Can their own webs kill them?

[johnharper]

One of my little arboreal t's got tangled up in its web it seemed to jump down to the floor of the vial and it is in what appears to be a death curl. Its abdomen looks smaller than the other ones of the same species. I really don't think it was dehydrated cause I misted it a few days before. Do you think it just maybe the tarantulas time It had what looked like substrate in its fangs moving it. I had an obt to jump twice from a one gallon jar its still ok it ate the other night I really do not understand why the other one died.

John

 

[Mushroom Spore]

Web will not make your tarantula's abdomen smaller or send it into a death curl. Also holding substrate in their mouths to move it around is something many tarantulas do to redecorate, and has nothing to do with this.

Either your tarantula needs food/water/humidity or it was exposed to some sort of toxin, that's my first guess and those are generally the most common problems. When did it last eat?

There's also the possibility that it's not even a death curl, lots of people can't really identify one. Looking "huddled" is not a death curl. It is only a death curl if the legs are actually curling up so that the feet are pointing to the underside of the tarantula.

 

[johnharper]

Maybe its molting it was fed last week. I put a roach one in their with it last night and this is when it jumped to to the floor in the vial and went into the position.

John

 

[testdasi]

Maybe it fell down, ruptured abdomen and died.

 

[Mushroom Spore]

Maybe it fell down, ruptured abdomen and died.

A ruptured abdomen would be a bit difficult to miss.

 

[johnharper]

Its dead I doubt it was toxins though all my inverts are fed from the same roach colony guess it was just its time. I know its an invert but I am still gonna bury it.

John

 

[Talkenlate04]

Webbing can kill. I have seen it happen. Not to sure how they get themselves tangled up like that, but it does happen.

 

[Shagrath666]

Its dead I doubt it was toxins though all my inverts are fed from the same roach colony guess it was just its time. I know its an invert but I am still gonna bury it.

John

viking funeral! you must send it to its fathers in the great halls, at least that is what i do, build a pyre, give it its water dish and favorite piece of decor, and let it burn. sorry to hear the little guy is gone

 

[Skullptor]

Webbing can kill. I have seen it happen. Not to sure how they get themselves tangled up like that, but it does happen.

I find this very interesting.


I don't doubt what you are saying, but would like to hear you elaborate on this a bit more. I apologize if this has been disused in a thread by you. I'm just thinking that maybe there would have some other extenuating circumstances that may be contributing factors.
Would like to add that the OP said that it jumped down to the floor which doesn't indicate that it died "tangled in the web"

 

[blazetown]

I might help elaborate on it....Apparently true spiders can easy get tangled or stuck to their on web, so I wouldn't completely rule it out as a possibility. Spiders can catch other spiders in their web aswell. Is it possible that his T get somehow tangled/injured in some sort of freakout moment.

 

[Skullptor]

I am not completely ruling it out, which is why I respectfully asked talkenlate04 to elaborate. I believe talkenlate04 knows me enough to know I'm not challenging him. If I was not open-minded I would have just posted the below information and said it is highly unlikely. I know that sometimes people, like serious hobbyist, can add some real life experience that goes beyond what is considered factual by the so called experts. Please accept my question for what it is....a simple question.

A few clever adaptations generally prevent spiders from becoming ensnared in their webs. Spiders that make sticky webs leave some strands, often the radial strands, glue free. When maneuvering around their own webs, spiders tread carefully, differentiating between sticky and non-sticky threads.

Claws and spines on the feet of spiders also make it easier for them to move around the web. A thread can be gripped between the claw and spines. Upon release of the claw, the rebound of the spines pushes the thread away from the foot. This facilitates release of the thread even if the spider happens to grab one of the sticky ones.

For some spiders, a fluid excreted through hollow hairs on the legs may also offer some stick prevention.

Even if a gust of wind tosses a spider onto the sticky strands of its own web, it can work itself free. In fact, insects can sometimes escape from a web, if they have enough time. For example, green lacewings tug and cut strands of the web until they have freed everything but their wings. Their hair-covered wings don't stick to the web very well and eventually the insect falls free, but only if the spider doesn't get to it first.

 

[blazetown]

Lol you basically castrated me there:clap:

 

[wicked]

My very first Avic got tangled in its webbing. It did not end well.

http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/showthread.php?t=48352

Last week I had to untangle one of my Avicularia versicolor slings from a thick thread of web. The web was wound around several legs, and the center of the spiderling, as well as caught on some substrate, which anchored the poor little thing down. I was able to remove the web, but the little one lost a leg.
So far it seems to be doing fine.

 

[Talkenlate04]

I have seen avics and small pokie slings get tangled in their own webbing so badly they could not walk. And if I had left them alone they would never have been able to molt. Most of the time there is a clump of substrate tangled up in the mess as well.
The next time I see it I will have to photograph it. It is a major pain in the ass to remove and some of the the times I have tried it sometimes results in leg loss.

I also have had small slings that had gotten tangled in their webs try to molt and the carapace came off and pushed out some but that was it and they died stuck in their molts because the webbing prevented the T from wiggling out.

 

[DDaake]

I was wondering about this.:? Thanks for you input Talkenlate04