# What are the signs of dehydration



## mozkaynak (Sep 23, 2009)

Hello,
I am still relatively new to the hobby. I have been reading much and one dominant view is that dehydration is an important enemy of the Ts.
Just wondering what are the signs of the dehydration that can be observed at Ts? 
How do we know my T are having such problem. Having a full or semifull water dish enough or I need to check whether some dehydration signs present?

Thanks in advance for your responses...


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## satanslilhelper (Sep 23, 2009)

1) a shriveled abdomen 
 2) signs of a death curl ( legs beginning to curl underneath the T's body)

 A full water dish is important b/c when the T does need to drink it REALLY needs to drink. Try to keep their dishes full as best you can. As long as the T is feeding regularly you shouldn't have to worry about this.


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## _bob_ (Sep 23, 2009)

The spider acts very sluggish a lot of the time


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## satanslilhelper (Sep 23, 2009)

_bob_ said:


> The spider acts very sluggish a lot of the time


If you know for sure your T's not in pre-molt then this is another good sign.


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## Moltar (Sep 23, 2009)

A fairly dehydrated spider may not eat as well. They need a certain amount of water present to digest their food.


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## Sathane (Sep 23, 2009)

If you put a water dish in front of it and it buries it's fangs in it - that's a good sign that it needed a drink.

If it's so far gone that it is pretty much in a death curl.  Dip it's fangs in the water dish for it and it may recover.  I've done this with an _Avicularia versicolor_ sling and it's alive to this day.

Sluggishness and shriveled abdomen are other good indicators.


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## Stan Schultz (Sep 24, 2009)

mozkaynak said:


> ... I am still relatively new to the hobby. ...


Read http://www.ucalgary.ca/~schultz/stansrant.html



mozkaynak said:


> ... I have been reading much and one dominant view is that dehydration is an important enemy of the Ts. ...


It's a red herring largely pushed on the unsuspecting novice by others who either don't know what they're talking about, or who stand to make a lot of money by selling you a lot of stuff you don't need.

Just make sure that your tarantula has a water dish and that the open part of the cage is mostly covered by plastic food wrap to almost eliminate any ventilation. Problem solved.



mozkaynak said:


> ... Just wondering what are the signs of the dehydration that can be observed at Ts? ...


Covered by someone else's post.



mozkaynak said:


> ... How do we know my T are having such problem. Having a full or semifull water dish enough or I need to check whether some dehydration signs present? ...


If your tarantula begins to spend an inordinate amount of time near, on top of, or in the water dish it's probably experiencing some stress from a low humidity. This is most likely in winter when our home heating systems further dry out the already dry winter air. (Unless you live in the Florida Everglades.)

Just fill the water dish and apply the plastic food wrap. Problem solved.

Two additional issues:

Tarantulas have such low metabolic rates and low oxygen demands that it's almost impossible for them to suffocate. Don't worry about shutting out all the air.

There are a few species of tarantulas that almost absolutely require a very humid atmosphere. The two that come to mind immediately are wild caught _Theraphosa blondi_ and the various _Hysterocrates_ species. However, one would presume that if you had one of these you'd already know about humidity and wouldn't have to ask this question.


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## Sathane (Sep 24, 2009)

Great information here.  Just one thing I'd like to add.  Some T's require good airflow so cutting ventilation to nil can cause problems.  _Avicularia versicolor_ comes to mind.  Just be sure that the water bowl is always filled with clean water and occasionally mist or squirt some water into the substrate to bump humidity.



Pikaia said:


> Read http://www.ucalgary.ca/~schultz/stansrant.html
> 
> 
> 
> ...


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