Mysterious A. avicularia death

Bunzdoe

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Jan 25, 2016
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Hey guys, so I've kept T's for a while now but have recently stumbled across an oddity. I purchased 2 WC avic avic juveniles (~2") back in early August. Both seemed healthy and acted fine and were eating well for the first few months I had them. One remains in tip top shape, has molted into a suspect male, is still active and all that. The other, however, has passed. The other was fine until I noticed about 2 weeks ago that its abdomen looked noticeably smaller (slightly shriveled) and its spinnerets seemed odd, with a bit of dry looking white stuff on them. It was still active but less so than normal. I watered her good and let it play out. She didn't seem to improve. She gradually became more lethargic and wasn't eating. Two days ago I found her curled belly up (not the molt kind) with a drop of liquid covering her spinnerets (blood maybe?). I left her be in hopes of not stirring up (keeping contained) a hypothetical parasite that she may have. The following day a large portion of her abdomen seemed to have dissolved, for lack of a better term and today it is gone almost entirely. The two avics, as well as several other spiders, were kept in the same conditions with adequate temperatures and all that and I've had no other problems. Any ideas what may have happened? A friend of mine who lives a few miles away has an A. metallica that seems to have developed the same symptoms to the tee. I know avics can be a bit touchy and anything can happen with WC things. Just seeing if anybody has had this happen or has any thoughts.

Thanks in advance guys

Note - there are isopods in the enclosure so some decomposition of the spider may be due to that.

 

Bunzdoe

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Try right clicking and opening in a new tab? That works for me. If it doesn't work let me know and I'll post the pics again
 

Venom1080

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post a pic of the entire cage. from the substrate it looks like it was being kept wrong.
 

Bunzdoe

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She was kept in this. The substrate is a mix of organic topsoil and coco fiber with scattered leaf litter for the isopods.
 

Ghost56

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Pictures aren't very clear, but it looks like she may have fell?? and ruptured her abdomen. That would explain the shriveling too from losing fluid. Did you happen to see anything when you originally noticed her not doing well?

And are those wood chips in the 3rd pic or just the leaf litter? If so, I could see it being very possible she fell and was impaled/cut. Were the pics took before or after her abdomen had been consumed? I don't really know anything about isopods, but maybe they started eating her.
 
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Venom1080

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not enough vent, not even close. that, combined with a moist cage, is most likely what killed her. Avicularia cant stand cages with stagnant air. Avics are best kept mainly dry, even as slings, with lots of cross ventilation to prevent stagnant conditions.
 

bryverine

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not enough vent, not even close. that, combined with a moist cage, is most likely what killed her.
I have to agree, that substrate looks WAY too wet. I'm sure the camera and lighting doesn't help, but avics prefer mostly dry substrate with a whole bunch of ventillation. Stagnant, humid air kills avics.
 

woodermeloon

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Id imagine that a fall from the top of her 10" tall enclouser would not cause serious damage to a small arboreal sling. Did you see a puncture wound before she passed?
 

Ghost56

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Id imagine that a fall from the top of her 10" tall enclouser would not cause serious damage to a small arboreal sling. Did you see a puncture wound before she passed?
Only reason I thought a fall might be a possibility was from pic 3, looks like woodchips and the T is upside down. It may just be part of the leaf litter though. He also said there was what looked to be hemolymph near the spinnerets.
 

Venom1080

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Only reason I thought a fall might be a possibility was from pic 3, looks like woodchips and the T is upside down. It may just be part of the leaf litter though. He also said there was what looked to be hemolymph near the spinnerets.
its almost certainly the poor vent that did her in. arboreals are quite resistant to falls.
 

Bunzdoe

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It's more ventilated than you'd think. You can't see the holes in the lid or other sides in the pic. It could still probably use a bit more but it's kept fairly dry in there for that reason and I keep a close eye on enclosures like that. Maybe that played a part? I'm not sure. The enclosure wasn't stagnant and I've never had an issue with that sort of thing before. The weirder part to me was the dry, chalky looking spinnerets and abrupt abdomen shriveling. My friend's a. metallica that exhibited the same symptoms died as well and he's kept her fine for almost 2 years.
 

Ellenantula

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Doesn't look ventilated enough to me -- I CAN see the other sides in pix. Cross ventilation works best -- lid doesn't need air holes as you're trying to create a climate in there.
Looks damp & stuffy. :(
I didn't notice water dish but I'd have kept substrate dry and only added a water dish.
Finally -- 'organic' soil? All soil, technically, should be organic -- check label for manure, etc., in soil - not T friendly.
I am sorry for your loss. I would add more vent holes for surviving avic (and possibly replace "organic" soil) and give him a water bowl.
 

dopamine

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I could be wrong here but with everyone saying not enough ventilation/stuffy enclosure along with "white stuff" around the spinnerets, it sounds like a cluster of mites maybe? Although i've got a particular fear towards them already so everything sounds like mites to me lol.
 

Venom1080

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It's more ventilated than you'd think. You can't see the holes in the lid or other sides in the pic. It could still probably use a bit more but it's kept fairly dry in there for that reason and I keep a close eye on enclosures like that. Maybe that played a part? I'm not sure. The enclosure wasn't stagnant and I've never had an issue with that sort of thing before. The weirder part to me was the dry, chalky looking spinnerets and abrupt abdomen shriveling. My friend's a. metallica that exhibited the same symptoms died as well and he's kept her fine for almost 2 years.
it needs at least triple that. it WAS stagnant. i dont keep any of my spiders with that low vent. water dish, semi dry sub, high vent is the way to keep avics.
 

cold blood

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Actually sounds to me like a bad molt...a wet molt to be specific. Had an area not fully formed, or stuck to the old exoskeleton when it was shed, it would be something that would be hard to survive long term.
 

Andrea82

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There was a post about an arboreal with white stuff hardened around the spinnerets a while ago, with the same outcome. Maybe enter the words 'white on spinnerets arachnoboards' in Google search.
For some reason I don't see the pics, so I'm not able to comment on enclosure.
 

woodermeloon

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Actually sounds to me like a bad molt...a wet molt to be specific. Had an area not fully formed, or stuck to the old exoskeleton when it was shed, it would be something that would be hard to survive long term.
I think cold blood is most correct with the wet molt theory.
 

Ellenantula

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I was thinking the spinnerets prolly just had poop on 'em. But if enclosure was poorly ventilated and damp/stuffy -- suppose mites are possible. But poop seemed more likely. Bad moult or not -- I would improve conditions for surviving avic.
 
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