Pink Toe Habitat Check

[INDDannyboi]

Had it for about a week. Had webs near the ground but knocked them all down itself.
Was very active but began slipping off the glass. Friend said they saw it on its back at one point, but it’s just propped up on its side again.
Personally, I swear I see the death curl.

How’s the tank look? Is it dying or molting?

 

[boina]

It's a bit hard to see the spider but from what I can see it does not look like molting, rather a death curl. If you only had it for a week it was probably doomed when you got it.

Still, that is not a proper Avic habitat by a long shot. They don't need some stuff to climb but they need a whole living area off the ground, like a cork round surrounded by fake leaves or something similar. And the water bowl needs to be much easier accessible. I don't think it could drink very well from the one in there. And that thermometer/hygrometer is completely useless - they don't need any kind of humidity and room temps. Of course, this information is only to tell you what to do differently if you get another one.

 

[Enrgy]

also for future reference, a molting tarantula won't have it's legs pulled under itself like that. it'll either be somewhat flipped or all the way

 

[INDDannyboi]

I changed it accordingly and took more pictures.
Also just want to note, with heating pad on back side, the tank sits around 68-70.
And are you humidity doesn’t matter?
The room sits round 60s.

Can I save this little guy... trying my best.

 

[Teal]

Remove the heat mat if your room temps are over 60F. And yes, humidity does NOT matter. Tarantulas cannot draw moisture from the air... stuffy, humid enclosures KILL spiders. They need dry substrate and a water dish.

The top of the enclosure needs CLUTTER. These are spiders thay live in trees, up in the leaves and branches.

Where did you get the spider from?

 

[INDDannyboi]

Re

Remove the heat mat if your room temps are over 60F. And yes, humidity does NOT matter. Tarantulas cannot draw moisture from the air... stuffy, humid enclosures KILL spiders. They need dry substrate and a water dish.

The top of the enclosure needs CLUTTER. These are spiders thay live in trees, up in the leaves and branches.

Where did you get the spider from?

Really? That’s surprising because I had so many sources (including here) tell me under 70 was bad. The tank is sitting right under 70, and tbh he sat on the heat matt area ALL THE TIME until he lost is climbing ability.

I got him from a LPS.
He seemed to be doing fine there and had a very nice web. They had their tank closer to 80.
Also I wasn’t sure how to clutter the top.

 

[korlash091]

Re


Really? That’s surprising because I had so many sources (including here) tell me under 70 was bad. The tank is sitting right under 70, and tbh he sat on the heat matt area ALL THE TIME until he lost is climbing ability.

I got him from a LPS.
He seemed to be doing fine there and had a very nice web. They had their tank closer to 80.
Also I wasn’t sure how to clutter the top.

Heat mats are good for cooking T's, and you can hot glue some fake plants to the top of the enclosure.

 

[Teal]

Re


Really? That’s surprising because I had so many sources (including here) tell me under 70 was bad. The tank is sitting right under 70, and tbh he sat on the heat matt area ALL THE TIME until he lost is climbing ability.

I got him from a LPS.
He seemed to be doing fine there and had a very nice web. They had their tank closer to 80.
Also I wasn’t sure how to clutter the top.

Tarantulas are drawn to heat sources like moths are to flames... and like flames, heat sources will kill.

If you need to heat the enclosure, do so with a space heater or micro climate (putting the enclosure into something larger with a heat pad so the ambient temperature is raised but the spider cannot cling to the source).

 

[The Seraph]

Also I wasn’t sure how to clutter the top.

Get a hot glue gun and a bunch of those silk plants from Michaels, glue some of that wood near the top, wash the silk plants really good, then glue them at the top. Choose how you want it to look, and leave some space for him. Hopefully he can survive.

 

[Teal]

Can you get us a photo of the underside front of the spider to rule out it being a mature male? Pet stores know *nothing* about spider husbandry.

 

[INDDannyboi]

He seems doomed. His curling ball just keeps getting smaller and smaller.
But I am getting some really confusing answers here.

The Humidity is 40-60% and the Tank is in the 60s F....
Its a cold dry Midwest right now.

How come half the experienced individuals say forget temp/humidity and the other half say heat and mist.
I can promise that it being too hot is most likely not an issue..

 

[Teal]

He seems doomed. His curling ball just keeps getting smaller and smaller.
But I am getting some really confusing answers here.

The Humidity is 40-60% and the Tank is in the 60s F....
Its a cold dry Midwest right now.

How come half the experienced individuals say forget temp/humidity and the other half say heat and mist.
I can promise that it being too hot is most likely not an issue..

Measuring the humidity is POINTLESS. Stop doing it. That is how you kill a spider. I'll say it again - dry substrate and a water dish.

The enclosure is not too hot... but the T hanging around the heat mat is extremely dehydrating and WILL kill them. You yourself said he hung around the mat until he couldn't climb anymore, and now he is in a death curl.

 

[Teal]

Heating and misting are fine *when done correctly*...

 

[cold blood]

Its a cold dry Midwest right now.

most of us use something called a furnace....if you have one, and i suspect you do....then 60 degrees is 100% YOUR choice.. turn up the thermostat to a more livable level...lmao.

Listen to Teal, shes giving solid advice.

Mats can be used to warm ts, but not in the fashion they were designed, doing what was suggested is a better method for a mat that direct contact with the ts enclosure.

And to reiterate, humidity is not relevant...any t can be kept in any humidity level....some just require damp sub....your avic however, isnt one of these species.

 

[INDDannyboi]

Ok thank you for the clarification. So you are suggesting my tarantula potentially dehydrated himself to death by hanging on the mat.
Unfortunately if I take the mat off, the tempature will be very close to 60 degrees. Is that better for a Pink Toe?

(Also I can’t take the requested picture to sex him, he is facing away now)

Edit: I cannot change the heat in the apartment, I live with 3 others that all like it cold. But I understand the concept, thank you.
Just trying me best with the situations at hand

 

[cold blood]

Misting is for drinking, not husbandry and should be done minimally and infrequently.

 

[Mini8leggedfreak]

I murdered an avic by misting daily.
I don’t mist anymore and only do water dish and some water droplets on there web and haven’t lost another one and I have I think around 15 avic slings.
Humidity doesn’t matter. Just make sure it has access to water.

 

[Aleetist]

He seems doomed. His curling ball just keeps getting smaller and smaller.
But I am getting some really confusing answers here.

The Humidity is 40-60% and the Tank is in the 60s F....
Its a cold dry Midwest right now.

How come half the experienced individuals say forget temp/humidity and the other half say heat and mist.
I can promise that it being too hot is most likely not an issue..

Avid Avic lover here, let me help try to clear some of this stuff up.

More recently (probably within this year) people have been moving away from using humidity as its been discovered chasing humidity in a tank is pointless at best and deadly at worst. You are getting in at a terminology change over point when a lot of people still use those terms and also pet store information will almost always be bad, so toss out all info they told you. Humidity is not important, what is important is if your spider needs a dry, semi moist or moist environment. Aviva need dry environments will lots of ventilation and things high up since they will always go high as they can and need things up there to anchor their webs too. Temps *do* matter but not nearly to the extent of keeping them perfect like we thought, ideally in the high 60s low 70s but the same could be said for humans and we do fine in varying conditions within reasonable limits. Under 60 for too long would be bad but keeping at least on the 60s for the winter should be okay.

Get rid of that heat mat ASAP. Heat mats are like heroine for spiders. They will desicate themselves to be close to the heat and just dry themselves out and starve and die. The fact that it's been living on the heat mat is probably a good chunk of the reason it's in such bad shape now (other factors could apply, but heat mats are really bad for Ts and could alone cause a death)

Either move it to a warmer area in the house, get a space heater near it, or put the heat pad on something next to the tank so it heats the area but not the tank directly.

Your T is probably very dehydrated, I would try to get it on its back and give it drops of water into its mouth, this is about the only thing that can be done at this time. Good luck, and sorry for contradicting info, the hobby is ever evolving.

 

[cold blood]

Ok thank you for the clarification. So you are suggesting my tarantula potentially dehydrated himself to death by hanging on the mat.
Unfortunately if I take the mat off, the tempature will be very close to 60 degrees. Is that better for a Pink Toe?

(Also I can’t take the requested picture to sex him, he is facing away now)

She explained how to heat it....heat a larger enclosure with the mat on the side...put the enclosure with the t, inside that larget heated one.

You are correct, 60 is too low for any avic for any extended period of time.

 

[boina]

he sat on the heat matt area ALL THE TIME

How come half the experienced individuals say forget temp/humidity and the other half say heat and mist.

You can heat the enclosure if you do it right. The problem with heat mats is that the heat will dessicate the spider. On one hand the heat from the mat will increase the spiders metabolism, meaning it needs more water. On the other hand the heat will dry out the spider. That combination can be deadly.

Humidity is an old concept and it proves very hard to eradicate from care sheets and other sources. Unfortunately it doesn't work for spiders. Especially arboreals can live in any kind of humidity or lack thereof, no matter that they are from the rain forrest. On the other hand, in high humidity bacteria will thrive and multiply - any kind of bacteria. If there's one pathogen in the mix then your spider is practically doomed. In the rain forrest the multitude of microorganism make sure no pathogen can take over. In your enclosure you don't have that luxury. Avics especially seem to be very prone to succumb to anything that gets into their enclosures. For that reason everyone on here will strongly recommend that you keep them dry.

Now, after sitting on that heat pad for so long your Avic may be dehydrated. Dehydration would lead to all the symptoms it is showing, including curling up. Now, do not even think about humidity! Your spider needs a drink, not a sauna. Place it with its mouth parts in a shallow dish full of water and see if it will drink.

Edit: sorry if this is repetitive, I was still typing when the others were posting...