Some good news that is more predicated on the bad news.

[Nolan B]

Recently I decided to acquire both a Ornithoctonus aureotibialis and Psalmopoeus cambridgei (BOTH females). They arrived about 4 1/2 hours ago as of typing this. Both were entirely death curled on arrival. I did not see very much hope. The Aureotibalis starting twitching after 15-20 minutes of heat, she is still moving slightly and is on her water bowl currently. P. Cambridgei is confirmed dead. Really is a shame, she was breathtakingly beautiful. I'll attach images below, and will keep this thread updated if she pulls though.

 

[Liquifin]

Did you contact the seller? How was the packaging?

 

[Nolan B]

@Liquifin I contacted the seller within 3 minutes of the post arriving. I have not heard back yet but they are reputable and I expect a refund. No worries there. I will say the packaging was subpar. Normally my animals come in polar box solid square insulated containers with heat packs. These came in Styrofoam that had been cut to fit the box, and only had one heat pack that was separated from the tarantulas by Styrofoam, no idea why.

 

[Liquifin]

@Liquifin I contacted the seller within 3 minutes of the post arriving. I have not heard back yet but they are reputable and I expect a refund. No worries there. I will say the packaging was subpar. Normally my animals come in polar box solid square insulated containers with heat packs. These came in Styrofoam that had been cut to fit the box, and only had one heat pack that was separated from the tarantulas by Styrofoam, no idea why.

I would wait for the seller to respond to situation. Keep us updated on the O. aureotibalis and see if it makes it out alive. Feel sorry for the loss.

 

[Nolan B]

@Liquifin Thank you. This isn't my fault but I still feel bad. Being able to vent here helps. I hope she pulls through.

 

[dangerforceidle]

I also had a P. cambridgei succumb to the rigors of travel this week. Mine was a tiny 2i sling, but I was excited for it nonetheless. The others of my order arrived in good health though. I didn't receive the package from the delivery service (group shipment), so I'm not sure how they were packed within the larger container.

You girls are beautiful. Sorry for the loss, and hopefully the O. aureotibialis makes it ok.

 

[Nolan B]

Drinking heavily and spreading more, all of the limbs are moving, I'm feeling better about her.

I've also done some additional investigation into the Cambridgei. I believe she has molted very recently. Abdomen is small and joints appear to still be slightly transparent. Additionally, the base of her fangs are still red.

I don't think she was given enough time to put size back on after the molt and that's why she didn't make it. Could've just waited 1-2 weeks to sell...

 

[Teal]

I'm so sorry for the loss ): The P cam looks perfectly healthy... she isn't too skinny. Her fangs are red, or is it her mouth (which is always red)?

These came in Styrofoam that had been cut to fit the box, and only had one heat pack that was separated from the tarantulas by Styrofoam, no idea why

Every shipment of Ts I have ever received has been packed like that, and it is how I pack Ts that I ship out. I wouldn't call it subpar...

 

[Nolan B]

@Teal She is very thin, her abdomen was very tiny compared to the carapace. The fangs are still red, not the mouthparts

@Teal I also live in one of the coldest parts of my state... and informed the seller there was a cold front coming and not to ship. It snowed the first day of shipment. The tarantulas have to come up California through the passes in the Rockies to reach Oregon. Those passes were entirely snowed in for multiple days, I'm actually very surprised the animals even got here on the promised day. I understand if shipping like this works for warm weather but I have not once received something that was packaged like this, and this is the only order I've ever had a DOA on.

Is there anything more I can do to improve the O. aureotibialis condition besides application of heat through a space heater and occasionally moving her to the water bowl? I was thinking of making mealworm mash and dripping it on her mouthparts, but I don't know how helpful that would be. She still seems to be incapable of moving on her own. This is now 18 1/2 hours after delivery.

 

[Ian Brush]

My advice would be to leave her alone. I have had more T's than I can count in this state and most pull through if you just leave her alone, dim the lights, and keep it warm. Patience my friend, hope she pulls through because I have been in that same situation more times than I can count and it really sucks. No matter what happens, you are still a keeper and can learn from it.

 

[smoothie4l]

Is there anything more I can do to improve the O. aureotibialis condition besides application of heat through a space heater and occasionally moving her to the water bowl? I was thinking of making mealworm mash and dripping it on her mouthparts, but I don't know how helpful that would be. She still seems to be incapable of moving on her own. This is now 18 1/2 hours after delivery.

Firstly, I am very sorry for your loss. I have never been in a situation like this before so I do not have any experience to back up my advice but I really think you should keep it hands off for a little while. She has been strong to make it this far and now just needs to keep her energy up so she can heal, a little bit of extra heat and darkness will go a long way.

 

[Nolan B]

I'll do that guys. Thank you.

 

[Greasylake]

Who did you get them from, if you don't mind sharing?

 

[Arachnophoric]

@Teal I also live in one of the coldest parts of my state... and informed the seller there was a cold front coming and not to ship. It snowed the first day of shipment. The tarantulas have to come up California through the passes in the Rockies to reach Oregon. Those passes were entirely snowed in for multiple days, I'm actually very surprised the animals even got here on the promised day. I understand if shipping like this works for warm weather but I have not once received something that was packaged like this, and this is the only order I've ever had a DOA on.

Proper packing makes all the difference - not sure what your temps were, but I had a shipment of very small slings come a couple days ago where it was only 23 degrees outside. All 10 made it without issue. They were packed similarly with styrofoam panels and all - only difference was that the heat pack was on their side of the styrofoam, just kept off the shipping vials by a cushion of shredded paper. I wonder if that made the difference.

Really sucks that this happened. I hope the O. aureotibialis makes a complete recovery, it sounds like you're doing everything you can. Just keep her in a dark, warm, quiet location and make sure she can get some water. Fingers crossed for you.

 

[Teal]

@Teal She is very thin, her abdomen was very tiny compared to the carapace. The fangs are still red, not the mouthparts

That's her in the photo, yeah? She looks fine. Arboreals tend to have tiny abdomens after a molt, more so than terrestrials.

@Teal I also live in one of the coldest parts of my state... and informed the seller there was a cold front coming and not to ship. It snowed the first day of shipment. The tarantulas have to come up California through the passes in the Rockies to reach Oregon. Those passes were entirely snowed in for multiple days, I'm actually very surprised the animals even got here on the promised day. I understand if shipping like this works for warm weather but I have not once received something that was packaged like this, and this is the only order I've ever had a DOA on.

I just had Ts shipped in packed exactly like that, and I am in California where we have had snow and below freezing temps. I did ask the shipper to wait until the temps were at least 40°F. In freezing temps, however you pack, you are risking animals' lives. I hope the seller makes good on this for you.

 

[Theneil]

i am by no means a shipping expert, but the box design sounds basically the same as mine. Heat pack in one side of the divider spiders on the other to prevent accidentally cooking anybody in transit...

 

[Nolan B]

@Theneil That looks very good. The box is smaller so the heat pack has much less space to warm up. The box I received these in was flatter and longer than that one.

The seller has contacted me - They will be shipping 2 E. rufescens slings, when it warms up, to split the difference.

 

[Vanessa]

What a heart breaking situation. Two lovely females dead. Regardless of what the seller does to rectify the situation, there are still two dead tarantulas that, I'm sure, could have been avoided.

 

[Theneil]

@Theneil That looks very good. The box is smaller so the heat pack has much less space to warm up. The box I received these in was flatter and longer than that one.

Really? one of my boxes was an 11" cube and the other 8". People tell me i go overkill.

 

[Arachnophoric]

What a heart breaking situation. Two lovely females dead. Regardless of what the seller does to rectify the situation, there are still two dead tarantulas that, I'm sure, could have been avoided.

O. aureotibialis is still alive, just not in great condition - not a total loss yet!