Dying or Trying to Molt?

[Vanna]

So about a week ago, my boyfriend and I had gone out of town and his parents (who aren't educated in caring for a t) flea bombed our house and we didn't find out about it until after it had happened. Since we have been back, for the last week, our t has been doing what appears to be the death curl, but is still very much alive. Just highly uncoordinated and continuously curling in on himself.

At the same time though, he is obviously in preparation to molt as well: swollen, hair loss, refusal to eat, and obvious leg movements (from studying videos). But he has yet to break his carapace or flip over on his back.

So far I have worked on increasing the humidity in his tank, as well as fix him up in an icu, but there has been no change other than slightly increased movements. Only thing that worries me though is how much his legs keep curling in on themselves underneath him, but he keeps moving around fine, just almost as if his body is too heavy to completely elevate himself normally to move.

Any other ideas of what I can do to help him? Or should I just keep the humidity up and continue with our waiting game?

 

[Ellenantula]

Not sure there is anything you can do but wait it out. I assume you already aired out your house. And if due to moult... I honestly don't know if an enclosure change would reduce toxins or not and it sounds like the T is already pretty stressed -- maybe someone else will weigh in. Such a shame about the flea bomb.

 

[CWilson1351]

Idk a lot about how to tell the difference between the "death curl" and pre-molt however. But if the more experienced keepers can see what he looks like, they might be able to help. If possible post a few pictures?

 

[Vanna]

Good idea, here are some pics of how he currently looks. Like I said, I'm working on keeping the humidity up for him. He moves around, but like his body is very heavy and when he stays still, his legs curl and sometimes to the point his feet are pointing upwards like that one leg is below.

On another note, I have no idea how old this guy is either. All i know is he is an Arkansas Chocolate. We've had him a year and caught him in my yard while doing some yard work during the winter. For him, it was either pick him up, or let him freeze since we had moved his house across my yard. Last year when he molted about this time, all he did was sit in the corner of his tank curled up similar to this, but not as bad.

Hopefully these help for those more experienced with these guys.

 

[Venom1080]

looks like its dying to me. and get it out of that icu, they do more harm than good for arid species.

 

[14pokies]

It's suffering the effects of the poison. Your T is no where near a molt the skin on abdomen would be much darker than what it is..

All you can do Is wait and see if he recovers. The chemicals from the flea bomb have surely permeated the substrate and the decorations etc. .. Throw out everything in it's enclosure and scrub the enclosure and lid with very hot water. Put in fresh dry eco earth and new water dish.

 

[G. pulchra]

It's suffering the effects of the poison. Your T is no where near a molt the skin on abdomen would be much darker than what it is..

All you can do Is wait and see if he recovers. The chemicals from the flea bomb have surely permeated the substrate and the decorations etc. .. Throw out everything in it's enclosure and scrub the enclosure and lid with very hot water. Put in fresh dry eco earth and new water dish.

This....

 

[14pokies]

Double posted some how. But since I'm back ICUs kill arid species as Venom stated.. Clean your Ts cage and get it back in it. Your not dealing with dehydration your dealing with poisoning.. You and your T are helpless in a situation like this.. Either it will survive or it won't.. Good luck..

 

[Rittdk01]

Looks like the flea bomb poisoned your friend. Keep a water dish in there, put him in a dark spot and hope for the best. That's a cute bugger, I hope he makes it.

 

[Vanna]

man that makes me even more worried....alright, I will definitely get to work on that tonight or tomorrow when I can. I did take him out of the icu earlier cause he had been there a couple of days. Should I put him in another icu until I can redo his tank?

 

[14pokies]

Should I put him in another icu until I can redo his tank?

Not an Icu but you can house him in a plastic bin with dry paper towels( if you don't have clean dry eco earth on hand right now) and a water dish as long as the bin has plenty of ventilation.

 

[Vanna]

Alright, well thank you guys. I'll try this out and see how he does. Man, he is not happy about getting moved around though. From what I've read about bug bombs, I'm surprised he's made it a week past the bombing.

 

[G. pulchra]

I also hope that you educate anyone who ever watches your house when your gone to never use pesticides.

 

[Vanna]

Oh I will, especially after this. Not like they did any good anyways. All five dogs still have fleas...

 

[Ellenantula]

It's suffering the effects of the poison. Your T is no where near a molt the skin on abdomen would be much darker than what it is..

All you can do Is wait and see if he recovers. The chemicals from the flea bomb have surely permeated the substrate and the decorations etc. .. Throw out everything in it's enclosure and scrub the enclosure and lid with very hot water. Put in fresh dry eco earth and new water dish.

Yeah -- that was my concern -- a stressed T doesn't need a toxic enclosure but a stressed T also doesn't need more stress with rehousing. Poor T. Hope it can pull through.

 

[Ellenantula]

man that makes me even more worried....alright, I will definitely get to work on that tonight or tomorrow when I can. I did take him out of the icu earlier cause he had been there a couple of days. Should I put him in another icu until I can redo his tank?

You probably helped some just getting him out of his toxic tank. I am not into ICUs; even for a dehydrated T -- I would add moisture in existing tank. In your case, while ICU wasn't best treatment option -- it did give him a break from the poisons. Hope he makes it.

 

[Vanna]

Alright, his tank has been thoroughly cleaned, twice, and he has been moved to a dry tub with towels. Moving him though he got very active trying to stay inside his tank (good sign hopefully?). New dirt and logs will be obtained tomorrow since it's late right now. With the way he's resting at the moment, he's not curled in as much. Just his legs do look a little weak.

 

[Vanna]

Here's how he looks at other times when he's not curled in. Other times he has been spread out normal, just not elevated and his feet were pretty spindly still. When i first had him in the ICU though, he was a lot more active than when i found him curled up in the tank. Fingers crossed. I'll give another update if anything changes.

 

[CWilson1351]

I also hope that you educate anyone who ever watches your house when your gone to never use pesticides.

Oh I will, especially after this. Not like they did any good anyways. All five dogs still have fleas...

See, this upsets me on so many levels... I have a license to use pesticides and see idiots that ignore the warnings I am mandated (I would anyway just being me) to post. If I had a nickel for every person I've yelled at or told to keep ANY animals away from the areas I service...
That being said, I personally have 7 tarantulas along with 5 reptiles and scrub myself nearly raw in the shower every evening before even going near my animals or their feeder insects.

 

[Ellenantula]

Moving him though he got very active trying to stay inside his tank (good sign hopefully?).

You're doing all you can.
The T moving could be anything from recovering a little or using his last bit energy to not appear 'weak' to a predator.
It's a waiting game.
I am going to try to be optimistic for you in spite of the low odds since he moved a bit on his own.