- Joined
- Jul 18, 2002
- Messages
- 381
i'm sad to announce that last night at 10 pm EST i discovered my 3/4" l. cristata frozen eternally in the "hairy fist-like" death throe that is associated with all dead tarantulas.
at first i experienced denial, cooing "wake up, buddy" while poking gently with my finger. then after i pushed the corpse back and forth around the 1-gallon pet pal i moved into the next phase of grief--which is, er, grief. i blamed myself for the death, and wondered what i did to make my well-fed and otherwise healthy l. cristata spiderling die. then i suspected a gas leak somewhere. after i checked all pilot lights from the oven, i thought about finding out who could do an autopsy--er, arachtopsy to find out why s/he has joined the big burrow in the sky.
my l. parahybana spiderling, which is housed right next to the former l. cristata's cage, seemed a little slow (of course, i could have been overreacting), so i transfered him to an intensive care unit thingie which consisted of a plastic container with lid and a moist paper towel which covered the bottom of the container. i placed the container next to my heat vent in order to make the tarantula as warm as possible. after a while, he seemed a little more alert.
my livingroom is usually around 72 degrees. could this have killed my poor spiderling?
please make me feel better. a few words about my fallen pet would be nice. here, i'll start:
oh, l. cristata, you were so little and cute, even if you were anti-social. i looked forward in anticipation for the time when you would reach your 8-inch length. now i shall reflect in quiet serenity on your brief life.
how i miss you dearly! oh, why did you have to go?!?
love, the giant blurry thing that you would run and hide from who threw you crickets,
me
at first i experienced denial, cooing "wake up, buddy" while poking gently with my finger. then after i pushed the corpse back and forth around the 1-gallon pet pal i moved into the next phase of grief--which is, er, grief. i blamed myself for the death, and wondered what i did to make my well-fed and otherwise healthy l. cristata spiderling die. then i suspected a gas leak somewhere. after i checked all pilot lights from the oven, i thought about finding out who could do an autopsy--er, arachtopsy to find out why s/he has joined the big burrow in the sky.
my l. parahybana spiderling, which is housed right next to the former l. cristata's cage, seemed a little slow (of course, i could have been overreacting), so i transfered him to an intensive care unit thingie which consisted of a plastic container with lid and a moist paper towel which covered the bottom of the container. i placed the container next to my heat vent in order to make the tarantula as warm as possible. after a while, he seemed a little more alert.
my livingroom is usually around 72 degrees. could this have killed my poor spiderling?
please make me feel better. a few words about my fallen pet would be nice. here, i'll start:
oh, l. cristata, you were so little and cute, even if you were anti-social. i looked forward in anticipation for the time when you would reach your 8-inch length. now i shall reflect in quiet serenity on your brief life.
how i miss you dearly! oh, why did you have to go?!?
love, the giant blurry thing that you would run and hide from who threw you crickets,
me
