Sick G. rosea seeking humidity.

[Anonymity82]

I've always kept my G. rosea bone dry with a water dish. She hasn't eaten in many, many months which is normal for these guys but she's been pretty sick. She originally was just becoming more skittish which started many months ago. But this past couple of months she has begun to start twitching quite often and really flip out in a twitching panic where she runs around her enclosure twitching like crazy when disturbed significantly, as in a feeder tossed in front of her.

Last night she was on her back after losing her balance (not molting) curled up. I dumped some water on one side of her enclosure and let her be hoping maybe the added humidity might bring her out. Well, this am she was bunched up right on top of the damp substrate on the one end. I've always read that these guys like it dry and all they need is a water dish, something I've always supplied but now I'm wondering if they would prefer a damper side, at least once in awhile? Has anyone experienced anything similar?

She has a white spot on one of her book lungs as well. I assumed she was just getting old and this was her wasting away at the end of her life. I bought her 1.5 + years ago so who knows how old she actually is.

I have to run some errands but I may ICU her when I get home.

 

[Londoner]

A classic sign that a T needs more humidity is if it spends most of the time hanging out on or very near it's water dish. Have you noticed her doing this? I've had a fair few roseas but I've never seen them displaying the behavior you describe (then again, the climate over here is anything but dry). Lack of humidity or dehydration typically causes a T to become more sluggish, not freak out like you're describing. You may well be right about her being an ancient old girl but it still won't hurt to try an ICU.

Good luck.

 

[Anonymity82]

A classic sign that a T needs more humidity is if it spends most of the time hanging out on or very near it's water dish. Have you noticed her doing this? I've had a fair few roseas but I've never seen them displaying the behavior you describe (then again, the climate over here is anything but dry). Lack of humidity or dehydration typically causes a T to become more sluggish, not freak out like you're describing. You may well be right about her being an ancient old girl but it still won't hurt to try an ICU.

Good luck.

Thanks. She's actually unresponsive to light thumping (normally this would elicit some twitchy behavior) and no longer near the damp area. I'm sure she's an adult but who knows. I may try to put her in an icu but I'm afraid to touch her because she panics so easily and I don't want her to hurt herself. Thanks again. Poor girl. My first T. These roses are supposed to last forever.

 

[Londoner]

You could always try putting another large water dish in with her and blocking off the ventilation for a couple of days.

 

[Anonymity82]

Thanks. Her abdomen is severely deflated. I tried dripping some water on her mouth but she did not drink it. I'm going to leave her be and wait until it's obvious that she's dead. Thanks for the help.

I just wish I knew what it was. Since it was a slow decline I'm thinking either age or poor adjustment to living in the northern hemisphere. Most do well but who knows. With the exception of an avic who molted, ate (waited a week to feed) and died within 24 hours after eating (most other arachnids ate from same batch, every one okay) she's the only one sick and dying. Could be anything really I guess. Thanks again.

 

[spudzilla]

I had an old MM G. rosea do the same thing recently. He did just what you described. He would go nuts and be twitchy anytime he was disturbed. He had just eaten before his symptoms began, too. At first I thought he was poisoned by some ant killer my brother put in and around the house, but none of my other tarantulas were sick. It started off with him being overly reactive and going crazy running all over his cage, legs going everywhere. After about 5 days, he started getting weaker and wouldn't eat, I assume because he couldn't coordinate himself. He acted dehydrated too and in the last few days started curling up and would fall over, although when he did react he still went crazy. I put him in an ICU and even put his face in a water bowl. In the end he died anyway. You can read that thread here:

http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/showthread.php?250365-Should-I-freeze-him-DKS&highlight=spudzilla

 

[Anonymity82]

I had an old MM G. rosea do the same thing recently. He did just what you described. He would go nuts and be twitchy anytime he was disturbed. He had just eaten before his symptoms began, too. At first I thought he was poisoned by some ant killer my brother put in and around the house, but none of my other tarantulas were sick. It started off with him being overly reactive and going crazy running all over his cage, legs going everywhere. After about 5 days, he started getting weaker and wouldn't eat, I assume because he couldn't coordinate himself. He acted dehydrated too and in the last few days started curling up and would fall over, although when he did react he still went crazy. I put him in an ICU and even put his face in a water bowl. In the end he died anyway. You can read that thread here:

http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/showthread.php?250365-Should-I-freeze-him-DKS&highlight=spudzilla

Wow, very similar. Thanks for sharing. Yours sounded like it happened at a faster pace but with a MM it makes sense. She definitely declined faster once the temperature warmed up too. Looking back the original symptoms that I shrugged off did start last fall but this past couple of months increased significantly.

It sucks that she's dead but at least it sounds similar to old age symptoms. Sorry about your MM too...

 

[charm271]

I had a female G. rosea ( 10 years +) acts as your G. rosea and stop eating. I kept a water dish but did not wet the substrate. I came home she was in a curl. I put her in a smaller ICU with damp paper towels and water dish. She came around after 2 days and started to eat again. I use peat moss for substrate now to keep more humidity and keep the water dish area wet.

 

[Anonymity82]

She's dead now :/. Maybe I'll try that if that happens again. I might look into using peat. Eco earth dries really fast and I'm a bit worried it that there may be a collapse in my B. vagan juvie's kk, although the deli cup dried out he was in and there wasn't a collapse, nonetheless it may be a good idea to look into.

Happy you were able to save your girl .

She very well may have been dehydrated. I was poor on my housekeeping and got mites so I decided to just keep her bone dry with a dish after eradicating the mites as I've read this is acceptable with arid specie tarantulas but yeah, looking back I definitely should have put her in an icu and increased humidity the second I noticed her acting funny. But on the other hand they're known for this type of behavior. Well, I feel bad about it but no point in beating myself up about it anymore. If I notice this behavior again I will have to make sure to increase humidity and icu (depending how serious, it took her many months of slowly becoming thinner and not eating, although she did kill on occasion, to start to curl and when she was dead she was just limp. I tried to put some droplets on her mouth when she was still able to move her legs a little bit but she didn't drink them) as a first step precaution. Not sure why I didn't just icu her the second she become less responsive.

I have an obt who's completely dry because I'm not cleaning out the crap in there anymore than I have to and if I keep it dry there aren't any mites IME, but has done very well. She was a sling when I got her over a year ago and now she's around 3" +. Fat, eats very, very well.

Thanks for your reply!