Am I paranoid or is my Aphonopelma Chalcodes sling deathly ill?

[Rosa1]

I hope your T pulls through best wishes

We are left just guessing what the causes are. Either way hope for a speedy recovery for your tarantula.

Thank you much appreciated

 

[DontFearSpiders]

Aphonopelma Chalcodes molted a little over two weeks ago, and I noticed that since she's molted she hasn't been the same. She seems to be unable to walk properly and struggles to maintain balance. I'm not sure if it's something that went wrong with her molt, I gave her plenty of water and made sure to refill her water bowl everyday. The only thing I can think of is the substrate being too moist? other than that I honestly have no idea what's wrong with her. I provided some pictures and a video below.

I might be totally wrong here, but it might be DKS(Dyskenetic Syndrome)? It's a series of symptoms characterized by jerky motions, loss of coordination, and an inability to eat. My friend's tarantula had it, he said it might've been exposed to pesticides from the cat's flea treatment. Sadly the T passed away, but I don't want to scare you, it just might be a possibility.

 

[Rosa1]

I might be totally wrong here, but it might be DKS(Dyskenetic Syndrome)? It's a series of symptoms characterized by jerky motions, loss of coordination, and an inability to eat. My friend's tarantula had it, he said it might've been exposed to pesticides from the cat's flea treatment. Sadly the T passed away, but I don't want to scare you, it just might be a possibility.

I just watched a few videos of tarantulas with DKS and that's definitely what my sling has. really just hoping for the best here since there's really no cure. I've read up and it's said that the only way to help DKS is with warmer temperatures and more moist enclosure. Ill try my best to keep her alive. This sling is my first ever tarantula

 

[TheraMygale]

I just watched a few videos of tarantulas with DKS and that's definitely what my sling has. really just hoping for the best here since there's really no cure. I've read up and it's said that the only way to help DKS is with warmer temperatures and more moist enclosure. Ill try my best to keep her alive. This sling is my first ever tarantula

its the “only” way because sometimes it helped. Doesnt mean it helps all tarantulas that show this.

DKS is still a melting pot word, to explain symptoms that don’t have an explanation.

so for now, what else can you do?

I always find it sad when these symptoms arise. Because sometimes, you cant find a source, lets say its pesticides. Some people have had it happen and there was nothing

im a gardener, and i am exposed to all sorts of chemicals. I find healthy spiders on sprayed plants. Its very complexe, how exposure happens. So far none of my tarantulas have shown any of these signs. But before and after molts, some of my tarantulas were awkward. So far it has always passed.

i hope one day we have more information. We can only hope the people who research this, are well funded.

none of your house mates would purposely cause damage to the tarantula would they?

where do you get your feeders and what do you feed them? What kind of water do you use?

we can sherlock this situation all the way to the bottom. Doesnt mean we will get the answers nor the solutions. But sometimes, searching feels good because its doing something.

 

[Rosa1]

Definitely no one in my family would harm my tarantula. None of them go in my room or even look at them, they often forget I have them in the first place. They're all adults too so no kids are messing with them. I get my super worm feeders from PetSmart. I use water from a dispenser which uses gallons of water (we refill them from Walmart and it's the water we personally drink from).

 

[TheraMygale]

Definitely no one in my family would harm my tarantula. None of them go in my room or even look at them, they often forget I have them in the first place. They're all adults too so no kids are messing with them. I get my super worm feeders from PetSmart. I use water from a dispenser which uses gallons of water (we refill them from Walmart and it's the water we personally drink from).

That dispenser needs to be cleaned at some point. Depending on what products they use to kill the germs… it might be to strong for a tarantula?

we humans are used to ingesting tons of chemicals on a daily basis. Tarantulas, not so much.

 

[Rosa1]

That dispenser needs to be cleaned at some point. Depending on what products they use to kill the germs… it might be to strong for a tarantula?

we humans are used to ingesting tons of chemicals on a daily basis. Tarantulas, not so much.

It very well could be, however I've been using this water for a very long time. Perhaps it's the dispenser itself that needs to get checked out.

 

[TheraMygale]

Its just an idea. It really could be anything.

 

[Rosa1]

Its just an idea. It really could be anything.

yeah it's super frustrating, honestly I've come to terms even though I have hope she'll survive.