Goliaths appear in bad shape :/

[LadyVenom]

So I went away for 10 days to Florida and I left one of my best friends watching my pets. Now she is great with arachnids especially so this situation is really confusing to me. When I left I put rat fuzzies in both of my Goliath Birdeater's cages, and my bigger female, Shilo, killed hers but didn't eat it, and my smaller female, Mag, just ignored hers. They had each eaten a mouse hopper about a week earlier so I wasn't all that surprised, so I just got rid of their meals, sprayed them down and left. My friend was coming every other day to do spray-downs of my animals and she said everyone looked fine except for my sister's frog, which passed away, but we believe that was because it may have been WC. But back to the tarantulas. So I get back on Wednesday and Shilo is up and moving, but very slowly, and Mag is laying on the ground, belly down, but with her legs not flipped under her. At first I thought, well, she is just doing one of those messed up reverted molts, so I left her. My friend said that on Monday she sprayed her and all, and that she was moving slow, but definitely moving. Well, yesterday (Thursday) morning, I wake up and Shilo is in the same exact position. They were both kept wet, even though they live in different rooms. They are kept at about 80 degrees ambient. Now I have never owned a Goliath before, so I don't know if it is common for them to do reverse molts, or if they have longer molt times than normal, but Mag hasn't moved and it is now Friday, and I know molts are normally only a 24 hour or less process. So now I am very nervous. Their legs are out to the sides, with their lower portions of the legs only tucked under slightly. They are definitely not moving, and don't respond to being sprayed.

Now I would hate them to be dead, especially both of them, but I need to know what you guys think, because I would hate to make a mistake, throw out the "corpse" and find out they were just having long molts. So for you guys who are more knowledgeable on this, help would be great. I just find it so odd that all of my other tarantulas are fine and well, but these two, who live in different rooms, are both in the same situation.

Thanks for any help you guys have.

 

[moose35]

this may sound crude but leave them alone till they smell.

if they start to stink they are dead.

hope thay are doing ok...but it dosen't sound well.

are you sure your friend was coming to take care of everything?
did it get really hot inside for some reason?(power failure?)

dunno just trying to find some clues


moose

 

[LadyVenom]

Well they do not stink at all. Which is another thing that gave me hope. And my big girl Shilo has at least a 7 inch legspan, so she's not a small animal.

I am definitely sure my friend was there. I have over 50 reptiles and all of them are fine, fed, and were well taken care of. She's also not the kind of person who would screw me over.

We're all quite stumped about this.

 

[robc]

I believe it may have been the mice, it is odd that both of tghe T's that are doing bad both had a mouse in the enclosure....where did you get the mice, what were they fed??? Some pet stores use chemicals on mice......I would say the mice caused it if i had to guess!!

 

[-Sarah-]

Mice cause a lot of problems for tarantulas like Rob said! Some pet stores actually will use flea powder on their mice in order to control pests, and that's the worst thing for your tarantula as it could and most likely would kill it. Also, tarantulas don't do well at all with that much calcium in their diet, especially T. blondi.

I sure hope your tarantulas are doing better! Please keep us posted on their condition. Just make sure that they've got full clean water bowls and that they're misted.

One more thing you might want to look into, B. dubia roaches. Our T. blondi absolutely LOVES roaches and goes nuts over them! Even the 1/4" C. fasciatum slings we have are on baby B. dubia roaches now. They're so much better for your T's, although I will say some tarantulas that feel the need to be picky will take a few days to adjust to the change of having a new alien food source being thrown at them

 

[revoltkid]

yeah, it must of been the mice. stay away from mice, they cant cause many different problems. i dont even use petstore mice for my snakes anymore. well, now their both on f/t, but before that, i stopped buying from the pet store lol

 

[Bill S]

In addition to flea powders used on pet shop mice, some pet stores use cedar bedding for their mice. It smells good and keeps the mite problem down. But the aromatic oils in cedar can kill invertebrates (and even some vertebrates). You didn't mention where you got your mice/rat fuzzies or how they were kept prior to offering them for food, but they could be an issue here.

Other factors could be temperature extremes, humidity issues, a recent change in substrates, exposure to airborne insecticides, etc.

How long have you had these spiders? What conditions are you keeping them in?

 

[LadyVenom]

Thanks for the advice, guys. I got the mice from a reputable reptile store nearby, and my snakes eat the same mice weekly. I do actually breed B. dubia for my bearded dragons, tegus, and other lizards. So far, no movement in either of them. They seem almost dead, but don't smell at all. It's really scary. If I get movement in either of them I will let you guys know. And I will feed roaches from now on!

 

[LadyVenom]

How long have you had these spiders? What conditions are you keeping them in?

I have only had these guys about 3 weeks. I got them at the same store that sells me the mice, and the store gets them from the most reputable tarantula breeder in our area. Both of them had been at the store for about a month before I bought them (I needed to save up the money), and both are fairly large females. At the store they fed them the mice. I keep them on Zilla's peat moss blend, which is what I keep all my tarantulas on. They are both in 15 gallon long tanks, with a heat pad that gets up to about 85 degrees, and one is in a room that is ambient of 80 degrees, the other, I'd say the room is normally around 65 degrees (it's my sister's tarantula and she keeps it cold, but the tarantula is as far away from the AC as possible and has a larger heatpad). They both have shallow water bowls that are changed daily and I spray them down twice a day with one of those pump sprayers, so they stay pretty wet.

Thanks!

 

[vvx]

I have only had these guys about 3 weeks. I got them at the same store that sells me the mice, and the store gets them from the most reputable tarantula breeder in our area. Both of them had been at the store for about a month before I bought them (I needed to save up the money), and both are fairly large females.

It probably doesn't matter, but adult female T. blondi's just don't come from breeders. That's one of the species that if you're buying at that size, it's wild caught.

 

[Ts are #1]

I have only had these guys about 3 weeks. I got them at the same store that sells me the mice, and the store gets them from the most reputable tarantula breeder in our area. Both of them had been at the store for about a month before I bought them (I needed to save up the money), and both are fairly large females. At the store they fed them the mice. I keep them on Zilla's peat moss blend, which is what I keep all my tarantulas on. They are both in 15 gallon long tanks, with a heat pad that gets up to about 85 degrees, and one is in a room that is ambient of 80 degrees, the other, I'd say the room is normally around 65 degrees (it's my sister's tarantula and she keeps it cold, but the tarantula is as far away from the AC as possible and has a larger heatpad). They both have shallow water bowls that are changed daily and I spray them down twice a day with one of those pump sprayers, so they stay pretty wet.

Thanks!

Agreed vvx a blondi that size just doesn't come from a breeder it has to be wild caught and if the lp you bought these guys from feed them mice for every feeding the two blondis may be dying from to much calcium. Are they both going into curl at all? Also tell your sister that at least 70 degrees wouldn't be bad.

 

[Bill S]

LadyVenom, it sounds like you are doing everything well - with the exception of the steady diet of small mammals. The temps and conditions you describe are otherwise good. If the store you bought the tarantulas from told you they came from a reliable breeder, I'd question how reliable the store is. And if they had been feeding them for a long time on mice, I'd take that as a warning sign as well.

You'll find the whole issue of feeding mammals to spiders somewhat controversial, with a wide range of opinions on the subject. But I think you'll find most people advising against a steady diet of mammals.

Some animals have a hard time with suddenly changing cage conditions, and animals suffering from poor diet could have a worse time with changes/stress. I can't say that this is what happened in your case, but it's another thing to consider, since you've had them such a short time.

Additional thought - Any sign of any parasites, such as nematodes? Not all pet shops are careful about cleaning cages between occupants, or even give basic hygiene of their cages much thought. Nothing you've described would make me immediately think of parasites, but with no obvious answers it's worth considering.

 

[ZergFront]

They are both in 15 gallon long tanks, with a heat pad that gets up to about 85 degrees, and one is in a room that is ambient of 80 degrees, the other, I'd say the room is normally around 65 degrees (it's my sister's tarantula and she keeps it cold, but the tarantula is as far away from the AC as possible and has a larger heatpad).

Where is the heat pad exactly with the cages? I've read about hot spots developing from them. Any input on heat pads for blondi?

I'm just throwing pennies out there.

 

[LadyVenom]

The store didn't tell me that these guys came from a reputable breeder, I KNOW they did. The breeder is actually an acquaintance of mine, and when I asked if the tarantulas were wild caught they said "no, they were bred by Tom." I actually knew Tom before I knew the store, when he owned the section of the back of another petstore and bred tarantulas there. So they are definitely not wild caught.

Second, I have not seen any parasites in the cage, I did check. I always look for that kind of stuff when something happens with my animals.

Their legs are not curling under, but still no movement... or smell.

The heat pads are all the way at one end of the cage, so they have at least 1/3 of cage that is not heated by the heat pad at all.

 

[Roski]

:? Are they dehydrated? How do their abdomens look?

 

[LadyVenom]

:? Are they dehydrated? How do their abdomens look?

The larger girl's abdomen looks perfectly normal, actually pretty large if you ask me. The smaller girl's is a little small, but definitely not small enough to be a worry.

 

[Pacmaster]

Im sorry, but there is no way somebody sold you their CB adult female T blondis.
It doesnt matter what the guy told you, everybody knows it- theyre WC.

So take a probably stressed WC female T blondi, and put it in a pet shop, feed it nothing but mice, then bring them home and put them in 15g tanks(way too small for a blondi, 20L at least), then feed them more mice and leave them in the care of someone even less experienced than you . . . and wonder why they are dying :?

Big WC female blondies are a sensitive creature at the best of times, and in the care of someone less experienced in their specific care, they dont do well.
Even seemingly healthy ones can and will take a major turn for the worst at the slightest oppurtunity.

I have heard of more dying than living.

Im not saying you didnt take care of them, it just is what it is . . .

And I dont see anything wrong with gently prodding them to see if they move at all, its been days right?
A gentle push with an appropriate tool is not gonna make things worse at this point . . .

 

[moose35]

Im sorry, but there is no way somebody sold you their CB adult female T blondis.
It doesnt matter what the guy told you, everybody knows it- theyre WC.

.

she might have gotten them from philth...
who is a member and bred blondi before

so it could be likely...

moose

 

[Pacmaster]

she might have gotten them from philth...
who is a member and bred blondi before

so it could be likely...

moose

Likely, or possible . . . ?

Ill give you its POSSIBLE, but not very likely.
How many CB compared to WC blondies are available?

But just look at the whole story here, it just screams WC.
Why would there be CB(captive bred) blondies in a LPS?
Roughly 2 months after the known history of the Ts, they are dying- does that sound like CB?

Not very likely . . .

The bottom line is that she can find out very easily if they are even still alive and worth trying to save.
Or, she can just let them sit there until they do die(if they are even still alive now).

 

[vvx]

CB or not, at this point it doesn't really matter. The necessary care at this moment is the same either way.