I dug out my sling because I thought it was dead, turns out it is in premolt. Will it die now?

alexbwkim

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i screwed up badly. As I watched a cricket I had just put into my slings enclosure crawl into the burrow, I watched as my sling bit it and left it at that. Three hours later, the cricket is dead and my sling is still in the same position. An hour after that, I return to find my sling in what looks like death curl, leaking white fluid from somewhere on its body. In a panic I carefully cleared away the burrow and placed it on some damp substrate. Lo and behold it began to move, but sluggishly. I saw the black abdomen and thought, 'holy crap I just screwed up badly.' I think I dug my sling out of its burrow during premolt. I quickly replaced its enclosure, placed the dead cricket in one corner and gently placed the sling back inside. Ive turned off all the lights in my house and placed the enclosure near a 1W heat mat. Is my sling going to die now without a proper burrow? Have I induced too much stress? It is an Australian Selenotypus species and they are fossorial. Is there anything I can do to help it. Sorry if this sounds panicked I am very worried and this is my first sling...
 

Venom1080

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Just leave it be. Post pics as well. If it wasn't flipped over you probably didn't disturb a molt
 

KezyGLA

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Ditch the heat mat. Leave it in peace.

The white fluid is a concern but best not to disturb any further.

Pics would help.
 

PidderPeets

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i screwed up badly. As I watched a cricket I had just put into my slings enclosure crawl into the burrow, I watched as my sling bit it and left it at that. Three hours later, the cricket is dead and my sling is still in the same position. An hour after that, I return to find my sling in what looks like death curl, leaking white fluid from somewhere on its body. In a panic I carefully cleared away the burrow and placed it on some damp substrate. Lo and behold it began to move, but sluggishly. I saw the black abdomen and thought, 'holy crap I just screwed up badly.' I think I dug my sling out of its burrow during premolt. I quickly replaced its enclosure, placed the dead cricket in one corner and gently placed the sling back inside. Ive turned off all the lights in my house and placed the enclosure near a 1W heat mat. Is my sling going to die now without a proper burrow? Have I induced too much stress? It is an Australian Selenotypus species and they are fossorial. Is there anything I can do to help it. Sorry if this sounds panicked I am very worried and this is my first sling...
As previously stated, I would do away with the heat mat and just leave it alone. It won't die just because it doesn't have a proper burrow, but moving it probably did stress it out, especially if it was already stressed, which could decrease it's chances of survival if something's wrong. Is there any chance it was in the process of molting already and the cricket bit it? The white fluid and apparent death curl make me nervous. But aside from that, unfortunately all you can really do is leave it alone and wait. It either pulls through, or it doesn't. But posting pictures of it would certainly give myself and others a better idea of what you're dealing with and could help us help you further. For all we know, what you think is a death curl could actually be it flipped on it's back to molt, but we don't have any pics to go by. But for future reference, unless the T is very obviously dehydrated, there's usually no need to move it somewhere more moist (it sounds like you tried to put it in an ICU-type situation to help it), and I usually wouldn't move it at all.
 

mconnachan

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As said leave it in peace, you've probably disturbed the T, but it will most likely molt no problem, hope all goes well...
 

alexbwkim

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Ditch the heat mat. Leave it in peace.

The white fluid is a concern but best not to disturb any further.

Pics would help.
I think now that the liquid may have been spider poop...

As said leave it in peace, you've probably disturbed the T, but it will most likely molt no problem, hope all goes well...
yep, it has been sitting in the hole for the day, looks like it is starting to dig.
 
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Andrea82

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Disturbing during pre molt (the phase leading to molting) isn't harmful, only when it has already begun the process itself :)
 

mconnachan

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yep, it has been sitting in the hole for the day, looks like it is starting to dig.
That's good to hear, keep us up-dated when the T finally molts, it's great when members update the thread they started, so we can see and hear all has gone well, sounds great.;)
 

PidderPeets

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I think now that the liquid may have been spider poop...
Riiiiiiight! I forgot about that possibility. You'd think with the messy avic I've got, my thought process would've been: "White fluid coming out of a tarantula? THAT'S POOP!!!! I know tarantula poop, and that's poop!" I will say I'm glad I'm not at that level of crazy yet though.

But anyway, I'm glad to hear it seems alright! :)
 

LurkingUnderground

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Related question. What does it mean when a Grammostola pulchripes builds a little cucoon instead of digging a hole? It is 1/4-1/2 inch.
 

Ultum4Spiderz

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Related question. What does it mean when a Grammostola pulchripes builds a little cucoon instead of digging a hole? It is 1/4-1/2 inch.
If you see a web matt it’s possibly pre- molt unless you just rehoused it. Dark abdomen also
I think now that the liquid may have been spider poop...


yep, it has been sitting in the hole for the day, looks like it is starting to dig.
id never dig out a burrower unless it outgrow its housing. Great no injuries!!
 

LurkingUnderground

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If you see a web matt it’s possibly pre- molt unless you just rehoused it. Dark abdomen also

id never dig out a burrower unless it outgrow its housing. Great no injuries!!
I rehoused it because I think the substrate was too wet. And also the abdomen is pretty black.
 

WoofSpider

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I did the same thing with a tiny N. incei sling about a year ago. She was buried for 3 weeks without eating and I was worried. I dug her out and she started molting 10 minutes later. I totally regretted it, but she was fine and is still doing great now (although she still loves to spend crazy long periods of time hidden in her web castle).

I think your T should be okay. They aren't really super fragile until they begin the actual molting process.

And as others have said, ditch the heat mat. I don't think you need any kind of external heating unless your temps are below 65F. And if you do need it, a space heater is generally considered a better option. Heat mats can be dangerous as tarantulas tend to dig to escape heat; Which actually brings them closer to the heat if it's a heat mat. If you MUST use a heat mat, then a double tank set up (tank inside a tank with the heat mat on the outer one) is a relatively safe option IMO.
 

Ultum4Spiderz

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I rehoused it because I think the substrate was too wet. And also the abdomen is pretty black.
Cool I don’t often rehouse pre molt but it could be less stressful. My only baby T right now is , c marshaling or something. Not sure yet . Gotta mark my Ts more .
Dono what happened to my last Acantho common name “Chaco brown mousey ” went maybe it matured and I forgot to write it down or something. Odd or escaped , my Nhando carponenis is getting bigger tho .
More Ts you get harder to keep track
 

LurkingUnderground

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Cool I don’t often rehouse pre molt but it could be less stressful. My only baby T right now is , c marshaling or something. Not sure yet . Gotta mark my Ts more .
Dono what happened to my last Acantho common name “Chaco brown mousey ” went maybe it matured and I forgot to write it down or something. Odd or escaped , my Nhando carponenis is getting bigger tho .
More Ts you get harder to keep track
I seemed more stressed over the substrate then me moving it. As it would hang on to the side of the dish a lot. I managed to move it before the but was darkening then two days later it built the cocoon.
 
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