Worried for my A Avicularia

[viper69]

I thought SADS implies that the tarantula has been over misted and choked to death in water vapor.

No, it’s a myth.

 

[boina]

Those worms appear to be mealworms,

I'd bet my left foot those are mealworms.

Careful there, you might just lose it

Gotta be mealworms, can’t think of anything else else.

No, those are most likely not mealworms - how would they get in there?

These are most likely Alphitobius diaperinus - related to mealworms but smaller and more agile. A lot of cricket breeders have those in their breeding boxes - they clean up dead crickets and other decaying matter and help keeping the breeding boxes clean. I have them in my roaches, introduced by chance, and I can't seem to get rid of them, but them I'm not trying very hard at this point.

Thing is, eggs and small larvae may cling to old and sick crickets and get introduced into your tarantula enclosure that way. If the cricket then dies because the tarantula hasn't eaten it the larvae will have a very good meal and grow... and the problem is they have the same voracious appetites and strong mandibles as mealworm, but in contrast to mealworms they are more attracted to dead meat than grain. And they are much harder to get rid off... They need to come out of that enclosure because they will kill a molting tarantula the same way a mealworm will.

 

[Arachnophoric]

Careful there, you might just lose it



No, those are most likely not mealworms - how would they get in there?

These are most likely Alphitobius diaperinus - related to mealworms but smaller and more agile. A lot of cricket breeders have those in their breeding boxes - they clean up dead crickets and other decaying matter and help keeping the breeding boxes clean. I have them in my roaches, introduced by chance, and I can't seem to get rid of them, but them I'm not trying very hard at this point.

Thing is, eggs and small larvae may cling to old and sick crickets and get introduced into your tarantula enclosure that way. If the cricket then dies because the tarantula hasn't eaten it the larvae will have a very good meal and grow... and the problem is they have the same voratious appetites and strong mandibles as mealworm, but in contrast to mealworms they are more attracted to dead meat than grain. And they are much harder to get rid off... They need to come out of that enclosure because they will kill a molting tarantula the same way a mealworm will.

Well darn, guess it's time to Jigsaw it up in here and perform an amputation....

Wasn't aware that mealworms had such a similar looking relative. Guess that just goes to show you shouldn't make assumptions, very interesting (and useful) info to know.

 

[Ultum4Spiderz]

Careful there, you might just lose it



No, those are most likely not mealworms - how would they get in there?

These are most likely Alphitobius diaperinus - related to mealworms but smaller and more agile. A lot of cricket breeders have those in their breeding boxes - they clean up dead crickets and other decaying matter and help keeping the breeding boxes clean. I have them in my roaches, introduced by chance, and I can't seem to get rid of them, but them I'm not trying very hard at this point.

Thing is, eggs and small larvae may cling to old and sick crickets and get introduced into your tarantula enclosure that way. If the cricket then dies because the tarantula hasn't eaten it the larvae will have a very good meal and grow... and the problem is they have the same voracious appetites and strong mandibles as mealworm, but in contrast to mealworms they are more attracted to dead meat than grain. And they are much harder to get rid off... They need to come out of that enclosure because they will kill a molting tarantula the same way a mealworm will.

Wow so it’s a subspecies?? Interesting. There deadly like crickets during a T molt? Maybe stronger mandibles?
Looks like T owner should go into cage clean mode.

 

[Arachnophoric]

Wow so it’s a subspecies?? Interesting. There deadly like crickets during a T molt? Maybe stronger mandibles?
Looks like T owner should go into cage clean mode.

Even regular mealworms pose a threat to a molting T. Thus my insistence that OP clean the enclosure sooner rather than later.

 

[dangerforceidle]

Wow so it’s a subspecies?? Interesting. There deadly like crickets during a T molt? Maybe stronger mandibles?
Looks like T owner should go into cage clean mode.

Not a sub-species, no. They are in the same family, Tenebrionidae (darkling beetles), but a different genus, Alphitobius vs Tenebrio. Super worms are another genus again, Zophobas.

 

[Mini8leggedfreak]

Just looking at your setup I’d say maybe add more leaves and stuff near the top for the T to feel covered and maybe a little more safe

 

[Nightstalker47]

@boina Those look like small fresh hatched mealworms to me. Im familiar with both...the lesser mealworm, or ''buffalo worms" have a much more stout build.

 

[Ultum4Spiderz]

Must be rough for a T in the wild gotta worry about super worms , mealworms, and giant centipedes. And of course yetis and cryptozoology creatures stepping on you. And polar bears when the ice caps melt.

 

[warhorse333]

I replaced the substrate, added sphagnum peat moss to the substrate mixture cause no one is gonna be refilling my T's water dish while I'm gone so I'll leave it on the moister side in the hopes that the new mixture maintains some of the humidity (don't worry there's plenty of cross ventilation, there might even be, dare I say, too much ventilation), and slightly repositioned the existing fake foiliage. The enclosure is otherwise the same. I tried to get a pic of it's pedipalps while I took it out to change the substrate and only snagged one picture.

After I put it back it immediately went in cork bark and soon after in this slightly worrying position again.

If you can't tell it's basically knelling on it's front legs on the substrate. I refilled the water dish and sprayed the wall a bit by the cross ventilation holes and a tiny bit in the cork bark to get a reaction out of the tarantula. It started sucking up some of the water droplets. After I finished typing this most of the water has evaporated.

 

[Greasylake]

Looking at the picture I can tell you it is not a mature male. MM Avics lose those pink toes on their pedipalps when they get their emboli, so a MM's pedipalps will be black. If it's sucking up the water from the glass it's very possible your spider is just thirsty. Not all Avics will drink from water dishes on the ground, so some people like to elevate their dishes by gluing it to the side of the enclosure. You could also try giving it another light spritz on the side of the enclosure, if the spider is still thirsty it should suck up the water again.

 

[warhorse333]

Looking at the picture I can tell you it is not a mature male. MM Avics lose those pink toes on their pedipalps when they get their emboli, so a MM's pedipalps will be black. If it's sucking up the water from the glass it's very possible your spider is just thirsty. Not all Avics will drink from water dishes on the ground, so some people like to elevate their dishes by gluing it to the side of the enclosure. You could also try giving it another light spritz on the side of the enclosure, if the spider is still thirsty it should suck up the water again.

It's a little late to give it more water, I'm already on a plane and won't be back in ten days. Thank you for confirming that's it's not an MM though, I'm really relieved. Can you also confirm whether or not it's a male? Judging with my limited T knowledge, by my T's build, and what everyone else saying, I'd say it's a male.

 

[Greasylake]

Can you also confirm whether or not it's a male?

Judging by how leggy it is, I would tentatively say it's male, but take that with a grain of salt. The most accurate way for you to sex it would be with a molt or if it matured and you could see the emboli.

 

[Ungoliant]

Can you also confirm whether or not it's a male? Judging with my limited T knowledge, by my T's build, and what everyone else saying, I'd say it's a male.

Not from these images. (The build is not going to be noticeably different unless it's a mature male, which it's not.)

The best way to determine the sex of a female or juvenile is by examining the molt. If you don't have a molt, you can try focusing on the area between the first pair of book lungs (the tan squares on the underside of the abdomen).

Where to post sexing requests:

• Spermathecae sexing: for photos of exuviae (the shed exoskeleton or molt)
• Epiandrous fusillae sexing: for ventral photos of a live tarantula

Example of usable ventral image: