# Tarantula Dead or Molting?



## TheChunkster (Jun 8, 2011)

I came back from a party and found my Chilean Rose Hair upside down in its water dish like this. Its book lungs are not submerged. Is it molting? Should I take it out? Is it dead? Here are some pics. I need to know if I should move her quick!


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## OphidianDelight (Jun 8, 2011)

That is probably the oddest place I've seen a T choose to molt.  Just don't mess with it.  If it is molting you'll sign its death warrant by moving it.  You'll observe it pumping its way out of the exuvium if all is well.  Those are some crazy pics.


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## TheChunkster (Jun 8, 2011)

OphidianDelight said:


> That is probably the oddest place I've seen a T choose to molt.  Just don't mess with it.  If it is molting you'll sign its death warrant by moving it.  You'll observe it pumping its way out of the exuvium if all is well.  Those are some crazy pics.


How long do you think I should wait to see to judge if its dead or molting? Will it be able to molt with all the water around it. I don't think its dead, it shows no sign of a "death curl" yet no signs of breathing, but it did not show any signs of life at all last time it molted.


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## Goomba (Jun 8, 2011)

Once it starts to stink then you can worry. Just keep an eye on her. Maybe take a straw and gently suck some of the water out if you're worried


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## TheChunkster (Jun 8, 2011)

Just found this similar case.


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## TheChunkster (Jun 8, 2011)

Goomba said:


> Once it starts to stink then you can worry. Just keep an eye on her. Maybe take a straw and gently suck some of the water out if you're worried


Sucked about 12ml of it out with a syringe, she moved a little when I did that, still alive i guess! :worship:


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## xhexdx (Jun 8, 2011)

I'd get as much water out of there as you can.


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## OphidianDelight (Jun 8, 2011)

TheChunkster said:


> I don't think its dead, it shows no sign of a "death curl" yet no signs of breathing, but it did not show any signs of life at all last time it molted.


I don't think that you'll ever see a tarantula breath--book lungs absorb air passively.  The opisthosoma doesn't contract as there isn't a diaphragm contracting the lungs for operation.  Tarantulas are so wonderfully different and alien from us in function.


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## TheChunkster (Jun 8, 2011)

xhexdx said:


> I'd get as much water out of there as you can.


How much water do you think? 12 more ml?


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## KoriTamashii (Jun 8, 2011)

TheChunkster said:


> How much water do you think? 12 more ml?


If you can empty completely it a little at a time with the syringe, I'd say go for it.


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## Alexandra V (Jun 8, 2011)

TheChunkster said:


> How much water do you think? 12 more ml?


Like as much water as you can. Just keep sucking it out with the syringe so long as it doesn't appear to bother her too much.


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## FrostyCakee (Jun 8, 2011)

that has got to be the weirdest thing ive ever seen XD
silly T. That right there is a special tarantula you got 
keep us posted as to the status of the silly guy.


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## xhexdx (Jun 8, 2011)

KoriTamashii said:


> If you can empty completely it a little at a time with the syringe, I'd say go for it.


I agree.

You could also probably soak up a paper towel or tissue with the last bit of water, although I don't know that it would be necessary.


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## Formerphobe (Jun 8, 2011)

Leave it to a _G. rosea_...  Any update?


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## KoriTamashii (Jun 8, 2011)

xhexdx said:


> I agree.
> 
> You could also probably soak up a paper towel or tissue with the last bit of water, although I don't know that it would be necessary.


Ooh, that's a good way, too. Didn't think of that.

Syringe + paper towels seems to be the best way, if you can manage without disturbing the little guy.


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## TheChunkster (Jun 8, 2011)

Little girl actually everyone! She seems fine, I didn't see her flip, so I hope she didn't just fall, she twitters slightly when I suck water out. Other than the teeny tiny twitters, she doesn't seem to be moving much. Not sure how stationary tarantulas usually remain when molting.


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## FrostyCakee (Jun 8, 2011)

Well its good to see there is still some activity.
best of luck to her.


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## TheChunkster (Jun 9, 2011)

Update: Over the course of about an hour, she unflipped herself and crawled into the corner where she is now upright with her legs tilted upon the corner glass. She seems...healthy? Is this normal for a tarantula to do? Did something go wrong with her molting. I realize rosies tend to be...unpredictable. Is there anything I can do for her and should I be worried about her molting at this point?


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## KoriTamashii (Jun 9, 2011)

TheChunkster said:


> Update: Over the course of about an hour, she unflipped herself and crawled into the corner where she is now upright with her legs tilted upon the corner glass. She seems...healthy? Is this normal for a tarantula to do? Did something go wrong with her molting. I realize rosies tend to be...unpredictable. Is there anything I can do for her and should I be worried about her molting at this point?


Huh. Does it appear that she began to molt and aborted?

:? That is rather odd.


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## FrostyCakee (Jun 9, 2011)

wait wait so she just decided, "eh not a good time" 
Maybe she wasnt even going to molt maybe just taking a bath XD


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## vickywild (Jun 9, 2011)

Thats fascinating! I wonder what she was doing.


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## tarantulagirl10 (Jun 9, 2011)

Very strange indeed. Please keep us updated on her.


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## TheChunkster (Jun 9, 2011)

Okay, so I'm not sure what an "aborted" molt looks like. She looks about the same. While she was in the water, her body seemed to "swell up" but now her abdomen is decently big and she has just been in the same corner, maneuvering around all day. She seems like she has good motor control, tiptoey, but shes always been that way. Also, her hair seem, whats the best word for it...more protruding? Messier? Fuzzier? Those are the best ways I can describe it. Might be because of the water exposure. Let me know what you all think. Here are some pics of her now.


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## TheChunkster (Jun 9, 2011)

Also behavior-wise, I have noticed her she seems to lift her legs inward toward  the top of her body (like the opposite of a death curl) and she is resting on the ground by only her sternum and abdomen. Strange....


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## bobusboy (Jun 9, 2011)

OphidianDelight said:


> Just don't mess with it.  If it is molting you'll sign its death warrant by moving it.


Its not good for the T to be moved while moulting; but its a far cry from a death warrant. I'm not saying to go a head and move your T when its moulting but there are plenty of cases where the T was moved and it moulted just fine. And a few cases where I've had to go in and retrieve live food from underneath my Tarantula to stop it from hurting the T during its moult.





OphidianDelight said:


> I don't think that you'll ever see a tarantula breath--book lungs absorb air passively.  The opisthosoma doesn't contract as there isn't a diaphragm contracting the lungs for operation.  Tarantulas are so wonderfully different and alien from us in function.



I think I recall hearing some one talking about a pulsing in the abdomen and some one saying that it was the tarantulas heart; the tarantula was dehydrated and bleeding out or something IIRC.


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## TheChunkster (Jun 9, 2011)

Shes just sitting pretty still, in the same corner. I think she drank some water. Is there anything I should do for her?


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## Musicwolf (Jun 9, 2011)

TheChunkster said:


> Shes just sitting pretty still, in the same corner. I think she drank some water. Is there anything I should do for her?


I would just let her be. If she was attempting to molt - good chance she'll start again. If she was just being a weird Rosy, then she's still fine . Refill her water bowl and just watch the weird Rosea show!


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## Embers To Ashes (Jun 9, 2011)

I know rosies like it bone dry... but maybe she was in her water bowel because she was too dry? I dont even know if thats possible, but everybody can agree that rosies are weird. What if she "knew" that if she soaked in the water right side up (wich would make her lungs be in the water) she would die and decided upside down was better?

Just a thought. I would mist the wall  of her tank.


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## vickywild (Jun 9, 2011)

Maybe she heard the new Tomb Raider game won't have any swimming levels and is doing some protesting.


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## TheChunkster (Jun 9, 2011)

vickywild said:


> Maybe she heard the new Tomb Raider game won't have any swimming levels and is doing some protesting.


Haha...what? Haven't exposed her to too many video games! I don't know about misting her tank, I was instructed that she really wouldn't like that. Its just weird she was in the water upside down. She seems fine, still just in that corner pretty still with her legs crunched upward and her sternum/abdomen resting.  One other think I noticed, she has these...how to I put it, white rings under each of her legs in the joint areas, I think these are just muscles, they just seem more...prominent now? Also I think she is 12-14 years old. She hasn't molted in over a year, but I've heard that's normal for tarantulas her age.


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## Alexandra V (Jun 9, 2011)

TheChunkster said:


> Haha...what? Haven't exposed her to too many video games! I don't know about misting her tank, I was instructed that she really wouldn't like that. Its just weird she was in the water upside down. She seems fine, still just in that corner pretty still with her legs crunched upward and her sternum/abdomen resting.  One other think I noticed, she has these...how to I put it, white rings under each of her legs in the joint areas, I think these are just muscles, they just seem more...prominent now? Also I think she is 12-14 years old. She hasn't molted in over a year, but I've heard that's normal for tarantulas her age.


Haha. Well, maybe she was just dehydrated and that's why she soaked, and as was already said, she knew she would drown so she decided to stay alive and soak upside down. It would make sense that after a soak, the softer parts of her would swell a little because of the added moisture...  I really don't know.


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## TheChunkster (Jun 9, 2011)

Alexandra V said:


> Haha. Well, maybe she was just dehydrated and that's why she soaked, and as was already said, she knew she would drown so she decided to stay alive and soak upside down. It would make sense that after a soak, the softer parts of her would swell a little because of the added moisture...  I really don't know.


Could she really be that smart to understand how her lungs work and be able to work out a safe measurement of the water level? Do tarantulas normally take little baths? Also, what would it look like if shes dead, she is alive, but here are some images of her state now.


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## lunashimmer (Jun 9, 2011)

To me, it looks like she wasn't trying to molt at all--check out the bald spot--no darkness like if she began a molt and then stopped, or even if she was getting ready to molt.  But I am not an expert, I've only had Ts for a little over a year.

If a T is in a death curl, it's usually on its belly with its legs curled tightly around the body and then under. From pics I've seen, it looks like a ball o'spider. Your rosie is definitely not in a death curl. It sounds like she's being just a normal weird T.

Keep us updated!!!


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## DannyH (Jun 9, 2011)

At the pet store my dad works at, there is a rosie that frequently likes to stand in her water for a period of time. Shes all healthy otherwise, but she has never gone into a molting position before. I think she may have just been having a drink, and decided it was time for a molt, realised she was in water, and got out.


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## captmarga (Jun 9, 2011)

You went to a party, she decided to use the pool while you were gone and got BUST-ED.  I *so* want to photoshop in the pool floatie and a mai-tai beside her. 

She looks a little stressed (legs scrunched over eyes) but not abnormally so.  I have several Ts that sit like this for days. 

Marga


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## 0siris (Jun 10, 2011)

Hahaha, she was just chilling in the water dish man, give her a break...that's perfectly normal for roseas :wall:

You should caption that screenshot...T: Daaamn its hot!

Imo this should be stickied and referenced any time someone asks about strange G.rosea behavior...


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## TheChunkster (Jun 11, 2011)

Thanks for everyones input! She seems okay now. She is out of the corner and moving slowly around like her natural weird self!


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## Formerphobe (Jun 12, 2011)

> I came back from a party and found my Chilean Rose Hair upside down in its water dish


Very strange, but then, she is a rosea... 
Maybe she was at a party, too?  
Perhaps she fell in inadvertently and couldn't get out before you caught her, so she figured she's make you think she did it on purpose?  (The typical, _"OMG, did anyone see me do that?  Oh, yeah, I planned that..."_)

I'd be tempted to set up a nanny cam on this one, just to see what other shenanigans she is up to when no one is watching.

Glad she seems to be okay.


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## TheChunkster (Jun 25, 2011)

*She's At It Again*

Here she goes again...:clap:


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## Goomba (Jun 25, 2011)

This is just so damn bizarre. I don't know what to think.


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## TrentinG (Jun 25, 2011)

hmmm.... one of the reasons i downt own a rosea ;P haha jk. but they are very odd....


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## tarantulagirl10 (Jun 25, 2011)

really really weird


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## Toogledoo (Jun 25, 2011)

Lol that's hilarious.


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## GriffinSmith (Jun 25, 2011)

I had an E. murinus do the exactsame thing in its water dish. I moved it and it was fine, I think it was just swimming.


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## zonbonzovi (Jun 25, 2011)

At first I thought that she had crawled to the top of the tank and fell(upside down & stunned), but to do it again?

Had a large Haplo try to molt in a water dish, but it didn't end well.  She made it out to about 1/2 way up the femurs then...stopped.  She is a 'freezer pet' now...scares the hell out of guests looking for ice cubes:evil:


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## Embers To Ashes (Jun 25, 2011)

you have no idea how funny I find this. I would just suck up the water like you did before and tell her to stop throwing wild partys with the house spiders while your not home.

and is it just me or do her palps look balled up in the most recent pic... are you sure she is a female and is 12-14 like you said?


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## Formerphobe (Jun 25, 2011)

> She is a 'freezer pet' now...scares the hell out of guests looking for ice cubes


  S'alright, my keyboard needed cleaning anyway...

Definitely a clean spider you have there.  Could she have some sort of external parasite that she is trying to rid herself of?


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## vickywild (Jun 26, 2011)

Thats..so weird!


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## TheChunkster (Jun 30, 2011)

Not going to attach a picture on this one. I moved her like a week ago. She was fine but kept pressing herself up against the glass and was struggling for balance at first, but has since been okay. Today, I found her in her EMPTY water dish, upside down. Her legs have curled into a death curl for sure and hemolymph has been coming from her mouth. She does have a bald spot on her abdomen. She is very stationary now in that position and will not move much. Is she molting, or dying? Do they normally molt in the upside down "death curl" position. If a photo is needed I can supply one, but the details pretty much describe it fittingly. What should I do for her?


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## Hobo (Jun 30, 2011)

I would think a pic would be better than a description.


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## TheChunkster (Jun 30, 2011)

Two more notes. Her abdomen is swelled and I just noticed more hemolymph coming from in-between her spinnerets.


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## Embers To Ashes (Jun 30, 2011)

Is it  possible she has fallen?


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## TheChunkster (Jun 30, 2011)

Embers To Ashes said:


> Is it  possible she has fallen?


Don't see how it is possible. She has nothing to fall off of. Unless flipping herself of her back counts?


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## Meecht (Jul 1, 2011)

She could have been climbing the side of the tank.  The fall may not have hurt her before because the water may have cushioned the fall, but also stunned her on impact.  Without the water being in the dish this time, she would fall straight on the plastic which would provide no cushioning on impact.

This is just a theory, though.


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## lunashimmer (Jul 1, 2011)

Meecht, I think you hit the nail on the head. I bet she was climbing the glass, fell, and landed in the water dish each time.

Chunkster--any update?


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## MissChelly (Jul 6, 2011)

Any updates on this?


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## SGT TWillis (Jul 22, 2011)

*Updates*

Just wondering if there have been any updates on this...


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## ruca49 (Jul 22, 2011)

This is simply amazing.  There has to be a reason.  I can't see her falling in the same place twice....


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## Robin Da Hood (Jul 22, 2011)

You really think she needs that much water to drink?  That is not a water dish for drinking...it's a swimming pool.  Reduce the size of your "drinking dish" and see what she does.


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## Collin Clary (Jul 22, 2011)

I think it was climbing the glass and it fell. My MM B. vagans fell into his waterdish a few times [on the last time he fell in he bent hid back leg to the side, so now his back leg looks like the letter L.(I actually thought he was dead as his legs were starting to curl in. Then when I touched him he attacked the tongs) If it survives, move the water dish to the center of the tank and away from the glass.


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## Nanchantress (Jul 26, 2011)

What's happening with her now, Chunkster?


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## Austin (Jul 27, 2011)

holy crap, I wonder if my H.mac molted in its water dish!!. I found his/hers molt in it and didnt think anything of it. Thought she might have tossed it in there or something. But who knows.... dang wish i saw


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## Alexandra V (Jul 27, 2011)

I'm dying for an update, but I'm going to echo what Meecht said, it sounds like a fall to me.


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## TheChunkster (Aug 7, 2011)

Reply to all. Update. About 2 weeks ago, Harriet died. I buried her in a metal tin box. And that was that.


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## catfishrod69 (Aug 7, 2011)

sorry to hear...wasnt really expecting that..




TheChunkster said:


> Reply to all. Update. About 2 weeks ago, Harriet died. I buried her in a metal tin box. And that was that.


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## Formerphobe (Aug 7, 2011)

So sorry to hear of her demise.  I had been wondering about her, too.  :-(


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## Embers To Ashes (Aug 7, 2011)

Did you find her dead in the waterbowel? or was the cause of death unrelated?


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## DreadLobster (Aug 8, 2011)

Brings new meaning to the term "wet molt" 

But on a more serious note... sorry for your loss. That's an odd situation... I wonder what was going on.


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