Caribbean versicolor

[Arhxy]

My sling is always active and eating a lot and I went to go feed it again this morning and it was fine the day before and now it’s in death curl it was twitching I’m not sure if it’s to late or something but he’s twitching his enclose is perfect all webbed up and he is well hydrated from the droplets of water I put in once to twice a week and so I put him in a container with damp tissue paper because maybe he’s dehydrated but he molted about 3 weeks ago so I don’t think he’s about to molt but plz Leme know what’s up with him/her

 

[Neonblizzard]

Remove this T from icu immediately. Absolute death sentence. Put them back in old enclosure at once.

Do you have pics of spider and enclosure?

 

[Arhxy]

Remove this T from icu immediately. Absolute death sentence. Put them back in old enclosure at once.

Do you have pics of spider and enclosure?

He also molted about 2-3 weeks ago and hasn’t eaten I put in a pre killed new born mealworm I’m not sure if he ate

 

[Arhxy]

He also molted about 2-3 weeks ago and hasn’t eaten I put in a pre killed new born mealworm I’m not sure if he ate

 

[viper69]

He also molted about 2-3 weeks ago and hasn’t eaten I put in a pre killed new born mealworm I’m not sure if he ate

looks fine on the right

 

[Neonblizzard]

So have you got side ventilation as well as top? What moisture have you been giving them?

Do you have pics of the spider now?

 

[Arhxy]

Looks dead

 

[viper69]

Looks dead

not well hydrated there

rather have a sling die than an adult

 

[Arhxy]

not well hydrated there

I mean I water all my tarantulas at least 1 to 2 times a week and I have a little droplets of water I put on his web when he had one till I destroyed it showing him dead

 

[viper69]

I mean I water all my tarantulas at least 1 to 2 times a week and I have a little droplets of water I put on his web when he had one till I destroyed it showing him dead

ok

 

[The Grym Reaper]

If you decide to try again then house in a 32oz deli cup set up like below, keep 1/4 - 1/3 of the substrate damp*, and provide a water dish.



*Everyone will scream at you "keep them dry" until they're blue in the face but I've never lost an Avic sling keeping them slightly moist whereas 66% of the ones I've kept dry have either flat out dropped dead or suffered fatal moult complications, keeping them too dry is just as bad as keeping them too moist.

 

[Jonathan6303]

Use tattoo ink caps as water dishes.

 

[Malum Argenteum]

I'm sorry about your versicolor, Arhxy.

*Everyone will scream at you "keep them dry" until they're blue in the face but I've never lost an Avic sling keeping them slightly moist whereas 66% of the ones I've kept dry have either flat out dropped dead or suffered fatal moult complications, keeping them too dry is just as bad as keeping them too moist.

I was waiting for an established member to say something like this before I shot my mouth off about something that sounds like trolling, but: I lost my first two avic slings (got one, killed it, did some thinking, thought and was told it was just one of those 'some don't make it' deaths, got another one, killed it) keeping them dry with a water dish and little dribbles on the web during premolt. My third is (apparently?) doing well with periodic (trigger warning...) misting to provide substantial amounts of drinking water on the web, which sometimes drips and moistens the sub. I have a lot of ventilation, and don't ever even think about raising, lowering, or maintaining humidity. But who knows, I may kill this one too. They're kind of like this, I gather from looking at the daily new threads.

Personally, I think -- based on very little actual T experience compared to others here, to be sure -- that avics should be considered more advanced species. In other exotics species -- frogs, snakes, geckos -- a species that has this sort of not-quite-worked-out, doesn't-reliably-work-for-everyone, sort-of-hard-to-get-exactly-right care needs isn't considered a good recommendation for a less experienced keeper at all.

Starting to talk about avics as solidly intermediate level Ts is certatinly not going to kill more of them than the current situation, so there's that in favor of ceasing to call them possible novice-level species, too.

My two cents, anyway.

 

[cold blood]

The key is ventilation...vials offer terrible ventilation and are therefore a terrible choice for avic types.

 

[Craig73]

Avicularia are as easy as it gets if people do their homework. For as many stories of deaths that are out there I bet there are way more survival stories.

I personally don’t believe versicolor are any harder than any other avic.

 

[viper69]

Avicularia are as easy as it gets if people do their homework. For as many stories of deaths that are out there I bet there are way more survival stories.

I personally don’t believe versicolor are any harder than any other avic.

This is all true. Not doing homework, leads to death.

Versi are by far the easiest. I haven't raised a single locality that is easier than versi. They are the best eaters, and the easiest to sex ventrally.

 

[Crazyarachnoguy]

If you decide to try again then house in a 32oz deli cup set up like below, keep 1/4 - 1/3 of the substrate damp*, and provide a water dish.

View attachment 399472

*Everyone will scream at you "keep them dry" until they're blue in the face but I've never lost an Avic sling keeping them slightly moist whereas 66% of the ones I've kept dry have either flat out dropped dead or suffered fatal moult complications, keeping them too dry is just as bad as keeping them too moist.

This is how I keep mine ^, with no issues at all.

 

[Dorifto]

Do you use anything in your house that could lower the humidity? Like air conditioning... etc. or your local climate might be dry?

The substrate of the vial looks excessively dry. The coco fiber fiber tends to absorb moisture making the vial a very dry enviroment.

As @The Grym Reaper suggest you, keeping the substrate partially moist, will reduce dehydration chances or problems related to bad molts.

 

[boina]

Well, I've done plenty of research and I consider myself pretty experienced but I've still managed to kill all three true Avics I had (huriana, minatrix, avicularia), huriana and minatrix after several years, but still before their natural life span was over. To this day I've no clue as to why. I may have possibly kept them too dry, as in dry with a water dish, but then I'm living in an extremely wet climate (marshlands) and I'm therefore keeping all my spiders dryer than usually recommended. Hell, I'm even keeping my Asian arboreals mostly dry and everyone is doing well and has been doing well for years. Only my Avics died, and believe me, I'm not trying again. So no, I don't think Avics are easy, even with plenty of homework and knowledge. Just as a note: my C. versicolor is perfectly fine but one of my two adult Y. versicolor is not looking too good (not eating although she should). I've started spraying water on her web once a week a while ago (as in: several month ago), but it doesn't seem to help. If anyone has any smart ideas I'm all ears, like @The Grym Reaper or @viper69 ?

 

[Dorifto]

Well, I've done plenty of research and I consider myself pretty experienced but I've still managed to kill all three true Avics I had (huriana, minatrix, avicularia), huriana and minatrix after several years, but still before their natural life span was over. To this day I've no clue as to why. I may have possibly kept them too dry, as in dry with a water dish, but then I'm living in an extremely wet climate (marshlands) and I'm therefore keeping all my spiders dryer than usually recommended. Hell, I'm even keeping my Asian arboreals mostly dry and everyone is doing well and has been doing well for years. Only my Avics died, and believe me, I'm not trying again. So no, I don't think Avics are easy, even with plenty of homework and knowledge. Just as a note: my C. versicolor is perfectly fine but one of my two adult Y. versicolor is not looking too good (not eating although she should). I've started spraying water on her web once a week a while ago (as in: several month ago), but it doesn't seem to help. If anyone has any smart ideas I'm all ears, like @The Grym Reaper or @viper69 ?

But how are your house values? I live in a pretty humid area too, but my new house (new construction) humidity levels were too dry for me, causing me dry throat, nose etc. I raised the humidity a bit using a humidifier and now I'm perfectly fine. Do you use anything that could decrease rh levels? Like AC or living in a house with a good insulation.

As @The Grym Reaper suggested, you can moist the substrate partially, this will reduce any external factors that could cause any problem making the enclosure a very dry place. I'm assuming that your enclosure has a good low and top ventilation. This can be an issue if your house values are too low and you are keeping it dry, as it will draw the moisture of your enclosure too fast.