Help! I dropped my spiderling -.-

[JonArachnid01]

I dropped my spiderling. The height was about a meter. The spiderling seems to be okay but im still worrying. What to ? What are the things i need to observe and the immediate actions that must be done. Thank you for your responds. My sling is a b.hamorii

 

[EulersK]

Luckily, since slings are so light, they don't seem to suffer as harshly from falls as juveniles and adults do. Even if it were injured, there is nothing you can do other than ensuring it has a full and clean water dish at all times.

Take this as a learning lesson. These pets are in the same ranking as fish - they are "look, don't touch" pets. Falls are often deadly to tarantulas, there are some nasty pictures online. Avoid handling in the future, is what I'm saying. If you want a pet that you can hold, I strongly suggest a lizard. They actually seem to enjoy it

 

[JonArachnid01]

Luckily, since slings are so light, they don't seem to suffer as harshly from falls as juveniles and adults do. Even if it were injured, there is nothing you can do other than ensuring it has a full and clean water dish at all times.

Take this as a learning lesson. These pets are in the same ranking as fish - they are "look, don't touch" pets. Falls are often deadly to tarantulas, there are some nasty pictures online. Avoid handling in the future, is what I'm saying. If you want a pet that you can hold, I strongly suggest a lizard. They actually seem to enjoy it

I just accidentally dropped the deli cup where my sling is coz I'm about to rehouse them. It has a masking tape at the bottom of the cup. Then when I'm about to lift it the masking tape stuck at the table that's how I dropped my spiderling together with the substrate. Anyway, I hope my sling is fine.

 

[Stugy]

some nasty pictures online

So I searched up "dropped tarantulas" and I kept getting "if you drop a tarantula it will shatter and die". Why shatter? What even? Hope your T is alright @JonArachnid01

 

[JonArachnid01]

My sling is a cm size b.hamorii

 

[PidderPeets]

As previously stated, generally slings handle falls better than adults. What you'd be looking for in terms of damage are any spots that appear to be leaking a clear fluid anywhere (tarantula "blood"), very obvious damage anywhere, or a very sudden change in behavior (going limp, odd movements. That would indicate damage, but unfortunately there wouldn't really be anything you could do to help it. Sometimes you can close up injuries on bigger Ts, but I don't think most pepole have the tools or steadiness to close up a sling. But honestly, as long as it's not behaving any different than usual, it should be fine. Just use it as experience. While most people on here suggest no handling at all, at the very least, don't hold it so high off the ground that it could even fall a meter. You want to hold it much lower to the ground so it's less likely to get hurt in the event it falls or jumps

 

[EulersK]

So I searched up "dropped tarantulas" and I kept getting "if you drop a tarantula it will shatter and die". Why shatter? What even? Hope your T is alright @JonArachnid01

"Shatter" isn't the right word. More like "explode" since their abdomens tend to rupture. If the rupture is bad enough, it is absolutely a death sentence. The tarantula usually lives for a bit after that, but there is nothing that can be done for it at that point. Look up what ruptured abdomens look like, but heads up, it's pretty bad.

 

[mconnachan]

My sling is a cm size b.hamorii

Your spider sounds like it's aright, luckily slings are extremely light. If your keeping it in a deli-cup style container there's no need for tape, unless it doesn't fit correctly, if not, change the container to a well fitting top, take care next time not to drop the enclosure. When doing any feeding, maintenance do it on the floor or on a solid flat surface with plenty of space for such mishaps. I hope the B. hamorri is still doing well, update as soon as you can, post some pictures, we would all like to see it in all its splendour, welcome to AB.

 

[Tim Benzedrine]

As I have related before here in the past, I had a B. smithi 'sling in a condiment cup drop at least five feet to the floor after my plodding foot-steps vibrated from the top of a chest-of-drawers where the cup was perched atop a critter keeper. I of course was aghast, but Geronimo was fine. A couple things probably contributed to it. The weight of the spider being negligible, the cup itself absorbing some of the shock, and the interior cushioning of eco-earth.

I would not want to re-enact the scenario with Geronimo now, though.. He has enough mass that a rupture would be more likely.

On the other hand, I had an adult G. rosea enclosure fall from the same spot (a different cause, though) and despite the appearance of a bit of hemoglyph at a joint in a leg, it survived as well. It didn't even lose the leg. It was just plain lucky, although the same observation regarding the substrate could probably be applied.

 

[JonArachnid01]

Thanks for all your respoonds. I think my sling is doing well. There's no sign of any change in behavior or anything. I had actually rehoused my sling at night that same day when it fell, and it almost espaced, what I mean is my sling is still active. During daytime I observed that my sling is in one position only almost the whole day (and I think that's normal ryt? It's my first slings by the way) and it is being active when evening approaches. Im still going to observe it for the next days or week and I hope my sling is ok and not injured. I appreciated your responds I feel relieved and less worried. I'll be updating the next days and maybe post some pictures too

 

[JonArachnid01]

It's not the whole deli cup enclo together with the sling that fell, it is only the sling and a little of the substrate that fell on the floor. I hope the substrate absorbed the shock and my sling is not injured.