New pink toe owner, she’s in a death curl

[hopecore]

This is my first t, I have a juvenile pink toe. I got her about a week ago, she hasn’t eaten but I’ve tried and removed the cricket after she refused. I got her with a shriveled abdomen, I assumed she was dehydrated so I’ve kept it very humid as recommended (70-80%) and it hasn’t improved. Water dish available too of course. Today I found her in a death curl. I immediately thought she was dead and I poked around (probably shouldn’t have) and her legs were moving a tiny bit. I also considered she could be molting, considering her lack of appetite but she was right side up. I put her in an Icu, moist paper towels and accessible water dish. Is there anything more I can do? Is there another factor im not considering? Please help if you have any advice, im already so attached to her.

 

[8 legged]

ICU is nonsense but not the problem here...
Are you sure that this is a juvenile spider, not an old matured male?

 

[hopecore]

Oh really? I read a lot of people found them useful but I’m definitely no expert! It is very small, probably not larger than 2 inches, which is why I believed it to be juvenile. Thank you for the reply

 

[curtisgiganteus]

It looks like an old male. But spider aside. That “ICU” will kill your spider quicker than leaving it in a well ventilated one. These guys need a lot of cross ventilation. Keep the substrate just this side of dry, overflow the dish when it dries out, lather rinse repeat. What did you have it in? Was it WC or CB?

 

[hopecore]

Thank u for the response! It’s under 2 inches, so I’m curious why you’re saying it’s old, just trying to learn I had it in a large zilla micro habitat, and I got him from a younger guy after he bought him from pet smart( unfortunately wild caught surely).

I took it out of the icu! Thank you all for telling me that- all of the sources I went to said that i should but sounds like it’s outdated

 

[8 legged]

He looks like a mature male. Small abdomen...
The enclosure is fine (in my opinion) and did not kill your spider

 

[hopecore]

He looks like a mature male. Small abdomen...
The enclosure is fine (in my opinion) and did not kill your spider

Thats a relief, I put him back in the enclosure and am hoping for the best. Is there anything else you’d recommend?

 

[8 legged]

As I said. I think this is a mature male and what happens is the normal way. But when I'm wrong... There is nothing you can do, just leave him alone. Sorry

 

[IntermittentSygnal]

Have you tried dripping water on his mouth parts yet? Or putting his mouth parts in the water? Is the 2" measurement body length or diagonal leg span?

 

[hopecore]

Have you tried dripping water on his mouth parts yet? Or putting his mouth parts in the water? Is the 2" measurement body length or diagonal leg span?

I’ve dripped water and propped him with his mouth on a dish! His body length is probably about 1. Inch, I’d say his leg span is roughly 2 inches, I haven’t formally measured but he is definitely quite smaller that the average adult size of a male that I’ve heard

 

[IntermittentSygnal]

Unfortunately, that's really all you can do then. I'm sorry your loosing your spider so soon after getting him. :.-{
Any possible exposure to insecticides?
When you are ready for your next spider, please don't buy from PetSmart/Co, etc as tempting as it is to get them out of that situation. They'll just replace it with another.

 

[hopecore]

Unfortunately, that's really all you can do then. I'm sorry your loosing your spider so soon after getting him. :.-{
Any possible exposure to insecticides?
When you are ready for your next spider, please don't buy from PetSmart/Co, etc as tempting as it is to get them out of that situation. They'll just replace it with another.

Thank you for the kindness, and I don’t believe so. It was a younger guy that impulsively purchased him there, and I took him off his hands because I have a bit of experience w exotic pets and he couldn’t care for it. I will definitely not be purchasing my next from a chain I was looking at morph market a while ago and think that may be where I’ll buy from when the time comes, unless you have any better suggestions! I’m new to tarantulas, as much research as I’ve done any advice from an experienced owner would definitely be great!

 

[IntermittentSygnal]

It's always sad to see someone who purchased a live animal without having researched how to care for it, but glad that someone who did have some knowledge, and know where to get more, took over his care. There's a great forum here for real reviews on vendors from people actually on this site.

Online Dealer Reviews

This forum is for discussing the service you received from online dealers who have a web presence (re: website).

arachnoboards.com

 

[darkness975]

Thats a relief, I put him back in the enclosure and am hoping for the best. Is there anything else you’d recommend?

This did not kill the spider but as an observation the enclosure should have leaf clutter at the top for web construction and a water dish suspended half way up. They will not always go down to the ground level to drink.

 

[ManlioG]

This is my first t, I have a juvenile pink toe. I got her about a week ago, she hasn’t eaten but I’ve tried and removed the cricket after she refused. I got her with a shriveled abdomen, I assumed she was dehydrated so I’ve kept it very humid as recommended (70-80%) and it hasn’t improved. Water dish available too of course. Today I found her in a death curl. I immediately thought she was dead and I poked around (probably shouldn’t have) and her legs were moving a tiny bit. I also considered she could be molting, considering her lack of appetite but she was right side up. I put her in an Icu, moist paper towels and accessible water dish. Is there anything more I can do? Is there another factor im not considering? Please help if you have any advice, im already so attached to her.

I have had mine from small spiderling to over a year and a half now. One thing you should try to avoid is over spraying its enclosure. It does not need that much water. I usually just fill up a water dish and once a week or even sometimes two weeks (if it is really cold, I wait longer) to wet a bit of its webbing and that is about it. Too much water can kill them. Also, mine is a year and a half and it is much smaller from yours, I am thinking yours is a much older T.

Hope it can recover a bit!

 

[Smotzer]

assumed she was dehydrated so I’ve kept it very humid as recommended (70-80%) and it hasn’t improved.

This is likely the culprit for why it declined so rapidly, Aviculariinae do not need to be kept in enclosures with high humidity and stagnant stuffy humid environments for even short continuous periods of time and lead to a steep decline in health. Next time if you get an Avicularia keep it dry or mostly dry with a water dish and don’t even measure humidity!
all you can do now is try and give it access to water and lower the humidity and give as much active ventilation as possible and hope it recovers

 

[Dorifto]

This is likely the culprit for why it declined so rapidly,

Sorry @Smotzer but no, humidity can't kill anything, the real culprit in case it was the reason, it would be the lack of ventilation.

If that was true, hundreds of avics that live in vivariums with RH over 80s would be dead, and they thrive like a champs.

Aviculariinae do not need to be kept in enclosures with high humidity and stagnant stuffy humid environments

They do need humidity like every species, BUT THEY CAN'T WITHSTAND STAGNANT STUFFY CONDITIONS. This is what kills them, not high humidity.

You can keep them with high humidity and high ventilation without a single problem, and this has been proven all day long.

You can't keep them with very high humidity and very low ventilation, the same way you can't keep them with low humidity and very high ventilation (with dry air). It's all about balance. People that believe that they are keeping them dry simply because there is no moisture in the substrate, place a hygrometer inside and check what a water dish alone can do. A lot will be surprised finding numbers around or close to 60s.

Stigmatizing humidity when in fact it's not the culprit, does a weak favor to the hobby. There is no issue measuring humidity, it's a good tool to have an aproximate idea about the conditions inside, but one should not chase those numbers blindly. As simple as that.

Also suggesting to decrease humidity not knowing his/her in house conditions, it's a mistake a lot of people make. The best suggestion would be to raise ventilation (drilling some holes down low), since those enclosures have a very inefficient system. And if you place them inside another tank, even less.

Raising ventilation alone should solve the issue if the cause were the stagnant stuffy conditons inside. And in case his/her room conditions were dry, the enclosure would protect the T.

 

[NMTs]

The best suggestion would be to raise ventilation (drilling some holes down low), since those enclosures have a very inefficient system. And if you place them inside another tank, even less.

I'll speak up on behalf of these enclosures - I've used them often. They're anything but airtight, and there's really no need to add more holes to increase ventilation. They work much like their larger counterparts from ExoTerra and Euro-style enclosures with ventilation at the bottom front and top sides, but the entire front "door" allows airflow all the way around as it's not a tight seal, and none of the seams are sealed like glass or acrylic ones are. They're inexpensive and have some design issues that aren't ideal, but IME airflow isn't something that you need to be concerned about with them.

 

[Dorifto]

I'll speak up on behalf of these enclosures - I've used them often. They're anything but airtight, and there's really no need to add more holes to increase ventilation. They work much like their larger counterparts from ExoTerra and Euro-style enclosures with ventilation at the bottom front and top sides, but the entire front "door" allows airflow all the way around as it's not a tight seal, and none of the seams are sealed like glass or acrylic ones are. They're inexpensive and have some design issues that aren't ideal, but IME airflow isn't something that you need to be concerned about with them.
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Thanks for the imput!

I have seen too much variances from one enclosure to other, some were quite airtight (bottom part) and others the T could scape easily xD

Even with the bottom air "vents" it's not enough ventilation to keep them with real plants and moist soil, specially if it's placed inside another tank, where the airflow it's greatly reduced.

I see no issues keeping them on the "drier" side, as they could provide enough ventilation if they are placed in the correct spot.

I use to simply suggest to add few rows due to the discrepancies in that area, after asking about the room's conditions and the type of setup.

 

[campj]

BUT THEY CAN'T WITHSTAND STAGNANT STUFFY CONDITIONS. This is what kills them, not high humidity.

Can anyone explain this? I've never seen a reasonable explanation on why. Lack of oxygen?

@hopecore how's your spider? Looks pretty well deceased in the picture. Any luck?