My O. schioedtei has... disappeared?!?

[Theneil]

Does anybody else have unsupervised access that may have opened the enclosure?

 

[boina]

Does anybody else have unsupervised access that may have opened the enclosure?

No, I live alone. Anyone that stops by tends to stay away from the enclosures...

 

[Chris LXXIX]

Edit: Please, people don't tell me I've a subadult O. schioedtei living free in my house among my cats... That's seriously scary.

If this can bring a bit of comfort to you, I've lived for months with a S.subspinipes (!!!) on the loose, near me, my bed, everywhere, and my cats that are free to go where they want, day and night

The funny details:

A) That lovely unsexed brat was a little (yet bitey) pedeling like his brothers and sisters, just that somehow was smart than me (I've captured and later shipped the others) and he/she survived pretty well, for that last time we (one of my cats was present) spotted the bugger, was already a quite long 'pede crawling out of the main door with a true saucy attitude. Had almost tears from the laughs, I will never forgot that night

B) No one was bitten, simply because he/she acted as a pure Solid Snake/Ninja on many legs all the time... I think that the bugger was surprised as well to spot us, that day.

C) Best of luck, always

 

[Ultum4Spiderz]

Honestly, she's just, well... gone. The enclosure is empty - and closed! I certainly have made mistakes in not closing an enclosure properly a few times over the years and had a few escapes that way, but in each and every case I found the enclosure open and I knew the spider had gotten out and how it had gotten out.

In this case I have a fully and safely closed enclosure - and no spider. The enclosure was never left open, I'm absolutely sure of that. If I had found it even a little bit open I would have gone looking for the spider, making sure it was still there, but there never was a breach in security. I took the cage apart yesterday because nothing in there had changed for months - no new web, no excavation, and I wanted to make sure... well, I made sure the spider was gone. The enclosure was absolutely secure - it was actually the first European glass enclosure I ever set up for an Asian arboreal and I was a bit paranoid and not even a sling could have gotten out of that, let alone a subadult O. schioetei.

Now, my O. schioedtei was very, very reclusive, maybe the most reclusive of all. The last time I've seen her was several months ago. I remember her abdomen looked weird - asymmetrical, and I remember I wasn't sure about her health. She also was in premolt, moving very slow for that species. I found a very old molt in there, broken and in pieces, so she must have molted at some point. I also found a live Dubia in there... and the last time I've fed her is quite a while back (months ago). Can that Dubia have eaten the spider, like completely and without a trace??? Maybe with some help from the usual cleaner crew? Usually I don't worry about live prey with arboreals because they make thick cocoons to molt in that no Dubia can get in - or, more often, they just kill the prey they don't want and dump it in the water dish. Maybe in this case the O. schioedtei was sick and didn't kill the Dubia or make a perfect cocoon and got killed and completely consumed by the Dubia? Do you think that's possible?

Does anyone have any better ideas what happened to my spider? I'm sure she has been missing or dead for weeks or even months already and I just never noticed.

Full grown ? Could it squeeze out the lid or teleport during maintenance?
It would take 10-20 dubia to eat a dead T and would be have to starving. Unless you use orange head roaches it’s very unlikely.
Ts are escaping artists sorry for you loss hope she’s still Slovenia how long has she’s been gone?
Escaped

 

[The Grym Reaper]

It would take 10-20 dubia to eat a dead T and would be have to starving. Unless you use orange head roaches it’s very unlikely.

We're potentially talking several months, 1 dubia plus the clean up crew chipping in and it's not that unlikely in the slightest, dubia eat their nymphs/injured/dead and males are known to take chunks out of each other, I've said this repeatedly and everyone goes on like I'm mental for saying it, why the hell does everyone seem to think they're completely harmless?

 

[Ultum4Spiderz]

We're potentially talking several months, 1 dubia plus the clean up crew chipping in and it's not that unlikely in the slightest, dubia eat their nymphs/injured/dead and males are known to take chunks out of each other, I've said this repeatedly and everyone goes on like I'm mental for saying it, why the hell does everyone seem to think they're completely harmless?

What a type of clean up crew I still don’t have any but a few springtails wich keep going in my lp water dish.
I’ve witnessed dubia eating each other so yeah possible in a month .

 

[The Grym Reaper]

What a type of clean up crew I still don’t have any but a few springtails wich keep going in my lp water dish.
I’ve witnessed dubia eating each other so yeah possible in a month .

I'm assuming springtails but possibly isopods as well. In any case, between springtails and one roach I'd reckon they do a T in fairly short time as springtail numbers would boom until the food source runs out before dwindling again, I'm honestly just hoping it's done a Hiro somewhere but roaches (even dubia) will eat pretty much anything given the chance.

 

[boina]

What a type of clean up crew

I'm assuming springtails but possibly isopods as well

Springtails and the small tropical isopods as well. And there were plenty when I took the enclosure apart....

If this can bring a bit of comfort to you, I've lived for months with a S.subspinipes (!!!) on the loose, near me, my bed, everywhere, and my cats that are free to go where they want, day and night

Thank you for that reassurance! I've read that story before but you are right, it does apply...

 

[Patherophis]

small tropical isopods as well. And there were plenty

I think that case is solved
When one of my Archispirostreptus gigas died, these isopods hollowed it almost completely in quite short time, so they would have no problem to turn even grown spider into few pieces of empty exosceleton, especially given the time they had for it.

 

[Ultum4Spiderz]

Springtails and the small tropical isopods as well. And there were plenty when I took the enclosure apart....

Isopods definitely can be carnivores, you seen how massive ocean ones are?
Tho they don’t prey on molting Ts right? Probably it or no One would use em, image a dead or dying T is fair game .

 

[draconisj4]

Springtails and the small tropical isopods as well. And there were plenty when I took the enclosure apart....

That explains it then, your T must have died and the cleanup crew ate it. I have a colony of dwarf white isopods I give my unwanted feeders to and it's almost frightening how fast they make them disappear, nothing left except a few bits of chitin. Scary little critters.

 

[Mirandarachnid]

Tho they don’t prey on molting Ts right? Probably it or no One would use em, image a dead or dying T is fair game .

Never trust an isopod

 

[Ultum4Spiderz]

Never trust an isopod

I watched discovery or nat geo once a small sharks was eaten by a underwater isopod . They were in some sorta cage thing , I’m sure you can easily google it.

 

[Crone Returns]

I still, for the life of me, can't figure out how the spider could have possibly gotten out. If I do maintenance I have my can of water and my catch cup with a roach in it right beside the enclosure. I open the enclosure, pour any remaining water from the water bowl into the substrate, wipe the bowl with a tissue, refill it, throw in the roach, and close the enclosure. All right in front of the enclosure. A sling might sneak by me, but a 5" O. schioedtei? How??

I've been working in a diagnostic lab for years. To reduce mistakes that could be fatal to someone you learn to train yourself to do things in a certain way in a certain order that never changes. It becomes second nature, ingrained in your subconscious. You do things that way even if you get destracted because that's how you always do them.

My last spider that escaped (a large, fully adult X. immanis) managed to break the lock on her enclosure and open it by herself - but the lock on this enclosure is intact and locks just fine. The other escapees were beginner mistakes years ago when I misjudged what a spider could open/get out of. I cannot see myself getting distracted and leaving the enclosure open and I cannot remember ever seeing it even a bit open.

Do you live with anybody who'd let/get the cage open?

Do you live with anybody who'd let/get the cage open?

Posted last. Agree that your T probably died and your isopods did the job .
Sorry that your T died, but at least you and your cats are safe.

 

[viper69]

Isn't this your 2nd escape in like a month?? :wideyed:

 

[boina]

Isn't this your 2nd escape in like a month?? :wideyed:

I don't think it actually escaped... I'm pretty sure it died.

 

[viper69]

I don't think it actually escaped... I'm pretty sure it died.

Ahh..sorry to read!

 

[cold blood]

The roach had been there for a month...what y'all think that roach was living on?


Spider buffet. It had a month to completely finish the job....a roach can consume anything organic.

 

[Dorifto]

If some organic waste is left in the enclosure, the springtails will take care of it.

My Geniculata left a partially digested roach on the enclosure. Next day were hundreds of spingtail feeding on the roach. I less than a week nothing was left.

 

[Venomgland]

I just found out last night that tarantulas can push those white tops off the 1 gallon walmart clear jugs. I was watching tv last night and my Chilobrachys dyscolus was running across my living room floor. To be fair I didn't know it had gotten that big! I never see it. Last I saw it. it was about 1.5 inches. Now its pushing 4.

I never screwed the lids on cause it disturbs the spiders taking them off when I go to feed them. Well now they are all screwed on about 1/2 way..