how to tell if your T is sick and/or dying?

[kosh]

was sitting here on the computer and looked up and noticed the new 4"+ rosehair i bought was sitting on the substrate kinda funy looking with 2 or 3 of its legs curled under itself......
it wasnt cleaning itself and was flat on the substrate with some legs curled under....
i was concerned and went to take the lid off the kritter keeper i got and as soon as i moved the container the T snapped to life as if nothing was wrong....now the T is hanging out half on/half off the glass....
is this anything to be concerned about or could the T have been sleeping???

 

[Bjorgly]

I have found a couple of my spiders likethat before and the same thing happened when i threw in a cricket or moved the cage, they sprang to life. This happened a long time ago and they have all molted since and are thriving. If they were sick or weak they probabaly could not have made it through the molt so the conclusion i came to was nothing was wrong.

Good luck

Mark

 

[JacenBeers]

I have seen lots of my spiders do this. Often times they will be cleaning themselves and then just stop doing it without stretching their legs out. SOmetimes it even looks like they are tipping over.

 

[kosh]

hmmmm.......at first i thought the cleaning thing too.....but the spider was down in the dirt with its legs curled under laying on them....in the dirt (vermiculite).....
hopefully it is nothing...it ate a couple of mealworms the first night i had it and it now has a medium size kritter keeper with a little cardboard hide i made and a small water dish.....and filled the medium kritter keeper half full with 100% vermiculite.....spider still hanging out on the glass for now.....
would be a good time to get my flashlight and try to determine sex if i knew what i was looking for on a LIVE spider....

 

[Code Monkey]

I have even seen Ts doing what looked like they were literally resting on all of their legs, scared the bejesus out of me, but as you describe, one disturbance and they get up from their T lotus position. I don't think it's indicative of anything as I've never had one actually get ill after these sorts of things. It's when you find them sitting funny and they don't spring back into full normal posture and walking that you need to be concerned.

 

[kosh]

well for a while after this post the spider sat against the glass......it eventually slid down the glass till it was resting on its side with some legs still touching the glass.....mostly in the dirt though....then it started moving its legs that were against the glass as if it were walking but not going anywhere.........i was like WTF??
i am thinking something has GOT to be wrong here......i have never seen this kind of behavior from a T (i am an amateur so i might have missed out on this) or any other spider for that matter than wast just zapped with a can of bug spray....
i was thinking that perhaps last night (my bro was having some friends over for drinking and they were smoking like freight trains and some of them in the room with my Ts)...that there was too much second hand smoke in the air last night and that was affecting my T.......
i kept watching the T.....eventually it got up on its own and went over to the other side of the Kritter Keeper and sat there........i decided "what the heck" and went a threw a mealworm in there.....it was touching the spiders "foot" and as soon as it warmed up enough to move.....the T was on the worm like flies on doodoo!!!.......i watched it gobble the worm and then it started what i could only describe as searching the ground for more worms.....i tossed one in and BAM instant spider food........so hopefully whatever it was with the spider earlier in the day....it has gotten over it now.....this spider eats more aggressively than i ever saw my mature male rosehair eat (even before it matured)....
im going to stay up a little later and see if the spider wants another mealworm after this one....then i gotta go to bed...not used to having to get up and go to work!!!.....monday is gonna be rough!

 

[TigerWoman]

What cind of T is it?


Ehh, forget it.... Reading once more, i saw it... rosehair

 

[Tranz]

Originally posted by kosh
well for a while after this post the spider sat against the glass......it eventually slid down the glass till it was resting on its side with some legs still touching the glass.....mostly in the dirt though....then it started moving its legs that were against the glass as if it were walking but not going anywhere.........i was like WTF??
i

I have a 1 1/2"+ G. Pulchra sling and it does that all the time. Also, it will lie on the substrate with a few of its legs curled up under it like a cat. I try not to project onto the spider my feelings of how well/happy it is based on the strange postures it assumes.