H. gigas dead, constipated?

TastesLikePanda

Arachnopeon
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Found him in a death curl this morning though I couldnt place my hand on why it would curl up until I inspected it post mortem and found that white spot on abdomen, thoughts?
 

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Smotzer

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If it didn’t have a water dish, dehydration absolutely could have sent it into a death curl. Every living creature needs water to sustain life
 

TastesLikePanda

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The right term would be impacted lol
Fair enough, though didnt think a fall from that height could rupture the abdomen and I cant think of anything else that could do it.

Will add more substrate to the rest of the enclosures just to be on the safe side.

If it didn’t have a water dish, dehydration absolutely could have sent it into a death curl. Every living creature needs water to sustain life
The abdomen is not shriveled and the substrate is far from dry so I ruled that one out, and again mutliple others I keep in the same conditions are doing just fine, so im leaning towards the impacted abdomen
 

Chris LXXIX

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Could be. Could be impaction. But tell me about the ventilation. I believe top one only, judging from the enclosures pics. Which may be ok, if the holes are enough. Just saying, eh.
 

Arachnolove420

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Fair enough, though didnt think a fall from that height could rupture the abdomen and I cant think of anything else that could do it.

Will add more substrate to the rest of the enclosures just to be on the safe side.
I think he meant fecal impaction (the technical term for constipation caused by a blockage of the anus).

That white spot there on the abdomen is a typical sign of fecal impaction and seems the likely immediate cause of death, to me.

There are many theories and hypothesis as to what causes fecal impaction, one of which (I believe) is dehydration. I'm not saying that's what caused it in this case, I honestly don't know what did, but this thread is a good reminder of some of the rarer things seen in keeping Ts that are often overlooked or forgotten about.
 
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TastesLikePanda

Arachnopeon
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Could be. Could be impaction. But tell me about the ventilation. I believe top one only, judging from the enclosures pics. Which may be ok, if the holes are enough. Just saying, eh.
I think thats more than enough, right? Adding holes to the side for burrowers I tend to find a bit counter productive since they tend to be covered up right after rehouse.

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I think he meant fecal impaction (the technical term for constipation caused by a blockage of the anus).

That white spot there on the abdomen is a typical sign of fecal impaction and seems the likely immediate cause of death, to me.

There are many theories and hypothesis as to what causes fecal impaction, one of which (I believe) is dehydration. I'm not saying that's what caused it in this case, I honestly don't know what did, but this thread is a good reminder of some of the rarer things seen in keeping Ts that are often overlooked or forgotten about.
Ah fair enough, never really seen anyone specify why that happens, all I ever seen of it was videos like Dark Dens which made it look like just chunks of food the tarantula couldnt process.

Just to be safe I'll add bottle cap waterdishes to all the rest enclosures as well. Either that or some moist sphagnum if theres not enough ground.
 

Chris LXXIX

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I think thats more than enough, right? Adding holes to the side for burrowers I tend to find a bit counter productive since they tend to be covered up right after rehouse.

View attachment 425529
No, honestly the holes aren't enough for me. I want more ventilation for certain species that needs moist substrate (H. gigas; Ephebopus spp.; 'Haplos' in general etc).

For give the idea, a XL size, KK top ventilation (for juve to adults specimens). Just my views about, I think as well that your loss is due to impaction.
 

Finikan

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I think thats more than enough, right? Adding holes to the side for burrowers I tend to find a bit counter productive since they tend to be covered up right after rehouse.

View attachment 425529
Holes in the top only seem to keep the moisture evaporating too fast for me. But, thats only my experience.
 
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