Can you drown your T

poppaJT

Arachnopeon
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Aug 10, 2010
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Hi everyone, I was just wondering if it would drown my G. rosea if I filled up her water bowl? My mom thinks it could drown cause its lungs could get in it. Is that true?
 

Hobo

( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
Staff member
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Jul 27, 2009
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Hi everyone, I was just wondering if it would drown my G. rosea if I filled up her water bowl? My mom thinks it could drown cause its lungs could get in it. Is that true?
That all depends in the size of the spider and/or the size and depth of the waterdish.

General rule is nothing under 2" should get a waterdish, and when they get em, they shouldn't be overly large or deep.

Generally, no, your rosea can't drown from simply filling an appropriately sized water dish.
 

spiderworld

Arachnosquire
Joined
Jul 20, 2010
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90
Hi everyone, I was just wondering if it would drown my G. rosea if I filled up her water bowl? My mom thinks it could drown cause its lungs could get in it. Is that true?
A tarantula will never drown itself! only a freek accident if it somehow gets stuck in the water dish! (ive never seen this though) ive always got a stone of sorts in my water dish that sticks out the top of the water(like an iceberg)
thats for crickets not to drown in it!
But tarantulas above 2" must deff have a water bowl
 

Mamisha-X

Arachnosquire
Joined
Jun 4, 2010
Messages
101
Tarantulas breathe using book lungs on the underside of their abdomine so unless that part of the T is in the water then it will not drown. Little T's shouldnt have water dishes (like stated above) but larger ones need them. I always put fishtank gavel in my T's water dishes. This helped so the T can walk into the water but will not drown (My G.Rosea doese this occasionaly). bigger rocks work well to but I had a G.Rosea get her leg stuck between two stones when the rocks shifted so I turned to gravel. Anyway I hope this helps

Mollie
 

Londoner

Arachnoangel
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Mar 21, 2008
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A tarantula will never drown itself! only a freek accident if it somehow gets stuck in the water dish! (ive never seen this though) ive always got a stone of sorts in my water dish that sticks out the top of the water(like an iceberg)
thats for crickets not to drown in it!
But tarantulas above 2" must deff have a water bowl
Actually, it's not unheard of for a tarantula to drown itself. I can remember someone on these boards a couple of years ago saying they had a T that kept backing into it's waterdish and submerging it's abdomen. Every time the owner shooed it out the dish, it would return to do the same thing until the inevitable happened. Just thought I'd throw it out there.

That said, I've never heard of another instance of T suicide by drowning lol, so yeah, as long as the waterdish is an appropriate size and depth, there won't be a problem.
 

Venom

Arachnoprince
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Tarantula booklungs have such narrow openings that the surface tension of water will keep any water from entering their lungs. Also, the hairs on their abdomens will trap air close to the surface of their lungs, allowing them to breath for a time while in/ on water. While the bubble lasts, the spider can breathe. What WILL drown a tarantula, however, is soapy water, because any kind of detergent will break that surface tension, and allow the water to enter into the tarantula's lungs.
 

Ictinike

Arachnobaron
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Aug 30, 2009
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Would like more clarification on the "drowning" part.

Sure anything that breaths can drown but to my understanding of book lungs it's a passive set of organs that by way of transpiration (maybe not the best word) the oxygen is transferred to the T's blood (hemoglyph).

It's not like it's an active organ in that it has movement and can open and shut as in our lungs.

Also, knowing T' bristles are hydrophobic thus repelling water do the lungs not have these type of bristles or are missing? One would think that simply laying it's abdomen into water, assuming they are hydrophobic, wouldn't do much but eventually run out of viable air that is trapped between the bristles and the water tension it holds. Much like us breathing in a sealed off room, we'll live for some period before all viable oxygen is used up and displaced by our respiration byproducts (CO2, etc).

This whole drowning thing, while I'm sure is still believable, can't be as quick as many make it out to be and I'm sure if the T is healthy knows when it's levels of viable air are low in the above stated situation and would move. Now, not having the proper ability to move is another thing and where I can see this drowning properly expressed.
 

MissChelly

Arachnosquire
Old Timer
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Oct 9, 2009
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I'm not sure if they can honestly drown, but for safety measures (given my tarantula is over 2", so alright with a water dish) I have a stone in the water dish... not just so SHE won't drown though. Also so her food won't! LOL. But with the stone in there, she'd have to seriously do some maneuvering to get her book lungs in there... and that's if her lungs will even get water in them like that in the first place. She'd have to be some sort of determined crazy, suicidal tarantula! The first I've ever heard of for sure!
 

Ictinike

Arachnobaron
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I think they would suffocate instead of drown honestly based on what I and Venom had to say about the hydrophobic bristles.
 

poppaJT

Arachnopeon
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Aug 10, 2010
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Thanks everyone.. I was just wondering cause my mom thinks they will drown if water gets on their lungs
 

Londoner

Arachnoangel
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Mar 21, 2008
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I think they would suffocate instead of drown honestly based on what I and Venom had to say about the hydrophobic bristles.
Technically they would suffocate I suppose. If the booklungs were not exposed to air for long enough (ie submersed), then no passive exchange of gases could take place. You're right, the T wouldn't actually take water into the booklungs, so yeah, "drown" is the wrong choice of words :).
 
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