H. mac found upside down in water dish

dopamine

Arachnobaron
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Hi all. Well, this morning i came home to find my H. mac sling upside down in it's water dish :(
I immediately assumed it was dead (even knowing that tarantulas never die upside down). I pick up the water dish and it moves a little then flips right side up. So i pour out the rest of the water and it's kind of just sitting in there now. I'm worried i interupted it's long awaited molt so i put it in one of my drawers where it's dark in hopes that it'll finish doing what it's gotta do.
Has this happened to anyone else? Do tarantulas sometimes molt in water? lol


**edit The picture i provided was taken after i emptied the dish and he/she flipped back over.
 

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dopamine

Arachnobaron
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May have just fallen. Never heard of molting in water, may be something else :) Hope it pulls through
Thanks for the reply and well wishes, i'm not sure this is the case though as it's never left it's piece of cork and has been in what i assumed was premolt for the last 2 weeks or so. The spider appeared to be preparing to molt on the surface of the water. I'm baffled.
 

basin79

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You're using that bottle cap as a water dish? It's far too big.

Hope the little rascal is OK.
 

dopamine

Arachnobaron
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You're using that bottle cap as a water dish? It's far too big.

Hope the little rascal is OK.
Thanks, you might be right especially with these vials being so narrow. I use bottle caps with my terrestrial/burrowing slings and they work just fine. I'll take it out until a rehouse.
 

Marijan2

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Ah, the joys of keeping H. mac slings. You can do everything perfect and they still do something stupid and end up killing themselves. Hope the little guy is fine, all the luck he makes it!
 

dopamine

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Ah, the joys of keeping H. mac slings. You can do everything perfect and they still do something stupid and end up killing themselves. Hope the little guy is fine, all the luck he makes it!
Thanks! I couldn't believe it was still alive, it was really bizarre. Fingers crossed it tries again.
 

EulersK

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Yeah, these things are stupidly fragile. They seem to be pretty bullet proof after about 2", though. Keep us updated, yeah?
 

cold blood

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You're using that bottle cap as a water dish? It's far too big.

Hope the little rascal is OK.
I disagree, that cap is just fine. If the housing allows for it, it should be there IMO.

Ah, the joys of keeping H. mac slings. You can do everything perfect and they still do something stupid and end up killing themselves. Hope the little guy is fine, all the luck he makes it!
Yeah, these things are stupidly fragile. They seem to be pretty bullet proof after about 2", though. Keep us updated, yeah?
Oh, I agree with y'all. As slings, these things are, or can be, quite the pain in the you know what. I've actually had my best luck (and its how I raise them now), keeping them dry...when I raised them on damp sub, they were far more prone to dying. Same for vials, I would never again try to raise an H. mac in a vial.

But yes, once they get a little size, they are pretty darn hardy.
 

EulersK

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Oh, I agree with y'all. As slings, these things are, or can be, quite the pain in the you know what. I've actually had my best luck (and its how I raise them now), keeping them dry...when I raised them on damp sub, they were far more prone to dying. Same for vials, I would never again try to raise an H. mac in a vial.

But yes, once they get a little size, they are pretty darn hardy.
Do you keep yours bone dry with a water dish? I can't have a water dish with mine (he webs it up almost immediately every time), so I've had to resort to misting and frequent feedings to keep hydration up. Unfortunately, misting obviously bumps the humidity for a time, and he clearly does not like that.
 

basin79

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What makes you think that, just curious?
It's massive compared to the T and is taking up about 2/3rds of the floor.

A sling is a more fragile miniature of it's parents. So just scale everything down from how you keep adults.
 

viper69

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It's massive compared to the T and is taking up about 2/3rds of the floor.

A sling is a more fragile miniature of it's parents. So just scale everything down from how you keep adults.
I do scale down myself. I thought you were referencing drowning or something I hadn't heard yet.
 

viper69

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Well of course that could happen. Give a sling enough rope and they will hang themselves from time to time.
I haven't had drowning happen, I've seen them float, similar to a water strider. The coolest I have seen is watching an Avic swim in a river in the wild.
 

basin79

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I haven't had drowning happen, I've seen them float, similar to a water strider. The coolest I have seen is watching an Avic swim in a river in the wild.
The thing with slings in the wild is that only the strong/lucky survive. In a captive setting even weak slings get a good go of it. No predators, food easy to come by. Still doesn't mean they're necessary strong enough at that point and could and do indeed drown in their water dishes.

To me it just makes sense to minimise any potential problems.

I personally don't use water dishes to slings.
 

viper69

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The thing with slings in the wild is that only the strong/lucky survive. In a captive setting even weak slings get a good go of it. No predators, food easy to come by. Still doesn't mean they're necessary strong enough at that point and could and do indeed drown in their water dishes.

To me it just makes sense to minimise any potential problems.

I personally don't use water dishes to slings.
I hear ya on the weak in captivity. I've certainly had a few that didn't survive, we all have I'm sure. I know some people that don't use dishes for slings. I always do for that just in case moment they need to pump up their BP. Once Ts hit 2" IME, even a fat looking T may drink. I assume the same is true for smaller ones too.
 

basin79

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I hear ya on the weak in captivity. I've certainly had a few that didn't survive, we all have I'm sure. I know some people that don't use dishes for slings. I always do for that just in case moment they need to pump up their BP. Once Ts hit 2" IME, even a fat looking T may drink. I assume the same is true for smaller ones too.
I just make sure there are some drops of water on the sides. I suppose it depends on just how you feel regarding water dishes. I dare say hundreds of thousands of slings have been successfully raised with and without them.
 

dopamine

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It's going back in as soon as i rehouse it, assuming the spider doesn't die lol. I've never had any problems with bottle caps, no matter the sling size.
 
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