G. Pulchra (3cm Body length) death - please help

[Sandville]

Dear fellow tarantula enthusiasts,

I've been keeping the g pulchra for quite a while, bought it as a spiderling.

1-2 days after it molted in its burrow, it curled up and died.

My enclosure is a 50x30cm, so it had enough space. Kept on a mix of coco coir and terrarium soil that I bought from a shop (bioactive setup with springtails and isopods).

Added springtails,moss, a water dish that was always filled, as well as multiple places to hide (cork bark, twigs, leaves, ..)

I had, just on the side of ONE corner, a just-above-luke-warm heating mat, because my room is slightly below typical "room temperature".

The tarantula dug down and stayed in the burrow for almost 2 months. I always filled the water dish and overflowed it (it was on the other side of the enclosure) and to make sure she has enough moisture, I misted the soil above where she burrowed.

Her abdomen was NOT wrinkled when I dug her up, the water dish on the top was always full, what could I have done wrong?

Like I said, the heating mat was just above luke warm, only on the side of ONE corner (thats where she burrowed down).



A friend of mine who kept more than 200 tarantulas and bred them said my husbandry was spot on and there's nothing I could have done better, but I want to make sure I can learn from this incident.

What do you think?

Thank you,
Sandville

 

[viper69]

Hard to say- could have been that mat, could have been the air in the setup due to misting

 

[Sandville]

Thanks for your reply, I just misted the soil above her maybe once a week. Is it possible that she didn't get out of the burrow? she burrowed deep, the soil was dry when I pulled her out. Really sad about this, I liked her a lot - she was the gentle, loving introduction to spiders for my kids who were really scared before that.

Would like to do everything to avoid a tarantula death in the future.

 

[Arachnophobphile]

Dear fellow tarantula enthusiasts,

I've been keeping the g pulchra for quite a while, bought it as a spiderling.

1-2 days after it molted in its burrow, it curled up and died.

My enclosure is a 50x30cm, so it had enough space. Kept on a mix of coco coir and terrarium soil that I bought from a shop (bioactive setup with springtails and isopods).

Added springtails,moss, a water dish that was always filled, as well as multiple places to hide (cork bark, twigs, leaves, ..)

I had, just on the side of ONE corner, a just-above-luke-warm heating mat, because my room is slightly below typical "room temperature".

The tarantula dug down and stayed in the burrow for almost 2 months. I always filled the water dish and overflowed it (it was on the other side of the enclosure) and to make sure she has enough moisture, I misted the soil above where she burrowed.

Her abdomen was NOT wrinkled when I dug her up, the water dish on the top was always full, what could I have done wrong?

Like I said, the heating mat was just above luke warm, only on the side of ONE corner (thats where she burrowed down).



A friend of mine who kept more than 200 tarantulas and bred them said my husbandry was spot on and there's nothing I could have done better, but I want to make sure I can learn from this incident.

What do you think?

Thank you,
Sandville

Contrary to new keeper's belief not all slings survive.

Providing the best and correct husbandry is all we as keepers can do. Even then a keeper can have an unexpected sling death.

There are obvious reasons some are desiccation, (dehydration), parasites and/or keeper mistakes. Then there is mysterious reasons when the obvious ones cannot be accounted for.

Some of my reasons IMO that result in unexplained sling deaths.

1. Severe inbreeding - Not just the parents are sacmates but generational inbreeding. Regardless of claims I've heard by some breeders that it causes no harm I'm yet to read any scientific documentation that claims that.

2. Saving every sling from a sac - Most breeders practice this as it's more possible money. Some breeders allow nature to take it's course by waiting extra time for cannibalism to happen. Removing the slings still alive afterwards. This is what happens in nature and only the strongest survives. One could say better genetics or just a better chance at surviving their environment in the wild. Saving every sling is just stringing along some slings from that sac that would otherwise not survive.

I know in Europe that keepers use heat mats and have a method of using them. I say it's BS as tarantulas are extremely adaptable to temperature variations. We have tarantulas thriving through harsh winters in Northern Utah and Colorado to extreme high temperatures and dry conditions in the desert. There are tarantulas living high up in the Andes mountains. Keepers get over protective with temperatures.

In captivity we want to provide the best living conditions for them. Not letting our tarantulas endure temps starting under 69F year round is common practice and recommended.

Another thing is most keepers do not have a microscope. If every keeper did then we could rule out certain factors like nematodes for example.

I've experienced losing multiple slings from one breeder after receiving them that it's more than coincidence. Out of eight I have two that survived and I can tell you one death I could attribute to desiccation but the rest no clue.

So, all I can say with yours is what @viper69 already told you. Could one of the factors I mention be the culprit? Could be but no way to know that.

I am sorry for your loss as it does suck. All I can say as someone who went through it too is go ahead and grieve then pick yourself back up. Get more slings and do more research. Try a different method for temperatures that doesn't involve placing a heat mat directly on the T's enclosure. Whatever you do don't throw in the towel.

Best wishes for you.

 

[viper69]

Thanks for your reply, I just misted the soil above her maybe once a week. Is it possible that she didn't get out of the burrow? she burrowed deep, the soil was dry when I pulled her out. Really sad about this, I liked her a lot - she was the gentle, loving introduction to spiders for my kids who were really scared before that.

Would like to do everything to avoid a tarantula death in the future.

I don't think misting was the issue, but again who knows what the air was like in there. Dry soil- unlikely then

 

[Gevo]

I'm sorry for your loss. As said, sometimes these things happen, especially with slings. Since this happened shortly after a molt, it could have been that it was a bad molt or there was something wrong with the spider that was out of your control. Molting is a dangerous time for them, and there's lots that can go wrong.

If you decide to get another, one thing to consider (though I'd like to emphasize first that this is probably not the cause of death here!) is that it sounds like your enclosure is quite large for a spider of that size. If it's about 3cm in body length, that's maybe what--5 or 6 cm in diagonal legspan? And the enclosure was 50cm by 30cm. Slings in particular should be kept in enclosures that are just a few times longer and wider than their diagonal legspan, so in this case, an enclosure that's 15-25cm in length and width would have been plenty big. That makes it easier for them to find their food and access their water and everything without having to wander too far from the safety of their hide, and it makes it easier for you to keep tabs on them and spot any issues that might need attention.

 

[IntermittentSygnal]

I’m very sorry for your loss.
You said there were isopods and she just molted. Were there any “chew” marks on her?

 

[Wolfram1]

do you have any pictures?
it doesn't sound like you did anything wrong, but someone may spot something that can't be gleaned from an explanation.

i do have one spiderling that doesn't quite behave right, not sure if it will survive to adulthood despite receving the same care others do that are just fine
not all are born equal and sadly some organisms just stop working for various reasons.

i would have likely kept her on the moister side, but thats neither here nor there as i don't own this species and people that do agree its generally fine
personally i really like the way @Dorifto keeps his

If you decide to get another, one thing to consider (though I'd like to emphasize first that this is probably not the cause of death here!) is that it sounds like your enclosure is quite large for a spider of that size. If it's about 3cm in body length, that's maybe what--5 or 6 cm in diagonal legspan? And the enclosure was 50cm by 30cm. Slings in particular should be kept in enclosures that are just a few times longer and wider than their diagonal legspan, so in this case, an enclosure that's 15-25cm in length and width would have been plenty big. That makes it easier for them to find their food and access their water and everything without having to wander too far from the safety of their hide, and it makes it easier for you to keep tabs on them and spot any issues that might need attention.

i agree, there also could have been a fall, internal injuries are rarly visible.

You said there were isopods and she just molted. Were there any “chew” marks on her?

true, some isopod species are quite voracious and will attack living roaches after a molt
'dwarf whites' are fine usually, but if you had another species in there they might not be so harmless

a shame

 

[Sandville]

A heartfelt thank you to all of you! I learned a lot in this thread.

Apparently I did all I could and nature had other plans with the sling.

The sling didn't have any bite marks or any other injury.

It's a relief to know, that I didn't cause the death of the lil Pulchra.

Will order another one and hope for better luck this time.