I think my A. avicularia is dead

[becca81]

I got my first A. avicularia a short time ago. It hasn't really adjusted all that well, and I made a post a week or so ago about it hanging out all the time on the screen.

It started moving around, but this morning it was having trouble climbing, kept falling down, and now it is in a pile at the bottom of a log. No death curl, however.

Do they occasionally die without being in a death curl?

Should I try an ICU just in case? I haven't actually touched it (I can't imagine the thought of it being dead), but when I move stuff around it it doesn't move.

Any ideas or suggestions?

 

[Washout]

I'd guess that it is dead. With adults it's hard to know the reason. If it was wild caught you have no idea what age it was or anything, or if you did anything wrong.

 

[Kid Dragon]

I got my first A. avicularia a short time ago. It hasn't really adjusted all that well, and I made a post a week or so ago about it hanging out all the time on the screen.

It started moving around, but this morning it was having trouble climbing, kept falling down, and now it is in a pile at the bottom of a log. No death curl, however.

Do they occasionally die without being in a death curl?

Should I try an ICU just in case? I haven't actually touched it (I can't imagine the thought of it being dead), but when I move stuff around it it doesn't move.

Any ideas or suggestions?

Give it a chance to molt...if it doesn't...it might be dead. If its dead, it won't hurt to leave it for a few days. If its getting ready to molt, not touching it is the best thing.

 

[becca81]

I'd guess that it is dead. With adults it's hard to know the reason. If it was wild caught you have no idea what age it was or anything, or if you did anything wrong.

I'm pretty sure it was CB and well taken-care of before I got it. Yeah, I'm guessing that it's dead, too. If it is it will be my first death. I have, however, had some spiders that looked dead or I was sure were going to die and they ended up doing better. I debated getting an arboreal...

Give it a chance to molt...if it doesn't...it might be dead. If its dead, it won't hurt to leave it for a few days. If its getting ready to molt, not touching it is the best thing.

Doesn't look like a molt, either.

 

[Blasphemy]

How does it do with eating?

 

[Dr Pies]

Hi Becca,

I have had 2 avics that have done similar to what yours has done - heaped itself on the floor after trouble climbing. The avics moulted soon after, and where perfectly fine.
Best thing to do is leave it a few days and see what happens.. Hope it's ok.

 

[becca81]

How does it do with eating?

Put a couple of small crickets in there last week (it's about 3.5") and I haven't seen them since.

 

[becca81]

Hi Becca,

I have had 2 avics that have done similar to what yours has done - heaped itself on the floor after trouble climbing. The avics moulted soon after, and where perfectly fine.
Best thing to do is leave it a few days and see what happens.. Hope it's ok.

I hope for a molt - that would be great.

I have to admit, I'm not too optimistic. I guess I probably shouldn't move it just in case it is in pre-molt. Or should I try ICU?

 

[Dr Pies]

ICU may be a bad idea due to you having to move it.. But from what I have seen with my own avics they get through it with no problems.
I guess it's down to your own judgement call, as you know already what premolt looks like and you have the advantage of being able to see it and know its previous behaviour..
Let us know what happens and best of luck

 

[Apocalypstick]

Bec, putting it in an ICU is not worth the risk if it is premolt. If it's as "dead" looking as you think, ICU wouldn't help anyway

 

[becca81]

It's slightly moving, so it's not dead yet. I've seen it try to climb up on the log, but fall back down again.

The temp is about 79-80 degrees F. Humidity is around 65% with plenty of ventilation.

 

[David Burns]

Maybe it needs some misting, so it could drink. I've had a H.incei in a death curl once and I gave it some water and it's fine now. Good luck.

 

[evil_educator]

maybe its just weak

 

[robshults]

Becca,

I got an A. Avic about three weeks ago and she has been behaving in almost exactly the same way: very little movement and difficulty climbing back up (with a fair amount of time on the lid). Mine also spent a few days at the floor of her cage, but she has now made her way back up top. I asked David Moellendorf, an arachnologist who works at Zookeeper in Austin, TX (a great person to get to know for anyone that lives in central Texas) and he told me that it is VERY likely that she is in pre-molt now. He indicated that this is exactly the appropriate time of year for a pinktoe to molt, and advised me to just wait it out. Hope all turns out well.

 

[BlkCat]

i am sorry to hear about ur avic. Mine died at the bottom of his log. He wasnt in a death curl either.
http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/showthread.php?t=36145
http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/showthread.php?t=36724
maybe any of this can help.

 

[shogun804]

hey becca sorry to hear the news i will keep my fingers crossed for you and hopefully she will pull through.

 

[becca81]

She's still alive this morning, but has now moved back to the floor and is in a partial death curl. I misted a little more and I'm putting an extra water supply on the bottom of the enclosure. I guess I'll just have to wait it out.

 

[taorchard1987]

Any Pinktoe (Avicularia) species - Very gentle, arboreal. A. urticans, A. avicularia, A. aurantica are all lovely, hardy, calm species. They are ideal first spiders. The only problem I've seen is that they get very inactive prior to moults, and premoulting behavior is not as obvious to a first time owner as with some of the others. Although they are very calm spiders and generally slow moving spiders, they are capable of making a fast run for it if you are careless They are not very active, but nice, calm spiders.

I found this on a website for info on my pinktoe as i have only had it for 3 weeks, and it talked about the inactivity of this species prior to molting and it reminded me of your thread. Hope this helps and goog luck to your T, keep us all posted on how it went

 

[Garrick]

She's still alive this morning, but has now moved back to the floor and is in a partial death curl. I misted a little more and I'm putting an extra water supply on the bottom of the enclosure. I guess I'll just have to wait it out.

Becca-

Is it the one from me?

In any case, lying on the ground is NOT how they molt unless she's just not established.
Go ahead and lean her carapace into a shallow dish of water, being careful to keep her booklungs out of it.
Let her drink until she leaves on her own.

Afterward, give her plenty of humidity, but keep it ventilated to keep the nasties out.

I'm noticing a trend with people declaring, "humidity's overrated. I keep mine dry with a water dish arr arr arr (insert "Tooltime" gloat here)". In between those posts, there are "my avic died and I don't know why".

I've bred. . . I don't know. . .over a thousand, and raised who knows how many from that to breed. One thing I do know is they need moisture. They need ventilation. Find a balance- it takes filling of dishes and cleaning up moist dirt, but they do well.

If it's too late, let me know and I'll send a few replacements.

Garrick
eight

 

[Garrick]

Oh- and can you e-mail me or post a description of her container?
How ventilated is it, where is the device you're using to measure humidity, etc.?

Garrick
eight