Chilean Rose Hair Death Curl, or Molt?

ShinigamisDice

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Hello all, I would really and truly appreciate your help, if you can, with this predicament.

I'm in college, so I don't have my tarantula with me. She's being taken care of at home by my younger sister and stepfather. She's a Chilean Rose Hair, around 6 years or so since I've had her. I use coconut dirt substrate, and the enclosure has a log as a hide and a water bowl I've been very diligent with filling (I've told my family the importance of keeping it filled). The tank is cleaned of insect parts as often as needed, and according to my sister, she's been eating wonderfully, and been about as active as a Rosie gets. But I received frantic messages yesterday...


To this.

When my sister returned home to check on her, my Rosie was upside-down, legs moving lethargically. Apparently, there was dirt on her mouth, which my sister carefully brushed off with a straw. She also refilled the water bowl, which had some water the day before, but was dry when she returned home.

My Rosie has been doing this since yesterday, and so far, there are no changes. Is this a molt, or a death curl, or some kind of rupture? There is no leaking, at least, from what my sister has been able to relay to me. Did she fall, and should we place her back upright? Needless to say, I've never seen her do this before.

I unfortunately cannot provide images or video quickly as I am not there to take them myself. If anyone needs more, I can try to get it as soon as my sister can send them.

Any insight would be most appreciated. Thank you.
 

cold blood

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You were told it was eating well....did they tell you what it was eating?

Frankly there isn't enough video to be sure of anything...but it does look similar to poisoning....like it was maybe being fed insects from the yard or something was sprayed in the area.
 

ShinigamisDice

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You were told it was eating well....did they tell you what it was eating?

Frankly there isn't enough video to be sure of anything...but it does look similar to poisoning....like it was maybe being fed insects from the yard or something was sprayed in the area.
Crickets. As far as I know, there hasn't been any routine spraying going on (pesticides) and I've specifically told my sister to never spray things like air freshner or the like in my room. No chemicals whatsoever. As for the crickets, they're bought from the pet store. I don't feed her insects from the yard.
 

Chris LXXIX

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cold blood is right, to guess something from those seconds only is very hard. We need other pics, but I know you can't provide those at the moment. Anyway if the culprit is something your spider ate, there's little we can do in the remote (but not impossible at all) scenario that the prey entered in contact with something.
 

cold blood

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I don't feed her insects from the yard.

YOU weren't there, that's why I asked. Its very common for people not really into the hobby to expect feeders from outside to be ok. I wasn't being accusational or even critical, I was just trying to cross things off the list.
 

ShinigamisDice

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YOU weren't there, that's why I asked. Its very common for people not really into the hobby to expect feeders from outside to be ok. I wasn't being accusational or even critical, I was just trying to cross things off the list.
Oh yes, I understand. I didn't take it as critical, really. The members of this forum certainly know better than I do. But my knowledge goes so far as the crickets she's fed are from the pet store. I really am powerless in this whole situation, since I'm so far away. I wish I could provide better images/videos/etc.
 

Chris LXXIX

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Oh yes, I understand. I didn't take it as critical, really. The members of this forum certainly know better than I do. But my knowledge goes so far as the crickets she's fed are from the pet store. I really am powerless in this whole situation, since I'm so far away. I wish I could provide better images/videos/etc.
Yeah, don't worry. I mean, there's nothing 'real' that you can do at the end, now. Tell your sister to keep the water dish full and keep us updated. When you have the chance, post other pics.
 

cold blood

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If she can take some longer video, hopefully of it moving from point a to point b, I think it might help...I mean it could be as simple as a stress position...is it being misted or anything? Is the substrate totally dry? I suspect it could be, but people love their misters.
 

ShinigamisDice

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Yeah, don't worry. I mean, there's nothing 'real' that you can do at the end, now. Tell your sister to keep the water dish full and keep us updated. When you have the chance, post other pics.
I've told her to send me more videos and pictures as soon as she returns home. She was briefly able to view my Rosie before leaving again, and apparently she's still on her back, and not moving nearly as much as yesterday. I'll post new images ASAP.

Thanks all for your replies. I'm in a state of panic while trying to keep my head on my shoulders at the same time.
 

ShinigamisDice

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If she can take some longer video, hopefully of it moving from point a to point b, I think it might help...I mean it could be as simple as a stress position...is it being misted or anything? Is the substrate totally dry? I suspect it could be, but people love their misters.
I will post a longer video as soon as my sister comes home. I don't mist her (and I've never told my sister to do the same), and I've always kept the substrate dry too (my sister was told the same too). I was as thorough as possible when giving care directions to my sister, so all that I've done for my Rosie, I've told my sister to emulate as perfectly as she can.
 

cold blood

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Upside down? I missed that, the vid shower her upright. Ts don't just generally flip onto their backs unless theyre molting. Hopefully that's just the case.
 

ShinigamisDice

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Upside down? I missed that, the vid shower her upright. Ts don't just generally flip onto their backs unless theyre molting. Hopefully that's just the case.
Oh, I'm sorry. The video quality isn't the best (the reflection doesn't help either) She has been on her back, though, this whole time. She's possibly due for a molt, but the only thing is, I've never seen her move her legs like that in a molt. She's also stopped eating for several months before a molt, and here, the last time she ate was maybe 3 or 4 days ago. I really hope it's just a molt. A weird molt.
 

BobBarley

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The legs look like they are moving too fast to be a normal molt... I really hope it is tough, good luck!
 

14pokies

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You were told it was eating well....did they tell you what it was eating?

Frankly there isn't enough video to be sure of anything...but it does look similar to poisoning....like it was maybe being fed insects from the yard or something was sprayed in the area.
Lots of Ts flipping on there back like they are molting and end up dying lately.. Fourth one this month.. Very strange..
 

ShinigamisDice

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Here's an update, with new pictures and a longer video.


She appears to be moving less today, and there's a strange white substance where her spinnerets (or her anus?) are. My sister informs me it looks like cotton.
 

Attachments

Sergic

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Could she have fallen? There is very little substrate and the enclosure wall is quite tall. It also looks to me like the disturbed substrate around her could be a mark from her impacting after a fall. Hopefully she's molting, but a fall could explain her being on her back, but appearing injured, rather than molting.
 

ShinigamisDice

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Could she have fallen? There is very little substrate and the enclosure wall is quite tall. It also looks to me like the disturbed substrate around her could be a mark from her impacting after a fall. Hopefully she's molting, but a fall could explain her being on her back, but appearing injured, rather than molting.
She could have fallen, but since my sister found her on her back rather than seeing the actual (maybe) fall, I can't really be so sure. I do agree that there appears to be little substrate. It's not level; there's more on the right than on the left side. I really hope it wasn't a fall.
 

viper69

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I hate to point out the obvious, but if the person who took the picture did so WITHOUT the screen, why didn't they do the SAME thing for the video?? :rolleyes: The glare on the video is terrible, and makes it too difficult to see what's going on.

There's no way to know what's going on with 100% certainty. Her abdomen is quite large, so no dehydration obviously. The sub level is ridiculously non-existent, so an injury due to fall is quite possible, as is a molt from the few bits of info presented.
 

ShinigamisDice

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I hate to point out the obvious, but if the person who took the picture did so WITHOUT the screen, why didn't they do the SAME thing for the video?? :rolleyes: The glare on the video is terrible, and makes it too difficult to see what's going on.

There's no way to know what's going on with 100% certainty. Her abdomen is quite large, so no dehydration obviously. The sub level is ridiculously non-existent, so an injury due to fall is quite possible, as is a molt from the few bits of info presented.
My sister was most likely afraid to drop the phone on top of the spider while taking the video, is my guess. I'm not sure. I'm leaning between a fall and a molt, but I'll give it a few days to see any new developments.

Being that I'm not sure if it's a molt or not, I'm afraid to have anyone try to move her. But if it's a fall, I'd like to try for someone to try and set her upright...my hands are tied right now.
 
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