HELP!!!! my avic avic looks epileptic

Ace Man

Arachnopeon
Joined
Mar 13, 2003
Messages
31
Someone Help!!!

I bought my T about a month ago but a couple of weeks ago it started having what look like epileptic fits. It seems to dance around the tank with what seems to look like it has no control over its legs. Someone said that maybe the vermiculite was too dusty and could be blocking the book lungs. I've since changed the substrate to orchid bark but it hasn't made a difference. Also, it hasn't eaten for three weeks and can't climb the sides of the tank anymore but it can still climb the cork bark that's in the tank. It's my first T and I don't want it to die. I'm really worried. Can someone PLEASE help.:confused:
 

rknralf

Arachnolord
Old Timer
Joined
Jul 19, 2002
Messages
663
Sounds like dehydration.
So you have a water bowl in the tank for it to drink from?
Since they have no muscles, tarantulas use the liquid in their bodies to control their movement. They use hydrolics as opposed to muscle movement like other animals.
 

Nixy

Arachnoprince
Old Timer
Joined
Feb 6, 2003
Messages
1,486
Ok. Set up an ICU for your avic.
A Clean deli pot or container with a shallow water dish and "moist?"paper towel.
I know there are posts on this forum about how to set up an ICU.

Clean her tank.
Stay away from bark and such like that as it's too rough.

(Please experts here correct me if I'm wrong)

Put her in a warm quiet place.

I would go with a peat substrat. I've personaly found all our T's love the stuff and I haven't had troubles with mold, mites or other such things.

I hope she'll be ok, and PLease keep us posted and I Hope someone else has more to tell you.

Good luck and I will keep my fingers crossed for you.
 

Lopez

Arachnoking
Old Timer
Joined
Feb 18, 2003
Messages
2,040
Keep that humidity nice and high, and like Nixy said, set up an ICU - a sterile "recovery ward" if you like.
You want to keep her warm and humid.

My Usambara was a little dehydrated recently and lost the use of his back legs. I soaked the substrate and closed most of his ventilation off for 24 hours - it looked like it was over 90% in there, and he recovered at overnight. I then slowly lowered the humidity to reasonable levels over the next few days.
 

Tarantula Lover

Psalmopoeus Lover
Old Timer
Joined
Jul 21, 2002
Messages
1,373
hey, nothings wrong. Avics are known to lift up their legs and dance around, thats why they are sooo cute and unique! nothings wrong, and it may be coming up for a moult so keep the humidity high! Good Luck!!

James
 

JacenBeers

Arachnoprince
Old Timer
Joined
Sep 1, 2002
Messages
1,264
James I do not think it is safe to say that absolutely nothing is wrong. In fact I would agree with the others in saying that it is lacking humidity.
 

Bridget

Arachnosquire
Old Timer
Joined
Nov 4, 2002
Messages
54
What exactly does it do during these fits? Only time I've ever seen one move weirdly was just before mating. The male A. avicularia we have would dance and climb all over the place. I'm sure that's not it, but thought I'd bring it up. Vermiculite is supposed to be one of the best subrates for T's too by the way. How high are you keeping the humidity in there? What type of tank is it in? What kind of ventilation do you have? What's the temperature in its enclosure? There could be a number of things wrong causing it to act this way.

Just my 2 cents.

Bridget
 

Immortal_sin

Arachnotemptress
Old Timer
Joined
Jul 17, 2002
Messages
3,952
I think there are a few people on here that have had 'spasitc' tarantulas, I can't remember the details or outcome, but hopefully they will see this thread and speak up.
 

Code Monkey

Arachnoemperor
Old Timer
Joined
Jul 22, 2002
Messages
3,783
I'm going to be the voice of dissent here. I know exactly the sort of fits you're describing and, unfortunately, there is no cause known, nor a cure.

You can read about my own experiences with a G. pulchra that eventually died, along with others recounting similar experiences, most fatal.

See that thread here.

Hopefully what you describe isn't as severe as I'm picturing, but if so, hopefully you'll be one of the few who's Ts pull through.
 

Tarantula Lover

Psalmopoeus Lover
Old Timer
Joined
Jul 21, 2002
Messages
1,373
hey!

Jacen if you read my post a little more carefully you can see that i said JUST INCASE RAISE THE HUMIDITY, is all you ever do is start trouble???


James:rolleyes:
 

Phillip

Arachnoprince
Old Timer
Joined
Aug 19, 2002
Messages
1,328
just wondering...

When you say fits can you give a better description of a fit. Do you possibly mean tapping the front legs rapidly as if having a seizure? If this is the case then that along with the not eating leads me to think that perhaps you have an adult male. But like CM said more info is needed before help can be given.

Phil
 

Nixy

Arachnoprince
Old Timer
Joined
Feb 6, 2003
Messages
1,486
When we first got Sunshine and Moonbeam. Our two adult rosies. Sunshine had "fits" for about a week. I thought she was Dieing.
She would prance around Real fast and the flip over on her back, her legs flinging and flailing Very hard.
I called the store.
they said on the back.... molt.

She never Did moult and the fits became less and less over the next week.

But she did some strange strange things, and being our First T's I had No idea of they were normal or not.

But she scared the Hels out of me when she would sit flat and lift All her legs off the ground, literaly and open her fangs real wide.

Almost put me off buying more T's because this was just Too freaky.

Alicia reminded me of it while she was reading this post over my shoulder.

I ended up raising the humidity a bit.

She just, got better.
I do not know why, or why she was acting that way to start with.

I Hope your baby gets better. I Really really do.

Don't give up.
 

Ace Man

Arachnopeon
Joined
Mar 13, 2003
Messages
31
Epileptic Avic Avic

thanks for all yor advice guys. I'll update you when I notice a change in behaviour.


:)
 

MizM

Arachnoprincess
Old Timer
Joined
Jan 13, 2003
Messages
4,915
I went back to Code Monkey's thread about his "spastic" T, and read it through. Number one, the documentation of these occurences is most important... we can share our experiences and LEARN from them.

I am thinking... have you ever watched an insect that you had sprayed with insecticide? They exhibit much the same behavior, of course to a greater degree due to the concentration, and death is MUCH quicker. However, insecticide DOES attack the nervous system and I'm wondering if these T's could have possibly been exposed to some level of pesticides in their lives.

Post offices regularly have exterminators in to rid their business of pests. If they are shipped airborne, what else is in the cargo hold? Did the postal truck drive past a field that has recently been crop dusted? Or, is there a serious neurological disease out there that we don't know about? Were these Ts inbred to the point of mutation?

Who knows, but the more we share, the more we learn. I wonder if you guys could track down a history of these particular individuals to get some clues as to what it could be?
 

Godzilla2000

Arachnoangel
Old Timer
Joined
Mar 14, 2003
Messages
947
I'm just going by gut instinct on this but could the tarantula be suffering from brain damage of some sort brought on by the stresses of shipping? We all know sometimes postal workers are not the most cautious, careful parcel handlers in the world.
 

Ace Man

Arachnopeon
Joined
Mar 13, 2003
Messages
31
update

Just an update.
I changed the substrate to a larger form of vermiculite and I've managed to keep the humidity at a steady 75ish. It seems happier but it's still skitting about every so often although not as often but they seem to last longer. Recently it's taken to hiding behind the piece of cork bark and it still hasn't eaten (almost 6 weeks now!!).

The attacks are like it's been sprayed with something, like when you spray a fly and it's buzzing around helplessly on the floor. The legs seem to fly around all over the place and it kind of hops around the floor of the tank. It's fallen off the cork bark twice from a height of a couple of inches but it doesn't seem to be bleeding anywhere. It doesn't seem to have any co-ordination and is very clumsy when it walks. We've also renamed it Skitty for obvious reasons!!!

If anyone's got any more advice it would be greatly appreciated.

:? :? :?
 

MrMatt

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
Joined
Mar 20, 2003
Messages
163
I have seen that sort of behavior before. Last year my T. blondi behaved much the same way. She would move her legs uncontrollably and was barely able to walk. Her humidity was good 80% yet I still put her in ICU, bumped her humidity to 90% and kept her nice and warm. She molted a few days later successfully yet continued this behavior, about a week later she passed. Soon after that my Avic began acting the same way and she was unable to even climb her cork bark. She only lived about a month. The only thing I can think that may have caused this was poison. I found later that they had been spraying about a week before the first case. I also lost my Cobalt Blue around the same time but since she was burrowed I was unable to see if she had the same behavior. No others were affected that I could tell, but they are now kept sealed from the outside world.

I hope your T. has better luck. I agree with putting it in ICU and bumping the humidity. Don’t try to feed it for a while because the food would probably just stress her, or worse feed on her. I hope this helps, keep us posted.

MrMatt
 

Nixy

Arachnoprince
Old Timer
Joined
Feb 6, 2003
Messages
1,486
I know it's not a bit of help but wished to say I keep thinking about your little sweety and hoping it pulls through for you.

Hugs from us.
 
Top