Do they always die in the "death curl"

[msfairydust]

I was talking to a friend of mine about my recent tarantula death and she started freaking me out saying that tarantulas never die on their backs and unless she was rightside up in a death curl she wasn't dead when I took her out of her tank.

I waited over 3 days and she hadn't moved, kept one leg up, and was completely lifeless. I have her in a baggie now (plan on burying her at my parents' house this weekend) and she still isn't in the "death curl". Her legs are exactly as they were.

Please tell me some of you have experienced your tarantulas dying during molting without the death curl because now I'm really freaking out...did I panic too soon?

Thanks
Madeline

 

[stubby8th]

You know, this was the strangest deal - I had a 3" Grammostola aureostriata
that rarely moved from her favorite spot in her enclosure, on a piece of cork bark. I noticed after a while that she wasn't eating, and a while later, wasn't moving. I nudged her and she flopped off her bark, stone cold. Not shure how long she had been dead, but was not in the death-curl. I kept her for a few days after that (just to be positive).

 

[Dr Pies]

Hi Madeline,
Not all tarantulas curl their legs up when they die, some die in a normal pose.
After 3 days on its back, its pretty certain your spider is dead, so no more panic! Tarantulas frequently die on their backs, so where your friend got that info from...

 

[Windchaser]

I have also seen tarantulas dead in a normal relaxed position. A local PetCo had a G. rosea that had died and was sitting in the cage for several days like that. I will admit, this particular store does a decent job of caring for their tarantulas. So, since it was in a normal position, they probably didn't suspect anything. I only noticed because it was in the same position for several days.

 

[msfairydust]

Thank you so much for your replies. I've felt nauseous all morning thinking I took her out too soon. I can't tell you how relieved I am feeling right now. It's sad when you experience a loss, but to think you might have "killed" it makes things extremely worse.

Thank you again
Madeline

 

[arachnoking1234]

my h.lividum didn't

 

[king7]

is the death curl caused by loss of pressure when they die,causing the legs to retract? if they are not in the curl could it be the legs are being stopped from retracting by something,eg bark?

or something along those lines :?

 

[msfairydust]

This is how she explained it to me and why I was so upset:

Maddi,

I have no idea what might've happened, but I can guess it was probably parasites or some sort of bug that got into the tank. Spiders don't 'bleed' to death because they have 'valves' and different mechanisms to cut the 'blood' flow (and Im not even sure it is even called blood). The weird thing is that spider legs work in a totally different way than any other legs. Their relaxed position is bent (really curled up) and they stretch their legs with water pressure. When a spider is about to molt that's when the water pressure is at highest and that's why their legs are totally stretched out. When the spider dies, it loses control of water pressure, therefore the legs curl up and it looks like a little ball. No spider with legs stretched out should be dead

 

[becca81]

She hasn't got all of her facts straight.

First off, it isn't "water pressure" - it's pressure from the hemolymph ("blood").

Here's another thread about it:
Meaning of a Death Curl

If the spider dies during the molt - it will most likely still be on its back with its legs not curled (as they are stuck in the old exuvium).