Rehabilitating a Tarantula after Tarantula Hawk encounter

[darkness975]

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Any idea what these things are? He/she excreted 4 of them yesterday.

Thanks.

Maybe hemolyph or silk that looks miscolores due to it's condition.

 

[mocean]

Thanks Darkness975. I'm sure you're right. I got video of her/him stretching while the silk spinner was writhing and twisting. I was thinking it might be something related to the effects of the TH stings, but wanted to be sure it wasn't something others had seen before. He/she is improving, so I'll take it as a positive sign. I'm using paper towels for bedding right now. I know it's not ideal, but I'm trying to provide as clean an environment as possible. Do you think that's ok? I'd also like to see what's happening and it's easier on a white background.

Thanks again...

 

[Sinned]

Is New World Tarantula the same as Aphonopelma?

New World and Old World are more of way of specifying what part of the world the T comes from. New World, the Americas (north/south) and the Caribbean. Old world everywhere else (Africa, Oceania, Europe, Asia).

Aphonopelma, is a NW tarantula from NA. So less potent venom, urticating hairs and less defensive (relatively!) and "slower" (take this with a *big* pinch of salt, all T's can "teleport" to some extend). These are all generalizations... exceptions exist. Not only per genus and species but also per tarantula. Any T can show behavior you don't expect. But to be fair, that's always a good thing to keep in mind when dealing with animals. You dealing with rescue animals probably have some crazy stories yourself Kudos btw

Exception #1 (pops up first for me), because I want one but can't, Psalmopoeus irminia is a NW T, but didn't get the evolution memo about how they are all chilling out. They are defensive, have no urticating hairs and pack a more potent venom then one would expect. They are also very beautiful, because god(pick a flavor) does have a sense of humor.

 

[CyclingSam]

Is New World Tarantula the same as Aphonopelma?

Aphonopelma is a genus of tarantula. Genus is a taxonomic classification as in: species, genus, family, order, class, phylum, kingdom, and domain. The species you found is absolutely in the Aphonopelma genus. It is very likely an Aphonopelma chalcodes or maybe an Aphonopelma iodius. All the genus of Aphonopelma are considered to be "New World" tarantulas because they only reside North or South America and are not found in Europe, Asia, or Australia.

 

[Ultum4Spiderz]

Maybe hemolyph or silk that looks miscolores due to it's condition.

Wow I’ve never seen anything like this before looks like a Tarantula asteroid of silk.
Hope there spider is fine and recovers.

 

[mocean]

New World and Old World are more of way of specifying what part of the world the T comes from. New World, the Americas (north/south) and the Caribbean. Old world everywhere else (Africa, Oceania, Europe, Asia).

Any T can show behavior you don't expect....You dealing with rescue animals probably have some crazy stories yourself Kudos btw

Thank you so much tor the genus info. This is new ground for me, so I'm trying to learn all I can. This T is still quite paralyzed, though I've seen a lot of improvement. He/she is taking in more water now and holding on to the paper toweling when I try to turn him/her over. I'm seriously allergic to insect stings so, even though paralysis is blatently apparent, I'm keeping my distance. I do have some crazy stories and I've been bitten my fair share, but still love rescuing critters.

Last night after drinking quite a bit of water, he/she deposited what looks like eggs to me. What do you think?

 

[mocean]

I've researched Tarantula eggs and these certainly look like eggs to me. It would be great if I could get an experts opinion though. Thanks in advance.

 

[Sinned]

They actually create an egg-sack etc etc... my guess, poo

 

[LisaD]

They actually create an egg-sack etc etc... my guess, poo

But if the tarantula is paralyzed and not able to move normally, I could see her releasing/laying eggs without spinning an egg sac. Maybe she has been trying to do that without success. Poor thing.

BTW, I just looked up a description of the tarantula hawk's sting to a human:

STUNG BY A TARANTULA HAWK? The advice I give in speaking engagements is to lie down and scream. The pain is so debilitating and excruciating that the victim is at risk of further injury by tripping in a hole or over an object in the path and then falling onto a cactus or into a barbed-wire fence. Such is the sting pain that almost nobody can maintain normal coordination or cognitive control to prevent accidental injury. Screaming is satisfying and helps reduce attention to the pain of the sting.

So think what that poor tarantula is suffering!

I don't know if I'm allowed to post a link to the whole article, but it is fascinating. https://undark.org/article/tarantula-hawk-wasp-sting-pain/

 

[Nightstalker47]

Its very possible that she could have been gravid and is now losing the eggs. Never seen a tarantula drop a deuce that large, and their poop is white as milk.

 

[dangerforceidle]

So think what that poor tarantula is suffering!

The tarantula hawk is known to have a very painful sting (one of the most painful among insects), but it doesn't necessarily mean that it will have the same effect on a spider.

Venoms are complex and they affect different creatures differently. As it turns out, it causes a great deal of pain in mammalian nervous systems (Hominids, anyway), but there is no paralysis involved or observed. We aren't sure how spiders experience pain, if at all -- this isn't to say they don't feel something, but pain as we know it requires physiology that we know invertebrates don't possess.

In short, I wouldn't worry about her suffering a painful experience, but rather would aide her recovery by making sure she has water available and a dark and quiet place to rest.

 

[mocean]

Its very possible that she could have been gravid and is now losing the eggs. Never seen a tarantula drop a deuce that large, and their poop is white as milk.

She has been moving more and more. It's been about 4 weeks. She started actually crawling yesterday, but I only notice movement after she's already moved. I've been turning her over to water her, but impossible now because she's holding onto the paper towel. That's a good sign. There was some white stuff on the discharge (eggs?). She hasn't eaten anything but water for 4 weeks, but could there still be excrement? Maybe caused by the TH venom?

I doubt she has the strength to spin an eggs sack and I don't have a den for her to hide in. I also noticed that 3 of the things (eggs) were white while the rest were brown. Is it possible that she tried to spin a sack for the eggs ie. white stuff, and then laid the eggs, some of which were dead due to the venom from the TH? The white stuff was only visible from a certain angle where the light caught it.

But if the tarantula is paralyzed and not able to move normally, I could see her releasing/laying eggs without spinning an egg sac. Maybe she has been trying to do that without success. Poor thing.

BTW, I just looked up a description of the tarantula hawk's sting to a human:

STUNG BY A TARANTULA HAWK? The advice I give in speaking engagements is to lie down and scream. The pain is so debilitating ....

Thanks, yes I read that. I can't even imagine the.terrible ordeal this little T went through. The TH stings the T multiple times, as well.

Thanks for the link.

.....In short, I wouldn't worry about her suffering a painful experience, but rather would aide her recovery by making sure she has water available and a dark and quiet place to rest.

How do you suggest I keep her? Because of her inability to move much and suseptability to infection, I've been keeping her on white paper towels to keep her clean, but also to make it easier to see what's happening with her. Since she's hanging on to the paper towels, I can no longer turn her over very easily to water her and, because she is able to move around a teeny, tiny bit, I put a low water dish in with her. I doubt she can get herself into it, so I'm still trying to turn her over.

Thanks for your expertise...

 

[dangerforceidle]

How do you suggest I keep her? Because of her inability to move much and suseptability to infection, I've been keeping her on white paper towels to keep her clean, but also to make it easier to see what's happening with her. Since she's hanging on to the paper towels, I can no longer turn her over very easily to water her and, because she is able to move around a teeny, tiny bit, I put a low water dish in with her. I doubt she can get herself into it, so I'm still trying to turn her over.

Thanks for your expertise...

Turning her over and dropping small amounts of water on her mouth is the best plan of action for now. You can certainly keep her on paper towel while she's immobile, but if you place that inside an old shoebox or something and stash it out of the way, she can be comfortable.

She won't need a lot of water, since she is an arid species and is adapted to drought.

 

[mocean]

Thank you. I did just manage to turn her over enough that I was able to place a drop of water on her mouth. As you can see by the picture, she is resisting letting go with that one leg. Poor thing. She promptly swallowed the water. I was amazed, though she hadn't had any water since last night. She didn't touch the second drop. I worry about air circulation for her, so I leave her uncovered during the day when I can keep an eye on her. Because I want to keep her clean from any further discharge, I'm keeping her in a plastic shoe box. I'll wrap it in dark paper to make her more comfortable and cover the box with something dark, as well.

Thank you for your help.

 

[mocean]

So, after 5 weeks or so, Flora has been on the move more and more, albeit slowly...er..-very- slowly. Today, for the first time, she tried to climb, slowly. She didn't make it up the paper towel roll. I can see she's gotten stronger, but still weak. She hasn't gotten her own water yet, but now I know it's not because she can't climb When should I start feeding her something? She's been drinking water from a droplet I place on her mouth after turning her over, so I know she can swallow. Someone said to be careful about feeding her because she can't clean herself and might get a fungal infection. Thoughts?

 

[1Lord Of Ants1]

As long as she’s properly hydrated, she seems more than plump enough to survive for months with no feedings. I would wait a couple more weeks until she’s more mobile before offering food. Cricket/mealworm/roach soup is what I’d offer first.

The discharge is more than likely just poop. Keep in mind that the ovaries are seperate from the digestive track. The anal pore is at the end on the abdomen situated between the spinnerets, and is where spiders poop from. The epigastric furrow is where eggs are excreted.

 

[mocean]

Thank you 1Lord Of Ants1. She's been drinking water fairly well, several times per day. I even caught her straw coming out to drink upside down. It was marvelous. I wondered about the discharge being poop because she hasn't eaten in 5 weeks. One thing though, she plainly didn't feel well for a while after, but recovered. She is plump. Her attempts to climb worried me because I thought she wanted to forage for food and I don't want to starve her.

The soup you mentioned. Dumb question but, is it actually a soup? Would I feed her with an eyedropper upside down as I'm doing with water?

Thanks.

 

[1Lord Of Ants1]

Tarantulas don’t forage for food, they hunker down in a comfortable spot (normally a burrow) and wait for prey to come to them. If she’s climbing at any sort of hight, make sure she’s not at risk of a dangerous fall. With the way she looks she is far from hungry, and even more so from starving. Worry once her abdomen is smaller than her carapace.

The “soup” is just extruded bug guts. I’m a fan of superworms for this purpose, as you can just cut their heads off and squeeze the insides out like a tube of toothpaste. It works well for fangless spiders and may benefit a mobily impaired one as well. The soup is best simply offered as a pile on a flat non absorbent surface within access of the T. Indeed, I would be wary of feeding a spider that could not clean itself properly. She sounds like she’s making progress, so I would hold off on any sort of feeding until her condition improves further. When it’s time, offer her the soup within leg distance. They can taste with their feet, so if she’s hungry she should initiate feeding by herself.

 

[mocean]

Right now, I'm keeping her on paper towels to keep her clean and so I can see what's going on with her. The tube is about 1 1/2" tall so, even if she can climb it, it won't be a detrimental fall, I don't think. She can't hold onto anything on the lid because the holes are centrally located. Still, once she's able to climb, I'll need to prepare different accommodations for her ie. substrate, etc. That may not be long. She's made miraculous strides

I am so glad she's not starving. Thank you. I thought they foraged. Thanks for the education. Cutting worm's heads off and squeezing their guts into a bowl may be tough for me (whew). Is that a must? If so, then so be it

 

[AnObeseHippo]

Right now, I'm keeping her on paper towels to keep her clean and so I can see what's going on with her. The tube is about 1 1/2" tall so, even if she can climb it, it won't be a detrimental fall, I don't think. She can't hold onto anything on the lid because the holes are centrally located. Still, once she's able to climb, I'll need to prepare different accommodations for her ie. substrate, etc. That may not be long. She's made miraculous strides

I am so glad she's not starving. Thank you. I thought they foraged. Thanks for the education. Cutting worm's heads off and squeezing their guts into a bowl may be tough for me (whew). Is that a must? If so, then so be it

Just remember that it’ll only be tough the first time