Pink Toed

siena1

Arachnopeon
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Jul 27, 2021
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Hey guys I just had a question. My daughter is 10 and we just got a a pink toed tarantula for her birthday a few months ago. We are still learning how to care for it we are being honest so I just need some help. Her baby went into the water bowl and flipped upside down i did some research and it showed results of a molting process. How long does it typically take for this to happen? I told her not to touch him and let him do his thing. But he hasn't moved in a few days (2) and we are starting to get worried. I made sure to put him in the bathroom with the shower running (per research) with the lights off and I took the water bowl out making sure not touch him and cleaned his cage out really good. He has a tiny cricket that he looks like he was eating in the process of whatever is going on should I leave it there? Should I give it a few days before I try and figure out if he died during the process? She's really upset and I'm hoping he's just taking his time with it since this is the first molt that we are aware of. Thanks guy's for the help! Ill attach a photo of what he looks like right now.

Resized_20210726_155348_2.jpeg
 
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Neonblizzard

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Mar 3, 2021
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611
I'm sorry but he's a goner. Hard to say what happened, but i doubt he would molt with a cricket in his mouth. Can you post pics of the full enclosure?

I get the feeling something has either gone wrong with your husbandry or he's had an accident.

If he had been molting, you have made a critical mistake by

1) interfering with the spider or enclosure at all during the molt - many inexperienced keepers kill T's like this. Not sure why you decided to clean the cage out and move the spider at such a potentially sensitive time.

2) Moving the spider into the bathroom with a hot shower on? I'm assuming that was to make it more humid? Avicularia are very sensitive to having too much humidity without adequate air flow, and tbh if it wasn't dead already that would have probably killed it in itself. - really really bad thing to do

Hopefully this can only be a learning experience for the both of you.
 

siena1

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Jul 27, 2021
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Oh dang that makes me feel even worse -_- I called the place we got him at and they said to make sure he had a clean enclosure for when he got done if he was molting and that the shower would help with the process incase he was having difficulty with it! I really hate the idea that I killed him. Its definitely has been a learning experience for us all. Thank you for your help! I really appreciate it! I think we will do a little more research before we decide to get another one! I will take a full photo of his enclosure when I get home today and post just incase that had something to do with it as well and I know and if we need to make any changes then we can!
 

VaporRyder

Arachnoknight
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Jun 3, 2021
Messages
281
Hi Siena, sorry for your loss. I am by no means an expert, but the fact that your tarantula had a cricket in its mouth suggests to me that it was some kind of sudden incident. How old was it? Sometimes there are husbandry issues, but they can just die randomly and for no apparent reason - particularly very young ones.

I hope that your daughter is ok, I guess this will be part of her learning about the cycle of life. Also, I hope you do try again with another spider. They are incredibly rewarding to keep, I find. In terms of research, this is by far the best place to be. There is a lot of misinformation on T’s out there, sadly.
 
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Neonblizzard

Arachnomoron
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Mar 3, 2021
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611
Oh dang that makes me feel even worse -_- I called the place we got him at and they said to make sure he had a clean enclosure for when he got done if he was molting and that the shower would help with the process incase he was having difficulty with it! I really hate the idea that I killed him. Its definitely has been a learning experience for us all. Thank you for your help! I really appreciate it! I think we will do a little more research before we decide to get another one! I will take a full photo of his enclosure when I get home today and post just incase that had something to do with it as well and I know and if we need to make any changes then we can!
You're welcome! What comes as a surprise to many new T keepers is that pet stores really do not have a clue how to look after the tarantulas they sell.

Google is almost always wrong as well, and many YouTubers teach new keepers bad habits.

I don't think this is a molt gone wrong though. There's no way it would decide to molt while eating. Tarantulas almost always go off their food before molting.

Perhaps next time a beginner terrestrial T might be a bit better that's less sensitive to husbandry mistakes.

The takeaways so far are:

1. Never disturb a T or its enclosure if you suspect its molting. Don't move the enclosure, don't even open the door, don't do anything at all to interfere. Doing maintenance like spot cleaning and filling up water is great, but there's plenty of time to do that when the T isn't molting.

2. Do not attempt the shower thing again with any spider. Really not a good idea.


Edit: use this forum to ask questions, use the forum search function, and if you are looking for YouTubers stick with Tom moran in the beginning. He's generally agreed as one of the few legit tarantula youtubers and has great info on many tarantulas
 

siena1

Arachnopeon
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Jul 27, 2021
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Hi Siena, sorry for your loss. I am by no means an expert, but the fact that your tarantula had a cricket in its mouth suggests to me that it was some kind of sudden incident. How old was it? Sometimes there are husbandry issues, but they can just die randomly and for no apparent reason - particularly very young ones.

I hope that your daughter is ok, I guess this will be part of her learning about the cycle of life. Also, I hope you do try again with another spider. They are incredibly rewarding to keep, I find. In terms of research, this is by far the best place to be. There is a lot of misinformation on T’s out there, sadly.

Hi thank you! WE got him in April , so he was still pretty young! She's pretty upset she stayed up most of the night looking in on him just checking to see if he was ok. She cried a lot and I know when I get home and break the news she will be extremely upset as well. I wish i would've found this before I cleaned his enclosure and stuff out and did what I did! -_-

You're welcome! What comes as a surprise to many new T keepers is that pet stores really do not have a clue how to look after the tarantulas they sell.

Google is almost always wrong as well, and many YouTubers teach new keepers bad habits.

I don't think this is a molt gone wrong though. There's no way it would decide to molt while eating. Tarantulas almost always go off their food before molting.

Perhaps next time a beginner terrestrial T might be a bit better that's less sensitive to husbandry mistakes.

The takeaways so far are:

1. Never disturb a T or its enclosure if you suspect its molting. Don't move the enclosure, don't even open the door, don't do anything at all to interfere. Doing maintenance like spot cleaning and filling up water is great, but there's plenty of time to do that when the T isn't molting.

2. Do not attempt the shower thing again with any spider. Really not a good idea.


Edit: use this forum to ask questions, use the forum search function, and if you are looking for YouTubers stick with Tom moran in the beginning. He's generally agreed as one of the few legit tarantula youtubers and has great info on many tarantulas

Thank you very much foe the advice! I will come here for sure next time before anything else! Do you have any suggestions on which T would be good for a beginner?
 

VaporRyder

Arachnoknight
Joined
Jun 3, 2021
Messages
281
To be honest Siena, from reading your post, I don’t think it was necessarily anything you did - if it just climbed into the dish and flipped over with a cricket in its mouth. Although Neon is absolutely correct in his advice moving forward.

Do show us pics of the enclosure for assessment though. :)
 

Neonblizzard

Arachnomoron
Joined
Mar 3, 2021
Messages
611
Thank you very much foe the advice! I will come here for sure next time before anything else! Do you have any suggestions on which T would be good for a beginner?
I have to agree with @VaporRyder on that i think he was long dead before you did anything to him.

I would recommend the T. Albopilosus, (curly haired tarantula) they are tough, good eaters, cheap and widely available and good eaters. Good growth rate too.

If you are unsure in the future feel free to ask on the boards, and also feel free to post pics of your enclosure to see if we can work out what might have happened to your T
 

siena1

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To be honest Siena, from reading your post, I don’t think it was necessarily anything you did - if it just climbed into the dish and flipped over with a cricket in its mouth. Although Neon is absolutely correct in his advice moving forward.

Do show us pics of the enclosure for assessment though. :)
I will absolutely do that!
 

cold blood

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Staff member
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Jan 19, 2014
Messages
13,223
It has a cricket in its mouth....I would almost say its obvious this t died from a fall while eating....it may be just an accident...but if the bowl was dry, its a fall hazard....NO t is going to flip over to molt, WHILE eating. This was sudden, the cricket had been killed and it died even before it could let go of its food.

Maybe an accident, maybe it was just a barren enclosure...maybe it was a barren enclosure with a screen lid? just speculating.
 

siena1

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Jul 27, 2021
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Well as i said this is our first T and i just wanted to ask for some advice. The bowl is never dry though theres always water in it for him. Maybe its the type of enclosure ive had him in? If theres a better one to have one in id be more then glad to get a different one once we decide its time to get a different one! Following with a picture of the enclosure!

20210727_184944.jpg
 

Venom1080

Arachnoemperor
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Sep 24, 2015
Messages
4,611
That's super weird. The cage isn't perfect. But it shouldn't have died in that.

Arboreals are amazing at surviving falls. It would be a freak accident for your Avic to have died from a fall.

Did you keep it very moist in there? That style of cage only has ventilation at the top and that may not have been enough with this genus. They succumb quickly in stuffy conditions.


PS The fact there's not a good hide did not kill it. The fact there's a screen lid did not kill it.
 

siena1

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I didnt keep it like hot shower moist but i did spray it when it looked dry and i always kept water in the bowl for him and stuff i feel so bad because i dont know what caused it and id hate for us to get a different one for her and then it die too
 

nicodimus22

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Sep 26, 2013
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Even the most experienced tarantula keepers do have mysterious deaths on rare occasion, so don't beat yourself up too badly. It may not have had anything to do with you or your husbandry. Dying with a cricket in the mouth is a strange one...I'm not even sure I can speculate what happened here. I'd usually wager a fall/abdominal rupture, but arboreals are usually pretty good at taking falls, at least compared to terrestrials. Impaction is another one of those invisible killers that you can't do much about...had you seen it poop recently?

Basically, all we can do is try to maximize their chances of a long life, but it won't ever be 100% of specimens that survive to old age (for people that keep a lot of Ts at once, anyway.) It should be very high, though, like 95% or better. If it's below that, it points to either really bad luck, a flaw in the husbandry, or both.

I hope this doesn't put you off of tarantulas. The vast majority of them do live a full life, and females of some species can live for decades.
 
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Edan bandoot

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Sep 5, 2019
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If you got it from a petstore then you have no idea what it's been through prior to you getting it, or if it's WC or CB.

If you're going to get another Avic, do your research here. That cage isn't as bad as most petstore cages but it can be better.
 

viper69

ArachnoGod
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17,851
I made sure to put him in the bathroom with the shower running (per research) with the lights off
What site told you this in your research??!!

That’s the dumbest thing I have read. You aren’t stupid, but that piece of info was written by an idiot.
 

siena1

Arachnopeon
Joined
Jul 27, 2021
Messages
0
Even the most experienced tarantula keepers do have mysterious deaths on rare occasion, so don't beat yourself up too badly. It may not have had anything to do with you or your husbandry. Dying with a cricket in the mouth is a strange one...I'm not even sure I can speculate what happened here. I'd usually wager a fall/abdominal rupture, but arboreals are usually pretty good at taking falls, at least compared to terrestrials. Impaction is another one of those invisible killers that you can't do much about...had you seen it poop recently?

Basically, all we can do is try to maximize their chances of a long life, but it won't ever be 100% of specimens that survive to old age (for people that keep a lot of Ts at once, anyway.) It should be very high, though, like 95% or better. If it's below that, it points to either really bad luck, a flaw in the husbandry, or both.

I hope this doesn't put you off of tarantulas. The vast majority of them do live a full life, and females of some species can live for decades.
That does make me feel better i talked with my daughter last night and we are going to take some time and she went and bought a book on Ts last night she said she wants to know as much about them as she can before she gets another one! Lets hope we have more luck next time around! should we stick with the same enclosure when we try again or get a different one?
 

Edan bandoot

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That does make me feel better i talked with my daughter last night and we are going to take some time and she went and bought a book on Ts last night she said she wants to know as much about them as she can before she gets another one! Lets hope we have more luck next time around! should we stick with the same enclosure when we try again or get a different one?
If you're daughter is really interested in reading, here would be a good place to learn.
 

siena1

Arachnopeon
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Jul 27, 2021
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I will let her read this thread if you guys have any advice on the handling and care of them for when she does decide to get another one we would greatly appreciate it!
 

Edan bandoot

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I will let her read this thread if you guys have any advice on the handling and care of them for when she does decide to get another one we would greatly appreciate it!
Well she should read this one aswell then

 
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