:( I think my Rosie is dying and I don't want her to..

Iwantyourflesh

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May 4, 2017
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Hi,

So my husband got Rosie when she was mature and has had her for about 6-7ish years. Ive only lived with her for 5.
She had been in her hide for a while but came out a few weeks ago I noticed her butt had gotten way smaller and she wasn't moving much, not that she was an athlete before, but she had also stopped eating for at least 3 months.. so I forced her to drink, ICU'd her, she was kind of drunk moving.. and after a week of this she seemed to have more pep in her step, and looked like she was starting to feel her old self again. When I put her back in her enclosure she only sat on top of her hide, and i never saw her drink but in the morning it was always low and water around the bowl. So I presume she was drinking.
Yesterday she looked super weak and like she was going backwards again and was kind of scrunched between her hide and the glass, so i made her drink again.
I put her mouth in the water, and then she tired to get her whole body in the water thing.. i left her and she was in the same position in the morning so i took her out. but her on a flat lid with her face close to water.

She is super weak, no curled legs though.
I am scared I messed with her molting. She hasn't molted for a quite a while.
My husband says she is really old and prob just dying.
Is she just dying?
The pic is the state she is in now :eek:

Although I've lived with spiders and other critters for the last 5 years, being an Aussie I have never been a fan, AT ALL:stop:... but time has helped me fall in like, and even love with some.. Rosie is the first spider Ive loved, held and she made me want to learn more about her kind.. I reeeeeeealllly don't want her to die if I can help it.
Its weird but I'm tearing up as I type this.. :(

Thanks for any help, and listening to a green T owner and her first post...
 

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darkness975

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That does not look good, I am sorry to say. ICU for this species (and most others) is detrimental, not helpful. If dehydration is suspected, trying to get them to drink via a water dropper is what should be done.

I doubt the spider drank as much as it seems. Perhaps some substrate is wicking the water out of the dish. Can you get some more pictures of the Spider?

Has the Spider molted during the time you have had it?
 

ledzeppelin

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Just re-read the post and realized that it cannot be a MM based on that age.. Anyhow, as @darkness975 said, ICUs do more harm than good mostly.
 

Iwantyourflesh

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That does not look good, I am sorry to say. ICU for this species (and most others) is detrimental, not helpful. If dehydration is suspected, trying to get them to drink via a water dropper is what should be done.

I doubt the spider drank as much as it seems. Perhaps some substrate is wicking the water out of the dish. Can you get some more pictures of the Spider?

Has the Spider molted during the time you have had it?
:(
Yes she has molted, once for sure, maybe twice.
Ugh.. this emergency has made me scramble for info on what to do and it's hard to sort thru it all in a pinch..
Oh no, now I feel even worse..
Do you think I should put her in her home or leave her now?
I can take some more pictures when I get home.
Thanks for the reply.
 
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darkness975

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Depending on when it last molted, it might possibly be a mature male which would explain the gradual decline in its health. Try to get pictures of the first set of legs and of the pedipalps.

Another possibility based on the behavior you described if it is not a mature male is some type of poisoning. When you said it is acting "drunk" it sounds like you might be describing what is known as DKS. DKS is a set of symptoms that can indicate any number of ailments.

If it is a mature male, then it is nothing more than its natural life cycle coming to an end.
 

Tanner Dzula

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I didn't see any hooks on the legs in the picture the OP attached in the first post. I doubt being a MM is the problem here.
i agree, i don't think it is a MM.
more then anything it does sound like a care of DKS.

@Iwantyourflesh have you checked around her hide for possibly ny Mites/insects/other critters that could somehow get in there? i only ask because you stated she would only sit ontop of her hide when you put her back in. it could be possible that there is something in there that could have done some damage/really stressed her out. i had a similar situation as this with my E. Pachypus. was a confirmed female, only about 3 years old, was in full health and just the classic pet hole. one day she came out of her hole(which was rare) and just kind of sat around by the entrance. after a few days i got a little concerned, and on the 4th day she was curled in her water dish. did everything i could but the next day she passed.

after inspecting her enclosure after she passed, i took out the substrate and at the very bottom of her tunnel there were these little insects. Not mites or anything, way too big to be mites. after that i looked at what was left of her, and sure enough, just underneath her abdomen she had what looked like tiny little chew marks. it looked like they had chewed through her abdomen and it looked like she had suffered a lot. I've never seen these insects before or after this situation(thankfully) and still to this day don't know how or what caused them to get down there.
 

cold blood

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Pics of the ends of the palps would be very helpful. Pics of the enclosure would be equally helpful.

I would never recommend and ICU for this species, they are an arid species and don't like moisture...too much (as mentioned) can be detrimental.

I wouldn't jump to age being a factor...this species lives very long...speculation is that they can exceed 40 years (for females). When they get really old, they molt in 4-6 year cycles. Age is possible, but not likely just because you have had an adult for 7 years (well, your husband). When I got mine 18 years ago, it was old already, and its still acts the same as when I got her. In 18 years I think she's molted 4 times, last summer being the last time.

I do suspect it may be a male winding down, but that's not 100% verifiable by anything we have seen so far....again, pics of those palps would clear that right up.
 

Iwantyourflesh

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May 4, 2017
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Hi everyone,
Thanks for your replies. I appreciate it.

So Rosie has died.:( Heartbroken.
She didn't curl though, which is weird right?
She was definitely a girl. (husband knows about that stuff)
I couldn't see any mites or bugs etc.

I confirmed with my husband how long he's had her for and he said over 10 years (time flies) and that the person before him had her a bit less than that..
Maybe it was her time? Maybe I could have done something or not do what I did? I don't know...

Im very sad, but it has also made me want to learn more. So that when I can bare to get another one I will know the best way to handle any issues..
Never thought I would cry over a spider. Life is weird.

Thanks again.
 

aurusantula

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Mar 1, 2015
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Yeah, if you+your husband had her for ~15 years then she might have just been approaching her time. Does your husband know how old she was when he first got her?
 

Ellenantula

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Sorry you guys lost your girl. Sounds like she was a very loved and appreciated pet. :(
 

Andrea82

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Hi everyone,
Thanks for your replies. I appreciate it.

So Rosie has died.:( Heartbroken.
She didn't curl though, which is weird right?
She was definitely a girl. (husband knows about that stuff)
I couldn't see any mites or bugs etc.

I confirmed with my husband how long he's had her for and he said over 10 years (time flies) and that the person before him had her a bit less than that..
Maybe it was her time? Maybe I could have done something or not do what I did? I don't know...

Im very sad, but it has also made me want to learn more. So that when I can bare to get another one I will know the best way to handle any issues..
Never thought I would cry over a spider. Life is weird.

Thanks again.
Sorry you lost her :(
It is totally not weird to cry about a spider. Not here, at least ;)
I'm not sure if there are things you could have done in this cas, not when she was already sick. Curing theraphosids is hard, and rarely works. So we try to do as much as possible to prevent them from getting injured or sick, and even then there are things that can happen we don't know the cause of.
And even knowing the cause doesn't mean healing.
If you want to read up/learn about their care, there are lots of stickies in this forum section you can read and learn from :) but maybe later ;)
 
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