Rehabbing paralyzed Tarantula

[OneTimeT]

If you raise monarchs then im going to assume youll know if a caterpillar is sick and wont feed it. That would be my concern. But you must already know this.

as far as their poisonous status, thats something else. I have no idea how they could affect a tarantula. Asclepiades are toxic for humans to, aside from the parts that can be cooked and eaten. I guess youd only know by testing. I dont know if id try it.

The majority of sick monarch caterpillars have fly larvae eating them from the inside out. They're not actually sick with a bacteria or mould or other pathogens. In any case, I quickly decided it wasn't worth the risk of hurting my T with such an experiment. I got mealworms from a pet store instead. I'm giving my T a month to try to eat a mealworms on her own, otherwise I guess I have to deal with crushing worm heads.

 

[viper69]

Mealworms, superworms (never tried waxworms, but I will now). I’d still crush or cut off the head though.

I’ve used waxworms, higher in fat than super worms if I recall correctly. Used for my chameleons as a treat.

 

[Glorfindel]

I love the nutritious worm soup recipes for injured spiders listed along with the remarkable recovery.
keep updating, thank you.

 

[OneTimeT]

Just a quick message to celebrate Puppy's first anniversary since getting stung. I can't believe she made it this far! Here she is today:



And here she was, exactly one year ago:

 

[TheraMygale]

I took the long painful route of reading everything you posted over again to make sure i didnt miss anything.

im starting to second guess some of my praise but not on lack of your part.

you have a handicaped tarantula and i dont think anyone has realized this yet, or wanted to say so.

and if this isnt the case, its all about you letting go.

is it walking, climbing? It can function?

unleash live pinhead crickets. Small, unoffensive.

see what happens.

if that yields nothing, drop some mealworms or some kind if waxworn/butter worm in a feeder bowl.

wait and see.

it could be that your tarantula is broken.

You wont know unless you try.

Its abdomen isnt looking weak.

its not you at this point. Its like a special needs child with a feeding tube.

you either let it go on its own or you keep caring for it.

good on you to save it this far. Maybe it met its limits.

try pinhead crickets. Give it a chance.

female or male, at this point, you have your work cut out for you.

I think i didnt read previous posts well enough.

this tarantula had some kind of “brokage”. Even of it makes progress.

and don’t lapidate me for saying this.

no one wants to be stuck on machines and feeding tubes all their lives. This tarantula will feed or just go to tarantula heaven when its time. It had a great run.

did this tarantula get a chance to hunt crickets? Live terrestrial prey?

if it doesnt work then youre surely going to keep doing what works and thats ok.

 

[Spifdar]

Congratulations on the one year survival, Puppy!

That's amazing work! I hope she continues to improve.

 

[OneTimeT]

@TheraMygalo Thanks for your comments and insight. There may indeed be a chance that Puppy has a permanent disability, and after a year I've become comfortable with the idea that I might have to hand-feed her for many more years. However capable she is or will be, I'll keep going for as long as she thrives. Right now she's mobile but a little slow and unable to flip herself over if she's on her back. She loves walking/climbing, which she does every day. I've never seen her eat, drink, or extend her fangs so that might still be a disability. She can wiggle her fangs, but I've never seen them swing out.

For the last few weeks she's been doing a lot of climbing and falling on her back. When that happens, I'll take the opportunity to feed her soup or water before flipping her over. I know the soup works because she poops a couple days later. If I can keep on doing that at least once or twice a week, I think we'll be good for a long while. She hasn't shown interest in the mealworm I've put in the food bowl. I'll keep on trying until there are no more of them, then I'll try another prey.

 

[TheraMygale]

@TheraMygalo Thanks for your comments and insight. There may indeed be a chance that Puppy has a permanent disability, and after a year I've become comfortable with the idea that I might have to hand-feed her for many more years. However capable she is or will be, I'll keep going for as long as she thrives. Right now she's mobile but a little slow and unable to flip herself over if she's on her back. She loves walking/climbing, which she does every day. I've never seen her eat, drink, or extend her fangs so that might still be a disability. She can wiggle her fangs, but I've never seen them swing out.

For the last few weeks she's been doing a lot of climbing and falling on her back. When that happens, I'll take the opportunity to feed her soup or water before flipping her over. I know the soup works because she poops a couple days later. If I can keep on doing that at least once or twice a week, I think we'll be good for a long while. She hasn't shown interest in the mealworm I've put in the food bowl. I'll keep on trying until there are no more of them, then I'll try another prey.

As long as you keep your exptectations realistical, it won’t hurt the same. She might still live long, only she will be dependant. She already seems to tolerate your manipulation. I have seen some people move a fang delicately with a little wooden stick like a toothpick. You could always test it, to see if she “resists”. That would give you an answer if the muscles are working or not.

at this point what else can you do. Shes alive and would have died naturaly in nature had she been left to her fate.

personaly, i would try to see if the fangs have some muscle tension on her part. Because there is no other way to know. Its rehab at this point.

with other animals, they do physio. I have no idea how that can be applied to a tarantula, but you are in a situation that would allow for such a test.

it would be no different then people who milk snakes. Only youre just “testing” for muscle tension.

 

[OneTimeT]

I was getting a little concerned that she hadn't eaten or drank anything for a couple weeks, so I gave in and fed her soup. While she was flipped over, I wanted to test her fang muscle functions, but she kept her fangs so tightly tucked in that I didn't want to risk injuring her. I know that she can definitely pull her fangs in, but it remains a question if she can extend them.

I think she has learned how to climb the walls much better now, since she hasn't fallen onto her back for several weeks. At first, she would fall onto her back a few times per night.

The last few nights she decided she likes to hang out in the food bowl. Talk about leading a horse to water:





In the first photo she has a leg resting on top of a larva. In the second photo, she's literally resting on top of a larva like it's a pillow.

 

[pentapede]

This entire story is just beautiful.

Its nice to know that there are more people out there doing good.

 

[OneTimeT]

After Puppy left her food bowl, I cleaned it out. Previous to her visit to the food bowl, there were two mealworm pupae and one that was just barely turning into a beetle (three prey in total). After Puppy's visit, I could find the two pupae and what looked like four mealworm exuviae. The third mealworm (the one that was barely turning into a beetle) was missing. Upon inspection under a microscope, it appears that one of the exuviae is completely smashed into tiny pieces of what looks like a beetle's exoskeleton (not an exuvia afterall). Could this possibly be a beetle bolus? If so, it means that Puppy ate her first prey since recovering from her paralysis!

 

[IntermittentSygnal]

After Puppy left her food bowl, I cleaned it out. Previous to her visit to the food bowl, there were two mealworm pupae and one that was just barely turning into a beetle (three prey in total). After Puppy's visit, I could find the two pupae and what looked like four mealworm exuviae. The third mealworm (the one that was barely turning into a beetle) was missing. Upon inspection under a microscope, it appears that one of the exuviae is completely smashed into tiny pieces of what looks like a beetle's exoskeleton (not an exuvia afterall). Could this possibly be a beetle bolus? If so, it means that Puppy ate her first prey since recovering from her paralysis!

View attachment 485541

It looks like it to me. Yay, Puppy!

 

[TheraMygale]

After Puppy left her food bowl, I cleaned it out. Previous to her visit to the food bowl, there were two mealworm pupae and one that was just barely turning into a beetle (three prey in total). After Puppy's visit, I could find the two pupae and what looked like four mealworm exuviae. The third mealworm (the one that was barely turning into a beetle) was missing. Upon inspection under a microscope, it appears that one of the exuviae is completely smashed into tiny pieces of what looks like a beetle's exoskeleton (not an exuvia afterall). Could this possibly be a beetle bolus? If so, it means that Puppy ate her first prey since recovering from her paralysis!

View attachment 485541

Puppy is doing things! Absolutely. Eating it or not, shes getting it in her mouth.

keep providing prey items. This is so fascinating.

im following this like a novel now hahaha. Im so happy for you. This is great news.

puppies abdo is also looking healthy. So you can definitely give it more space to try and hunt or whatever its doing.

 

[saralou]

I am so invested in Puppy's story! This is so amazing what you have done to help her.