A. Avic Starved to death

[maddanie19]

Hey guys. Hold on tight. This is a story. Sorry.

So I've debated putting this out there for a long time now. But I've finally decided that I would definitely like some closure on what happened to me last year.

In short, I had an A. avic, that was approximately 3-4inches pass away due to what I can only assume was starvation from an underlying issue. I'm not sure what the sex was, however, I was told by several people on here and other forums that it was female based on ventral sexing. In any case, it was definitely not a mature male, if it was actually male.

When I first received the T, it quickly molted within days, inside the container it came in. After a couple weeks I rehoused it into a vertically arranged KK, with moist substrate, a corkbark tube, foliage and a water bowl. I didn't keep the enclosure super moist or anything, but I did make sure it had access hydration, and I made sure to keep the substrate fairly moist. But there was definitely a lot of ventilation, could it possibly have been too much ventilation??? I was so anxious about keeping them too stuffy that maybe it was too much ventilation??? I dunno???

However, back to the main point..., it wouldn't take prey. I wasn't worried the first couple weeks since they were probably just still hardening up. But after a month, two months..it got worrisome.. And, I was told by people to just try different prey items, cause it could just be a picky avic. So, I did. Several kinds of roaches, crickets, worms, moths... Nothing.. it wouldn't eat... I tried tong feeding, I tried leaving prey in overnight.. yet I'd still find it there every morning. The most it would do is snatch the prey, kill it, and drop it.

Eventually I found a thread talking about how it could possibly have something to do with their stomach not working. However, I'm not sure if that's the case, since this spider would regularly drink off the walls when I would wet it down. And I found it several times face down in the water bowl.

I'm also convinced that this is most likely not an impaction type of issue, since the longer I had it, the thinner and thinner the abdomen became.
It eventually died after about 7months of refusing food, and it's abdomen was paper thin at that point..

So, does anyone have any input on what may have happened to my Avic that refused to eat, but kept drinking, after what appeared to be a good molt?


The pictures below are all from before it began to get thinner. Besides the one where they are curled up at the water dish, that was taken closer to their passing.

Also, please keep the comments friendly! I hate going on here to post questions because everyone always seems so negative. But I really appreciate the good advice I get from people, so I suffer through the countless sassy pants that live here....

 

[cold blood]

It could have indeed been an issue with not molting its sucking stomach...I know you said you saw it drinking a lot, but bear with me.

Firstly, its very common for ts molting in transit to have molt issues...in fact its uncommon for them to get off proper molts in such tight quarters, and with potentially being moved or even bounced around in transit.

The sucking stomach is rather long and thin and delicate, and such movement as is made during shipping, it could have easily been damaged and failed to molt, while still giving the external appearance of a good molt.

Now to the, "but it was always drinking comment id be making if i were in your position". When ts have this issue, they cannot eat or drink....as such, as they will slowly dehydrate, as they do, they will try to drink....very often....normally, ts drink so infrequently that we rarely catch them....a t going back over and over isnt a normal thing usually and can be an indicator of something.

This seems logical...but then, if you were actually able to see it drink droplets (it does take a bit), then disregard....but this, IMO, is what the signs point to.

 

[Royalty]

I am so sorry to hear about your T. Sometimes we can only feel helpless. To me it sounds like you did everything you could. Sometimes things beyond our control happen. It is big of you to go here and explain what happened and ask for advice. It shows that you really do care.

 

[maddanie19]

It could have indeed been an issue with not molting its sucking stomach...I know you said you saw it drinking a lot, but bear with me.

Firstly, its very common for ts molting in transit to have molt issues...in fact its uncommon for them to get off proper molts in such tight quarters, and with potentially being moved or even bounced around in transit.

The sucking stomach is rather long and thin and delicate, and such movement as is made during shipping, it could have easily been damaged and failed to molt, while still giving the external appearance of a good molt.

Now to the, "but it was always drinking comment id be making if i were in your position". When ts have this issue, they cannot eat or drink....as such, as they will slowly dehydrate, as they do, they will try to drink....very often....normally, ts drink so infrequently that we rarely catch them....a t going back over and over isnt a normal thing usually and can be an indicator of something.

This seems logical...but then, if you were actually able to see it drink droplets (it does take a bit), then disregard....but this, IMO, is what the signs point to.

Ah, sorry, I guess I worded that part kind of poorly. When I got the T it was in a smaller container, but it was by no means in a cramped space. It was just in a smaller KK. And a few days after I had brought it home it molted, before I had a chance to rehouse it. But it definitely didn't molt in transit.

I do think it could possibly be a stomach issue too, but I wasn't completely sure since it definitely looked like it was slowly absorbing water though it's mouth. But thats a hard judgement to make when you are just watching it rub its mouth on the side of the enclosure for a half hour.

However, yes, it definitely was drinking or at least attempting to drink a lot more than I have ever seen in my other Ts.

Thanks for the input

I am so sorry to hear about your T. Sometimes we can only feel helpless. To me it sounds like you did everything you could. Sometimes things beyond our control happen. It is big of you to go here and explain what happened and ask for advice. It shows that you really do care.

Thank you for the kind words! It was just hard to watch my one T doing so poorly when all of my other ones appeared to be doing so well. As a new keeper is was really discouraging to sit back and know that nothing I was doing want helping.

 

[moonstarfc]

Don't beat yourself up about what happened...I wouldn't be surprised if the issue was caused by the tarantula being shipped in heavy premolt. The same thing happened to me, I got a T. albopilosum, and when she arrived, she was in heavy premolt, and molted a week later. She ended up messing up 3 legs in the process. Now a year, and 2 molts later, she's almost back to normal. I think she should be 100% normal after one more molt. That was only my 2nd T, so it was discouraging, but it's the only time I've had a tarantula with a molt issue.

A tarantula that size would have definitely been in heavy premolt if she molted only a few days after you received her. And they can be extra fragile and prone to damage in shipping.

 

[maddanie19]

Don't beat yourself up about what happened...I wouldn't be surprised if the issue was caused by the tarantula being shipped in heavy premolt. The same thing happened to me, I got a B. albopilosum, and when she arrived, she was in heavy premolt, and molted a week later. She ended up messing up 3 legs in the process. Now a year, and 2 molts later, she's almost back to normal. I think she should be 100% normal after one more molt. That was only my 2nd T, so it was discouraging, but it's the only time I've had a tarantula with a molt issue.

A tarantula that size would have definitely been in heavy premolt if she molted only a few days after you received her. And they can be extra fragile and prone to damage in shipping.

Ah yes, that's true!! Even though it wasn't shipped in the mail to me, something could have happened with being jostled around and being in a moving car in such heavy premolt. Thanks for reminding me of that.

And yeah, actually, I just had a p. vittata sling shipped to me, and they molted while in transit.. came out with only 4 legs.. I was definitely having flashbacks to my poor pinktoe. But thankfully they are eating like a champ, so I'm hoping that they will pull through this and molt well so I can stop worrying about it hahaha!!

 

[viper69]

Hey guys. Hold on tight. This is a story. Sorry.

So I've debated putting this out there for a long time now. But I've finally decided that I would definitely like some closure on what happened to me last year.

In short, I had an A. avic, that was approximately 3-4inches pass away due to what I can only assume was starvation from an underlying issue. I'm not sure what the sex was, however, I was told by several people on here and other forums that it was female based on ventral sexing. In any case, it was definitely not a mature male, if it was actually male.

When I first received the T, it quickly molted within days, inside the container it came in. After a couple weeks I rehoused it into a vertically arranged KK, with moist substrate, a corkbark tube, foliage and a water bowl. I didn't keep the enclosure super moist or anything, but I did make sure it had access hydration, and I made sure to keep the substrate fairly moist. But there was definitely a lot of ventilation, could it possibly have been too much ventilation??? I was so anxious about keeping them too stuffy that maybe it was too much ventilation??? I dunno???

However, back to the main point..., it wouldn't take prey. I wasn't worried the first couple weeks since they were probably just still hardening up. But after a month, two months..it got worrisome.. And, I was told by people to just try different prey items, cause it could just be a picky avic. So, I did. Several kinds of roaches, crickets, worms, moths... Nothing.. it wouldn't eat... I tried tong feeding, I tried leaving prey in overnight.. yet I'd still find it there every morning. The most it would do is snatch the prey, kill it, and drop it.

Eventually I found a thread talking about how it could possibly have something to do with their stomach not working. However, I'm not sure if that's the case, since this spider would regularly drink off the walls when I would wet it down. And I found it several times face down in the water bowl.

I'm also convinced that this is most likely not an impaction type of issue, since the longer I had it, the thinner and thinner the abdomen became.
It eventually died after about 7months of refusing food, and it's abdomen was paper thin at that point..

So, does anyone have any input on what may have happened to my Avic that refused to eat, but kept drinking, after what appeared to be a good molt?


The pictures below are all from before it began to get thinner. Besides the one where they are curled up at the water dish, that was taken closer to their passing.

Also, please keep the comments friendly! I hate going on here to post questions because everyone always seems so negative. But I really appreciate the good advice I get from people, so I suffer through the countless sassy pants that live here....

Too much vent - non issue unless it was quite cold.

 

[PidderPeets]

I'm also leaning towards molting issue causing inability to eat/drink. The reason being the small abdomen. I have an AF Avic of unknown age (but I suspect is older) who has only eaten once in the last 9 months or more, but her abdomen is still a non-concerning size because she's able to drink. As long as they can drink, most Ts don't lose abdomen size that badly. And like all animals, self-preservation should kick in before they starve to death, even for a picky eater. If it was hungry enough, it probably would have eaten if it could.

Sorry for your loss

 

[Asgiliath]

I had someting very similar happen with an A. avic. I kept it properly and exactly like my M6 (that's still thriving) but the whole time I had it, the spider did not eat once and eventually died. Considering it would sometimes take down and then release prey, I suspect a sucking stomach issue.

I guess, sometimes we can do everything right and the spider just won't make it.

 

[spideyspinneret78]

I had the exact same thing happen to me with an Avic too. It was much smaller than it's sacmates and for some reason just never ate, webbed, and then died. Sometimes it just happens unfortunately, even if you do everything right. Keep in mind that in the wild a lot of them never make it. Some slings are just born sickly and don't survive. I remember how much I beat myself up over it...I even cried for a few minutes after I found her dead because I felt like I somehow failed the little creature. Unfortunately when you deal with animals, things like this happen sometimes. Just try to learn what you can from the experience.