Why Did It Stop Eating, Swell Up And Die????
- Thread starter WelshTan
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mite i add wen i first had the sling it was taking micro crix, but wasnt overfed.. . then it just stopped eating n abdo was "normal" size. . .then the swelling happened n it was still happening. . .aws defo alive yesterday morn n as i said it didnt even death curl prior to death. . .was in a normal "stance"
thanks neophyte, sorry if i sounded tetchy. . that wasnt my intention. . .i wud really like to figure it out too so it doesnt happen in the future. . .its really baffled me n i'm bit upset bout it cos i feel like im a bad T owner now 
. .. poor lil mite died n i dont know why. . all conditions were optimum. . .crix from respectable source. . . am so baffled if i scratch my head anymore i will end up bald n thats not a fetching look on a woman lol
. .. poor lil mite died n i dont know why. . all conditions were optimum. . .crix from respectable source. . . am so baffled if i scratch my head anymore i will end up bald n thats not a fetching look on a woman lol
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I tried to find someone who would do a necropsy but was unsuccessful.
Sadly not the sort of thing I could have done myself. Besides the whole "my pet" thing a) I wouldn't know what I was looking at inside a healthy tarantula and b) I don't think I could have cut into that abdomen without hurling between how long I waited to be sure she was really dead (as you can see from my pic she never went into a real death curl) and how freakishly bloated she was.
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Did you notice any poop in the vial? You said it was eating so it makes me wonder if there was a blockage and that caused the T's death. Food goes in but no poop comes out = blockage. This is common in alot of God's creatures, maybe T's too.
Jim
Jim
I guess maybe autopsy wasn't the best word. I was really just thinking if you made a small incision/hole in the abdomen and abnormal liquid(yellow?) starts gushing you would take a sample of it and look at it under a microscope or sumthin. I wasn't really suggesting anything elaborate, just looking for obvious things and perhaps sum small samplings.
My avic sling died randomly a while ago, i suspect it was sum sorta bacterial or fungal infection, i think i'm gonna try to take a small sample around it's fangs to the school to check for anything obvious. Then again I don't know what kind of stuff lives on a healthy T's fang I won't be too sure. If I c something that resembles nematode though it'll be obvious what happened.
Oh if you were to do anything like that, it's probably a good idea to do it as far away from your other Ts as possible.
to be honest the sling was so tiny that it was quite hard to see if there was any poop in the vial cos its poop wud have been minute too. . my larger T's dont really have much poop in their tanks tbh. . .so i dont really know if it was pooping or not.. .. it still seems to be a mystery tho even after today i phoned a few so called expert stockists in fairly local locations including the store that sold me the sling and the store that sold me my other T's. . .they claim to be experts but cud not explain what had happened to my sling. . the bloke who sold me the sling has offered to replace it tho. . .he's gonna post it which im a bit concerned bout as the replacement will b as small as the one i lost n i'm worried its gonna get damaged or die in the post. . but all the stores i spoke to today were as baffled as me bout the abnormal bloating of abdomen n unexplained death without death curl. . .. :wall: .
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That presumes both microscope access and even the remotest knowledge of what to look for under a microscope. At the time of her death I was about 11 years past the last time I had looked through a microscope at anything.
In the absence of an obvious parasite whipping around in the slide the furthest I was going to get was "Well, it's definitely goo... with stuff in it... yup".
And really, the idea of popping one of my dead pets like an overripe grape tomato... not too high on my priorities.
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Sorry to hear about your loss. The best way to get over it is to go out and buy another tarantula. Trust Uncle Stan!
As the infection progressed it caused the tarantula to bloat and when things reached a critical stage its heart stopped and it died. It didn't go into a death curl because the gas from the infection maintained its internal pressure even though it might have been too weak to do so itself.
Anyway, that's my story and I'm stickin' to it!
May I suggest getting a baby Mexican redleg (Brachypelma emilia) next time? If it's a female it's almost guaranteed to outlive you!
I think you may have answered your own question here. A good guess would be that the injury turned septic and the little guy/gal developed a whopping case of gangrene or the spider's equivalent.
As the infection progressed it caused the tarantula to bloat and when things reached a critical stage its heart stopped and it died. It didn't go into a death curl because the gas from the infection maintained its internal pressure even though it might have been too weak to do so itself.
Anyway, that's my story and I'm stickin' to it!
May I suggest getting a baby Mexican redleg (Brachypelma emilia) next time? If it's a female it's almost guaranteed to outlive you!
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Microscopes are extremely accessible, but almost no one ever takes full advantage of that. Every high school, junior college, and university biology lab worth its salt has them. All you need do is go in and sweet talk the lab tech or instructor a little.
These people are often so impressed with ANYONE who has any interest in biology that they become real pests, taking up all your time asking questions about your tarantulas instead of showing you how to use the 'scope and letting you actually use the 'scope and ask questions of them! You've been warned!
Fortunately there is a way. There are a bunch of spider books available in many libraries that have drawings of what organs you'll find, where they're to be found, and vaguely what they look like. Take photocopies or even photograph them with your digital camera for reference when you get home.
Then, perform an autopsy on every tarantula that ever dies for you. Then pickle the remains in 70% to 95% rubbing alcohol or ethyl alcohol. Be sure to label the jars properly for what they contain and why you should be interested. That way you can always go back and re-examine your former attempts at autopsy to compare and contrast.
It won't take too many deaths before you'll have a pretty good idea of what you're looking for and what you're looking at, what's normal and what's obviously messed up.
Take lots of photographs. Publish them here with a brief explanation of each. We need all the help we can get.
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I was reading about tarantula biology last night, and this thread reminded me of a parasite I read about, some type of 'spider fly' or something. The larvae enter through the book lungs, where they live until they have grown large enough to start eating the spider from the inside out. However, I dont think it would happen as fast as the reports here indicate, and you can also see them exit the deceased spider.
thanks. . .it does sound like a valid explanation but i guess i will never truly know. . .i think im not gonna get slings again even tho the seller has offered to replace the sling with another of equal size, thankyou for your comment
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^^^That sounds so fascinating! Maybe because I've just been reading the wonderful anatomy sections in Chapter 2 of the brand new TKG!!
Would so love to see those organs for myself. Maybe I should contact pet stores and ask if they'll save me any T's that die....Aw, gee, I wouldn't give up on slings. I've never had one die (knock on wood) and I got my first knowing absolutely nothing about them. She's now 7 years old.
Really, IMO, nothing compares to growing a T from a tiny baby--such a privilege to observe!
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Here's another vote for not giving up on slings.Aw, gee, I wouldn't give up on slings. I've never had one die (knock on wood) and I got my first knowing absolutely nothing about them. She's now 7 years old.
They're really quite hardy for the most part and there's nothing like watching something go from a teensy spiderling to a giant majestic adult. What happened to our Ts is really pretty rare for a T at any age, and I for one am so glad I didn't let it stop me from collecting more.
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You know what, I felt the same way when I experienced a Versi death. It was my first sling and it put a dead stop to my collection for about a year.Thanks. .. i was really quite upset, dont think i will be getting tiny slings again. . will make sure i get T's that r bigger next time
Keep things like this in mind however..
Did you know Babe Ruth has almost the most amount of strike outs in the history of baseball?
It goes along with "winners don't quit when they loose" type mentality.
It's hard not to feel as though this death was your fault, but if the conditions were good then I don't think you should beat yourself up too much over it. Tarantulas over produce as a survival mechanism. Not all of the babies are meant to survive. Keeping them in captivity surely raises the number of hatchlings that do survive, but keep in mind that this is not how nature intended, and even at the best of times nature may interfere. Perhaps get multiple slings next time so that even if something happens to one you still have the others to grow up.
thanks guys, well today i got a 5" A.Geniculata and am expecting my replacement red knee sling ( free replacement, size of lil fingernail) in the post tomorrow. . . .fingers, legs an dam it even my eyes are crossed for the lil one lol
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Congrats on both, and you'll do fine!
right now i am REALLY miffed. . .. i had my replacement red knee it arrived this morning but was already dead in the little vial even tho it was packaged fairly well but WASNT packed with a heat pack!!!! the lil bugger was already in death curl n quite stone dead.. .. from now on i will make sure any slings are at least 2" in legspan. . .the new dead one was a bit smaller than the last one. . .am not happy n feel quite depressed now