Death curl or molting?

Brandon Owen

Arachnopeon
Joined
May 10, 2017
Messages
6
Hello everyone. I recently purchased this aphonopelma chalcodes and have only had her for six days now. She has not eaten at all during my care, despite how skinny she looked. She was acting pretty normal just chilling in her hide 90% of the time, but starting mid day yesterday she began to be incredibly active. She must have lapped her tank around 15 times. This morning I woke up to her on her back and thought that she was molting. It has now been nine hours and she has not moved at all. It looks like she is in a death curl to me, but she is somehow on her back. Please help in any way possible, I don't know if I need to set up an ICU or just leave her be. I know she is a desert species and the ICU could cause more harm than good, but I am just not sure. Thanks in advance for any help.
IMG_20170510_100246_258.jpg
 

Ghost56

Arachnobaron
Joined
Aug 28, 2016
Messages
443
Hard to tell, but to me her abdomen looks shriveled. Don't put her in an ICU though, that's a death sentence for arid species. Just drip some water on her fangs, and see if she drinks.

Get us a whole pic of the enclosure too if you can.
 

Charlie69

Arachnosquire
Joined
Oct 1, 2016
Messages
85
I don't have much experience. Hopefully someone answers soon. In the meantime, try put a drop of water in her mouth. If it disappears one more. Also some questions. 1:wildcaught? 2:waterbowl, have you seen her drink? 3: enclosure how high compared to the t? Is it possible she fell on the wood next to her? 4: are you sure she's not moving at all sometimes it can be hard to tell?
 

Brandon Owen

Arachnopeon
Joined
May 10, 2017
Messages
6
I don't have much experience. Hopefully someone answers soon. In the meantime, try put a drop of water in her mouth. If it disappears one more. Also some questions. 1:wildcaught? 2:waterbowl, have you seen her drink? 3: enclosure how high compared to the t? Is it possible she fell on the wood next to her? 4: are you sure she's not moving at all sometimes it can be hard to tell?
He has a bottle cap for her waterbowl, it is pretty small though, and I have not seen her drink once. There is a chance that she fell, but I would say the wood is only about 1.5x her legspan.
 

Brandon Owen

Arachnopeon
Joined
May 10, 2017
Messages
6
Hard to tell, but to me her abdomen looks shriveled. Don't put her in an ICU though, that's a death sentence for arid species. Just drip some water on her fangs, and see if she drinks.
I just dripped some water on her fangs. Here is the whole enclosure, it is definitely a bit larger than it should be, but I was also expecting her to be about an inch larger.

Get us a whole pic of the enclosure too if you can.
 

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KezyGLA

Arachnoking
Joined
Apr 8, 2016
Messages
3,013
Man that doesnt look good.

Its a very unhealthy looking T. To be honest I wouldnt have bought it. Maybe you can show the seller and get your money back. It looks ridicilously dehydrated.
 

Brandon Owen

Arachnopeon
Joined
May 10, 2017
Messages
6
Hard to tell, but to me her abdomen looks shriveled. Don't put her in an ICU though, that's a death sentence for arid species. Just drip some water on her fangs, and see if she drinks.

Get us a whole pic of the enclosure too if you can.
Oh, and the picture of the enclosure is from before I got her. The window behind her has been closed since housing her there.
 

darkness975

Latrodectus
Arachnosupporter +
Joined
Aug 31, 2012
Messages
5,610
There is quite a bit of height from the top of the tank to the substrate. It could have fallen. There are also a lot of Hazards in there. Additionally, the substrate appears to be too moist for an arid species.

There is not much you can do now but if it pulls through that enclosure requires a makeover. Substrate height to the top should not be more than 1.5 times the DLS of the spider. The substrate itself should be dry for this species.
I also do not see where the hide is. It also needs a bigger water bowl, one large enough for it to stick it's face in and drink from.

In terms of the set up, the simpler the better. Substrate, hide, and water dish. No hazards to fall on or scrape it's abdomen over.
 

Brandon Owen

Arachnopeon
Joined
May 10, 2017
Messages
6
There is quite a bit of height from the top of the tank to the substrate. It could have fallen. There are also a lot of Hazards in there. Additionally, the substrate appears to be too moist for an arid species.

There is not much you can do now but if it pulls through that enclosure requires a makeover. Substrate height to the top should not be more than 1.5 times the DLS of the spider. The substrate itself should be dry for this species.
I also do not see where the hide is. It also needs a bigger water bowl, one large enough for it to stick it's face in and drink from.
I will definitely work on the enclosure whether she makes it or not. Like I said the picture is from before I got her and I was just adding the plants. It dried out before I put her in it. The hide is a burrow I made out if excavator clay on the left-ish side.
 

nicodimus22

Arachnomancer
Arachnosupporter
Joined
Sep 26, 2013
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715
What the others said...drip water in its mouth ASAP. It might not be too late to save it.
 

Brandon Owen

Arachnopeon
Joined
May 10, 2017
Messages
6
UPDATE: It has now marked a little over a fool day since first discovering her like this. The water that I have been dripping into her fangs does not seem to have been drunk at all. She still has not moved at all. I flipped her over, and there was still no movement. I will probably still drip water into her mouth for today out of hope, but I do not believe that she made it. Thanks for the help and advice.
 

KezyGLA

Arachnoking
Joined
Apr 8, 2016
Messages
3,013
My condolences to you. Sorry for your loss. :(

If I were you I would try to get refund. If you only had it six days then it was extremely unhealthy when sold to you.
 
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