Pink Toed Tarantula staying dead still after molt

Eherron19

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My fiancé and I ordered a tarantula a few weeks ago, and we got to watch her molt last night! She seemed to be mostly done with it by around 2:00 in the morning, so we decided to sleep in hopes of seeing her fully shed the molt. We found her this morning deathly still, with part of her abdomen still in her molt. She doesn’t move at all, even when we moved her molt away. I know it’s normal for them not to move much, but not at all, even twitching? Is she alright?
 

PidderPeets

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How big is she? Larger spiders (and older ones) take longer to molt
 

Eherron19

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How big is she? Larger spiders (and older ones) take longer to molt
She’s not terribly large, I’d say average size. She had mostly finished her molt last night.

Pics of the spider and setup?
You got it. I’ll get some now.

We weren’t aware she was ready to molt when we put her up in her hammock, as she was still very active even a few hours before her molting. B42A5CD3-097E-4391-89DE-277781CBFFCA.jpeg
 
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vancwa

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Pics of the entire enclosure are best. Strange...Hammock ? Molting T's should never be disturbed. Please post more pics.
 

Eherron19

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Here is the full enclosure. We’re aware that they aren’t to be disturbed, and my fiancé didn’t interact with her until today, when she was noticeably still, and from what she told me, it was only gently with a fine paintbrush (fully cleaned, of course.) we have kept her habitat decently humid with a misting bottle, as well as water in a cap near the top of the log, and a small water basin in the bottom left. The hammock was just something that we put for her to climb on, and she ended up treating it like a bed of sorts.
 

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PidderPeets

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She’s not terribly large, I’d say average size. She had mostly finished her molt last night.
Do you have any idea of the diagonal legspan?

We weren’t aware she was ready to molt when we put her up in her hammock, as she was still very active even a few hours before her molting. View attachment 333167
As in you picked her up to put her in that hammock thing? I can't stop you from it, but it is safest to avoid handling, as it can cause a great deal of stress, and puts it at risk for injury or even death from a fall or jumping. Especially with an arboreal species, which will jump readily because it expects there to be trees and branches to land on everywhere. Not to mention there's the risk of getting bitten. But what's done is done.

It's hard to tell from the picture, but I don't see anything outright concerning with the pose of it. But absolutely zero movement since the molt is concerning, since they usually shift their legs a bit as they pump fluid into them to expand and harden. You're positive it hasn't moved even the slightest bit of it's own accord?

Finally, I hate to kick you when you've already got some other concerns, but it really seems like you got some very outdated info regarding the care of this species. That hammock really isn't appropriate for tarantula, and this species would much prefer fake plants near the top of the enclosure to make a web rem for themselves. And the most important thing: you do NOT want to measure or maintain humidity for tarantulas. Old information says this species needs high humidity, but it's actually been proven that high humidity is extremely detrimental to the health of this species.
 

Eherron19

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update:

it seems as if Lily has passed. Her abdomen was injured during the molt, apparently, and she more than likely died during the night. She looked to be a beautiful black, though, and was a complete angel for the time we had her. She’ll be missed, thanks for the help that those of you have given, though.

I understand, and we’ll look into it. Thank you for the help. I’m entirely new to spiders, and my fiancé has only owned a few in her life. It’s possible that we have some information wrong. Our spider was very docile, and almost enjoyed being handled to a certain degree, but we do understand the risks, which is why we usually only handle her to move her on the floor and watch her walk around. We were always very careful with her.
 
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boina

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update:

it seems as if Lily has passed. Her abdomen was injured during the molt, apparently, and she more than likely died during the night. She looked to be a beautiful black, though, and was a complete angel for the time we had her. She’ll be missed, thanks for the help that those of you have given, though.
I'm really sorry for your loss. Unfortunately, as Pidder already said, the best way to kill an Avicularia is to keep her environment humid. That enclosure with it's lack of side ventilation and the way you sprayed the enclosure was pretty much not survivable for the spider. The way you describe it as very docile can also be a hint that it was already sick. The hammock is a creative idea and I don't think it was bad, but somewhat more foliage in the upper areas would have been good.

If you get a new spider set it up differently according to the things I pointed out above.
 

FrmDaLeftCoast

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update:

it seems as if Lily has passed. Her abdomen was injured during the molt, apparently, and she more than likely died during the night. She looked to be a beautiful black, though, and was a complete angel for the time we had her. She’ll be missed, thanks for the help that those of you have given, though.

I understand, and we’ll look into it. Thank you for the help. I’m entirely new to spiders, and my fiancé has only owned a few in her life. It’s possible that we have some information wrong. Our spider was very docile, and almost enjoyed being handled to a certain degree, but we do understand the risks, which is why we usually only handle her to move her on the floor and watch her walk around. We were always very careful with her.
Sorry to hear about your loss. Your not alone, sometimes "bad things happen for a reason. it doesn't occur very often...but when a T dies on me, 90% of the time it's avic.
 
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viper69

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update:

it seems as if Lily has passed. Her abdomen was injured during the molt, apparently, and she more than likely died during the night. She looked to be a beautiful black, though, and was a complete angel for the time we had her. She’ll be missed, thanks for the help that those of you have given, though.

I understand, and we’ll look into it. Thank you for the help. I’m entirely new to spiders, and my fiancé has only owned a few in her life. It’s possible that we have some information wrong. Our spider was very docile, and almost enjoyed being handled to a certain degree, but we do understand the risks, which is why we usually only handle her to move her on the floor and watch her walk around. We were always very careful with her.
Enjoyed being handled?? They don’t have the ability to produce such emotions.

They don’t have the needs to interact like a dog etc.

These are solitary animals in the wild.

Handling an Avic isn’t wise at all.

Old information says this species needs high humidity, but it's actually been proven that high humidity is extremely detrimental to the health of this species.
This isn't technically true, after all many species live in high humidity environments, such as Avics. What is more accurately phrased and TRUE is with high humidity Avics need a great deal of mass air transfer. Out in rain forest I've been in, super humid, but it isn't musty etc like a container will be.

We put them on dry sub an dry environments because it's very difficult to replicate rain forest conditions suitable for a T.
 
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PidderPeets

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This isn't technically true, after all many species live in high humidity environments, such as Avics. What is more accurately phrased and TRUE is with high humidity Avics need a great deal of mass air transfer. Out in rain forest I've been in, super humid, but it isn't musty etc like a container will be.

We put them on dry sub an dry environments because it's very difficult to replicate rain forest conditions suitable for a T.
You always catch me with the technicalities. Lol. But you are indeed 100% correct
 

viper69

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You always catch me with the technicalities. Lol. But you are indeed 100% correct
Well I’m stickler on this point because someone is going to use some critical thinking and mention “they live in a rainforest!!”

Some people have said that, but not lately.
 

Asgiliath

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Sorry to hear about your loss. Your not alone, sometimes "bad things happen for a reason. it doesn't occur very often...but when a T dies on me, 90% of the time it's avic.
I've had one loss since I entered the hobby and it was an avic. I have an M6 as well and keep them the exact same way (and properly). I have no idea what happened. It was a juvenile and just stopped eating?
 

PidderPeets

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Well I’m stickler on this point because someone is going to use some critical thinking and mention “they live in a rainforest!!”

Some people have said that, but not lately.
You're right. I admit I try to keep things brief and simple sometimes to get the message out fast and easy to understand (especially because the other half of the time I write near novels on here, and that gets taxing to myself and others). Usually I just clarify and elaborate if and/or when that point gets brought up. Still, I'll try my best to specify these conditions are regarding specimens in captivity next time one of these inevitable Avic threads comes up
 

FrmDaLeftCoast

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I've had one loss since I entered the hobby and it was an avic. I have an M6 as well and keep them the exact same way (and properly). I have no idea what happened. It was a juvenile and just stopped eating?
Exact same issue i experience. 😥
 

viper69

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You're right. I admit I try to keep things brief and simple sometimes to get the message out fast and easy to understand (especially because the other half of the time I write near novels on here, and that gets taxing to myself and others). Usually I just clarify and elaborate if and/or when that point gets brought up. Still, I'll try my best to specify these conditions are regarding specimens in captivity next time one of these inevitable Avic threads comes up
I like your novels, you give great advice, don’t change.

I wrote it also so someone doesn’t have “fun” and give you a gotcha moment.
 

PidderPeets

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I like your novels, you give great advice, don’t change.

I wrote it also so someone doesn’t have “fun” and give you a gotcha moment.
Don't worry, I still try to write out as much relevant information as I can when I can.

Or was it really because you wanted to be the one to give the gotcha moment? :watchingyou: Totally kidding. Lol. But as always, thank you for elaborating and clarifying on the things I say to make them more clear. :)
 

viper69

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Don't worry, I still try to write out as much relevant information as I can when I can.

Or was it really because you wanted to be the one to give the gotcha moment? :watchingyou: Totally kidding. Lol. But as always, thank you for elaborating and clarifying on the things I say to make them more clear. :)
No prob- I’m not a gotcha person. I do pay attention to detail to people worth reading on.
 
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