Help Help Help

[sstrong]

I received a smallish <2" female avic. avic. on tuesday... She's not been interested in eating at all... she looks like she's curling up into a ball.. but moves around occasionally. I've been told to try to set up a "food icu" but I have no idea how. Please help.. I don't want her to die.

ps - it looks like there is some white fluid around her mouth parts... please someone tell me she's just molting.

 

[dennis]

I think she isn't molting, otherwise she would be on her back by now. I do think she is still acclimating a bit to her new surroundings. This can cause the T not to eat for a while.
And about the curling up in a ball thingy, isn't she just making herself very small, with her legs above her carapace?? In that case, she is just being very shy, or scared.

Anyway, good luck with her!


Dennis

 

[skadiwolf]

from what he said to me, she's curling her legs UNDER her, can anyone post the FOOD ICU instructions? it's hard to search for it because of the ICU being too short. :/ stupid search feature. GRRR.

 

[abstract]

I posted this in skadi's thread too - but to cover all the bases...


From RugbyDave:

Ah, here we go. This is the last time i posted about the FOOD ICU:
--------
<Haha No worries:
<
<Regardless of any crazy and seemingly insane info you get on <this forum, what matters is, that people who care and love <these animals have figured out certain things that can aid <in 'raising' T's!
<
<My father showed this to me when i was really young, and i'm <sure I can't be the only one that uses a FOOD ICU.
<
<Basically, its like I described:
<(just a deli cup with slightly damp substrate and a warm <papertowel over the airholes in a dark, quiet place)...
<
<In mine, its a normal size deli cup for the bigger slings, but for <the smaller slings, i use a condiment cup. I take some eco earth <and pack it down REAL tight (about an 1" down). I obviously <have many air holes poked in the top, and i (don't ask why) <place a nice, warm, damp papertowel over the lid of the FOOD <ICU, after i put the T in followed by the cricket. Then, i place the <whole FOOD ICU in a dark cupboard above my fridge, but you <can put it anywhere dark, not drafty, and quiet.
<
<It may take your T a while to get used to it, but whenever I <have problems feeding any of my T's, i use my FOOD ICU and <presto -- starts eating.
<
<And like i said, I originally thought that there would be some <kind of conditioning for the T (in regards to feeding in the deli <cup), but like i said, years and years of this has proven me <wrong. They certainly get used to crickets "falling out of the sky" <(as someone on this forum so perfectly put it) and they get <used to being helped out of bad molts, and they get used to not <really having to search for a mate... and they get used to the <FOOD ICU.
<
<It prompts the feeding response, and starts them eating.. the <key, though, is knowing when to STOP the FOOD ICU. i use it for <about 3 weeks, and then try feeding back in the cage.
<
<I know some bio/arachno friends who use this method. It's <great! Just make sure to check on the sling,so its not getting <eaten... But def. leave it alone for a couple mins (8-10-30?)....
<
<and also, if you just got your T's, they may be afflicted with <Shipping Syndrome, which is basically just saying that they're <stressed and shocked from shipping, and it takes them some <time to adjust to their new home..
<
<But if all else fails, try the FOOD ICU - i think you'll be surprised!
<
<whew.
<
<
<peace,
<dave
------

 

[abstract]

Originally posted by skadiwolf
from what he said to me, she's curling her legs UNDER her, can anyone post the FOOD ICU instructions? it's hard to search for it because of the ICU being too short. :/ stupid search feature. GRRR.

Yeah, the short words suck. I found it by searching "food rugby"

 

[RugbyDave]

haha nice 'food rugby' -- though you may come up with my infmous "cheeseburger and fries" thread from the watering hole..

wait a second.. i never had one of those..


yet...

sstrong, this was posted in skadi's thread basically, but i'm following abstract's idea and posting it here:

"good luck sstrong!!Keep in mind, it's not foolproof, but it does help amazingly..

you can tweak it, but this is the way that ive found is the best over the years. I think the main reason it works is it places the T in a nice dark, warm place where 100% of the focus is on the food item... also, you can try hand feeding the T, but i'm sure alot of people would be against that..

also, make sure the humidity level is relative to the species of T...

and if its not working in the daytime, maybe try it around 9 or 10pm...

make sure the deli cup is relative to the size of the T, also...
can't have a little sling in a huge deli cup, and vice versa

all will be well.. worry not, my friend. Those are most of the feeding tips i have with the FOOD ICU.. there are more, but those should suffice.

I'd give the T some time to acclimate.. while some Ts will eat right after being shipped, some will still be in a state of.. um.. well let's call it "shock" --

give the poor fella some time to acclimate and try again. .however if you MUST feed the little guy, try the ICU!

peace
dave

 

[WYSIWYG]

Originally posted by sstrong
I received a smallish <2" female avic. avic. on tuesday... She's not been interested in eating at all... she looks like she's curling up into a ball.. but moves around occasionally. I've been told to try to set up a "food icu" but I have no idea how. Please help.. I don't want her to die.

ps - it looks like there is some white fluid around her mouth parts... please someone tell me she's just molting.

I know she's probably too small for a water dish, but she COULD be dehydrated. I think in your situation, I would try putting her front end (not her back end) on a shallow plate with some distilled water. (Meaning put her front end in the water and leave the back end off the water). You might even want to add a drop of Pedialyte to get her electrolytes back up. I haven't tried this in a sling that small, but it's helped for my larger critters. Hope it helps!

Wysi

 

[MizM]

The food ICU should be a sticky entitled, "T NOT EATING?" It seems to be a VERY common question w/newbies.

 

[sstrong]

I talked to the breeder and he said that it sounded like it could be a parasite based on the white foam that's developing around her mouth...

it's not looking too good. Right now, she's curled up in a ball with her legs tucked neatly under her and isn't responding to any variety of water. I'm fearing the worst.

As for my other female, I've been told that I need to get her out of the enclosure as soon as possible and sanitize the whole thing.

This whole ordeal has proven really sad for me.

 

[RugbyDave]

hear hear, mizM --

i'll give up my food ICU secrets for a sticky.. I can't tell you how many times i've sent out my little personal sticky on that issue... literally and it comes up a bit.. maybe i'll reformat it and send it to MrI....

by the way, i totally missed the whole "white mouth" thing -- that could possibly be nematodes in which case.......... DEFINITELY remove the other T!!! I had a good turn around in the ICU with my last avic.. in fact, she had the white mouth pretty bad and now she's gravid as hell..

and thats not to say that putting the avic in an icu with damp papertowels and heat will help, because it doesn't neccesarily.. i just got lucky i think.

However, now that i think about it, I wiped the white mouth crap off and ever since then, she's been good... she spent a good few days in the ICU....

i wonder, could it be that easy????!!!!!! you betcha.. well for my last one, at least... too bad that probably isn't the key.. but it can't hurt to try it, right? Def. check out the sticky by Bodisky about the white-mouth kit...


peace
dave

 

[MizM]

The "Food ICU" is a wonderfull thing. My a. avic was too lazy to go to the bottom of her beautiful arboreal setup to get a crix. So, I put her "Food ICU" IN the tank set up! It's a little box set up high in the "tree". I just toss in a cricket, lift her up and put her in the box, and WHAMMO, the circket is gone faster than you can say "Massproductus plasticum!" Before the "Food ICU", the cricket would be in there for 3 days, lay batches of eggs and create havoc before she finally got to it!

THAT'S RIGHT LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, THE "FOOD I.C.U." BY RUG-BE-DAVE® SAVED MY A. AVIC AND CAN SAVE YOUR TARANTULA TOO! JUST CALL 1-800-EAT-CRIX TODAY!!

All joking aside, it's great, it works, and Dave's dad was as smart as Dave is!

 

[RugbyDave]

you flatter too much terri......

which means you go right to the top of my list =D

i don't think my dad started it.. though maybe he did.. but he probably didn't.. but still it freaking works, right?!

But seriously, sometimes, i'll just try hand feeding with avics. I wouldn't neccesarily reccomend it, since i vaguely remember reading a post a couple weeks ago by someone who hand fed their avic and then got a couple of holes in their hand...
try using dull scissors or tweezers..

another food trick

peace
dave

 

[MrT]

Originally posted by sstrong
I ..

This whole ordeal has proven really sad for me.

Now that the chit chat has seemingly come to an end, I'm sorry about your sad ordeal.
I see your new to the site, so welcome.
I lost an A avic to the white mouth crud about 5 months ago. And it really sucks watching your T waist away like that.
Are these the only T;s you have?
Are you new to the hobby, or just this site?

Give an update as soon as you can, or have an outcome.

Ernie

 

[MizM]

So sorry for the idle chit chat..... I read the whole thread EXCEPT for the white foam post. I just thought it wasn't EATING and a bit dehydrated, hence, the food I.C.U. chit chat. I can't chit chat about the white foam, I'm so sorry. That has been on the board before and I don't think a T has survived it.

Please check with "RIESM":

http://arachnopets.com/arachnoboards/showthread.php?s=&threadid=9707

They can send you swabs to take samples. We're all hoping that with the samples they collect, they can find out what the heck this white foam stuff is, and perhaps save many Ts. And, God forbid, if she SHOULD pass away, they can do an autopsy for you.

I wish you the best of luck on the speedy recovery of your a. avic, keep trying to do all you can for her! I sincerely hope she makes it and I'm sorry if I seemingly treated your predicament as trivial. It's not... we ALL feel pain when one of our "board friends" has an ailing T.

 

[RugbyDave]

i wouldn't call it "idle" --

maybe "active chit chat" -- but either way it's all pertinent info --

some very fine points regarding either the FOOD ICU, and some talk on the WHITE MOUTH CRUD...



either way it does suck, but nothings dead yet, so no point in talking the the past tense, right?

my avic, as i said, took a giant turn for the better -- i posted my idea for it.. it's def. worth trying it.

peace
dave