Help! Chilean rose appears to be dying

Alicedarling

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My son recently got a 3yr old female Chilean rose from the pet store and about a month after we got her she moulted. Three weeks after her moult, she ate her first cricket since we had got her and we were overjoyed as had been worried. Over the next 2 months she ate about 5 more crickets.
Then she stopped eating them. That was about 6-8 weeks ago. However, she has been enjoying her hide, and walking around her cage every so often. She even tried to climb up the side of the glass tank a few weeks ago.
Then three- four days ago she started losing pressure in her legs, sitting in a crunched position, knees bent very close to her body.
I was worried and we put her in an ICU in the evening. She stretched out her legs a bit more inside but I noticed they appeared a bit wobbly as her feet navigated the bottom of the Icu. She just didn't seem well to me, even having witnessed her go through a mount before ( when we are all worried she was dying), this seemed a lot worse.
However, my partner took her out of th icu before going to bed because he thought she was moulting and she wouldn't be able to shed her skin in the tight space.
The next day though she was very still curled up and in exactly the same place she was left in the night before. She remained there all day like that ( see picture attached) and last night too. We didn't want to disturb her by touching her, but when I blew on her she would move ever so slightly. When she still hadn't moved position the next morning, I tried to see if she would by move by blowing on her, but this time nothing. I really thought she was dead.
We put her in Icu again straightaway, and she has been there all day, not moving. It is nearly evening now and We can only hope for the best.
My question is, are 3 yr old females capable of mounting 4 months after the last one? I can't find anything that says so.
If so, is it normal to moult from this crumpled position (as opposed to lying on her back?)
If not, what could the problem be?
The temperature and humidity has always been about 60 -70 degrees but it has dropped slightly to 50 degrees on one or two occasions.
Can anyone out there advise?
Any help much appreciated...
 

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Ghost56

Arachnobaron
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That is a stress curl, not a death curl. Get her out of the ICU asap. The enclosure should be bone dry with just a water dish, and those temps are way too low. Anything below 68 or so is not alright.

Also, what is that substrate? Vermiculite? Get us some pics of the whole enclosure if you can.
 

Jeff23

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I doubt an ICU is what you want for this T. They don't need or like the extra moisture. I'll let others who own this T provide better advice than me.

EDIT* Make sure the height of your enclosure from lid to substrate is not more than 1.5X the length of your tarantula. Otherwise it may be possible that your T has been injured (or will be) from a fall.
 

REEFSPIDER

Arachnobaron
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The substrate looks attractive but for the sake of the tarantula is horrible. Is it possible that the tarantula has climbed up the sides and fallen? Is there any visible signs of trauma or leaking fluid?

NO NO NO ICUs
ICUs kill most tarantulas they are trying to save
 

KezyGLA

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Could you take a couple more photos of your T from diff angles and a shot of the enclosure?

G. rosea are an arid species from the some of the driest regions of the world. An ICU will do more harm than good when it comes to this species.

Place her in a completely dry enclosure with a full water dish and place her in a dark place. I would swap out the verm. for dry eco earth as a substrate.

I hope it pulls through. My fingers are crossed for you.
 
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Alicedarling

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That is a stress curl, not a death curl. Get her out of the ICU asap. The enclosure should be bone dry with just a water dish, and those temps are way too low. Anything below 68 or so is not alright.

Also, what is that substrate? Vermiculite? Get us some pics of the whole enclosure if you can.
Thank
 

KezyGLA

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I'm not convinced that it is a stress curl. I have never seen one that bad.

The fact that there is next to no movement is not good either. If a T was stressed it would more than likely move if blown on.

I would say this is the beginning of a death curl.
 

Alicedarling

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Thanks for getting back so quickly. She has vermiculite on top of coconut coir. I poured spring water down one side to bring the humidity up. The surface is bone dry apart from a damp patch around her water bowl. Here is a pic of her cage ( showing her in her icu).
 

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Chris LXXIX

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A note. There's no reason for use vermiculite on your enclosure, with your Theraphosidae. G.rosea (and the whole genus Grammostola) are perfectly fine on bone dry substrate with only a water dish for mantain the humidity.

I use vermiculite (fine grain only) mixed in the substrate only for those T's that require a more humid environment (like M.robustum, H.gigas etc)
 

Alicedarling

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Could you take a couple more photos of your T from diff angles and a shot of the enclosure?

G. rosea are an arid species from the some of the driest regions of the world. An ICU will do more harm than good when it comes to this species.

Place her in a completely dry enclosure with a full water dish and place her in a dark place. I would swap out the verc. for dey eco earth as a substrate.

I hope it pulls through. My fingers are crossed for you.
 

KezyGLA

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Ok. A few things I want to point out.

The Temp and humidity meters are useless with this species as they thrive from 45-60% humidity and are fine from 17-25C. So room temps are fine. You shouldnt need to build up humidity by adding moisture because this is a desert species and it will start to deteriorate in high humidity.

I would remove your T from ICU as soon as possible and add a good sized water dish to the enclosure and that is all you will need for humidity and water source.

Ts are instinctive animals and will search and find water when they need it.

The vermiculite is quite chunky too. This can get stuck in your Ts mouthparts and cause problems.

My suggestion to you is remove the T from ICU asap, mix more coir or coco fibre in as substrate if possible so it gets drier in there. Add a waterdish then put enclosure in warm dark place. Its really all you can do at this point.
 

Alicedarling

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Thanks for asking for more pics. Here are some more of her enclosure
The substrate looks attractive but for the sake of the tarantula is horrible. Is it possible that the tarantula has climbed up the sides and fallen? Is there any visible signs of trauma or leaking fluid?

NO NO NO ICUs
ICUs kill most tarantulas they are trying to save
 

Alicedarling

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Ok. A few things I want to point out.

The Temp and humidity meters are useless with this species as they thrive from 45-60% humidity and are fine from 17-25C. So room temps are fine. You shouldnt need to build up humidity by adding moisture because this is a desert species and it will start to deteriorate in high humidity.

I would remove your T from ICU as soon as possible and add a good sized water dish to the enclosure and that is all you will need for humidity and water source.

Ts are instinctive animals and will search and find water when they need it.

The vermiculite is quite chunky too. This can get stuck in your Ts mouthparts and cause problems.

My suggestion to you is remove the T from ICU asap, mix more coir or coco fibre in as substrate if possible so it gets drier in there. Add a waterdish then put enclosure in warm dark place. Its really all you can do at this point.
 

Alicedarling

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Thanks for your help. There's so many opinions out there about ICUs and humidity levels. I was worried her room was too cold in the day when the heating is not on, or was too dry and not humid enough when the heating was on, hence why I topped up with water. I put the extra substrate in a month ago to make the ground higher to protect her from falls as she was climbing the sides and we were worried her leg would get caught in the mesh lid.
 

KezyGLA

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The only thing you should worry about with rosies is low temps for long periods of time, dehydration or moist habitat.

If you have any dry coir left over I would add another layer into your enclosure along with water dish.

As for worrying about a mesh lid. Each enclosure I have with a mesh lid is taped on the underneath with about 3.5" of tape around the sides.

Like this one -
IMG_3370.JPG

Works like a charm.

Keep us updated please.
 
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Garth Vader

Arachnobaron
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Jun 25, 2016
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@KezyGLA - that is genius to do for screen tops! I have only heard of removing and replacing them completely.

Also, I think I have those same IKEA curtains in my house with the black cats. :)

Good luck with this T, OP. I hope it pulls through. For temps, get a space heater and just keep the room above 68. That's all you really need. Don't worry about humidity.
 

Alicedarling

Arachnopeon
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Jan 14, 2017
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The only thing you should worry about with rosies is low temps for long periods of time, dehydration or moist habitat.

If you have any dry coir left over I would add another layer into your enclosure along with water dish.

As for worrying about a mesh lid. Each enclosure I have with a mesh lid is taped on the underneath with about 3.5" of tape around the sides.

Like this one -
View attachment 229346

Works like a charm.

Keep us updated please.
 
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