help! is my chilli rose dying!

[steph09]

ive had a chilli rose that is known as mr fred for about 6 weeks now and he is an adorable lil thing. we had a problem a couple week ago with mr fred striking when going to pick him up. we soon solved this problem an he is now back to normal. well kind of. he is still abit of a pain when handling him but overall hes eating and laying his web down as usual.
well the past couple days we discovered mr fred was acting very unusual. after we had handled him we put him back in his tank and he just sat there for about 3 hours and normally he would go crawl back under his log and go sleep. well he just sat there and didnt move. then every now and again he would lift his legs up. very very strange. so we sat and watched him turned all the lights off and soon discovered little bugs crawling round in his tank! MITES! i soon discovered the person i got mr fred off had not changed his substrate in about a year. i was fuming because i dont want mr fred to be stressed.mr fred was immediately removed and put in a fresh tank. as soon as he was moved he was happy as larry and immediately started to put his web down. and this is when the problem occured.
the tank he is put in now is only temporarily and had improvise so we put him in a oval plastic container. he seems to like it because its small. well we noticed that he was like leaning against his tank with his legs curled under him. well we thought he was dead at first and just slighty moved the tank and well he moved perfectly. after this hes being doing it all the time and sometimes you can only see four legs because the other four are tucked that far underneath him. we thought he was just trying to curl up better as hes only been in that tank for bout two days now.
well this morning i was getting ready to feed him and slightly moved the substrate in his tank just to get him alert and his front two legs and his pincers started tapping the substrate like mad. ive never ever seen him done this before and it freaked me out. i tapped the substrate again and nothing he didnt even move. i have no idea what is wrong with him. please help! i dont want him to die because hes my first T!

 

[Moltar]

Ok... after reading your post I really just have more questions for you. How thoroughly did you wash his temporary container? What did you use for substrate? How moist is the substrate and how is it vented? If you could provide pictures of the T, the new temp enclosure and hopefully the old "mite infested" enclosure that would be very helpful. When stressed (like from being moved to a new enclosure) T's will adopt a huddled stance that is often mistaken for a "death curl" so posting a pic would help us tell you the difference.

G. rosea should be kept on absolutely dry soil with just a water dish for moisture. These conditions should make mites pretty much a non-issue so you probably need to change your setup if there are mites in the cage. If your T really is curling then you should get him in an ICU. Do a search for ICU if you don't know what that is. It's also possible that you have a mature male. Males have remarkably shorter lifespans than females and if you don't know the difference they can appear to take a dramatic downturn for no reason when it's really just old age.

 

[Teal]

My first thought was that it is a mature male... if you could post pictures, that would be really helpful!

 

[steph09]

well we purchased a small viv from a pet store so presumibly they would have cleaned it out. he has soil in his tank and we made the mistake of spraying it every day, we soon learned that T's have a very dry substrate and explained alot of reasons why he suddenly stayed on his log. we have now got rid of the old soil and everything in his tank. it is currently in the garage to get rid of any mites that we have missed. we shall soon be getting a better tank and brand new substrate and surroundings for mr fred.
i know that mr fred is at least 4 years old.
i cant seem to upload any pictures but i wll try to upload them on my profile

 

[jayefbe]

BTW - the mites are from misting every day, not from the previous owner not changing the substrate.

 

[Fran]

Well, next time you buy a tank make sure you clean it and disinfect it (and rinse it thoroughly ) prior housing Mr Fred.

 

[steph09]

well we havent misted mr freds tank now for about 3 weeks and soon discovered that the substrate underneath was damp. we will definately be cleaning his tank very thoroughly now.

 

[Tindalos]

so mr.fred is a male?

 

[steph09]

mr fred is certainly a male

 

[Ariel]

mr fred is certainly a male

have you had him sexed?

 

[curiousme]

mr fred is certainly a male

What is your basis for this statement? i notice you have only one T, so i am curious. Have you seen his hooks and boxing gloves?(front legs for hooks and pedipalps for the boxing gloves/ bulbs)

Also, the easiest way to post pictures here is to start a photobucket account, upload them there and then copy and paste the IMG code in your post.

 

[steph09]

well his abdomen is substantially alot smaller than the female one i have at college, and the one at college is a year younger soo yeh you could say he was a male and also the person i got him off works in a reptile store so he would know.

 

[Ariel]

you can't determine sex by size of abdomen,and nothing against your friend, but just because he works in a reptile store doesn't mean he's right. It would take a underside look at the T, like so:

3" poss. Female B. vagans (waiting for a molt)

to even take a guess at the gender. To be absolutely certain we'd need to see a molt. However if it's a MATURE male, in which it likely won't molt again and is reaching the end of life, its much easier to determine what it is, as a mature male he would have tibial spurs (Or hooks) on his front most legs:

see link here: http://www.angelfire.com/or2/thetarantulastop/images/thooks1.jpg

as well as the hooks he would also have swollen or "boxing gloves" pedipalps.

See link here: http://www.atshq.org/articles/gif/male.jpg

 

[steph09]

well im certainly not going to pick him up like that, he would freak out im pretty sure he is a male. my mate had him since a spiderling and learning about herpetolgy.
but if not here are a couple of pictures of mr fred,also the last two are of him in his death curl

http://i678.photobucket.com/albums/vv144/babisteph_2009/090919_170856.jpg

http://i678.photobucket.com/albums/vv144/babisteph_2009/mrfred.jpg

http://i678.photobucket.com/albums/vv144/babisteph_2009/091103_093241.jpg

http://i678.photobucket.com/albums/vv144/babisteph_2009/091103_093224.jpg

 

[Xian]

That's a good lookin' T. I don't believe that is a death curl though, looks as if it's just chillin'.

 

[Ariel]

first off, if it is a male he's certainly not mature, so thats the good news. Second, I agree, not a death curl, looking stressed, but not dying. HOWEVER, what kind of bedding is that? there are certain beddings that you cannot use for tarantulas as they contain oils that are toxic to them. If i were you, I'd get some peat moss or Coco fibre (the stuff that comes in a brick) I would also reccomend putting a lot more in there, you should only have a legspan and a half of the T between the top and the floor, otherwise a fall could be fatal.

 

[ravenruby]

He looks like he's just pouting/stressed out or just awkwardly doing some T yoga against the glass in the last photo. Also, I'd get that toilet paper tube out of there; it will quickly turn into a breeding ground for mold and other unpleasantness!

 

[Hobo]

well im certainly not going to pick him up like that, he would freak out im pretty sure he is a male. my mate had him since a spiderling and learning about herpetolgy.
but if not here are a couple of pictures of mr fred,also the last two are of him in his death curl

http://i678.photobucket.com/albums/vv144/babisteph_2009/090919_170856.jpg

http://i678.photobucket.com/albums/vv144/babisteph_2009/mrfred.jpg

http://i678.photobucket.com/albums/vv144/babisteph_2009/091103_093241.jpg

http://i678.photobucket.com/albums/vv144/babisteph_2009/091103_093224.jpg

If I were you, I'd get rid of that substrate. Wood shavings (particularly cedar or other conifers) are poor if not downright toxic substrates for Ts and other inverts. Get yourself some coconut coir (bedabeast, plantation soil, etc.) and use that instead (of course making sure it's dry before setting her in). Then, let her alone for a full week before feeding/handling.

I don't want to sound rude, but for the sake of the spiders health... Even though tarantulas are often cared for by the "reptile" department of a petstore, they are not reptiles at all, and their husbandry differs significantly from them as well. So with that said, hope Mr. (or Mrs...!) Fred will be fine!

 

[steph09]

well that tank was only like that because it was an emergency and needed him out of his old tank and it was only temporary until i get him a new one. i know that the straw and the tube are definatly not suitable but it was a last minute thing and we had nothing other that that. the straw is not harmful to him we found this out before putting it in there, i would never do anything to harm mr fred! hes feeding and drinking fine so im not so worried. i picked up his tank and all the over bits today and i also picked up some terrain in a block and expands with water sooo hopefully mr fred will be happy with his new home. i will also be getting mr/mrs fred sexed next week.