I'm worried...

[nocturnalpulsem]

I'm worried about by CRZ. She's been out of her burrow for quite some time, just sitting in the corner with her legs pulled close to her body. She's not in the "death fist" pose, but she's just been sitting there like that for a long time....She hasn't eaten in a while, and normally she stays in her burrow all the time. She may be ready for a moult, but I don't think so. She's balding a bit, but not turning dark. Any ideas?

N.

PS- sorry no posts for so long. Been busy w/school and work.

 

[conipto]

Nick-noc,

How's the water supply, is she well hydrated? The one I've saved from that death pose seemed to be dehydrated.

Bill

 

[Grael]

doesnt sound too good see what the experts say

oh and i love Kain

 

[jwb121377]

Well if it isn't in a death curl you may be ok. What kind of tarantula is she? Did you disturb her burrow by chance? How long since she ate last and how old do you think she is?

 

[nocturnalpulsem]

Ok....lots of Q's

1) Her water dish is quite full. As a matter of fact, on the off chance she was going to moult, I bought her a bigger dish for her to jump into (from what I hear it's not all that uncommon to find your T sitting in the water dish before a moult)

2) She last ate....I dunno, a week ago? That may not sound like a long time, but trust me, she's a hog LoL

3) As far as how old she is....no idea whatsoever. I didn't bother to ask when I bought her. If i had to guess from her size, I'd say at the very least she's mature. She's roughly 4 in. in body length.

4) Yes, as a matter of fact, I did disturb her burrow. There was a little bizotch crick trying to dump her vile offspring in the burrow, and so I flooded it to get the dumbass out (or drown it, that ould have been fine, too LoL). Yes, it very well be that she's pissed off at me for doing it, but that was some time ago. I imagine if she were to throw a fit it would have been sooner.

Also, she's normally much more active than she has been. Perhaps she is going to moult....I dunno. I just don't want to come home to a dead T for any reason. I have too many bills right now to go get another!

N.

PS- Dammit Bill....stop that already!

 

[jwb121377]

I think she is just ticked off/stressed because you flooded her home. Once the burrow dries out she will probably return to it.

 

[phoenixxavierre]

N,

Perhaps I read over this part, but what species is your tarantula?

thanks,

Paul

 

[nocturnalpulsem]

Originally posted by phoenixxavierre
N,

Perhaps I read over this part, but what species is your tarantula?

thanks,

Paul

A. seemanni. I said CRZ, rather than putting forth the effort to type "Costa Rican Zebra" LoL

N.

 

[jwb121377]

Funny, I thought CRZ was her name lol. I was going to ask you what it stood for, but figured I had hit you with plenty of questions already.

 

[nocturnalpulsem]

Originally posted by jwb121377
Funny, I thought CRZ was her name lol. I was going to ask you what it stood for, but figured I had hit you with plenty of questions already.

CRZ would be a terrible name for a girl...

N.

 

[jwb121377]

Originally posted by nocturnalpulsem
CRZ would be a terrible name for a girl...

N.

Well now you know why I don't name my inverts.

 

[phoenixxavierre]

Originally posted by nocturnalpulsem
A. seemanni. I said CRZ, rather than putting forth the effort to type "Costa Rican Zebra" LoL

N.

Lol! okay!

What are your captive keeping conditions?

currently in their native habitat, the temps are ranging from 60F overnight (with 90% humidity) to 100F during the day (with 50% humidity).

She probably just decided she didn't care for the hide anymore. Some tarantulas will move their burrow or favorite sitting area from one place to another. Is any of the substrate moistened? While this species does not require a totally dampened substrate this time of year, moistening half of the tank allows her a choice between dry or humid substrate and might change her mind about her hide. If you place the water dish on one end of the tank and her hide on another, this will give her a chance to dig in either dry or humid substrate.

Let's hope your little CRZ is simply full and internally preparing for her next big molt!


Take care,

Paul

 

[nocturnalpulsem]

Originally posted by phoenixxavierre
Lol! okay!

What are your captive keeping conditions?

currently in their native habitat, the temps are ranging from 60F overnight (with 90% humidity) to 100F during the day (with 50% humidity).

She probably just decided she didn't care for the hide anymore. Some tarantulas will move their burrow or favorite sitting area from one place to another. Is any of the substrate moistened? While this species does not require a totally dampened substrate this time of year, moistening half of the tank allows her a choice between dry or humid substrate and might change her mind about her hide. If you place the water dish on one end of the tank and her hide on another, this will give her a chance to dig in either dry or humid substrate.

Let's hope your little CRZ is simply full and internally preparing for her next big molt!


Take care,

Paul

Uhm.......well, on the temp I'm not entirely sure. I put one of those retile thermo-sticky-things in there, but my dumb ass put it on the side that has the heating pad LoL

Temp in the room is usually above 72, so the pad'll add a few degrees to that. As far as substrate goes, I usually mist the top a bit every other day. Maybe a little less than that sometimes for variety. The deeper substrate is quite moist, due to my trying to flood the egg-laying-demon-crick-from-hell out of the burrow. It's not wet, per se, but it is moist still.

N.

Oh, and on the humidity, I mist it well to get it around 80-ish and then let it go till it starts getting down near 50%.

 

[phoenixxavierre]

All sounds good, N!

She's probably just preparing for a molt. Sometimes they take a while to do that.

The only thing I might do extra is bump the temp up just a few degrees (to around 80F) if you're going to keep her at a constant temp. Other than that it sounds like you're varying the humidity well. You might want to allow the water in the bottom of the tank dry up and just keep her water dish full, but I imagine you were going to do that anyway, then continue with the variations.

Have you considered breeding her? She'll probably be nearly full grown after her next molt, if she's four inches now!

Take care,

Paul

 

[nocturnalpulsem]

Originally posted by phoenixxavierre
All sounds good, N!

She's probably just preparing for a molt. Sometimes they take a while to do that.

The only thing I might do extra is bump the temp up just a few degrees (to around 80F) if you're going to keep her at a constant temp. Other than that it sounds like you're varying the humidity well. You might want to allow the water in the bottom of the tank dry up and just keep her water dish full, but I imagine you were going to do that anyway, then continue with the variations.

Have you considered breeding her? She'll probably be nearly full grown after her next molt, if she's four inches now!

Take care,

Paul

I dunno if I would or not....what is the life span on this species anyway? I know my smithi will live at least a good 15 more years (she's only about 3.5 in.).

N.

 

[phoenixxavierre]

I'm not sure on the age. I imagine they live as long as any other tarantula. Maturity may be reached slowly or possibly quicker. Being an Aphonopelma would lead me to believe slow growth, while being from central america would lead me to believe quicker growth. I haven't bred the species myself, but it was one of the first t's I had. Anyone else breed this species or have an idea on longevity or growth rate?

take care,

Paul

 

[nocturnalpulsem]

As was suggested, she did go back to her hole. She's still acting weird though.....always seems to be "hiding" from something. I checked the tank to see if there was something in there that was bugging her, but didn't notice anything other than dirt. BTW- wtf to mites look like? I should prolly know this for future reference.

N.

 

[phoenixxavierre]

I've kept this species before as adults, and I recall they would go through periods when they would act like that, sort of reclusive, like a skeleton tarantula. They would also go through periods when they would wander more and were out and about more.

Mites look like tiny fat white/yellow ticks. (If I'm off on the color forgive me, I'm red green color blind). Poor description but if you do a search on google you can probably find oodles of info!

Take care,

Paul