Sling Twitching Followed by Death

Ashlynn Rose

Arachnosquire
Joined
Apr 25, 2018
Messages
101
Obviously, this is too late to fix the problem, but I wanted to report this.

I've had this GBB sling since last October, and s/he always ate well and was great. It molted a few weeks ago. After that, it would not eat. It twitched like crazy and could not move around very well. I thought it was just being skittish. I made sure it had water and let it be. Yesterday it died. :(

I am at a loss for what could have happened to him/her! He was in a ventilated plastic container and then a kritter keeper. He always had a water dish. I fed him roaches I bred or mealworms from the pet store. Nothing was different for him than for any of my other slings.

Could it be pesticides drifting through the open window? I have dogs with flea and tick medicine, but they never come into my room. Does anyone have any ideas? I don't want what happened to him to happen to any of my other slings.
 

FrDoc

Gen. 1:24-25
Arachnosupporter +
Joined
Jul 18, 2017
Messages
832
The symptoms you described are classic of chemical exposure. Both the scenarios you presented, the dogs and the pesticides (the flea prevention also being a pesticide), could both be the source. However, I would lean more toward pesticides drifting through your open window. I use an oral flea prevention for my dogs, this alleviates the worry of airborne contamination.

Sorry for your loss.
 

Andrea82

Arachnoemperor
Joined
Jan 12, 2016
Messages
3,686
Even if the dogs do not enter the room, if you've petted them and then went in and do maintenance on your spiders, there's a chance you had it on your hands.
Bigger chance that it was the fumes drifting in, but definitely chemical poisoning.
 

Ashlynn Rose

Arachnosquire
Joined
Apr 25, 2018
Messages
101
Thanks for the responses. I always wash my hands after petting my dogs, but I guess that's a possibility. What can I do to stop this from happening again? Should I not open the windows in the summer? And if it was from outside, why aren't the others sick?
 

Mirandarachnid

Arachnobaron
Joined
Nov 11, 2017
Messages
532
Was it the smallest T in your collection? If so, that may be why it affected it more quickly and severely than the others if it was from something blowing in. Where was it in relation to the other T's and the window?

EDIT: Yes, I would avoid opening your windows in the room your T's are kept, I heard many stories about people loosing T's because their neighbors sprayed their lawn when the window was open.
 

The Grym Reaper

Arachnoreaper
Joined
Jul 19, 2016
Messages
4,835
Poisoning is one of the causes of dyskinesia (the twitchy movements you observed prior to its death).

Was the flea/tick treatment you used a topical/spot treatment jobby? If so then you could've accidentally poisoned the tarantula if you didn't wash your hands between interacting with the dogs and the tarantula.
 

Ashlynn Rose

Arachnosquire
Joined
Apr 25, 2018
Messages
101
It wasn't even close to the smallest tarantula I have. It's about 2-2 1/2 inches long. The others, even the 1/2 inch fella, are still doing great.

My dogs have frontline on, and I never directly touch my tarantulas, even if I did forget to wash my hands. I always use long tongs.

My GBB was across the room from the open window. There are other critters (millipedes, isopods, other tarantulas) closer to the window than my slings.

Could this be caused by a problem with his recent molt?
 
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