebrates, are potentially susceptible to insecticides.)

Here, the routine spraying involves driving around in trucks and spraying permethrin. (It targets adult mosquitoes, but it doesn't seem to be very effective here. However, I don't think it has been great for the population of large orbweavers.)

The only precautions I have been taking for routine spraying are to turn off the vent fans (that vent outside air inside) during the nights of the spraying. (It is just too hot and humid to forego air conditioning.) I have not noticed any symptoms with my tarantulas or my feeder insects; everyone seems healthy.

Last August, during the Zika panic, a plane flew over and carpet-bombed our entire county with naled. They forgot to notify the registered beekeepers. Millions of domestic and wild bees were killed; many beekeepers were wiped out. Anecdotally, it seemed to devastate our local spider population as well.

The only announcement was posted on the town's Facebook page. It was posted on a Friday afternoon after business hours, so no one was available to respond to questions. We only found out because my husband happened to log in that day. I didn't have much notice, so I sealed each of my tarantula enclosures in large plastic bags with their own air supply (from our air compressor) and left them in the bags for 36 hours. Everyone was fine.

I’m Thinking flea killing powder, or the spray might have lingered in air , longer then expected. Last dks was p Metallica possibly due to this . Probably 3 years ago or more, can’t remember exact date.
Hope we can identify the cause Of dks.

I would avoid flea powder or topical flea/tick treatments if you have pet invertebrates. If you have dogs or cats, they make oral flea medicine that might be a safer option for your pet invertebrates.

 

[ediblepain]

m balfouri sling DKS like symptoms. More info in video description.

 

[laservet]

FWIW, I'm an exotic animal veterinarian and I asked about this in a forum for exotic animal veterinary specialists (including zoo vets, researchers, along with practitioners) and they said with the data available so far it is not recognized as a syndrome, suspect husbandry issues.

 

[ediblepain]

FWIW, I'm an exotic animal veterinarian and I asked about this in a forum for exotic animal veterinary specialists (including zoo vets, researchers, along with practitioners) and they said with the data available so far it is not recognized as a syndrome, suspect husbandry issues.

Only one balfouri in my communal showed any issues. It was humanly euthanized. The other balfouri (sack mates) are all healthy.

 

[MadisonBoib]

I recently had some odd experiences with DKS. 3 of my tarantulas got what appeared to be DKS, textbook symptoms (if a textbook on it actually exsisted). 2 slings and a nearly mature tarantula got it. One of the slings died unfortunately but the other 2 miraculously pulled through and are eating again. Obviously this syndrome doesnt come from nowhere and i thought long and hard about what could have possibly resulted in it but i could think of nothing. A true shame that more information isnt present on it. Has anyone else here had tarantulas survive DKS? My little curlyhair sling is back to eating and appears healthy but it appears that its muscle movement may have been permanently altered because while it can control its movements for the most part sometimes its legs appear to get a little “excited”.

 

[WildSpider]

I recently had some odd experiences with DKS. 3 of my tarantulas got what appeared to be DKS, textbook symptoms (if a textbook on it actually exsisted). 2 slings and a nearly mature tarantula got it. One of the slings died unfortunately but the other 2 miraculously pulled through and are eating again. Obviously this syndrome doesnt come from nowhere and i thought long and hard about what could have possibly resulted in it but i could think of nothing. A true shame that more information isnt present on it. Has anyone else here had tarantulas survive DKS? My little curlyhair sling is back to eating and appears healthy but it appears that its muscle movement may have been permanently altered because while it can control its movements for the most part sometimes its legs appear to get a little “excited”.

I'm pretty sure I remember boina saying one of hers survived DKS.

 

[Greasylake]

I recently had some odd experiences with DKS. 3 of my tarantulas got what appeared to be DKS, textbook symptoms (if a textbook on it actually exsisted). 2 slings and a nearly mature tarantula got it. One of the slings died unfortunately but the other 2 miraculously pulled through and are eating again. Obviously this syndrome doesnt come from nowhere and i thought long and hard about what could have possibly resulted in it but i could think of nothing. A true shame that more information isnt present on it. Has anyone else here had tarantulas survive DKS? My little curlyhair sling is back to eating and appears healthy but it appears that its muscle movement may have been permanently altered because while it can control its movements for the most part sometimes its legs appear to get a little “excited”.

@boina has cured some of her spiders of DKS using heat.

 

[Angelala]

Do certain species have DKS more often?

I saw a yellow sac spider that appeared to have it a couple months back. I didn't realize anything other than tarantulas got it but it appeared to be the same thing. The sac spider died a couple days after I found it.

I have just experienced my second wild-caught Wolf Spider death in two months, with the spiders exhibiting behaviours as described in this thread. I wasn't sure if they were simply dying of old age - it's surprisingly difficult to find info on what a spider looks like when it's dying of old age: is it a sudden death? Could these be "death throes"? In both cases, the spiders died within a week of exhibiting "symptoms". I'm concerned as I just started getting into T's, who are kept in the same area as my other spiders.

Can anyone say for sure (by for sure I mean with lots of firsthand experience) that these symptoms as described above are not just part of regular death? With some taking longer to go than others? I'm very interested to know how "DKS death" presents as opposed to "regular" death (old age, etc.) Thanks a bunch!

 

[Python Patrol Exotics]

SURVEY IS CLOSED, BUT WANTED TO ADD MY ACCOUNT...

1: SPECIES- Grammostola Pulchripes
2: SUBSTRATE & TEMP- i use a mix of 10% vermiculite, 40% COMPLETELY organic soil (free of pesticides and fertilizers), 50% eco-earth compressed coco fiber bricks. Temps at around 73°f with around 60% humidity.
3: WATER- i use tap water, but have switched to bottled. All of my enclosures have water dishes, i also do a light misting on side of enclosure and leaves.
4: FEDDERS- i have a variety of feeders. Mealworm, cricket, turkestan and dubia roaches
5: DECO- cork bark, small plastic leaves hot glued to cork bark
6: PESTICIDES- none
7: DATE- first seen 1-1-19 during a feeding(did not eat). Nothing new was introduced, but i had just got the T 20 days prior.
8: RECOVERY OR DEATH: neither net. I have moved it to a warmer more humid isolated shelf.
9: KIN AND OTHER T'S: i dont not have any relative's to this sling, but i do have 28 T's in total. None of my others have shown any similar symptoms.
10: EXTRA NOTES: i got the affected T 12-13-18 (20 day prior), as a .5" inch sling. It has not molted in my care, so im keeping my fingures crossed that it will molt and get better.

 

[Python Patrol Exotics]

SURVEY IS CLOSED, BUT WANTED TO ADD MY ACCOUNT...

1: SPECIES- Grammostola Pulchripes
2: SUBSTRATE & TEMP- i use a mix of 10% vermiculite, 40% COMPLETELY organic soil (free of pesticides and fertilizers), 50% eco-earth compressed coco fiber bricks. Temps at around 73°f with around 60% humidity.
3: WATER- i use tap water, but have switched to bottled. All of my enclosures have water dishes, i also do a light misting on side of enclosure and leaves.
4: FEDDERS- i have a variety of feeders. Mealworm, cricket, turkestan and dubia roaches
5: DECO- cork bark, small plastic leaves hot glued to cork bark
6: PESTICIDES- none
7: DATE- first seen 1-1-19 during a feeding(did not eat). Nothing new was introduced, but i had just got the T 20 days prior.
8: RECOVERY OR DEATH: neither net. I have moved it to a warmer more humid isolated shelf.
9: KIN AND OTHER T'S: i dont not have any relative's to this sling, but i do have 28 T's in total. None of my others have shown any similar symptoms.
10: EXTRA NOTES: i got the affected T 12-13-18 (20 day prior), as a .5" inch sling. It has not molted in my care, so im keeping my fingures crossed that it will molt and get better.
I dont know about its parents or when it was hatched, i purchased it from 'Inland Sea Exotics'.