Orange Baboon... possibly sick

dweben

Arachnopeon
Joined
Jan 11, 2011
Messages
4
Hi, I bought an orange baboon on the 9th Jan (posted on the 12th) which seemed all happy and good. It's a young one, about 10mm in length and looked quite ok in the reptile shop.

Since I've had it, I've tried to feed it twice with crickets which is has ignored. It's more or less sat in one corner and not done much. Our boiler has been on the blink lately so I put the jar by a heat pad and pretty rapidly the thing was full of condensation. I've wiped most of that out as I understand baboons prefer things a little dryer and it has plenty of substrate to burrow in.

Behaviour wise it's just not moving or interested in anything. Today I gave it a little poke with some tweezers which didn't make it react. It's not on its back so don't think it's molting although it obviously is young! It didn't even seem to care when I could practically move it around and just twitched a couple times. It's not in a curl or anything but just seems very depressed or something. :?

I'm pretty new to Ts so am still learning about humidity control etc -- anyone have any immediate ideas? I've removed the latest cricket (lucky blighter) and even removed a couple small balls of white mouldy kind of stuff. Do I need to shift it pronto to another home?
 

Leviticus

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Oct 10, 2006
Messages
357
Are its legs curled up? When was the last time it molted(does the seller know).. If it is in premolt it may be refusing food and may explain some of the behavior. Also you have only had it for a few days and it may just be settling.
 

dweben

Arachnopeon
Joined
Jan 11, 2011
Messages
4
Hi, nope it's legs aren't curled, it's just sitting there. Not sure about premolt but there was no evidence of any molting in the jar when I bought it so no idea when it last did one. The shop had 100 odd spidies in it so not sure if they would know/remember when it did one. I'll email them.

I'm 'hoping' it's just a little traumatised by the move and high moisture content, and that it'll settle back down I've dried things out a bit and it's on a heat mat.

Will just keep watching it I guess for now..
 

GForce14063

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
May 24, 2004
Messages
368
Since the sling is just 10 mm I kept my slings in little pill bottles they'll need a little more moisture then adult. I found that most of the slings web up they're bottles pretty well. They are voracious eaters.

As for your question make sure there is water for hydration your spider should be very active unless getting ready to shed. Which case make sure it is not too dry and leave it alone.
 

web eviction

Arachnolord
Joined
Dec 23, 2010
Messages
639
My 3 inch obt likes to play dead a lot I can reach in touch poke prod roll it over lol continues to not move or react at all always stays in one place lol until no ones lookin then she becomes the most active T I own lol
 

Jacobchinarian

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
Joined
Aug 2, 2010
Messages
255
My p ornata did this. I moved her to an icu because she wasn't moving or anything. Later she had fuzzy white mold on her inderside and I knew she was dead. don't know what caused it. Some think it was a heat pad I had on her cage. But I think it was a bad molt because her fangs never even turned black.
 

KoriTamashii

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Nov 21, 2009
Messages
419
Unless it's below 60 degrees Fahrenheit, you really don't need a heat mat, even for a sling. It's been said before, and I'll say it again: if you're comfortable, the T will be, too. People tend to overthink the requirements for Ts sometimes.
 

Leviticus

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Oct 10, 2006
Messages
357
Generally as a rule unless I can see any injuries, noticeable dehydration in the abdomen, or legs curling undeneath the t then I don't usually fret. Tarantulas as a rule are quite hardy and adaptable. Just keep checking and making sure there is enough moisture, it will either begin to eat soon or molt.
 

Nature81

Arachnopeon
Joined
Nov 20, 2010
Messages
21
From the UK

Yes it's cold here at the moment. I think too cold in the house during the day when I'm at work. So I have my t's in a see through plastic container with heat mats dangling inside. The t's are all kept toasty and warm even if I'm not {D and the mats are not touching the t's enclosures :)
 

dweben

Arachnopeon
Joined
Jan 11, 2011
Messages
4
Well I left the boiler on all night which heated the house nicely to 20c and it seems to have cheered it up a bit. Was waving its legs around a little but still not actually moving. I dropped a half dead cricket in there and will see if it bothers to have a munch.

When it comes to misting the place could someone pick a below option please;
  1. Dry jar/substrate but with a small disc of plastic with some drops of water
  2. Mist the substrate lightly
  3. Dampen the substrate
  4. Mist the side of the jar but keep substrate dry

Currently I'm misting one half of the substrate and catching the jar a little. Don't want to soak the poor thing! Should I avoid any web? Even though the web holds drops of water quite well. It's too small to put a proper bowl or anything in there.

Thanks

---------- Post added at 12:57 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:28 AM ----------

Just checked in on my baboon which has shuffled under some web so that's good I guess.

Back to the moisture thing. While I was looking I noticed some small white larve gathered in one corner, about 5/6 of them. About 1mm long and looking quite active -- can spider habitats get springtails or something similar? There's no mites or anything in my cricket tank so not sure if it came from there.

Thinking this afternoon of moving it to a new clean dry jar...
 
Last edited:

Poxicator

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Nov 16, 2007
Messages
354
Without internal heating in your house you'll need to supply some form of heat for your T, in the UK. Its been very cold recently so providing no heat at all during the night etc is bound to cause some issues. Luckily OBT are as hardy as nails.

I recommend getting a container tank or cupboard, a large heatmat and then place all your enclosures within, that should keeps temps up to low 70s at least. The more insulation you use the warmer it will get but keep temps below 85F for most species.

OBTs will survive very well with dry conditions. You could provide a water bowl but like everything else this is likely to get webbed over. I just give the occassional squirt of water onto some of the webbing. Most of its water supply will be supplied by the food, of which 2 crickets per week is more than enough, but these hungry meanies will devour more.
Your other inhabitants suggest springtails - these are little helpful cleaning buddies, but they're also an indication you've got it a little too moist in there. So I'd let it dry out before adding more water.
I'd also suggest putting a branch in the enclosure, it will use this to anchor its webbing onto which is much more attractive than a pet hole :)

BTW, if you attend the BTS expo in May which is held in Birmingham please come up and say hello. You'll know who I am by all the singing!
 

dweben

Arachnopeon
Joined
Jan 11, 2011
Messages
4
Arr thanks the heating is now fixed and the obt is seemingly more active now. I had put a half dead cricket in there earlier which it now seems to have gone out and dragged back under its bit of web so that's good.

More condensation on the jar since putting it back by the heat mat, so that's all wiped down again. I'll just keep it up over some days and see how he goes I think. Guessing the springtails will just die over time as it dries out?

It has a couple small bits of wood in there but I'll put a slightly bigger one in to build more web on.

I'll keep an eye out in for this expo in may -- thanks. Hope it's not the bank holiday weekend 'cos I'll be mountain biking that weekend!
 

Poxicator

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Nov 16, 2007
Messages
354
Just watch, as it gets more active its more likely to become the Orange Bitey Thing :)

If you have any more humid enclosures you could move the springtails into them. Or get yourself a tub of substrate with some wood chippings or debris from the garden, put in a little old veg (not potato) and pour them in. Keep in very damp in there and you'll soon have a colony which you could add tropical woodlice to.

BTS Exhibition 2011
The 26th BTS Exhibition will take place on 22nd May 2011 at Coseley Leisure Centre.
 
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