Help - rescued suspected abused MF GBB

madamoisele

Arachnosquire
Joined
Oct 28, 2010
Messages
141
I've only been in the hobby a few months, but in that time I have voraciously researched T behavior and care sheets. Still, I need help on this one.

There's a pet store in my little town that had a T for about 2 years, which I never really took much notice of until I got into the hobby and started learning more about these arachnids. Then, I started to get worried.

For 2 years, she was kept 100% of the time in a 4"x8" acrylic cell that she couldn't even turn around in without twisting her body - right under the a/c vent. Her cell was so filled with cold condensation that her carapace had several thick drops of water beaded up on it. I can only imagine in horror how she must have suffered like that, drop, drop, drop of icy cold water, for 2 years. She has absolutely NO green on her carapace under any light (checked again after I'd dried her out) - it's pitch black. I can only assume the chinese water torture destroyed it. (Am I wrong?) I'm even more concerned because I can stroke and pet her carapace, abdomen and legs without her moving hardly at all. I assume the water torture numbed her to this. I should add she's EXTREMELY docile when out, to the point of almost being a manipulatable toy I would say.

The pet store owner knew nothing of her and the only person that did know about her worked during hours I was also at work. Finally, on Friday, I had a day off and went in to see him about her. I was told she was captive bred, about 6 years old, and had laid a sac for him about 2 years ago. Last molted 6 months ago.

My heart aches for this girl - she's so docile and slow moving it scares the crap out of me. No death curling in the legs, she does move sometimes, and she has webbed down the coconut fiber on the bottom of the small Kritter Keeper I have her temporarily in (for ICU observation). She seems healthy but her abdomen is small and she is so far refusing to eat (cricket). When I take her out, she doesn't seem eager to move about.

Should I be concerned? Any advice on how to "rehabilitate" her back to being a healthy T?
 

skippy

Arachnoangel
Old Timer
Joined
Jan 6, 2009
Messages
926
Keep her warm, feed her if you can and she'll molt out of it.

Oh, and dry... Gbbs like it dry.
 

boonbear

Arachnosquire
Old Timer
Joined
Dec 31, 2008
Messages
100
you sure it's a gbb? it should have died with that kind of moisture. maybe it's somethin else. post a pic
 

popcangenie

Arachnosquire
Joined
Aug 6, 2010
Messages
135
try tinypic.com


OR

if you picture fits scroll down when posting and hit manage attachments
 

madamoisele

Arachnosquire
Joined
Oct 28, 2010
Messages
141
the first pic was 48 hours ago when I got her. The second was taken a bit ago after she drank from the water bowl for about 15 minutes. The pet store hadnt put a water dish in for her either.
 

Attachments

Motorkar

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Aug 16, 2009
Messages
468
That is 100% GGB. Try leaving her alone, handle her as less as possible. Provide her with a fresh water, she needs to aclimate to the new enviroment first. It can take from a week to a month or more, but try to feed her after 1 week or two.
 

redrumpslump

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Oct 22, 2009
Messages
336
I wouldn't even wait a week to feed. I've rehoused my gbb and within two hours she ate.

Matt
 

ZergFront

Arachnoprince
Old Timer
Joined
May 2, 2009
Messages
1,956
Maybe try a prekilled meal. I really don't like the size of that backside..

Keep dry but have a water dish.
 

Mister Internet

Big Meanie Doo Doo Head :)
Arachnosupporter +
Joined
Aug 5, 2002
Messages
1,408
I've only been in the hobby a few months, but in that time I have voraciously researched T behavior and care sheets. Still, I need help on this one.

There's a pet store in my little town that had a T for about 2 years, which I never really took much notice of until I got into the hobby and started learning more about these arachnids. Then, I started to get worried.

For 2 years, she was kept 100% of the time in a 4"x8" acrylic cell that she couldn't even turn around in without twisting her body - right under the a/c vent. Her cell was so filled with cold condensation that her carapace had several thick drops of water beaded up on it. I can only imagine in horror how she must have suffered like that, drop, drop, drop of icy cold water, for 2 years. She has absolutely NO green on her carapace under any light (checked again after I'd dried her out) - it's pitch black. I can only assume the chinese water torture destroyed it. (Am I wrong?) I'm even more concerned because I can stroke and pet her carapace, abdomen and legs without her moving hardly at all. I assume the water torture numbed her to this. I should add she's EXTREMELY docile when out, to the point of almost being a manipulatable toy I would say.

The pet store owner knew nothing of her and the only person that did know about her worked during hours I was also at work. Finally, on Friday, I had a day off and went in to see him about her. I was told she was captive bred, about 6 years old, and had laid a sac for him about 2 years ago. Last molted 6 months ago.

My heart aches for this girl - she's so docile and slow moving it scares the crap out of me. No death curling in the legs, she does move sometimes, and she has webbed down the coconut fiber on the bottom of the small Kritter Keeper I have her temporarily in (for ICU observation). She seems healthy but her abdomen is small and she is so far refusing to eat (cricket). When I take her out, she doesn't seem eager to move about.

Should I be concerned? Any advice on how to "rehabilitate" her back to being a healthy T?
Ok, first thing I would suggest is to take a step back and get a proper perspective on the situation. Try to talk yourself out of "heart ache", thinking of the store's enclosure situation as "torture", and worrying about the T "suffering". If you do some searches here on suffering/pain, you'll find two fairly diametrically opposed viewpoints. Pay special attention to the general self-education level, rational bases provided for opinion, and general openness to new information that characterizes each group, and those factors may influence your decisions as to which school of thought you want to align yourself with. The only effect that any of that emotionalizing will have is on YOU, in the form of increased stress, possibly providing incorrect care from freaking out, or giving you closed ears to helpful advice. Trust me, I was there once. :)

IN MY (evidence-based, non-emotional, non-anthropomorphizing, non-hysterical) OPINION, your T needs a dry, warmish (room temp or a bit higher) enclosure with fresh water readily available. Leave it alone for a week and see if it starts webbing. If not, try feeding a large cricket at a time. If that goes well, feed it a bit extra heavily (2-3 large crickets per week) for a couple of months and the abdomen size should come back to normal. If it's truly a female it should start webbing up a storm once it's healthier.

Let us know how it goes...
 

madamoisele

Arachnosquire
Joined
Oct 28, 2010
Messages
141
Thank you everyone for the assistance and advice. She does seem to move normally on the rare occasions that she does move. She is webbing the bottom of her tank and, after her long drink at the water dish, appears to be doing somewhat better.

I'll keep her warm and quiet, and try to feed her again in a week.

Thanks again. :)
 

madamoisele

Arachnosquire
Joined
Oct 28, 2010
Messages
141
Ok, first thing I would suggest is to take a step back and get a proper perspective on the situation. Try to talk yourself out of "heart ache", thinking of the store's enclosure situation as "torture", and worrying about the T "suffering". If you do some searches here on suffering/pain, you'll find two fairly diametrically opposed viewpoints. Pay special attention to the general self-education level, rational bases provided for opinion, and general openness to new information that characterizes each group, and those factors may influence your decisions as to which school of thought you want to align yourself with. The only effect that any of that emotionalizing will have is on YOU, in the form of increased stress, possibly providing incorrect care from freaking out, or giving you closed ears to helpful advice. Trust me, I was there once. :)
I do have emotional compassion and tenderness towards animals, in general - I go out of my way to avoid stepping on bugs and the like. At the same time, I have learned through my quest for T-knowledge that spiders don't feel pain (at least not in the way we understand pain). I do recognize it's not about the spider, whose course in life is to live, breed if possible, and die.

I'm performing an experiment on my spiders, of sorts. Dr. Emoto proved that water molecules will change their structure depending upon the type of thought/writing placed on the bottle. So then we know that thoughts affect water, and this is provable under the microscope.

I'm a very loving person in general, and so when I'm handling or feeding or just watching my T's, I'm sending them my good intentions, love thoughts - to see if these animals possessing pretty much a central nervous system, but also comprised largely of water - in an attempt to see if it affects behavior towards me.

I expect this will be long term and maybe it will come to nothing, but I love my T's very, very much anyway, so they're getting my energy anyway - I might as well observe the effects.

(Yes.... I'm crazy...)
 

Kathy

Arachnoangel
Old Timer
Joined
Apr 4, 2009
Messages
852
I do have emotional compassion and tenderness towards animals, in general - I go out of my way to avoid stepping on bugs and the like. At the same time, I have learned through my quest for T-knowledge that spiders don't feel pain (at least not in the way we understand pain). I do recognize it's not about the spider, whose course in life is to live, breed if possible, and die.

I'm performing an experiment on my spiders, of sorts. Dr. Emoto proved that water molecules will change their structure depending upon the type of thought/writing placed on the bottle. So then we know that thoughts affect water, and this is provable under the microscope.

I'm a very loving person in general, and so when I'm handling or feeding or just watching my T's, I'm sending them my good intentions, love thoughts - to see if these animals possessing pretty much a central nervous system, but also comprised largely of water - in an attempt to see if it affects behavior towards me.

I expect this will be long term and maybe it will come to nothing, but I love my T's very, very much anyway, so they're getting my energy anyway - I might as well observe the effects.

(Yes.... I'm crazy...)
That's pretty darn awesome. Most of what happens in this world is yet to be discovered. As far as tarantulas suffering, I still say until someone has lived as a tarantula and comes back to tell about it, they really will never know what goes on in the mind and body of a tarantula. Human arrogance.
 

Mister Internet

Big Meanie Doo Doo Head :)
Arachnosupporter +
Joined
Aug 5, 2002
Messages
1,408
I do have emotional compassion and tenderness towards animals, in general - I go out of my way to avoid stepping on bugs and the like. At the same time, I have learned through my quest for T-knowledge that spiders don't feel pain (at least not in the way we understand pain). I do recognize it's not about the spider, whose course in life is to live, breed if possible, and die.

I'm performing an experiment on my spiders, of sorts. Dr. Emoto proved that water molecules will change their structure depending upon the type of thought/writing placed on the bottle. So then we know that thoughts affect water, and this is provable under the microscope.

I'm a very loving person in general, and so when I'm handling or feeding or just watching my T's, I'm sending them my good intentions, love thoughts - to see if these animals possessing pretty much a central nervous system, but also comprised largely of water - in an attempt to see if it affects behavior towards me.

I expect this will be long term and maybe it will come to nothing, but I love my T's very, very much anyway, so they're getting my energy anyway - I might as well observe the effects.

(Yes.... I'm crazy...)
Eek. I would think hard before putting that much stock in "Dr." Emoto. His "Doctor of Medicine in Alternative Medicine" degree is a crock. I refer you to the "school's" own website:

http://altmedworld.net/alternative-medicine-md-program.htm

That's right... the pre-requisite qualifications to enter the program are, and I quote: "Those persons who have passed any degree course from an authentic institution." Basically, any degree will do, it doesn't have to be medically-, or even scientifically-, related. The program is one year long... I'm sorry, one year doesn't make you a doctor of anything. His undergraduate studies were in International Relations... that has nothing to do with practicing medicine. He has no business calling himself a Doctor, and that program, and entire school for that matter, isn't accredited or certified by any instution or organization outside the "alterative healing" milieu.

Also, his credibility is quite compromised due to the fact that his research just so happens to bolster the claims of the incredibly expensive water products he sells... that alone would discredit his work from being considered by any scientific peer review process. $35 for a bottle of "geometrically perfect" "Indigo Water", that supposedly is better absorbed by the body's cells? It's hard to take it seriously.

I'm not saying you can't take things like that seriously if you absolutely want to... but it's the same type of pseudoscience perpetrated by anti-vaccination zealots, 7-day creationists, and overzealous chriopractors. He has a vested interest in selling you $35 bottles of 5 cent water... money. Of course, he's goign to show "proof" as to why you should. And independent study proving his claims would be nice, but no such thing exists... just be critical, that's all.

Best of luck with the T...
 

widowmaker03

Arachnopeon
Joined
Sep 12, 2010
Messages
1
molecules change structure based on writing on a bottle??? that sounds like hippie propaganda. also i am pretty sure molecules cant be seen under a microscope... no matter how powerful. molecules are too small for light to reflect off of them. we only know their structures and makeups based on how they behave and react.
 

Waxen

Arachnosquire
Old Timer
Joined
Apr 5, 2004
Messages
128
molecules change structure based on writing on a bottle??? that sounds like hippie propaganda. also i am pretty sure molecules cant be seen under a microscope... no matter how powerful. molecules are too small for light to reflect off of them. we only know their structures and makeups based on how they behave and react.
I must have missed that part about water in all the college classes I took for my bachelors in Chemistry. It's not hippie propaganda it's complete horse puckey. Writing on a bottle doesn't change the properties of the water inside. Next time you want to boil some water maybe you should think angry thoughts at the water rather than turning on your stove and see if that works. Report back here and let me know how it goes. Lol.
 
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