A big loss today why? Any ideas? Megaphobema mesomelas female :(

Kenley

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Hello Tarantula enthusiast's - like always forgive me if my English is not perfect but it's not my native language.

Today a very sad day...

After making regular Wednesday maintenance I found my Juvenile female M. mesomelas dead...

She was healthy eating like tank active, and for 2-3 weeks she was preparing for molt wich was awaited day by me. But today it turned into a tragic day when i found her dead.

She was in queit big plastic enclosure with big ventilation holes across the perimiter and the lid. No mold or other parasites around her enclosre was sprayed twice a week to keep high humidity no heating of course the temeprature during day was between 73-74 fahrenheit water dish filled at all time. All the things in enclosure was plastic including the cave so no mold accidents won't happen. So what could hve happen? :( - that's my question.

I found her like this -

No death curl or anything strange acept bit odd carapce it's like a bit lifted up but I had too look very closely to see this...

Could that be a bad molt? Has anyone have any ideas? What could gone wrong :(

Thank You in advance for any replies it's really a tough loss for me.
 

mack1855

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Oh,im so sorry...One of my favorite Megs.I currently have a number of them,all are WC,
not sure if yours is.Could be parasites,maybe.
I lost one about a month ago,below is pic.Same thing as you,no signs of stress,or curl.
.Eating well,coolish temps.Flicking hairs.Then gone.
 

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Kenley

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Mine was CB it was raised from a tiny sling so don't think any parasites could be involved :/
 

johnny quango

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Sorry for your loss man they are beautiful species and a terrible one to lose.

I can't be 100% as it could've been a number of things that caused the death but if you're saying that the carapace looks slightly lifted or open then it sounds like a moult issue maybe it was trying to moult upright and it just wasn't capable.

About 6 months ago I lost my juvenile female M mesomelas for no apparent reason I'd raised her from a 1cm dls sling to almost 4" she too was eating,growing and moulting fine then oneday after she had moulted successfully 10 days earlier I went around to check and she was dead now death curl or anything she was just sort of stood normally. It brought me to think that maybe this species is alot more fragile for a longer period of time than other genus
 

mack1855

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this species is alot more fragile
I agree,and am constantly checking their enclosues for fresh water/and anything off.
If they don't take prey/show me a threat posture/or kick a few hairs,i start worrying.
Mine was CB it was raised from a tiny sling so don't think any parasites could be involved :/
Well,eliminates that as a possibility. One more pic,showing exactlty how I found mine.
I really thought it was going to get up and walk away.
 

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Kenley

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Well I heard that they are very fragile as slings very important to have high humidity and good ventilation but no one ever mentioned juvi stages not to mention she was big damnn it's sad to hear about all those losses and it's really a tough one :(
 

Nightstalker47

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That's tough man, really sucks to lose such a valuable T. It's important to note that this species is known to prefer lower temps, I think mid 60s is the temps many keep them at, maybe the temps played a role in its demise. Then again it could be something else, some individuals just don't make it. Sorry for your loss :(
 

basin79

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What a bloody shame.

I keep my adult female around 65F during the day and her substrate is wet for the most part. I bought her as an adult so unfortunately can't offer any advice on raising them.
 

Kenley

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Well the thing i saw on mostsites not to cross the temeprature of 76-77F and never did that. Well probably I will never know for sure. Thanks for all the kind words.
 

Kenley

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I double checked the enclosure now -

no sign's of any mold or else. Also flipped the dead T over and TBH I don't know if it was a molt attempt no mechanical damages also. So the cause of death is totally uknown...


Forgot to mention the substrate was still nicely wet not overwet (today was the misting day).
 
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mack1855

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I'm sure your an experienced keeper,and as you raised yours from a sling that's all you need say.but I need to ask,your enclosure... what's the distance from substrate to enclosure top.
I know you know where this is headed..
but a fall maybe.Megs aren't big climbers,but trying to help with a genus I really like keeping.

Second,I'm sure the temp was correct if any research was done.The one that I lost was keep with my others,all in the low to upper 60,s.So I think unless you exceeded much over 71 for an extended period of time,you might have noticed it behaving oddly, probably wasn't the issue.
As has been said,we may never know what happened.
 

basin79

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I wasn't really thinking earlier. The carapace wasn't lifting. It seems to be how they are as my adult female is the same.


 

Kenley

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mack1855 - yeap I know what You are asking ;) So to the answer there was 5-6 cm of substrate with bit of spaghnum moss thrown around for more humidity big plastic hide water dish and artificial plant. About the height don't think so that the fell could happen first of all I never saw her climb the walls just chilling in the cave or walking around the enclosure. But if she did dont think that less than 6 cm would kill her there was about 5 with "hook" cm from the substrate to the top (I know the height shouldn't be bigger than 1,5 of the tarantulas length I would say it would be even less she was about 4-4,5 cm body lenght. So it's safe to say it wasn't that.

But the fact she was preparing to molt for about 2 weeks may be the hint here I'm afraid :( Bad molt would be my bet but still there's qquestion why.

basin79 - I noticed same when I was examined her body it wasn't nothing unnatural but still I would say a bad molt or some disease i wasn't aware of as my friend suggested.
 

Kenley

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Oh and about temperature she was always on lower shelf with temperature during day never over high 70 max was about 73-74 when was hot outside but had her almost 2 years last summer she wasn't too bothered - I read that 65-75F are perfect for "meso's" and most Polish sites where I'm from say 24-26 Celsius so it would fit.

Not to mention I still have my jewel Megaphobema velvetosoma alive kicking and well and Megaphobema robustum and all 3 where on same place. And from what I've heard where robustum is the most "hardy" one that can take some higher temperatures the velvetosoma is the most fragile for temperature (may be wrong here correct me if I'm wrong here guys).

Really tough loss I love this species and genus in particular hope I will replace her soon and rest of the Megaphobema family will be fine.
 

Nightstalker47

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Doesn't appear to have injured itself from a fall, unless the damage was internal and we cant see it. Other then that the only thing I can think of was the temps, mid 70s does seem a little too high for this species. I have read some individuals are more sensitive to fluctuating temperatures then others...
 

Ghost56

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Is there any feces in the enclosure? Maybe check and see if it could have been impacted?? That's about the only thing I could guess besides molt issues.
 

Kenley

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Ghost56 - nope no feces in the enclosure cause I really try to clean every week or even twice a week if I have time i really try to keep all my enclosures clean. By the way what's the main cause of T getting impacted I read few articles but never dived deeper in too that subject.

Nightstalker47 - Well that temeprature was simmiliar last year but true here in Poland there's very hot summer's I even turn on the air conditioner few times a day for a while if not to that the house temps could be about 37 celsius but the room where I keep T's is the one I'm controling very often.
 

Ghost56

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Ghost56 - nope no feces in the enclosure cause I really try to clean every week or even twice a week if I have time i really try to keep all my enclosures clean. By the way what's the main cause of T getting impacted I read few articles but never dived deeper in too that subject.
We're not exactly sure, but most likely internal issues. Not sure if you're up to it, but a dissection of the abdomen might help figure out what the cause is.

When I asked about feces, I was mainly asking whether or not you've noticed any feces. In other words, has the T been defecating normally since it's last molt?

Here's a pretty good write up about impaction - https://tomsbigspiders.wordpress.com/2017/05/27/tarantula-impaction-revisited/
 

Kenley

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Well it was defecating since last molt for sure I was removing "it" few times from the enclosure.

Now after reading all the above with temperature and all I think of something but not sure if it's a good idea...

So what do You guys think about placing the other Megaphobema spp. enclosures on Laptop cooler it's not giving too much of "cold" but it's helping to lower the temperature my normal room temperature is about 27 Celsius as You can see on the picture on the cooler the temeprature has decreased.


I know it's not to perfect and all but would it do in the hottest days? Really would like to hear some opinions.
 
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