My tarantula died I think

[GabrielleK]

Hi! So I have read about tarantulas on how to differenciate if they are dead or molting... Not sure thou what is the case here. This is the second day I think my tarantula died, it is not reacting to when I water her or move her... She did molt 1 time before and I thought she died but it was actually the skin off that I found. This time I have searched in the aquarium and I don't see anything else. She continuously had water in her container... I don't knw what happened

 

[Sterls]

Did you move it while it was on its back?

 

[GabrielleK]

I didn't find her on her back. She was just kind of wably so I tried to push her a little and see if she moves... She wasn't moving, so I took her and moved her position, I moved her on the side for the photo

 

[Neonblizzard]

Maybe pics of whole enclosure? Could have been an internal complication during molt... Sorry for your loss

 

[jay444]

Your enclosure looks huge, how tall is it? Full pic of setup?

 

[GabrielleK]

Oh my... It's actually my almost 4 year old daughters pet As we took her to the pet shop we let her choose something that she would like to keep as pet and she went straight to the tarantula. We ended up getting it for her and tried our best to get info's about taking care of it...

Your enclosure looks huge, how tall is it? Full pic of setup?

It's 45cm tall
90 cm long
45 cm wide

 

[Poonjab]

Probably fell to it’s death. Tarantula is also not a pet for a 4 year old. Just my opinion

 

[Smotzer]

@Poonjab is right is looks like it was set up unsafely with too much height from substrate level to the lid which can pose a fatal fall risk, this may be the cause here.

 

[Neonblizzard]

Yeah that enclosure is absolutely enormous. Unfortunately i would have to agree that it probably fell; there's way too much height in that enclosure, we don't like those type of enclosures for terrestrial T's because the front door doesn't let you put in enough substrate to reduce the height the T can fall.
If you decide to get another, put it in an enclose about 10x smaller than that with no more that 1.5x the spiders diagonal legspan in height.
The T only needs an enclosure 2.5-4x the length of the T, anything more just makes it harder to take care of the spider.
Not sure if I'm just not seeing, but was there a burrow she was using? Doesn't look like there's anywhere for her to hide

 

[Sterls]

Other people have already covered the proper enclosure size if you get another, but I want to point out that the current enclosure would be oversized for even an adult of this species - as well as a much bigger species of T. I'm sure that's what the pet store sold you, so you just learned an important lesson: pet stores don't know jack.

Small AMAC boxes, food containers, or shoeboxes from the container store are perfect for Ts, just have to find one that's a suitable size.

I must ask, is the T in the 4 year old's room? If you get another, I would suggest it be kept somewhere else, up where they can not get to it. They should only be able to view it with your help. Treat it as a fish: no touch, only look. You'll be hard pressed to find an enclosure of an appropriate size that's lockable, unless you figure out a custom modification. Even still, if she were to pick the enclosure up and drop it (since it'll be smaller), the result would be the same as this. Same story if she tried to handle it, and dropped it. Very important: NEVER HANDLE TARANTULAS. It's a potentially fatal risk to a T, and they receive no pleasure from it.

There's a health risk to your daughter as well. If she were to get into the enclosure, she could be bitten or hit with urticating hair. If bitten, she'd likely fling the T and kill it. The venom wouldn't be bad (with this and other beginner species) unless she's allergic, but the mechanical damage would be more significant. As far as the hairs, skin contact would result in itching, potentially severely so. If they got in her eyes/nose/mouth/etc, it would be VERY painful.

I love that you're encouraging her in liking tarantulas! Not many parents would. I encourage you to research here and ask questions you have, and then get another. It's unfortunate this happened - but the fact is it does happen. Especially when Ts are purchased from pet stores. Ignore any caresheets online. This board should be your primary source of info. Tom's Big Spider's / Tom Moran has a blog, youtube channel, and podcast that can compliment info you find here - I think the youtube videos may be particularly useful in getting your daughter involved/educated, probably not until she's a little older though. This is absolutely the ONLY youtube channel you should ever visit about Ts. And not to sound like a broken record, but this board should be the primary source of care.

Read this thread as a starting point: https://arachnoboards.com/threads/tarantula-information-for-beginners-and-more.318718/

 

[viper69]

This is the second day I think my tarantula died

Second? Its name is Jesus I take it.


If not that’s a bummer.

 

[joossa]

it is not reacting to when I water her or move her...

When you say you "water her", what exactly are you doing?
Have you tried flipping it on its back placing water droplets on this mouth?

 

[Kibosh]

Oh my... It's actually my almost 4 year old daughters pet As we took her to the pet shop we let her choose something that she would like to keep as pet and she went straight to the tarantula. We ended up getting it for her and tried our best to get info's about taking care of it...




It's 45cm tall
90 cm long
45 cm wide

Your responsible for the care of your 4 year olds pet. Why would you buy them a pet you have no idea how to care for? Now you killed an animal.

Hope you don't buy them a puppy next cause they asked for it. Sorry to be harsh, but it's just very sad.

 

[Ungoliant]

Your responsible for the care of your 4 year olds pet. Why would you buy them a pet you have no idea how to care for? Now you killed an animal.

Hope you don't buy them a puppy next cause they asked for it. Sorry to be harsh, but it's just very sad.

I personally don't think there is much to be gained by berating her for a mistake, even if it's one you think was easily avoidable.

OP, if you're thinking about giving it another try, check out the help thread and post if you have questions or would like feedback on the setup.

 

[Kibosh]

I personally don't think there is much to be gained by berating her for a mistake, even if it's one you think was easily avoidable.

OP, if you're thinking about giving it another try, check out the help thread and post if you have questions or would like feedback on the setup.

Sorry. I feel the same when people buy and kill Bettas and Goldfish. I just find it personally irresponsible. Just don't buy things your not ready for. Period.

Like I said I apologize if it's harsh, but it's a very important lesson to learn. People need to stop killing animals for the amusement of their children.

 

[Ungoliant]

Sorry. I feel the same when people buy and kill Bettas and Goldfish. I just find it personally irresponsible. Just don't buy things your not ready for. Period.

Sure, in an ideal world, people would thoroughly research all pets they are considering, but hindsight is 20/20. As long as someone is willing to learn and is not getting defensive and/or doubling down, I try to focus on what can be done differently going forward.

As a practical matter, I don't want to discourage people from seeking help or asking questions. IME, being judgmental often just causes people to shut down -- to the animals' detriment.

If she gets another tarantula, I hope she feels comfortable posting here for advice.

 

[Kibosh]

Sure, in an ideal world, people would thoroughly research all pets they are considering, but hindsight is 20/20. As long as someone is willing to learn and is not getting defensive and/or doubling down, I try to focus on what can be done differently going forward.

As a practical matter, I don't want to discourage people from seeking help or asking questions. IME, being judgmental often just causes people to shut down -- to the animals' detriment.

If she gets another tarantula, I hope she feels comfortable posting here for advice.

Their pets Just trying to keep T's alive.

 

[viper69]

Sure, in an ideal world, people would thoroughly research all pets they are considering, but hindsight is 20/20. As long as someone is willing to learn and is not getting defensive and/or doubling down, I try to focus on what can be done differently going forward.

As a practical matter, I don't want to discourage people from seeking help or asking questions. IME, being judgmental often just causes people to shut down -- to the animals' detriment.

If she gets another tarantula, I hope she feels comfortable posting here for advice.

There’s merit to this, but there is also merit to @Kibosh ’s statement too. It can be a delicate balance at times.

 

[The Grym Reaper]

The T only needs an enclosure 2.5-4x the length of the T

Tbh, even rules like this can result in oversized enclosures, I wouldn't even house an adult Theraphosa in the OP's enclosure but according to the 3x2 rule gang it's still 2" shy of the minimum required width for one. Most people fail to take into account that tarantulas are pretty sedentary animals that rarely sit at full stretch, for this reason they don't require as much space as people think they do.