I think my tarantula might be dead

[Eacpup]

I noticed today that my roughly 3 year old tarantula was upright next to his water dish with his legs slightly curled under him. Is this the death curl? He had access to both food and water but he does have a large brown spot on his abdomen and has some sort of liquid drops on a few of his legs. His abdomen is still pretty firm and he is not stiff but will not respond to any touch. Is he dead?

 

[Arachnophoric]

That looks pretty dead to me. The underside of the abdomen is very shriveled too. That spot on the abdomen looks very funny. Not like your average "I kicked hairs" bald spot.

 

[ediblepain]

That looks pretty dead to me. What is the distance between the substrate and lid of the cage?

 

[Eacpup]

It's about 11 inches

 

[Eacpup]

Thank you all I don't know what happened, he was fine two days ago!! I've had him for two years now and I'm really going to miss him

 

[ediblepain]

It's about 11 inches

Most likely it was climbing on the walls or lid and fell. A fall from that hight can rupture the abdomen.

 

[Jeff23]

Sorry for your loss on the tarantula. The height from substrate to top of enclosure should be less than 2X the length of your T.

 

[Chris LXXIX]

It's about 11 inches

Only?

 

[Chris LXXIX]

I will never cease to say that for those kind of T's, when it comes to 'height', 20 max 25 cm (cm, not inches) are enough. Aren't arboreals nor obligate burrowers (where 'height' is needed for add substrate).

Matter a decent space on the 'large' side for those ones.

This as a rule for prevent crappy outcome if a 'climb & fall' scenario/s happens, no matter if on this case (or another similar) the causes can be others :-s

 

[KezyGLA]

Yes it has passed. Sorry to see this. My condolences <3

 

[Eacpup]

I never saw him climbing the enclosure in all of the three years I had him. Is is possible he died from old age? He was wild caught and I have no idea how long he was with the previous owner. He might actually be around 4 or 5 years old.

 

[Jeff23]

I never saw him climbing the enclosure in all of the three years I had him. Is is possible he died from old age? He was wild caught and I have no idea how long he was with the previous owner. He might actually be around 4 or 5 years old.

It may be possible that death was old age if MM, but they will all climb occassionally. If you get a replacement you should probably add more substrate based on size of your T.

 

[G. pulchra]

There is no definitive way to tell how your T died, it may have been from a fall or it may have been from natural causes. Anyone who owns tarantula's for any length of time has had this happen. Get back up on the horse and get another, listen to the advice given above and enjoy the hobby.

 

[Chris LXXIX]

A MM has the so called 'boxing gloves' on pedipals: every MM Theraphosidae has those. I don't see that in the pic you uploaded but maybe my eyes needs the help of an 'eyes Doc' and his best ally, the carrot people, d'oh! :-s

 

[Eacpup]

I know the pictures are bad but can anyone tell me what species he was? I was told that he was from Arizona but I can't remember the actual name.

 

[Chris LXXIX]

I know the pictures are bad but can anyone tell me what species he was? I was told that he was from Arizona but I can't remember the actual name.

A.chalcodes

 

[Eacpup]

A.chalcodes

This is what I thought but I wasn't quite sure, thank you so much for your help!

 

[Chris LXXIX]

This is what I thought but I wasn't quite sure, thank you so much for your help!

Nothing. Ain't sure as well, however, I'm not a fan of that genus (Aphonopelma).