my first death... could dry air have contributed?

[KristinaMG]

I had my first death this morning. My juvenile A. aurantiaca molted a few days ago. Initially she seemed fine. She did stretches and lots of curled-up-resting-post-molt (not death curl, the resting, legs in position). This morning I saw she was in death curl. I took her out to examine her and she was dead.

She always has a full water dish in her enclosure. It is near the top, but she molted near the ground in her webbing. I did not observe her travel to her water dish after molting (though I obviously only see her a few minutes per day). We live on the east coast and the heat has been on a lot. I myself am struggling with the dry skin and eyes as a result. I'm concerned that perhaps it was too dry for her given her vulnerable state after molting? Now I'm a little worried about my other Ts as several are premolt right now.

 

[jiacovazzi]

Cross ventilation is important with avics. What was the enclosure like?

 

[KristinaMG]

Several rows of cross ventilation. I have 5 avics, have been keeping avics for about a year (except this one, which I had since September). They have always thrived. This particular one was recently re-housed. Everything was in perfect condition.

 

[Chris LXXIX]

I do know that "Avics" needs dry substrate but IMO prior and after a molt is always better to raise humidity, even a bit. I just raised humidity to my GBB for that matter, and she appreciated, otherwise is always bone dry & water dish.

However, with that said, sometimes there things that are beyond our knowledge & good care. I'm sorry.

 

[Andrea82]

I am sorry for your loss
Maybe raise the humidity a little for
the others that are pre-molt? Are those Avicularia sp as well?

 

[Bugmom]

I just had an Avic sling molt while on calcium carbonate sand (battling mites on him) which is very drying. He pulled through just fine. I did spray a small area immediately after the molt though, and he had a water dish.

My point is that when tarantulas die, we often have no idea why. They can look fine, but internally something could be wrong. It probably wasn't your husbandry.

 

[Poec54]

Molting is an extremely stressful ordeal for spiders. Even minor problems can be life-threatening. Things can go wrong internally at any point: before, during, and after. I've had a few fat healthy premolt tarantulas suddenly die, probably from an internal rupture related to the new exoskeleton forming.

 

[KristinaMG]

I am sorry for your loss
Maybe raise the humidity a little for
the others that are pre-molt? Are those Avicularia sp as well?

Only one. Also have a premolt B. smith, A genic, OBT, and P. irminia. I had thought that the enclosures provide enough humidity even when the air outside the enclosures is fairly dry. I will probably add some damp sorghum moss to a few enclosures just for peace of mind.

 

[KristinaMG]

Thank you all. This was a particularly disappointing loss since I felt I got lucky finding this species at an expo and she was very beautiful.

 

[lalberts9310]

You mean sphagnum moss Sorry for your loss, I doubt it was your husbandry, sometimes these things happen and are completely out of our control. all you can do now is get 3 or more slings to replace the one you lost.

 

[KristinaMG]

You mean sphagnum moss Sorry for your loss, I doubt it was your husbandry, sometimes these things happen and are completely out of our control. all you can do now is get 3 or more slings to replace the one you lost.

LOL yeah I did! What an awesome word switch. I wonder what sorghum would do in a terrarium lol. I cant even blame autocorrect. Can you tell I have 3 kids and never sleep?

 

[viper69]

This morning I saw she was in death curl.

That always means it died of dehydration. There are specific physiological and anatomical reasons for the infamous death curl. Now, how AND why this occurred is unknown, but it was definitely due to dehydration.

That's a shame as that species is not that frequently seen compared to other Avics.

I've raised a lot of Avics and honestly after they molt, there is no guarantee they are going to drink from a water bowl even though they are thirsty. I've seen this with my own Avics, and I know they know where the bowl is as they have drank from the same bowl previously.

When they molt, I always use a blunt syringe and add water in drop-wise wherever they are located and on their web, esp if I can get the water to pool up in the web a bit. They all immediately drink, despite having a full bowl of water. I speculate they are just too physically drained from the molting process to make it to the water. I also think, and I have no data for this, arboreals, at least Avics, are less prone to take to water bowls than terrestrials. I have pics of my Avics drinking from bowls, don't get me wrong. But my terrestrials take to bowls way more consistently/reliably than my Avics do.

Honestly, I'd be extremely curious to see how Avics do it in the wild, ie obtain water after a molt.

 

[cold blood]

This is why I always try to encourage water dishes to be on the ground, or at least a second one down there. Because the water dish is a critical part of maintaining humidity, it should be on the bottom to ensure its effects are seen throughout the enclosure, and not just in the top half.

Like viper, I too use a syringe to dribble water on the webbing after a molt with any of my avics.

That said, there is no guarantee that there was anything you did or didn't do that was the cause, like poec mentioned, molting is stressful, and although it generally comes off without a hitch, occasionally (rarely) there are complications. It could have had an internal issue with the mouthparts, causing it to not be able to properly ingest water, it also could have just not been able to make it up to the water dish in time, there's no way to tell....although I agree with viper that a curled death almost always involves dehydration. Pesticides also cause this, but generally they kill because they cause dehydration. I am not saying pesticides were an issue, in fact they almost certainly played no role, I just mentioned it because someone was bound to bring it up as another reason for a death curl.

Sorry for your loss, its a great species that I wish were more common.

 

[Chris LXXIX]

LOL yeah I did! What an awesome word switch. I wonder what sorghum would do in a terrarium lol. I cant even blame autocorrect. Can you tell I have 3 kids and never sleep?

Sorghum sounds cool, could be a good name for some T's, or for a French Bulldog.

 

[KristinaMG]

This is why I always try to encourage water dishes to be on the ground, or at least a second one down there. Because the water dish is a critical part of maintaining humidity, it should be on the bottom to ensure its effects are seen throughout the enclosure, and not just in the top half.

Like viper, I too use a syringe to dribble water on the webbing after a molt with any of my avics.

That said, there is no guarantee that there was anything you did or didn't do that was the cause, like poec mentioned, molting is stressful, and although it generally comes off without a hitch, occasionally (rarely) there are complications. It could have had an internal issue with the mouthparts, causing it to not be able to properly ingest water, it also could have just not been able to make it up to the water dish in time, there's no way to tell....although I agree with viper that a curled death almost always involves dehydration. Pesticides also cause this, but generally they kill because they cause dehydration. I am not saying pesticides were an issue, in fact they almost certainly played no role, I just mentioned it because someone was bound to bring it up as another reason for a death curl.

Sorry for your loss, its a great species that I wish were more common.

So my adult/permanent avic enclosures have a large/deep water dish on the bottom for humidity and a small one on the top near their webbing for drinking. This particular enclosure was smaller (she was a 2 or 2.5 in juvie) and I only had the water dish near the top. However, I DID drip water on her webbing after she molted. So I don't know. Maybe she was dehydrated, maybe it was too dry in there. If it was my fault that sucks. I'll be more anal about having water at the bottom even in my smaller juvenile enclosures in the future.

 

[cold blood]

@KristinaMG , whatever the reason was, don't beat yourself up over it.