A. Seemanni near death?

KyraGoddess

Arachnopeon
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Jun 10, 2019
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Hello,

I'm from Germany, but I really like this website, so sorry for my bad english.

My A. Seemanni (1" Legspan) moves weirdly for 4 days now. I moved her to ICU, but it doesn't get better.
I noticed her burrowing a lot and that's fine. But then, her burrowing moves got weird. She put the substrate under her body, but she doesn't move it around. She can't stand up after picking the substrate up and kinda falls to the side. Which is why i put her in ICU.
Now, she pushes herself up to the tip of her feet, but while she tries to walk, some of her feet give in and she falls to the side again.

I will try to make a video of it, if it's possible.

She tries moving a lot. I set her on the water dish, but she moved away. I tried keeping her warm and humid, but that doesn't help as well.

I checked her body, but nothing unusual.

I don't know what to do. Would be the first tarantula to die on me.
Thanks for help in advance.
 

Thekla

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First of all, get it out of the ICU asap! It's not a miracle cure for anything that could be wrong with your spider and mostly does more harm than good. It's only really meant for very severe dehydration.

Secondly, post a picture of your sling and its enclosure. A video of the weird walking would be great as well. Until then it's hard to say what's going on.
 

cold blood

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Get it OUT of the ICU and never put a t in one of those again!

Just sounds like its moving dirt around...pics or a vid would indeed be helpful in determining if something is actually wrong.
 

KyraGoddess

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Thanks a lot for your answers!

I put her out of ICU and put her in an enclosure like hers before. It's like 50% coco fiber and 50% of a earth-mixture for terrariums. (sorry, i don't know how to translate it, but there should be no problem with the substrate anyway)

I added some pictures of her setup now. Since like an hour, there is a brownish stain on the tissue of the ICU and she looks a lot better now, so i can't add a video, in which the behaviour is shown.
May there be a connection?

I added a photo of her from before the improvement. To describe it a little bit better: she looked often like she was in death curl. That's why i worried so much about her.

I'm sorry for making a mistake with the ICU. I was just trying to help as much as i could.
 

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Vanessa

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Pour water down the side to make the bottom layers of substrate damp. This species require more moisture and you really need to keep on top of that during the dry, winter, months. It is digging down trying to find moister soil. Make sure that the bottom layers of substrate are wetted down and allowed to dry out a bit. Never let that dish dry out.
 

viper69

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Thanks a lot for your answers!

I put her out of ICU and put her in an enclosure like hers before. It's like 50% coco fiber and 50% of a earth-mixture for terrariums. (sorry, i don't know how to translate it, but there should be no problem with the substrate anyway)

I added some pictures of her setup now. Since like an hour, there is a brownish stain on the tissue of the ICU and she looks a lot better now, so i can't add a video, in which the behaviour is shown.
May there be a connection?

I added a photo of her from before the improvement. To describe it a little bit better: she looked often like she was in death curl. That's why i worried so much about her.

I'm sorry for making a mistake with the ICU. I was just trying to help as much as i could.

The last pic I don't like. The legs look odd, but I've seen odd in mine at times, and nothing is wrong. Don't bet against Mother Nature. The other pics look OK.

I will say from husbandry the dish should be into the sub. Ts won't always drink from dishes, and they won't always drink from a dish that is raised above them. Exceptions of course.

Also, the container is too barren., I ALWAYS give them cork bark, like a slice of it, and put it at a 45 degree angle. They all use that as their burrow/hide, makes them feel more secure.
 

KyraGoddess

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Thanks again for the replies!

I'll try to keep the bottom layer more damped.

For the last picture: that's what she looked like the whole time before, which is why i was so worried. The legs always were under her body and it looked like if she tried to stand, her legs gave in and she was again in this position.

Yes, it is kinda barren, but thats only for growing up. My burrowers seemed always satisfied with that. She will move in a bigger container after the next molt anyway. There is more space for decor and stuff.
I put a corkbark just like you said to some of my burrowers, but they never used it.
 

darkness975

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Thanks again for the replies!

I'll try to keep the bottom layer more damped.

For the last picture: that's what she looked like the whole time before, which is why i was so worried. The legs always were under her body and it looked like if she tried to stand, her legs gave in and she was again in this position.

Yes, it is kinda barren, but thats only for growing up. My burrowers seemed always satisfied with that. She will move in a bigger container after the next molt anyway. There is more space for decor and stuff.
I put a corkbark just like you said to some of my burrowers, but they never used it.
Follow the advice you have gotten so far and you will be on the right track.

Also I sent you a PM.
 

Thekla

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How is your T? Any progress? Do you have a current picture?
I'm asking because I saw you posted on the German forum as well and there it seems as if she's still in the ICU. I hope I'm wrong about that.
 

KyraGoddess

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She's like in a complete death curl, but moving a little bit. Sometimes she can get on her feet, but falls to the side again. I'll try to make a picture soon.
No, she is not in ICU. I posted pictures there from the time i had her in ICU. In the next picture i send on that forum to kinda show, that it is indeed an A. seemanni, you see her in her current setup/state.
It's difficult to make a picture of that death curl i see a lot, because her state changes constantly. Sometimes it gets really good, but then she looks like dead again.

So no progress so far.

That's her current state
 

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Jess S

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I'd suggest putting a full shallow water dish in there and placing her prosoma over it so that her mouthparts are making contact with the water. And then just leave her there to drink as much as she wants. She may be a bit dehydrated.

Edit : apologies, I didn't think there was a water dish in there but now I see one in a couple of your photos. Still, no harm in trying the above.
 

KyraGoddess

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Thanks for your answer, Jess!

I tried that already though. She moves away from the waterdish, moves towards the side of the enclosure and curling up again. And her movement on the way looks kinda sad, because she can't stand up normally.
 

KyraGoddess

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Just to be sure, i placed her above the water dish once more. If she moves away again, i won't take her back to the water dish, because i think, she needs quiet time as well. I'll post an update in a few hours.

Thanks for the support, everyone!
 

Jess S

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Thanks for your answer, Jess!

I tried that already though. She moves away from the waterdish, moves towards the side of the enclosure and curling up again. And her movement on the way looks kinda sad, because she can't stand up normally.
She doesn't look dehydrated in the pictures but I thought it was worth a shot. Unfortunately, from what I've seen in the past tarantulas that go in and out of death curl tend not to recover. However, there is always an exception and I hope you continue to update the thread as it may help others.
I'm crossing my fingers for you and hoping you have a good outcome.
 

PidderPeets

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I know it's less likely in European countries because they aren't as pesticide crazy as they are here, but is there any chance it could have been exposed to pesticides or other chemicals?
 

Thekla

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This is all really weird. She looks so healthy but obviously she's not. I don't have any ideas about what could be wrong with her. :( Maybe @PidderPeets is on to something... do you have any other pets that were treated for ticks or such recently?
@boina, do you have any ideas?
 

KyraGoddess

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Jun 10, 2019
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Thank you for your answers!
I have two cats, but they weren't treated with medicals recently. And they rarely get into the room with the tarantulas and only under my supervision.
I even wash my hands alot between interacting with the cats and interacting with the tarantulas.

The substrate i use is 100% free of pesticides or fertilizers.

There's something i was wondering about. The last two feeding times, before that health problem came up, she refused. I thought she was getting in premolt. Is there a possibility, that in an early stage of building the new body, she blocked off the contact to her legs? I'm just an average keeper trying to guess, what could be wrong with her, so please don't judge.
 
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