Thekla
Arachnoprince
- Joined
- Oct 13, 2017
- Messages
- 1,878
Hi,
for the first time since I started keeping Ts, I believe I have a serious problem on my hands.
My male A. merianae always was kind of a reclusive one, almost always hiding in his web castle, but since he went into premoult about 3 months ago I never saw him again outside of said web castle. I didn't worry too much, because, well, that's what he does. About 4 weeks ago I discovered that he moulted (I could see the moult through the webbing), so I let him be and waited for him to come out for food/water/whatever. So, I kept the water dish full and occasionally sprayed down the sides of the enclosure above his web for easy drinking opportunities. But I never saw him outside. No legs at the entrance, no movement inside, nothing. At some point I even started to suspect he had escaped somehow and had a careful peek inside the web... and at least saw a leg, so, I knew he was still in there.
Another couple of weeks went by and today I had enough, I needed some clarity. So, I carefully cut his web open at the lower entrance (or what once has been an entrance) right where the moult was and retrieved the moult which looked all right. Then I looked inside the web and saw a toe/leg. I tried to get some reaction by very slightly poking him with my brush. But there was almost no reaction, just some very slow movement. It seemed as if he tried to grab the brush with its toe, but it was very weak? Sluggish? I could see his tarsal claws moving, but that's about it. I can't see if he's curled up or anything, I only see one or maybe two legs.
I'm not sure what to do now. Should I try to get him out of his web? I would have to basically cut him out, but if he indeed never came out to drink after his moult he could be severely dehydrated. What would you do?
This is his enclosure, including his web castle he built at the lower side of it:
And this is the tunnel I cut open. Sorry, there's no chance to take a picture of him (not even his legs) from this angle. He sits somewhere behind the fake flower. And I can't see anything from the other side either, not even with my torch, the web is too thick.
for the first time since I started keeping Ts, I believe I have a serious problem on my hands.
My male A. merianae always was kind of a reclusive one, almost always hiding in his web castle, but since he went into premoult about 3 months ago I never saw him again outside of said web castle. I didn't worry too much, because, well, that's what he does. About 4 weeks ago I discovered that he moulted (I could see the moult through the webbing), so I let him be and waited for him to come out for food/water/whatever. So, I kept the water dish full and occasionally sprayed down the sides of the enclosure above his web for easy drinking opportunities. But I never saw him outside. No legs at the entrance, no movement inside, nothing. At some point I even started to suspect he had escaped somehow and had a careful peek inside the web... and at least saw a leg, so, I knew he was still in there.
Another couple of weeks went by and today I had enough, I needed some clarity. So, I carefully cut his web open at the lower entrance (or what once has been an entrance) right where the moult was and retrieved the moult which looked all right. Then I looked inside the web and saw a toe/leg. I tried to get some reaction by very slightly poking him with my brush. But there was almost no reaction, just some very slow movement. It seemed as if he tried to grab the brush with its toe, but it was very weak? Sluggish? I could see his tarsal claws moving, but that's about it. I can't see if he's curled up or anything, I only see one or maybe two legs.
I'm not sure what to do now. Should I try to get him out of his web? I would have to basically cut him out, but if he indeed never came out to drink after his moult he could be severely dehydrated. What would you do?
This is his enclosure, including his web castle he built at the lower side of it:
And this is the tunnel I cut open. Sorry, there's no chance to take a picture of him (not even his legs) from this angle. He sits somewhere behind the fake flower. And I can't see anything from the other side either, not even with my torch, the web is too thick.