I am unsure what's wrong with my rose hair

[CorsePerVita]

Alright so I've been doing scorpions now for a couple of years. They seem to not be a problem for me and I seem to understand them quite well.

Long story short... I got a rose hair tarantula about 2 months ago and decided to try the tarantula world. I was using a small tiny 40watt heat lamp to provide a few extra degrees of temperature to keep it but around 72-75F. The lamp went dead, i got a new one a day later. Shortly after this, the tarantula started being a bit slow, acting a bit weird, a bit limp if you will.

I fed him and he refused to eat. I even offered water which he would not take.

At this point he started curling up into sort of a ball in a corner. It almost seems he purposely distanced himself from the heat lamp area and into the colder corner of the setup. Up to this point he was a tad sluggish and not super quick. Even when he ate he didn't seem to have a lot of momentum.

One thing that concerned me is that he had a mark on his abdomen, almost like a missing piece or a healed wound, or a huge patch of hair missing on him. The guy i got him from mentioned "Oh we've had this one forever, no one wants him." i assumed perhaps that he was a tarantula, and no one wants a tarantula over a scorpion or a lizard, etc... perhaps he insinuated then that there was a larger issue he was hiding.

I am confused, and feel bad. I try to the best of my abilities to take care of my pets. So when dies, I feel like there is something I missed or something along those lines. I want to give it another shot though.

Is it possible he may not be dead and could be molting? I know the balled up thing is not good and an indicator it may be dead. Ideas? Thoughts?

 

[Xian]

Alright so I've been doing scorpions now for a couple of years. They seem to not be a problem for me and I seem to understand them quite well.

Long story short... I got a rose hair tarantula about 2 months ago and decided to try the tarantula world. I was using a small tiny 40watt heat lamp to provide a few extra degrees of temperature to keep it but around 72-75F. The lamp went dead, i got a new one a day later. Shortly after this, the tarantula started being a bit slow, acting a bit weird, a bit limp if you will.

I fed him and he refused to eat. I even offered water which he would not take.

At this point he started curling up into sort of a ball in a corner. It almost seems he purposely distanced himself from the heat lamp area and into the colder corner of the setup. Up to this point he was a tad sluggish and not super quick. Even when he ate he didn't seem to have a lot of momentum.

One thing that concerned me is that he had a mark on his abdomen, almost like a missing piece or a healed wound, or a huge patch of hair missing on him. The guy i got him from mentioned "Oh we've had this one forever, no one wants him." i assumed perhaps that he was a tarantula, and no one wants a tarantula over a scorpion or a lizard, etc... perhaps he insinuated then that there was a larger issue he was hiding.

I am confused, and feel bad. I try to the best of my abilities to take care of my pets. So when dies, I feel like there is something I missed or something along those lines. I want to give it another shot though.

Is it possible he may not be dead and could be molting? I know the balled up thing is not good and an indicator it may be dead. Ideas? Thoughts?

If they referred to as a he, maybe it is a mature male, that could be at the end of his lifespan.
Refer to the sticky, on the main screen and read about how to properly care for a G. rosea. I would say the heat lamp is a no go, not needed.

Here's the link..

http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/showthread.php?t=5292

 

[Ms.X]

You can start to get a better understanding by reading this:
http://people.ucalgary.ca/~schultz/roses.html

First, please remove the heatlamp, it is not necessary and is very likely providing a severe annoyance to your tarantula. After you have read the above, you should feel much more comfortable about caring for your G. rosea. If you have further questions, there are plenty of people here willing to offer advice. Welcome to ab, and best of luck.

 

[Xian]

There you go, the two best links for new Rose owners!

 

[CorsePerVita]

Thank you guys. The heat lamp is one of the red lamps that is supposedly there to simulate night. However, i will remove it from what you said, thank you. I feel like a tard for not reading the sticky, i normally do, sorry, long day.

Thank you kindly.

 

[Xian]

It's all good, glad we could help.

Oh yea, if things look really bad for your T, see the following link.

http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/showthread.php?t=171487

 

[CorsePerVita]

Thanks. Just hoping it's not dead. If it is, I may look into another breeder around here that carries tarantulas as I really do kind of wonder if this one was already far off in his life. It wouldn't be the first time I got something from them that was "already far along" without knowing it.

 

[CorsePerVita]

It's all good, glad we could help.

Oh yea, if things look really bad for your T, see the following link.

http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/showthread.php?t=171487

THAT is a good link. I'm trying that soon as i'm home!

 

[CorsePerVita]

I tried it and unfortunately there is still no movement as of today. He looks quite dead. Doesn't smell. Will give it a few more days in hopes he is doing something like molting.

 

[xhexdx]

Have you been able to determine if it's a mature male or not?

 

[CorsePerVita]

haven't had a chance to look.

 

[Motorkar]

If you must use heater, use 25W heating cable outside on one side of the enclosure. Becouse that way spider can move away from the heat if it wants. I use this method becouse my room temperature drops to 15°C or even lower, so heat body is really importaint.

 

[Stan Schultz]

haven't had a chance to look.

I have read all the posts in this thread thus far, and am at a loss to describe what's happening or how to fix it. We need more info.

Can you supply a photo of the tarantula's cage with the tarantula in it?

Also, several photos of the tarantula from different angles.

Can you flip it over and supply a photo of its belly?

How about a photo of it in the ICU?

Photos with your cell phone are probably barely acceptable, it would be a lot better if you could supply photos taken with a higher resolution camera. If you don't have access to one, can you borrow a friend's camera or have a friend take a few photos? If a cell phone is all you've got, give us your best. Take LOTS of photos with different settings and perspectives, and pick out the best ones.

If you cannot supply photos, you need to supply a detailed description of caging, substrate, decorations, lighting, temperatures, humidity levels, whether or not you mist it, is the substrate damp, amount it's eaten since you got it, how long you've had it, have you ever seen it drink, a description of its water dish and drinking, and anything else that you think might be interesting.

BTW, the bare spot that you're concerned about is okay if it's more or less symmetrically placed on the top-rear of the tarantula's abdomen. Those bristles (urticating bristles) are very loosely attached, made to be brushed off at will, cause a rash or itching when they contact your skin, and could cause you a lot of grief if you get them into your eye. BEWARE!

Lastly, read http://www.ucalgary.ca/~schultz/stansrant.html.

 

[gumby]

just a heads up I would touch and or handel as little as possible in case it is getting ready to molt. so an ICU may not be the best step to start with.

On a seperate note you may want to start with a tarantula that isnt a rose hair if you worked with scorps in the past. Reason I say this is rose hairs are kinda like pet rocks IMO I got board watching mine do nothing all the time. felt like I was watering a plant when it started its 6 month fast.

 

[CorsePerVita]

If you cannot supply photos, you need to supply a detailed description of caging, substrate, decorations, lighting, temperatures, humidity levels, whether or not you mist it, is the substrate damp, amount it's eaten since you got it, how long you've had it, have you ever seen it drink, a description of its water dish and drinking, and anything else that you think might be interesting.

Caging - 10 gal standard glass terrarium, top is wire mesh.
Substrate - standard soil, baked it at 350 for 10 minutes to kill any contaminants. Texture could be described as potting soil type texture, with a slight mixture of fine sand for some of it. 2 hides, 1 a small hollowed rock, and another which is a small dome shaped fake rock with substrate around it.
Lighting - 60 watt heatlamp (red to simulate night) distanced from terrarium to light one corner
Substrate damp - no
Eaten - about 3 crickets
Had it about a month roughly?
Haven't seen it drink....
Don't mist it.

Is the rosehair specific to needing lots of water? I was told that they don't need much water and are more desert and happy in conditions with less water and very little moisture.. I am hoping this is not the mistake I made. If not I guess I need to learn from it.

Although after reading your link it sounds like i made that mistake...

DON'T BELIEVE ANYTHING THE PET SHOP TOLD YOU!

BTW, the bare spot that you're concerned about is okay if it's more or less symmetrically placed on the top-rear of the tarantula's abdomen. Those bristles (urticating bristles) are very loosely attached, made to be brushed off at will, cause a rash or itching when they contact your skin, and could cause you a lot of grief if you get them into your eye. BEWARE!

Read about this, haven't specifically handled it. I don't even handle my scorpions anymore mostly due to stressing them.

Lastly, read http://www.ucalgary.ca/~schultz/stansrant.html.

Great info, thank you

 

[CorsePerVita]

just a heads up I would touch and or handel as little as possible in case it is getting ready to molt. so an ICU may not be the best step to start with.

On a seperate note you may want to start with a tarantula that isnt a rose hair if you worked with scorps in the past. Reason I say this is rose hairs are kinda like pet rocks IMO I got board watching mine do nothing all the time. felt like I was watering a plant when it started its 6 month fast.

Lol yeah... they aren't super exciting but I'm fine with that. I have a few terrariums to fill and wanted to get involved with tarantulas and find one that wouldn't be terribly difficult to take care of. In this case the more I read the more I think I made some mistakes on my setup so indeed my ignorance to the care of the rosehair may have been it's demise which I feel bad about.

I had the same luck with my first scorpion, but once I figured out what the correct setup was, and with the help of many people here it did not take horribly long at all to figure out what the best course of action was. The people here are always most helpful and quite knowledgeable, and for that, I am appreciative and thankful

 

[Xian]

I can pretty much say with alot of confidence, about the only thing you could do to a Chilean rose to kill it in a month would be to keep it at 100+ temperatures, and that might not even kill it. I don't think it was your fault.

I bought a red color form rose a couple of months ago from a local pet store here in the Northwest. It never was active/moving right, it would sit with it's legs pulled in all the time. It would move very little when I moved the container or touched it. It only got worse after that. I believe that it had some kind of internal parasite(s). Eventully it would just flinch a tiny bit if I touched it. Finally, slowly it's legs began to curl under. I placed it in an ICU, and hand fed it water. It would recover slightly from the water/hydration, but never really recovered after a week of ICU and hydration.
Just a story to help inform you a little bit.

 

[CorsePerVita]

I can pretty much say with alot of confidence, about the only thing you could do to a Chilean rose to kill it in a month would be to keep it at 100+ temperatures, and that might not even kill it. I don't think it was your fault.

I bought a red color form rose a couple of months ago from a local pet store here in the Northwest. It never was active/moving right, it would sit with it's legs pulled in all the time. It would move very little when I moved the container or touched it. It only got worse after that. I believe that it had some kind of internal parasite(s). Eventully it would just flinch a tiny bit if I touched it. Finally, slowly it's legs began to curl under. I placed it in an ICU, and hand fed it water. It would recover slightly from the water/hydration, but never really recovered after a week of ICU and hydration.
Just a story to help inform you a little bit.

This sounds almost exactly how mine died! It just sort of got weak and not active... it used to walk around all the time, looked good, then slowly just sort of got slow and started curling up. At first he would react, then after a while he wouldn't do much, which turned into nothing.

 

[CorsePerVita]

Ok guys I Have NO Idea what to make of this. This morning he was curled up in a ball like he was lifeless and dead. Today, I came home figuring he was dead as a doornail in his ICU and when I opened it he was flipped over on his back. I flipped him back over to see if he responded, no response but he looks anything but lifeless, he just won't move.

Is he molting? He had some water on his mouth area. I wasn't sure if it was normal so I flipped him back over in case he is molting... I don't REMEMBER having him on his back like that, I'm pretty sure I had him on his belly when I left him in his ICU.

Normal?

 

[Julia]

If you had it on its belly, and you came home to find it on its back....probably a molt.

Some of them do get quite lifeless before a molt. For future reference, never flip over a tarantula. Just in case.