Avic Avic - Curling after molt

[turkeytarantula]

Hey everyone,

I have a question regarding my Avic Avic and was hoping to get some help from some people on the board. Here is a little background on the situation, my juvenile A. avicularia molted around a week and a half ago and I decided that this week would be a good time to rehouse them. I waited until I saw them become a little more comfortable to rehouse after the molt and decided the move would be okay after monitoring them for the past week. I set up the new enclosure and the rehouse went smoothly, I simply grabbed the cork bark and led them into the new hide in the new enclosure. They seemed to be doing well that night and yesterday but when I inspected them today to see if they had eaten overnight I found the tarantula curled on the ground with two legs on the cork bark. I think they were startled when I picked up the enclosure and pulled the two extended legs under their body. I have now been monitoring them for around an hour or two and the tarantula has not moved and I am worried they are dehydrated from the molt and are entering a death curl. I added a little bit of moisture to the enclosure in hopes of giving the spider access to water but they seem uninterested. I have attached pictures of the enclosure and the position the spider is in for reference. The care has been consistent in both enclosures with the substrate typically being dry and access to a raised water dish I have filled 2-3 times a week depending on evaporation. This spider has typically eaten every meal in the time that I've had them and did not show any interest in food yesterday and the food has since been removed. I've had this spider for a around 6 months now and everything was going great up until this molt and rehouse. Looking for some advice or any input on this behavior because I would really hate for me to have caused this by doing the rehouse on Wednesday.

 

[NMTs]

I don't see any major issues with the setup. It could use more foliage in the top half to help it feel more comfortable, but otherwise it looks fine.

Does the T respond to any stimulus? If you brush it gently with a paintbrush will it move? I'm thinking this is more of an issue of it just being disoriented in the new enclosure and needing more time to settle in, but if it's unresponsive it may be more serious. You might need to add a water dish on the ground near the T if it is able to move but seems lethargic.

 

[Konstantin Konstantinov]

Hi
Rehouse straight after moult is a bad move in my books.I always make sure the tarantula that need rehousing, shipping... has at least couple of meals after the moult before I disturb them.Also sometimes Avics will seal off in their web tubes for ages and won't come out for a drink from the water dish. I use small pipette to drip some water in the web tube if thats the case and especially if I see freshly moulted tarantula.
That is only my opinion and experiences.Others may have success using other methods .
Your tarantula will most likely won't be able to reach the water dish provided in the state that it seems to be(It looks in a bad way).Place small dish (bottle cap...)near her(him) and put its mouth parts in the dish.
There is not much else you can do unfortunately.
Fingers crossed it will bounce back.
Regards Konstantin

 

[turkeytarantula]

Thank you both for replying to this. After putting some moisture behind the hide and putting them in a dark spot in my house for the last few hours they seem to be doing a little better. The tarantula relocated over to the wettest area behind the hide and I think they took a drink from the water, they are now in more of a stress curl with the legs extended and carapace covered but appear to be trending in a better direction. I did not try to touch/move them earlier because I didn't want to cause any additional stress after giving them access to water because I would have had to tear the enclosure apart. I am going to observe them closely tonight and hope that they recover to their old self. Thank you guys for this info and I will keep this advice in mind the next time I think about moving a tarantula after a molt.

 

[NMTs]

Thank you both for replying to this. After putting some moisture behind the hide and putting them in a dark spot in my house for the last few hours they seem to be doing a little better. The tarantula relocated over to the wettest area behind the hide and I think they took a drink from the water, they are now in more of a stress curl with the legs extended and carapace covered but appear to be trending in a better direction. I did not try to touch/move them earlier because I didn't want to cause any additional stress after giving them access to water because I would have had to tear the enclosure apart. I am going to observe them closely tonight and hope that they recover to their old self. Thank you guys for this info and I will keep this advice in mind the next time I think about moving a tarantula after a molt.

Glad to hear that. I'll bet some peace and quiet will help a lot.