HELP! Dying King Baboon?

[Nomadinexile]

Friends king baboon is acting crazy after long time of good health. 2" unsexed. Walking in circles with funny jerky movements like dancing was how it was described. It does this and then lays down with legs tucked under in death stance? He fed it roaches he found and thinks they might have been poisoned. We do live in city. Does this sound right? Is there anything he can do? Have to leave for a little bit but will come back on first thing home and relay to his non-computer using self any info you all have. It would be greatly appreciated. thanks, ryan and friend
btw, for last couple of days humidity has been raised, he thought it might be dehydration. I don't think so. He said abdomen is large and larger at end of it. tear drop shaped he called it. thanks

 

[Neophyte]

Sounds like Dyskinetic Syndrome Look it up on YouTube.

 

[inbntly]

You said that he found these cockroach's? As in captured them himself Around the house? Has he ever had the house sprayed for any kind of bugs? Chances are if the house has been sprayed and the roach's were captured in the same environment it could have been something the spider ingested through the roach's. This is something you'll need to find out, as for the T possibly being poisoned I don't know if there is much you can do. I myself don't have any experience in keeping T's, but the above is just what I've read about.

You should never use insects that you catch either in your house or outside because there is a high chance they've come in contact with some kind of insecticide before they've gotten to you.

I hope someone else can see this topic and help you with taking the appropriate actions about the possible poison. I would say try and put it in ICU in a very dark place, but if the poison was ingested, I don't know what you can do to help.

Best of luck to you and your friend, hopefully everything turns out alright.

 

[MizM]

This sounds much like the behavior exhibited by a bug that has been in contact with pesticides, which affect the central nervous system. If that is the case, there is nothing that can be done for the poor T. They have the same effect of Ts, it just takes a bit longer for them to die due to their large size.

 

[Nomadinexile]

That looks right.

I warned friend of just such an event, though I didn't know what it would end up looking like. I know that wc feeders in cities are dangerous. I even turned down one of the same roaches for one of my new t's as we had just gone to store together. (I know they shouldn't be fed right away either but he just does his own thing) I dodged the bullet, but my friend caught it. I wish we could have both could have been more aware and prevented this. But I doubt he'll have this problem again. Thanks for the help everyone. Peace, Ryan

Btw, for those who want to risk it, those two roaches (20 cents worth?) are going to take down 2 of his tarantulas it looks like. He didn't even tell me the other one that got the same meal. He is sad and embarrassed by this. Hopefully someone else will read this and not do the same thing. Don't do city wild caught feeders. You'll pay in the end.

 

[Endagr8]

Don't do city wild caught feeders. You'll pay in the end.

Don't use any wild-caught feeders! Tell your friend to start a dubia or lateralis colony!

 

[peachypaderna]

Ouch, that's too bad. I hope the tarantulas pull through, but if they don't, I'm really sorry about that. I'm sure your friend will have no doubts about what should and should not be fed to his pets next time.

 

[Nomadinexile]

He agreed to colony, but insists on collecting wc till then?!?!

How am I supposed to respond to this? He is very confident that the roaches from his place are fine, just the ones from his girlfriends, that uses poison are bad. I am going to end up starting a colony myself just so I can provide them to him. I just buy crickets and superworms right now. But I guess I have to before he kills them all. He is very stubborn. Plus he is a little older than me and nice as could be. I don't want to hurt our friendship over it. He just doesn't want to listen to me, or "the internet", which is full of lies, ect. in his head. So I don't know. It's frustrating you know. But I guess we all have our own groove. I will start a colony I guess,...

 

[indigoeyes]

He can be as stubborn as he wants, it's just too bad his stubborn streak is going to end up killing some beautiful Tarantulas. WC food is always a bad idea. Roaches, crix, grasshoppers, mice, etc. Just a bad idea. I hope your friend learns from his mistake before any more Ts have to suffer and die.

 

[Nomadinexile]

I'll get him some crickets while I try to figure out colony

I need to start some of my own anyway. My collection is growing fast. And will need them myself soon enough. My girlfriend is not too happy about roaches but I will keep them out of sight as much as possible I guess.
It's funny, she will catch scorpions, hold tarantulas, dig beetles out of rotten wood, but scared to death of roaches. Off to search for colony info. This is the last die off. I will buy him some crickets. Tell him what I read. And work on getting colony going. Thanks again. Peace

 

[xhexdx]

That really sucks.

 

[Nomadinexile]

ignorance is relative

Trust me, I disagreed with my friends feeding beliefs. However, Ignorance is not the right word to use here. See my friend eats the vegetables and weeds that grow in his yard. He honestly thought about it and thoughtfully decided that it shouldn't be a problem. He is a very nice person and doesn't hurt anything. He loves his arachnids just as much as you. But he also thinks he can go out in his yard and eat. And thought his bugs could too. Lesson learned yes. But ignorance? I don't think so. He made a bad decision. But it was not without thought and care. He does it to give them variety. He thinks he's giving them "treats" by mixing up their diet. He's doing it, trying to make their lives as good as he can. I'm just saying,.. there is a difference between ignorance and a mistake in judgement.

 

[tmanjim]

Yeh, not good at all and it will take insecticides a while to kill a T. That is sad, Feeder insects are cheap and T's are not, be smart.

 

[MizM]

Trust me, I disagreed with my friends feeding beliefs. However, Ignorance is not the right word to use here. See my friend eats the vegetables and weeds that grow in his yard. He honestly thought about it and thoughtfully decided that it shouldn't be a problem. He is a very nice person and doesn't hurt anything. He loves his arachnids just as much as you. But he also thinks he can go out in his yard and eat. And thought his bugs could too. Lesson learned yes. But ignorance? I don't think so. He made a bad decision. But it was not without thought and care. He does it to give them variety. He thinks he's giving them "treats" by mixing up their diet. He's doing it, trying to make their lives as good as he can. I'm just saying,.. there is a difference between ignorance and a mistake in judgement.

Sounds more like naivete than ignorance. Maybe buy him a copy of TTKG, if he reads the facts from a reliable source, perhaps he might believe them.

 

[kc7wdg]

To be blunt he sounds like a moron.. I will never feed any wild caught anything and if any feeder crickets I buy get loose (loose being get away from me where I cannot see where they go and find them again later) I will not feed them to my T's it is better to error on the safe side you never know what can happen. From your description I doubt he would even follow TTKG.


Scott

 

[peachypaderna]

He is a very nice person and doesn't hurt anything. He loves his arachnids just as much as you. But he also thinks he can go out in his yard and eat. And thought his bugs could too...He does it to give them variety. He thinks he's giving them "treats" by mixing up their diet. He's doing it, trying to make their lives as good as he can. I'm just saying,.. there is a difference between ignorance and a mistake in judgement.

Wow. Sounds like a classic case of misguided kindness. Perhaps if you pointed out to him that the "treats" he gave his pets were essentially laced with poison, he might understand the situation a little?

Or maybe you can use the "better safe than sorry" card on him. "Do you really want to risk losing another gorgeous tarantula? That roach could have been slugging back Raid all its life." Or something like that. :? Good luck, bro. Let us know how this turns out.

 

[Nomadinexile]

He got it. What is TTKG?

The comment about some still being o.k. to feed was defensive mechanism from the embarrassment of the loss. I got extra crickets and superworms today and when I called to set up delivery, he told me he had already gone and stocked up. I think he understands now. I will still look for info in my books and whatever else I can find to reinforce though. What is TTKG? I am sorry but I just got back into arachnids about 6 months ago.

 

[bigdog999]

oh oh I know this . The Tarantulas Keepers Guide.

 

[Nomadinexile]

I have TTKG, and TAOA

Have them both. He reads my copy's but maybe didn't get there yet. I will point out.

 

[Nomadinexile]

"you may supplement the diet with wild-caught...."

Another viewpoint is offered in Scorpions:plus Other Popular Invertabrates written by Jerry G. Walls, From the EXPERTS at ADVANCED VIVARIUM SYSTEMS gives us this,

"even if offering cultured bugs, you may supplement the diet with wild-caught spiders and insects such as grasshoppers and dragonflies (but never from areas that have been sprayed with pestisides or from roadsides, where pollution is greater)...."

I offer this not as the correct answer. I offer this as proof that it is not unreasonable to think that this practice is o.k.

btw, this was in second edition, copyright 06 by Advanced Vivarium Systems, printed 07