d@mn crickets!!!

[kellygirl]

got up this morning to find 5 of my tarantulas molted--2 b. albopilosum, 2 l. difficilis, and 1 e. campestratus. unfortunately, i fed my tarantulas last night before i went to bed...

with the curlies, i was fine because i had been expecting molts with these 2 and so i didnt leave any live food in with them.

my PZBs are very small so i've just been crushing small crickets and putting them in the vials, so no danger there.

but one of my fieries was not so lucky. one l.dificilis made it fine and molted successfully--i found a dead but uneaten cricket in with him.

my other, however, was dead when i found him. he must have molted early and quickly in the night because by the time i found him, there was an oozy gash on his carapace and 4 of his legs had been gnawed off. it was just terrible to come in and find that. i'm seriously about to cry.........

i had not been suspecting a molt from these guys so i didnt know not to leave a cricket in with them. now i'm afraid to feed them... but i cant just not feed my tarantulas live food. what do i do to prevent this from happening again?

kellygirl

 

[Doug H]

sorry to hear your loss.with my t's most of which are slings as soon as one does not eat I suspect a oncoming molt and dont feed untill they do . however there have been times when I have messed up:8o I lost a L.difficilis during a molt because his vile was to dry:8o .and so now I check all my t's viles and enclosers every day. I just learn from my mistakes. but it also makes me think ,I'm glad I'm not kept in a cage by some giant that has a memory like mine sometimes.

 

[Atlanta Native]

Kelly,
I sent you a PM.

 

[MrT]

Man Kelly that really sucks. I guess I've just been lucky so far, cause I've had a few molts with crics in the cage. I've got to be more careful.
On a side note, my L. difficilis died last week from unknown causes.

Ernie

 

[conipto]

Hey Kelly,

I know I usually am a bit of a prick when I reply to your posts, but this time I can say I know how you feel, and that I'm sorry for your loss. I recently had my little half inch H. lividum meet the same fate, and from others advice, will only be feeding pre-killed crickets to my slings from now on. Glad none of your others had mishaps.

Bill

 

[Immortal_sin]

sorry to hear that....
I have not had it happen (knock on wood)
I don't use crickets at all anymore, but I do use mini mealworms, and I'm assuming it could happen with them also.
Other than that, I always use cut up or pre killed prey with slings...I have so many, I just can't keep track of when they are going to molt...

 

[Devildoll]

so sorry kelly!
thats awful...

i guess i've been pretty lucky too...... cause i know there have been tricky crickets i couldn't get out of cages durring molts....

i'll have to be much more carefull...

 

[kellygirl]

thank you so much for your sympathies everyone! yall made me choke up. yeah.... it sucks. thanks for all the advice. i've also heard about using bits of meat before but i dont know much about that... any experience there?

on a happy note, i've got a b. angustum that is just finishing up what looks to be a successful molt. on another happy note, i got my a.avic slings from amanda gollaway today and all were happy and healthy. they are sooooooo cute! they prance around with their little legs up in the air. and oh my goodness do they ever look like my GBB slings! the only real noticeable difference is the way they walk.

thanks again everyone. this hobby is a learning experience every day... even though sometimes it jerks at the emotions.

kellygirl