Not so great weekend

elysium

Arachnosquire
Joined
Nov 7, 2015
Messages
69
I had my first death from my collection last night, and it is a very crappy feeling. :(

I found my half inch L difficilis in a death curl yesterday morning, and this morning she seems to be completely unresponsive.

Just a bit of background... I got 'Dora' (a freebie) as a newly hatched quarter inch sling with one of my other orders on May 6. I'd say I fed her every 3-4 days with pinhead crickets which she would tackle willingly or I would prekill them if they were slightly big. Either way she ate about 10 times before she molted on June 22. I waited a week as I do with all my Ts, and offered a prekilled pinhead. She did not eat. Since then, I have tried live pinheads, prekilled pinheads, chopped up supers, chopped up mealworms every 3-4 days, and I would always find the prey the next morning, seemingly uneaten. To this day, I don't think she ate in the past month and a bit ever since she molted...

I kept her in a 2oz dipping sauce container, with an inch of coco fibre for sub, a ring of holes on the side, and a bunch of holes on the lid. I keep the sub three quarters moist, with a dry patch in case she wants escape from the moisture. She would always sit on the moist side from what I saw. I made a small starter burrow which she never used. I had a couple small strings of moss for moisture, and a small lego piece as a water dish which I removed a few days ago because I was finding pinheads in it, though I made sure the sub remained moist. The interesting thing is I was also finding the ones I thought I prekilled in there, which makes me wonder if she was moving the dead crickets around, but not eating them. My room is a constant 75 degrees, 23ish celcius.

Yesterday morning she was in a death curl, barely moving. I didn't think an ICU would help, considering I would probably hurt it by accident given its size, so i just made sure the sub she was sitting on was more saturated than usual. I took a fat cricket and killed it and opened its gut and placed it right in front of the tiny sling, with the cricket juices barely touching the fangs. I found that she was slowly stretching the legs out by last night, though this morning she is completely unresponsive. Needless to say, I'm pretty bummed out about it. :(

I am also concerned about my husbandry, and if I did something wrong in her care to yield that result. I spend quite a deal of time on this forum every day learning about care, and I had thought I had gotten things right. I will also attach a couple pictures of the setup so that anyone can opine on anything they see wrong. Considering this is a Lasiodora which most folks say are one of the easiest genus to keep, I am slightly concerned as to how this could have happened. I have other more delicate species, like avics, that have been doing fine.

Any thoughts are appreciated. Thanks.
 

rasulsimakshah

Arachnosquire
Joined
Mar 26, 2012
Messages
117
I'm so sorry to hear this :( To be honest, sometimes a T just doesn't make it. I've had similar problems and have lost a couple Ts after molts bc they never tried to eat again. It doesn't sound to me like you have any issues with your care, you tried to feed the little thing and kept plenty of moisture for after its molt. Don't let it get you down.
 

Najakeeper

Arachnoprince
Joined
Dec 10, 2010
Messages
1,050
Sometimes slings die with barely any reason. I have lost a P.metallica sling once when loosing one really mattered. She might have had a developmental issue during the molting process and couldn't feed afterwards. Don't beat yourself over it.
 

Vanessa

Grammostola Groupie
Joined
Mar 12, 2016
Messages
2,423
I am so very sorry. I can't see anything wrong with the setup. I keep mine a bit less than half moist and I find that they are on that side all the time.
It is strange that they never ate after moulting. They have good appetites and I would expect them to be all over food after moulting. Mine is. I would say that there was maybe something wrong with them from the get-go or something happened to them during their moult.
I know that it might not make things better right now, because this was your little one, but not all spiderlings are meant to survive. They could have had issues right from the start that we just can't see.
This sucks and I'm sorry.
 

Trenor

Arachnoprince
Joined
Jan 28, 2016
Messages
1,896
Everything sounds right to me. I know the substrate in the photos looks too wet but I assume that's due to you trying to give it water once it started curling. I would guess at that size it was a molt problem. Sometimes there isn't a lot you can do.
 

elysium

Arachnosquire
Joined
Nov 7, 2015
Messages
69
Thank you for your kind and comforting words folks, they are greatly appreciated.

While it doesn't make me feel much better about losing her, it is at least a bit comforting to know that I did my best to care for the little one. I would hate for something similar to happen to any of my other Ts.

I hope yours grows big and strong @VanessaS!

@Trenor Yeah the dark part is over saturated from my attempts to re-hydrate her, you can even see what I mean about her actually stretching out from the curl that she was in, though this morning she is just stuck in that position unresponsive. The cricket I gutted is also in the picture, and I had positioned her just over the burst gut where literally all she had to do was suck the juice in.

I guess nature took its course... :(
 

crlovel

Arachnopeon
Joined
Nov 23, 2011
Messages
46
It happens. I've lost a few. One was unexpected and for no apparent reason. Another was a stupid damn mistake that was my fault entirely. It happens. Learn from it and try again.
 

cold blood

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Jan 19, 2014
Messages
13,223
The set up is great, from the sound of it...that is not eating after a molt....it sounds like there was an issue, perhaps with the sucking stomach, that caused the demise of your t.
 

Kymura

Arachnoknight
Joined
Oct 1, 2015
Messages
182
So very sorry. Hateful when this happens. You do your best to get everything right and nature sneaks in and reminds us she's in charge :(
 

SausageinaNet

Arachnopeon
Joined
Nov 26, 2015
Messages
33
Lost a 2nd instar Avic this week. Not happy about it but all the others are doing great and it is unfortunately a part of the hobby. You have to keep in mind that by seperating slings before they can be eaten by their siblings and also providing a regular supply of food and water a lot of them survive that would have never made it in the wild. It may sound cruel but they just weren't ment to survive which is why Ts and other animals produce massive amounts of babys to ensure that enough make it to adulthood.
 
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