a sad day for my blondi

orkimedies

Arachnosquire
Old Timer
Joined
Jan 6, 2007
Messages
102
my favorite spider has died.
and i do not know why.

it was my baby goliath.

although i only had it for a little more than 5 months in that time it molted twice and appeared very healthy, it never refused a meal and i kept it in ideal conditions.

it never showed even the slightest sign of abnormal behavior, then i fed it it before i went to work and it ate but when i got back 8 hours later, it was dead but not in a death curl.

i was told by some one who has raised several of these to treat it like a swamp spider, and so i made a humidifier which i hooked up to it's cage and kept a large shallow water dish and a heat gradiant so that it could choose between warmer and colder.

i misted occasionaly but i did not get the substrate damp so there was never a problem with mold.

i know they are big mean and comparatively(to my other spiders) ugly, but i have an appreciation for this species and already i want to get a new one.
 

P. Novak

ArachnoGod
Old Timer
Joined
Sep 12, 2005
Messages
6,218
Sorry about your loss.

THe only scenario I can think of is... the cricket you fed it was infected with some kind of pesticide or chemical and when your T killed and ate it, it became infected. Another scenario is that your T could have been infested with mites. I had a T.blondi die just like yours did and the killer was mites. Check your T out, or take a picture to see if you see any mites.
 

orkimedies

Arachnosquire
Old Timer
Joined
Jan 6, 2007
Messages
102
there are no mites in the tank, i baked the substrate before i put it in as well as the hide
 

treeweta

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Jan 15, 2006
Messages
362
possibly infected crickets, infected with i dont know what but i had two 3 inch blondis di several days after feeding with crickets that also seemed to make my larger blondis very ill for months (luckily they didnt die) I switched to orange head roaches and have had no problems since.
 

Orchidspider

Arachnopeon
Joined
Jun 26, 2004
Messages
35
you note that your substrate was pretty dry. Perhaps the biggest killer of blondi's from my experience ( I have lost 3 in cluding an apophysis) was due to conditions that were too dry. Blondis come from VERY humid conditions, and while these can cause mites sometimes in the terrarium, blondis can get VERY stressed when they get on the dry side. I had mine in containers with alot of ventilation and the substrate dried out often, and this was not good for them. They need damp substrate for constant humidity. Infact I got another one recently and I had placed her in the container I bought her in- with not very much substrate in my T room. I went out doing some erands, and when I came home to set her up in her own 10 gal tank (with a folding glass top with holes drilled in the plastic part, to allow for ventilation but not lose humidity, and at least 3 inches of shredded coco substrate) I find to my horror- my blondi in her container with her legs folded up underneath her ( the death pose). I nugged her and she still moved ok- but time was running out. I set up her tank, and by night fall she was running around the tank and kicking hairs at me like a healthy champ and all was well. A near miss, but it shows how important humidity is for these guys. Thus, I argue that your crickets werent the issue, dry caging was. So before you purchase your next blondi- figure out what its requrments it needs, and figure out what your degree of attention to your spiders is- sounds like if you misted and it died, you dont spend as much time with your ts as a blondi needs, I am the same way so I set up my new cage the way I just said. Good Luck!
 

G. pulchra

ArachnoGod
Old Timer
Joined
Jun 7, 2005
Messages
592
I'd have to agree with Orchidspider, it sounds like your substrate was too dry.
 

Jonathan Rice

Arachnosquire
Old Timer
Joined
Apr 4, 2006
Messages
149
I too agree with Orchidspider. Next time you're caring for blondi sling. Keep the substrate more moist. DO NOT MIST THE CAGE. In my experience it does more harm than good. Harm being mostly pissing the t off and stressing it out good. Also make sure there's a lot of ventilation. I also reccommend reading this:

http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/showthread.php?t=81845

Good luck!
 

Varden

Arachnodemon
Old Timer
Joined
May 22, 2005
Messages
704
And chalk another up to my agreeing with Orchidspider. Swamp spider means just that, get that substrate wet. In my albeit limited experience with this species, they really do need it.
 
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