HELP! Tarantula arrived drenched in gross liquid?

[rinascritters]

I just received my tarantulas from Black Water Reptiles in the mail. I'm incredibly confused and I need some help.

The pink toe I ordered showed up in a container far too small for how big she is, and in addition to that she is wet with something I don't know what it is, and smells terrible!! It smells like old canned tuna or salmon. She was also on her back and curled up; so don't blame me for thinking she was dead. Turns out she's 100% fine, she came out of the container by herself and into her enclosure and is moving around great. I'm so confused about this. She's still covered in this smelly liquid and I am hoping she'll clean herself off, however I'm worried about whether or not it's dangerous to her or myself.

Secondly, my male curly hair that I ordered is completely curled up and not moving and I"m convinced he's dead. He came in a slightly bigger container, however this one was also filthy. It wasn't actually wet or anything, just very dirty. I tried to take him out and get him watered and into his new enclosure, but he still has yet to move and he's still curled up. I'm hoping for the best at this point but not expecting much.

If you guys have any ideas on what's happened please let me know. If u need more info about what happened then please just ask and I'll tell u what I can. I'm super upset right now.

edit: here's pics for you all, this is just the pink toe T that I got.

 

[Swagg]

Post some pictures so we can get a better idea of what's going on.

 

[ShyDragoness]

Definitely need pictures... This is really weird

 

[Arthroverts]

Agreed photos are needed. Also, did you order from Black Water Reptiles or Back Water Reptiles? I can't find a Black Water Reptiles online.

Thanks,

Arthroverts

 

[MintyWood826]

Like everyone else has stated, we need to see pictures.

Agreed photos are needed. Also, did you order from Black Water Reptiles or Back Water Reptiles? I can't find a Black Water Reptiles online.

Thanks,

Arthroverts

I believe it is a nickname for Back Water as they are horrible.

 

[Arthroverts]

Like everyone else has stated, we need to see pictures.

I believe it is a nickname for Back Water as they are horrible.

I've seen assumptions cause real damage, so I just want to make absolutely sure.
@rinascritters, if you did order from Back Water, there is your problem.

Thanks,

Arthroverts

 

[cold blood]

OMG, for the love of God, stay away from that seller! Ive never seen a single t from them that was packaged even close to correctly...I cant even speculate on the smell or wetness...sounds awful....and not normal at all.

message me, i could have gotten both species for you locally.

If you guys have any ideas on what's happened please let me know.

yes, you ordered ts from the wrong place....always check reviews before ordering....and not reviews on their website, those are edited for their benefit.

 

[Kitara]

Agreed photos are needed. Also, did you order from Black Water Reptiles or Back Water Reptiles? I can't find a Black Water Reptiles online.

I was wondering as well. I thought... hmmm... could there be another one that's bad?

 

[MetalMan2004]

I’ve never given any of my tarantulas a bath before but I’m wondering if your spider would (or wouldn’t) benefit from being rinsed off somehow.

good luck.

 

[chanda]

The liquid sounds very strange and wrong. The only thing I can think of is that maybe they were trying to moisten the substrate/paper towel/whatever they put in the container with the spider, but over-did it and saturated the container - and if there was also a dead feeder (or feeder parts) in there, that might explain the smell. Or perhaps the spider was being kept in a container that was way too wet and had foul, stagnant water in the substrate - which was transferred to the shipping container along with the spider.

 

[vancwa]

Never order T's from reptile dealers.

 

[Brachyfan]

Without seeing this in person I can only speculate but it may be regurgitation? This sounds very strange to say the least.
Hmmmm...

 

[rinascritters]

Post some pictures so we can get a better idea of what's going on.

I've added pics

Definitely need pictures... This is really weird

Added them to original post.

Without seeing this in person I can only speculate but it may be regurgitation? This sounds very strange to say the least.
Hmmmm...

Never order T's from reptile dealers.

Agreed photos are needed. Also, did you order from Black Water Reptiles or Back Water Reptiles? I can't find a Black Water Reptiles online.

Thanks,

Arthroverts

I've added pics everyone

The liquid sounds very strange and wrong. The only thing I can think of is that maybe they were trying to moisten the substrate/paper towel/whatever they put in the container with the spider, but over-did it and saturated the container - and if there was also a dead feeder (or feeder parts) in there, that might explain the smell. Or perhaps the spider was being kept in a container that was way too wet and had foul, stagnant water in the substrate - which was transferred to the shipping container along with the spider.

She did not come with even a moistened paper towel.

 

[Brachyfan]

That is really sad I feel for you

 

[Vanessa]

That's horrific. Why do people keep giving them their money? <edit> Can you please leave a review, with those photos, every single place that they are listed on the internet... PLEASE!

 

[rinascritters]

That's horrific. Why do people keep giving them their money? <edit> Can you please leave a review, with those photos, every single place that they are listed on the internet... PLEASE!

Yes. I've never been upset this way in my life, it's a whole kind of different feeling when your pets are DOA.

 

[Arachnophoric]

Completely wrong way to pack a T. Please, no matter how cheap they're selling, NEVER order from Backwater again. They're drop-shippers to boot, and if you purchased a specific sex there's a good chance it isn't even that sex.

Without seeing the T. albo I can already say that the cause of death was improper packaging. Whatever is covering your Avic looks like it spit it up itself, possibly because it likely got bounced around to hell and back while being shipped to you. Or it could have some sort of sickness/parasite. It doesn't look good, that's for sure. Surprised the poor thing is even alive.

 

[Thekla]

I won't be of any help regarding what kind of liquid that is or how it got there or anything else... I just wanted to say how sorry I am and that this is the worst and most horrifying thing I've ever seen.

I keep my fingers crossed your Avic will survive her ordeal and that she will thrive in your care. Hopefully, she will moult soon to get rid of every last molecule of that gross liquid.
Also, I'm really sorry your male T. albo didn't make it. If I could I'd send you mine.

You probably won't get anything of the dealer (although you should try), but what you can and should do is to write reviews wherever you can (here, on their website, etc.) to make this public and warn people to never ever buy from them again.

I'm really shocked.

 

[cold blood]

I just received my tarantulas from Black Water Reptiles in the mail. I'm incredibly confused and I need some help.

The pink toe I ordered showed up in a container far too small for how big she is, and in addition to that she is wet with something I don't know what it is, and smells terrible!! It smells like old canned tuna or salmon. She was also on her back and curled up; so don't blame me for thinking she was dead. Turns out she's 100% fine, she came out of the container by herself and into her enclosure and is moving around great. I'm so confused about this. She's still covered in this smelly liquid and I am hoping she'll clean herself off, however I'm worried about whether or not it's dangerous to her or myself.

Secondly, my male curly hair that I ordered is completely curled up and not moving and I"m convinced he's dead. He came in a slightly bigger container, however this one was also filthy. It wasn't actually wet or anything, just very dirty. I tried to take him out and get him watered and into his new enclosure, but he still has yet to move and he's still curled up. I'm hoping for the best at this point but not expecting much.

If you guys have any ideas on what's happened please let me know. If u need more info about what happened then please just ask and I'll tell u what I can. I'm super upset right now.

edit: here's pics for you all, this is just the pink toe T that I got. View attachment 329007 View attachment 329008 View attachment 329007 View attachment 329008 View attachment 329009 View attachment 329010 View attachment 329011

Thats the saddest looking Avic ive ever seen that wasnt dead...that poor animal...its utterly shocking it survived.

For the record, this is what things should look like when you ship a t.

mm versi

• cold blood
• Nov 1, 2017

on the way to a date

 

[rinascritters]

Thats the saddest looking Avic ive ever seen that wasnt dead...that poor animal...its utterly shocking it survived.

For the record, this is what things should look like when you ship a t.

mm versi

• cold blood
• Nov 1, 2017

on the way to a date

I'm fully aware of what proper shippment of tarantulas and most reptiles looks like, which is why I was so upset.

You all should've seen the way the entire box was packed. The heating pad was stuffed in the corner, rather than nicely taped to the bottom or top of the box. My Avic. was in that extremely tiny container, the curly hair was just thrown into a random container with one piece of balled up paper towel, same as the leopard gecko I ordered. There was barely any padding as well.