It looks a bit lighter, to me at least, than it did a while back. :/ I just hate doing nothing and it has been a long time now. He is getting worse, behaviorally, with the legs being at such an odd angle and his easy agitation... I just get concerned, as this is no life to lead, even for an arachnid. :S I dunno. I appreciate your opinion, I'm just at such a loss and don't want to prolong such a condition for him to not make it.
Pulchra having odd problems
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Venom1080
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They don't feel pain as we do. He's likely just a little stressed.
I know they don't feel pain. I know I should have gone back and edited that comment... Haha.
He SEEMINGLY is in a tortuous predicament here. He is just constantly in that folded up shape, and will sometimes just spazz. I'm die they have SOME sort of sensory system that alerts them to distress in some form, and whatever it is, he's got it going on. Either way, he's been like this for almost five months, and I'm just not sure what else I can do.
miss moxie
Arachnoprince
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You can't really do anything, just wait for it to molt or die. That's not a pretty thought but it's the truth.
You're in control, despite not having any other option save to just wait or find a local T-keeper who will take them and shoulder the responsibility instead. To give up on him is a certain death sentence. To wait, however, offers him a chance.
Don't let your idea of "quality of life" affect this at all. Because we've seen tarantulas who were octopolegics and couldn't move at all make it to a molt and get their motion back. Quality of life just doesn't apply to a creature that can heal itself of most problems with a molt. If a cat loses all of it's legs, it's quality of life is severely diminished for the rest of it's life. If a tarantula loses all of it's legs, it's stressed out until it grows it's legs back.
You're in control, despite not having any other option save to just wait or find a local T-keeper who will take them and shoulder the responsibility instead. To give up on him is a certain death sentence. To wait, however, offers him a chance.
Don't let your idea of "quality of life" affect this at all. Because we've seen tarantulas who were octopolegics and couldn't move at all make it to a molt and get their motion back. Quality of life just doesn't apply to a creature that can heal itself of most problems with a molt. If a cat loses all of it's legs, it's quality of life is severely diminished for the rest of it's life. If a tarantula loses all of it's legs, it's stressed out until it grows it's legs back.
Venom1080
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Well, it's up to you. I encourage you to wait longer, but I imagine that would be pretty hard..
If it was a matter of missing limbs that he could regenerate, that would be different. If I could help him along, and be able to feed him with only a couple of limbs, I wouldn't feel as I do now. As it is, he is getting worse, not better. The position he's in in the pictures is how he looks every moment, whereas before he at least had his legs on the ground. I've waited five months, almost, watching his progressively get worse. I feel as if there was going to be some sign of something getting better, I would have seen it. He doesn't seem to be darkening up for a molt very quickly, at least not as I would have expected, and I don't expect him to get outhe of a molt in this state. If he does, I expect it will be very ugly. :/ i understand that the idea of quality of life is different for arachnids, and doesn't apply like to does for vertebrates, but in my mind it does still somewhat apply as currently he's got nothing. He stays in that wrenched up position, has seemingly uncontrollable neurotic movements and doesn't seem to be getting any better. It is heart wrenching to have seen the progression to this, and I'm not sure I can wait another five months or more, to watch him just wither and die.
It is... quite hard. As I said above, I've been waiting almost five months at this point, and I have seen nothing even hinting at him getting better. If there was even a SLIGHT progression, no matter how small, I would wait it out, but he's just contributed on the downward path. :/
I guess another thing I'm really wondering about is how can I go about print a spider down in the most "painless" stress free way possible. As I mentioned before, but I guess my intention wasn't very clear, as a technician at a vet's office, I have access to many tools. It is a hard thing to face, but I at least want to be knowledgeable about all my options.
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I'm going against the flow and say I'd put him down. We don't know if and in what way a tarantula can feel pain but every animal must be able to have some kind of fear/stress/pain response to survive, otherwise they'd just bumble into the next life threatening situation and die soon. 5 months of increasing stress and possible/probable discomfort is a long time.
Options for putting a spider down that I know of:
1. Freezer. It's supposed to be painless, but it's drawn out.
2. Shoe or similar: Very quick and very messy
3. Someone somewhere recommended to just cut the abdomen off quickly: very fast and very messy
4. Gaseous anesthetics: That will take a very long time to take effect, since tarantulas don't have active breathing
5. Injection anesthetics: see here
Options for putting a spider down that I know of:
1. Freezer. It's supposed to be painless, but it's drawn out.
2. Shoe or similar: Very quick and very messy
3. Someone somewhere recommended to just cut the abdomen off quickly: very fast and very messy
4. Gaseous anesthetics: That will take a very long time to take effect, since tarantulas don't have active breathing
5. Injection anesthetics: see here
Ghost56
Arachnobaron
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Maybe he is approaching a molt though. They typically get clumsier and less coordinated when healthy. Maybe that's why he's getting worse. Spiders that display pesticide exposure symptoms typically don't go back to normal till they molt if they make it there. So just like fixing a missing leg, they can also repair whatever it is that causes the symptoms with a molt too.
Thank you very much. I'll consider the options.
jaycied
Arachnoknight
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I'd try to wait it out until a molt, but if you decide to put him down, the freezer is what I use
If I thought it was some sort of pesticide exposure, or spine sort of toxicity, I would be inclined to agree... but given that I don't think it is either of those, I'm not sure what to make of it. If it was just a simple matter of him kind of bumbling around and being clumsy, I might consider an oncoming molt, but his stiffened condition suggest otherwise, unfortunately.
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I'm not sure that he will even be able to molt with his legs in a kind of permanent tonic seizure above his body.
Ghost56
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I agree, but I wouldn't put him down. Especially after making it for 5 months.
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Ghost56
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I'm not saying it's that sort of thing, just saying that I think it's possible for him to molt out of whatever this is if they can molt out of pesticide induced damage if that makes any sense. I was just thinking that an upcoming molt could be the reasoning behind him getting worse.If I thought it was some sort of pesticide exposure, or spine sort of toxicity, I would be inclined to agree... but given that I don't think it is either of those, I'm not sure what to make of it. If it was just a simple matter of him kind of bumbling around and being clumsy, I might consider an oncoming molt, but his stiffened condition suggest otherwise, unfortunately.