Help! Curly hair in death curl...

[YumiSmash]

I saw my curly hair (female I think, she's about 4 years old) in death curl in a corner of her cage a few minutes ago. I lightly touched her back legs and she's moving only faintly. I'm not sure what's wrong. I saw her drinking water two days ago and she was moving fine. I have moved her onto a wet paper towel in hopes its just dehydration? I don't know what it could be. She's plump, no other signs of anything. I checked her mouth and there's nothing there. Please see attached picture.

 

[viper69]

Plump Ts are not dehydrated

Doesn’t mean something isn’t wrong, death curl not always caused by dehydration. Can’t say anything is or isn’t wrong here

 

[Matt Man]

Plump Ts are not dehydrated

Doesn’t mean something isn’t wrong, death curl not always caused by dehydration. Can’t say anything is or isn’t wrong here

nor does she look like she is knuckling in the least.

 

[viper69]

nor does she look like she is knuckling in the least.

Agreed- just don’t want to hear you told me it was healthy after it dies. It’s a stactic image can’t diagnose

 

[IntermittentSygnal]

How long have you had her? Did you raise her from a sling?
Did she stretch her legs out when you moved her (because she doesn’t look curled in)?
Is it possible she fell? Any leakage?
Any possibility of poisoning? Pets with flea treatment, bug spray in the area (even outside blown in from an open window)?
Molt recently?
Please post a picture of the full enclosure.

 

[Ultum4Spiderz]

Looks a lot older then 4 to me. Can’t tell from pics it’s sick.

 

[Matt Man]

Agreed- just don’t want to hear you told me it was healthy after it dies. It’s a stactic image can’t diagnose

supposedly the owner stretched it out on the towel, so the photo positioning is man made

 

[Gevo]

It's hard to tell you with any certainty what's going on, but when you say she was in death curl, do you mean that her legs were all curled up under her or that they were curled over her, similarly to how they are in the photos?

It could be that something is wrong, but it's also possible that she's in premolt and is more sluggish. When mine are in premolt, they move a lot less and are less reactive to stimuli, and they don't stretch out as much and spend more time with their legs closer to their bodies. I figure it makes sense if their old exoskeleton is starting to feel more tight and compressed.

If she was drinking just a few days ago and has access to a water dish, you can probably rule out dehydration, and I would remove the paper towel. Damp paper towels don't usually offer much benefit and can make it stuffy for them to breathe (remember that their book lungs use passive air exchange, so damp, heavy, stagnant air can quickly become suffocating to them).

It's almost a day since you posted--can you give us an update on how she's doing now?

 

[darkness975]

Not dehydration.

Could be anything really. What does the entire enclosure look like?