Help!!!

[MizM]

O.K. dudes & dudettes... I REALLY need help with my H. lividium. I’ve had Ts for a long time, but they’ve all been healthy, happy individuals. Now I have a real mystery on my hands... I’m stumped! I THOUGHT I had solved the problem when I removed the baby crix trying to chew her leg off. She was in ICU all weekend & the wound was looking great. I checked on her 6 times a day or more, each time making sure I got a response from her. If I saw movement, I was happy. Yesterday, I went out to my friends house to pick up some curly slings (I have FIVE now!) and was gone for about 3 hours. When I came home, my Coby did not respond. I opened the box & touched her... no movement. I lifted a leg... no movement. I turned her over on her back... no movement. I gently lifted her fangs... no movement. She was limp & strangely damp. I thought she had bled to death. I took her out and posed her on my flower box in the sun, I wasn’t ready to bury her yet. She looked so beautiful in the sun, so I just left her there for awhile. My fiancee & I continued to pose her & touch her legs, we were both pretty bummed & were kind of saying good-bye. I went to the pet store & came back... about 2 hours had passed since I put her in the sun. I went to pick the body up... & she moved. She came back from death! She was very sluggish & would only move if she thought she was in danger. I put her on a plate to bring her in & stuff started coming out of her anus. It was two separate liquids, one pure white like “white-out” liquid and one clear & slightly yellow. Can Ts get diarrhea (or spiderrha)? Or could it have been web liquid? I’m terrified that since she is WC that maybe one of those wasps could have laid eggs in her. I put her back in her fresh,clean habitat and misted her & have left her alone since. She won’t eat, I have taken her paintbrush & dipped it in water & she eagerly masticates it, so I’m sure she’s not dehydrated. But she WILL NOT bite at a cricket at the end of tongs right under her fangs. What the heck is going on with my T. (New name; Zombia!) Can ANYBODY give me any idea what this is and if she will live?:? :8o

 

[Code Monkey]

I don't know what to say except that I'm sorry because all odds are the spider is going to die. Many times wild caught Ts may come with parasites, or in a weakened enough state that they are vulnerable to parasites or other infections. That it was in such a state of lethargy that pinheads were apparently able to take the time to chew a leg wound speaks of its ill state even then.

There have been a number of infections (nematode or bacterial, the jury is still out as to exactly which is the primary cause) observed in the past year or so with analogous symptoms: pasty discharge from the mouth and anus, inability to extend the fangs, general wasting, ever decreasing use of the limbs, and then death. A couple of treatements have been tried (Panacure being one, the other escapes me at the moment) but nothing has been effective and some even seemed to hasten death.

All you can do is hope and keep anything that's come in contact with that T away from your others before it's thoroughly washed.

 

[MizM]

:8o Oh gosh... bad news, but thank you so much for the information. I guess I'll just have to make her as comfortable as possible and hope and pray she's not in pain or suffering.

 

[Nixy]

Im sorry for you and your H. lividium and hope that somehow she pulls through.
I won't give my condolances now.
There still a chance, if slim.
Keep us posted on how she's doing and good luck.

 

[MizM]

Thanks Nixy... your halo grows by the moment! How DO you get through the door!!

 

[Nixy]

By using my horns to tip my halo a bit to fit it.
It's my wings that give me trouble.


I've just seen to many hopeless situations turn around.
And I have a firm " never give up and never give in" attitude.

 

[MizM]

Well, I'm gonna keep giving her water, and keep offering her crickets and do my best to encourage her to live.

(Thanks, after CodeMonkey's reply, I was jut going to leave her alone and let her die in peace. Now I'm gonna keep trying and trying and trying!!)

 

[Code Monkey]

I didn't say to give up, there's no end to animals I've tearfully watched go after I struggled to save them. But there's what we do out of stubbornness, and there's what the most likely outcome is.

By all means, keep hoping and trying, but be prepared for the worst. Once a T loses use of its limbs, you know there's a lot of problems going on under the hood. Without any real treatments other than providing water and food (you can always try mashing a cricket up and putting a bit of watery cricket paste on the mouth area to see if that does any good), the percentage of turn arounds is about what it used to be for people pre 20th century.

 

[MizM]

NONONO!!! I didn't mean to imply that you meant "give up"!! I think I already kind of knew she wasn't going to be able to keep this up much longer. I just got depressed after I read your reply.

But, knowledge IS power and I feel much better that I can try. Like you said, I can keep her hydrated and give her cricket cocktails and who knows.... if she gets enough nutrition, she could beat this thing.

And if I lose her, I will have learned something.

You'll be getting no slams from me CodeMonkey!

 

[Nixy]

Dumb question.
What where the conditions outside that revived her?
Could you simulate it?
Maybe open a window shade and set her ICU or enclosier half in and out of a sunbeam?
I was gonna suggest cricket puree too.

 

[MizM]

Hey, it can't hurt to try. Maybe the sun gave her strength or something. I can put her near a window in diffused sunlight or something. I'll sure try anything at this point!

 

[Nixy]

I guess it might be at the " hell, it can't make things Worse." stage.
I Thought I read it in a thread someplace , somewhere.
Maybe here but the days been long and I just got finished cooking dinner.

So I'm not rememebering well.

But I wonder how antibiotics work on T's.

 

[MizM]

Ahhhhh, me too. (Are you reading my mind?!?!?!) I routinely give them to my tom-cat who fights alot and gets abscesses. I jave to drain the offending area and then pop him some ampicillin. So far it's cured him every time. I HAD thought about breaking open capsule of ampicillin an mixing it with a little water... since she seems to be taking water easily. And if she is doomed to die... why not try?

Perhaps we could ALL learn a little something if I try this experiment. I certainly would like to try to make a contribution to helping others who are and will go though something like this...

Some thoughts everyone????

 

[Nixy]

If you do I guess it would have to be at very tiny tiny amounts.
I'm still hoping you'll turn around and find the little beasty giving you the fang and waiting to mangle a cricket.

 

[MizM]

Gonna Try Ampicillin

O.K. Nixy, I'm going home tonight and give a cricket mash with the tiniest bit of ampicillin. Then I'll put the tiniest bit on her 10:00p.m. water painbrush.

I think you're right about very small amounts, but I'm going to administer them 4 times a day.

For those of you wondering... see the thread "Help." If this works, will I be a huge innovator in the arachnid world? Or will it just be a case of "Maybe she would have lived anyway!!" Film at 11:00.

 

[MizM]

Lividium LIVES!!!

:8o Oh, I can't believe I'm saying this... my lividium is just fine!!!! I got home at 5:30pm last night, and there she was, metallic blue gorgeous, laying next to her exuvia!!! It was only a bad molt experience! :8o

I AM embarrased that I freaked so much, but in 12 years of having at least one T in my home, I have NEVER experienced such a molt. Just goes to show, everything we expect them to do is just what they WANT us to expect... they'll do whatever comes naturally, whether it's normal or not!

THANK YOU NIXY! Your positive thoughts MUST have had some healing power. THANK YOU CODE MONKEY! You shared your knowledge and at least helped me to feel more informed.!!

I checked the exuvia over with a loupe, and there is NO INDICATION WHATSOEVER that anything was amiss. It's perfect... see? (I put it on my scanner, so the quality ain't so good.)

Anyway, after saying oh-mi-God,oh-mi-God,oh-mi-God,oh-mi-God,oh-mi-God,oh-mi-God, and scaring my family to death, I pulled up a chair and just watched her. She's doing all the normal things, stretching a little, etc. I'M SO HAPPY!!!!

 

[MizM]

WHOOPSIE

 

[Code Monkey]

So what you're trying to say is that all of these hysterics were over a moulting T that you diagnosed as critically ill and then made plan after plan to nurse back to health?

Bet this doesn't feel like your brightest moment ever

I'm glad everything turned out for the best. Far better the hysterics are over something so simple and easily fixed than a genuine tragedy

 

[genious_gr]

Congrats!!!! I'm beggining to agree with Nixy, it has to be a conspiracy... ummm, I can't see the pic though...

 

[Nixy]

YAYAYAYAYAYAYAY!!!!!!!!

I am SO SO Glad she's ok!




(does a happy dance for ya)
I am So so very happy.
really.
Just grinning like a loon.
I don';t know hon.
Those symptoms sounded Awful weird.
maybe she molted off whatever was bothering her.
Hell.
I'm just Thrilled that she's alright.
Congrates yay and congrates and hugs.
I'm so excited for ya!