Help!! I think I killed my daughter's B. Albo

JRGreen

Arachnopeon
Joined
Jul 22, 2010
Messages
13
Ok… totally new to the T scene, and bought one/received two about 3 weeks ago. Gave my 8 year old daughter the B. Albo, which she named "Zelda." It was a sling, about ¼ inch in size. Put it into a cage (I, by chance, had 2 ready… being new and not sure of what I was doing), and all seemed well. It did eat a couple of store-bought crickets in the past 3 weeks, and I have watered the bedding a bit every few days to try and keep humidity up. All was well on Friday when we checked on them, and Zelda even ate in front of us (a cricket had a bad day.)

Sunday we went in again, and this time she was keeled over with legs pulled up. At first I was thinking it was molting, but it is now late Tuesday, and no change.

Bedding: coconut husk.
Food: store bought crickets.
Water source: lightly soak a corner of cage every few days. Lots of rain lately, so humidity is up a bit locally.

Possible sources of death if dead: Holes in cage too small? Allergic to the lego hide I made it? Too much of the "curious little kid" that I am, always opening the lid to get a good look? Bad molt? Other?

Advice appreciated. We have a second T, which is a G. pulchra (about ½ inch in size, arrived same day), and they seem to be fine. My daughter knows Zelda might be dead, and we have already decided to replace if I am correct, but I don't want to do so until I have some idea of what happened. Actually, replacement will include a 3rd T for my 10 year old son, as he feels left out. See what people mean when they say 1 T is never enough…

If I did something to kill it, please tell me. I have been doing as much reading as I can to be ready to properly handle these guys, but have no one local to turn to, and feel awful at the thought I killed my 8 year old's much loved pet…

What follows are pictures of the enclosure I had Zelda in, plus the best picture of Zelda I could get. Didn't want to move her… What can be seen is a red underside, couple of white dots, and legs pulled up and back. I have seen no sign of Zelda, so I am assuming she is still in this skin, if this was a molt gone bad.

Thank you for help.
 

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Chris_Skeleton

Arachnoprince
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Jan 31, 2010
Messages
1,309
Okay... It looks like molting to me too. I don't think the lego had anything to do with it and the air holes do seem small, but I don't think that was it either, but it might've been. Is the T unresponsive? Do you know what an ICU is? If not here: http://www.tarantulas.com/first_aid.html ICU info is under the dehydration heading.

I would gently put this spider into an ICU, just in case, but you will need more advice on this from some other more experienced users.
 

Wachusaynoob

Arachnosquire
Joined
Aug 3, 2010
Messages
124
First, Change the bedding for your other t's...Coco FIBER not husk, Your local petstore should have some, eco-earth or anything close to it, it comes looking like a brick.

second, There should ALWAYS be a water dish in the enclosure, Even if it's a little soda cap, but make sure to put a few mini-rocks in there so the t cant drown.


That's as far as my help can go, Time to let the experts in...
 

JRGreen

Arachnopeon
Joined
Jul 22, 2010
Messages
13
Thank you so far.

Ok… headed to ICU after posting this.

The stuff they are on is the brick stuff which you soak in water… bought from pet store. I didn't realize there was different types…

Yes, Zelda is unresponsive. Also, remember ICU from T book. Just didn't expect to need it so soon…

Also fixing air holes…

Any other help? Much appreciated so far!
 

fangsalot

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Aug 9, 2005
Messages
598
that seems like alot of room for a sling that big.and i wouldnt trust the husk,i would imagine a piece could accidentaly crush a small sling.
 

xhexdx

ArachnoGod
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Joined
Jul 20, 2007
Messages
5,357
Okay... It looks like molting to me too.
Those legs are in the wrong direction. If the spider was molting, the legs would be facing away from the spider, not up above its head.

Where are you going to buy crickets that are small enough for her to eat? Just curious.

Did you wash the piece of lego before putting it in there?
 

Stopdroproll

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
Joined
Aug 27, 2006
Messages
251
First, Change the bedding for your other t's...Coco FIBER not husk, Your local petstore should have some, eco-earth or anything close to it, it comes looking like a brick.

second, There should ALWAYS be a water dish in the enclosure, Even if it's a little soda cap, but make sure to put a few mini-rocks in there so the t cant drown.


That's as far as my help can go, Time to let the experts in...
They don't need anything more then misting every once in a while when they are that small.
 

Wachusaynoob

Arachnosquire
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Aug 3, 2010
Messages
124
Okay, but Who's to say It wont get thirsty between misting?
It will do more good than harm to always have a water dish in with the t.
 

JRGreen

Arachnopeon
Joined
Jul 22, 2010
Messages
13
Already transferred to ICU. Wasn't easy to get her (we have defaulted to that) out of enclosure, as I didn't want to manipulate limbs any more than I needed to. There was some flexibility, suggesting to me all is not lost yet. There was way more moisture in bedding that it appeared at surface, which I think might be an issue. Transferring other T to different accommodations right away, too, for safety sake.

Not getting into dish versus no dish for slings… I know there are 2 camps… and appreciate both.

Enclosure is on big side, I know… all I had access to at time. Have a new one for Zelda which will be used if she lives. Or the new Zelda will get it. Yes, my daughter knows the truth about Zelda, so I won't be attempting to trick her by swapping pets.

In doing the ICU transfer, I am left wondering if the issue was airflow. I think my holes might have been too small, causing issues with too much moisture buildup in lower level of bedding.

So do I need to find new bedding, or can I just break up the stuff I have better??

Thought I might do better on my first outing than this. <sigh>

Thanks again all!

Oh, and local pet store sells week-old crickets. I tweezer them in, so they are wounded before arriving. The variety they had were little, even at 4 weeks, and the 1 week old ones were quite a bit smaller than Zelda. When I bought, I was expecting the black, big things like we get here in the wild, but they were little guys… They also reproduced, meaning I had a new batch of little ones to offer up as feed. Don't think I want to get into breeding crickets, though...

Lego was clean on being added to cage. Cage was clean, too.
 

Chris_Skeleton

Arachnoprince
Old Timer
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Jan 31, 2010
Messages
1,309
Those legs are in the wrong direction. If the spider was molting, the legs would be facing away from the spider, not up above its head.

Where are you going to buy crickets that are small enough for her to eat? Just curious.

Did you wash the piece of lego before putting it in there?
Well my eyes have deceived me. It really looked like it was molting when I first looked at it, but I see it now.

Anway, hope it pulls through.
 

CAK

Arachnoknight
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Nov 17, 2009
Messages
298
Okay, but Who's to say It wont get thirsty between misting?
It will do more good than harm to always have a water dish in with the t.
A T that small doesn't need a water dish. That dish would have to be super small or the poor critter will drown. None of my slings that small have a dish.


OP. looks like you are getting good advice overall. I hope the little guy pulls through for you.
 

Wachusaynoob

Arachnosquire
Joined
Aug 3, 2010
Messages
124
I would absolutely get New substrate for all of your t's..If they were to mis-step they could injure a leg or if a peicer were to fall on them, it could be fatal.

One brick will be PLENTY for the eclosures you have, and Should be anywhere from 5-8$.

http://www.petco.com/product/10813/...-8381-DE11-B7F3-0019B9C043EB&mr:referralID=NA


Also, the Size of the enclosure is a 2 sided argument aswell, as long as they are eating there's no need to Downsize the size, Especially if you're tong feeding anyway. But I HIGHLY recomend a waterdish especially with a bigger enclosure so they know where it is, Always.

I keep my G.rosea in a 40 gallon tank, And she takes advantage of it, alright. Everytime I look over at her she's in one of 3 spots, Her log, the big moss bed or The floor.

Ignore the heating pad, its from the previous tennants (hermit crabs)
 

NikiP

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Apr 16, 2006
Messages
539
That substrate looks a lot like what I use, except mine's from a bag. I'd simply take a strainer, put the subrate in, and just shake out the smaller stuff. My A. Hentzi is doing fine on my similar substrate, but I pulled out the bigger chips and most the stringy pieces.

And I second not putting a water dish in there. It could drown so misting will suffice.
 

Vespula

Arachnodemon
Joined
Jul 27, 2010
Messages
706
I agree, a T that size could drown. I mist all of mine that are that small.
 

CAK

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
Joined
Nov 17, 2009
Messages
298
I agree, a T that size could drown. I mist all of mine that are that small.
The water dish suggestion also comes from someone that thinks it is ok to put a total array of wildlife in with your T so they can play happy together.

Centipedes with my T
 
Last edited:

Salamanderhead

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Aug 30, 2009
Messages
410
Dont use a water dish until they have about 3 inch leg span. They get all the liquid they need from prey. Humidity on the sides of the enclosure can be drank from as well Im pretty sure. I've never witnessed it myself.

If it is dead, maybe theres nothing you did wrong. Sometimes this just happens and seems unexplainable. I've lost slings for what appeared to be nothing at all.
Get a new one and try again! :)
 

Chris_Skeleton

Arachnoprince
Old Timer
Joined
Jan 31, 2010
Messages
1,309
I would absolutely get New substrate for all of your t's..If they were to mis-step they could injure a leg or if a peicer were to fall on them, it could be fatal.

One brick will be PLENTY for the eclosures you have, and Should be anywhere from 5-8$.

Also, the Size of the enclosure is a 2 sided argument aswell, as long as they are eating there's no need to Downsize the size, Especially if you're tong feeding anyway. But I HIGHLY recomend a waterdish especially with a bigger enclosure so they know where it is, Always.

I keep my G.rosea in a 40 gallon tank, And she takes advantage of it, alright. Everytime I look over at her she's in one of 3 spots, Her log, the big moss bed or The floor.

Ignore the heating pad, its from the previous tennants (hermit crabs)

A sling that small does not need a waterdish or a large container. You need to move it to a smaller deli cup and put cocofiber in with it. A sling needs a small enclosure in order to find its food. If its too big it will have trouble finding the prey. And make sure the substrate is high enough so that if it climbs the side, it can't fall and be injured.

And @Wachusaynoob, if you are going to keep your rosea in that 40g you need to fill it about 75% of the way up with substrate so that it will not be injured if it climbs and falls. Looking at your enclosure, that is a LONG way for a T to fall. This is why you might want to move it to a 10g which isn't as tall and it will be cheaper to fill up with substrate.
 
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