lysistokill
Arachnopeon
- Joined
- May 26, 2022
- Messages
- 5
Hi, everyone. This is unlikely to help anyone but I thought it's worth posting since it would have helped me. I am in no way saying that this is the right thing to do, ethically or otherwise. You may simply prolong the suffering of the critter, so consider this before proceeding.
TLDR: use water rinses, dilute dawn dish soap solution, rinse with lots of water, cry, lots of paper towels, and lots of waiting.
Procedure: Rinse upset spider with ~5 mL water, absorb water off of spider with a paper towel, ensuring the lungs are dry. Repeat this a few times. If this doesn't work and the spider becomes completely unresponsive, use a waiting period, and consider stopping or proceeding. If proceeding, swirl the spider for ~5 seconds in a soap solution (shallow dish, tiny drop of dawn dish soap, >20 mL water, mix very very well.) The spider should be submerged, but prioritize not getting concentrated soap on the spider. Immediately transfer to a container with an abundance of water (16 in plant saucer filled with water, close to 1 L). Water depth should submerge the spider. Swirl for ~10 seconds. Move spider to a paper towel, dry lungs well, and place upright with legs extended out of the death curl position. Leave for an indeterminant amount of time, spider might eventually pull a Jesus and decide to resurrect. Let spider hide under paper towel and rest until they stay awake and move around for a long period of time. Introduce small amount of food that isn't stressful. Notes: use soft tools (e.g. paintprush) to move spider, they won't live happily if they're injured. Use a new tool to remove spider from water, you do not want ANY soap remaining on the spider.
Long story with details/nuance:
A couple of months ago, Ortho home defense max (ant, roach, and spider killer) was sprayed on the back door threshold. For months it killed the dozens of earwigs coming in through that door. Yesterday I saw an adult male bold jumping spider on the carpet about 3 feet from the door. He wasn't there 1 minute before, so I'm not sure when he came in. He was standing but was not very fast or responsive. I moved him into a container with some wood, dirt, and fake leaves. He got worse by the minute, eventually beginning to do the death curl. I assumed what caused it by this point, and wasn't sure what to do. I was conflicted between just letting him die in peace or trying to save him. But due to my own selfish guilt, and knowing how the chemical works I decided to try to save him.
The chemical in the spray disrupts their nervous system, paralyzing then killing them. My goal was to remove it from him as safely as possible, ensuring to keep his lungs dry. I tried to rinse it off of him by using room temperature water and a syringe. He was mostly unresponsive at this point, except for some protest when I sprayed him. I then dabbed him off using a paper towel to make sure his lungs weren't wet. I repeated this process for a bit, but eventually he became totally unresponsive. I let him sit for about 20 minutes then tested his response again. He was totally gone. I figured there was nothing to lose at this point, so I put a drop of dawn dish soap into a petri dish filled with water (maybe 20 mL?) and mixed well. I moved him carefully using a paintbrush and swirled him around in it for around 5 seconds, using turbulence to make sure he was washed. I then transferred him to a large plant saucer filled with water (around 700 mL?) and swished him around in there for ~10 seconds to ensure all soap was removed.
I moved him to a paper towel, dried off his lungs, and propped him upright with his legs out. I let him rest like this on a ledge for quite a while. He was completely irresponsible, so I was deciding if I should bury him now or tonight. I cried for a while thinking in self-pity about how I should have let him die in peace but I tortured him in his last moments instead. I walked by about 30 minutes later and noticed his legs were more curled but chalked it up to a pressure change. Another half-hour or so later I walked by again and could tell he moved slightly forward away from the damp spot. Curious, I touched him with a paintbrush and he stood up and exposed his fangs.
It was a rough next few hours. He moved more when I placed him in the sun, but I only kept him there for about 1 min at a time (worried he'd overheat bc it was hot and he's black). His back legs were acting weird, sometimes dragging, and I began thinking I brought him back just to have to kill him, prolonging this painful experience. More self-pity. Eventually he settled down and fell asleep. He napped for a couple of hours. When he finally got up I immobilized a tiiiny grasshopper about 1/10th his size for him. It took him a while to care, but he eventually caught and ate it. Initially I was worried he might be blind, but he has since proven otherwise. He took another hour nap, then started moving around more, his legs seeming fine. I moved him to a terrarium, and he ate another small grasshopper.
He survived the night and is very mobile, constantly climbing the walls and occasionally jumping. He caught a glimpse of my female jumping spider and was quite excited by that. He gets food and water here, bu I've considered letting him go since he seems mature, eager, and he might be able to mate. He Let me know what y'all think about keeping him vs letting him go. For now, his name is Frank (like Frankenstein, I know
)
I doubt this will help anyone, but here it is. If you catch it soon after exposure and/or all hope is lost, it might be worth a shot. I'm reasonably certain this is the newest addition to the seven miracles, but perhaps this can help more critters. Again, consider the ethics of this. Even though it worked for me, I'm still not sure it was the right choice.
Should I let him go outside and potentially find a mate, or do I keep him and ensure he is fed and comfortable for the remainder of his adult life?
TLDR: use water rinses, dilute dawn dish soap solution, rinse with lots of water, cry, lots of paper towels, and lots of waiting.
Procedure: Rinse upset spider with ~5 mL water, absorb water off of spider with a paper towel, ensuring the lungs are dry. Repeat this a few times. If this doesn't work and the spider becomes completely unresponsive, use a waiting period, and consider stopping or proceeding. If proceeding, swirl the spider for ~5 seconds in a soap solution (shallow dish, tiny drop of dawn dish soap, >20 mL water, mix very very well.) The spider should be submerged, but prioritize not getting concentrated soap on the spider. Immediately transfer to a container with an abundance of water (16 in plant saucer filled with water, close to 1 L). Water depth should submerge the spider. Swirl for ~10 seconds. Move spider to a paper towel, dry lungs well, and place upright with legs extended out of the death curl position. Leave for an indeterminant amount of time, spider might eventually pull a Jesus and decide to resurrect. Let spider hide under paper towel and rest until they stay awake and move around for a long period of time. Introduce small amount of food that isn't stressful. Notes: use soft tools (e.g. paintprush) to move spider, they won't live happily if they're injured. Use a new tool to remove spider from water, you do not want ANY soap remaining on the spider.
Long story with details/nuance:
A couple of months ago, Ortho home defense max (ant, roach, and spider killer) was sprayed on the back door threshold. For months it killed the dozens of earwigs coming in through that door. Yesterday I saw an adult male bold jumping spider on the carpet about 3 feet from the door. He wasn't there 1 minute before, so I'm not sure when he came in. He was standing but was not very fast or responsive. I moved him into a container with some wood, dirt, and fake leaves. He got worse by the minute, eventually beginning to do the death curl. I assumed what caused it by this point, and wasn't sure what to do. I was conflicted between just letting him die in peace or trying to save him. But due to my own selfish guilt, and knowing how the chemical works I decided to try to save him.
The chemical in the spray disrupts their nervous system, paralyzing then killing them. My goal was to remove it from him as safely as possible, ensuring to keep his lungs dry. I tried to rinse it off of him by using room temperature water and a syringe. He was mostly unresponsive at this point, except for some protest when I sprayed him. I then dabbed him off using a paper towel to make sure his lungs weren't wet. I repeated this process for a bit, but eventually he became totally unresponsive. I let him sit for about 20 minutes then tested his response again. He was totally gone. I figured there was nothing to lose at this point, so I put a drop of dawn dish soap into a petri dish filled with water (maybe 20 mL?) and mixed well. I moved him carefully using a paintbrush and swirled him around in it for around 5 seconds, using turbulence to make sure he was washed. I then transferred him to a large plant saucer filled with water (around 700 mL?) and swished him around in there for ~10 seconds to ensure all soap was removed.
I moved him to a paper towel, dried off his lungs, and propped him upright with his legs out. I let him rest like this on a ledge for quite a while. He was completely irresponsible, so I was deciding if I should bury him now or tonight. I cried for a while thinking in self-pity about how I should have let him die in peace but I tortured him in his last moments instead. I walked by about 30 minutes later and noticed his legs were more curled but chalked it up to a pressure change. Another half-hour or so later I walked by again and could tell he moved slightly forward away from the damp spot. Curious, I touched him with a paintbrush and he stood up and exposed his fangs.
It was a rough next few hours. He moved more when I placed him in the sun, but I only kept him there for about 1 min at a time (worried he'd overheat bc it was hot and he's black). His back legs were acting weird, sometimes dragging, and I began thinking I brought him back just to have to kill him, prolonging this painful experience. More self-pity. Eventually he settled down and fell asleep. He napped for a couple of hours. When he finally got up I immobilized a tiiiny grasshopper about 1/10th his size for him. It took him a while to care, but he eventually caught and ate it. Initially I was worried he might be blind, but he has since proven otherwise. He took another hour nap, then started moving around more, his legs seeming fine. I moved him to a terrarium, and he ate another small grasshopper.
He survived the night and is very mobile, constantly climbing the walls and occasionally jumping. He caught a glimpse of my female jumping spider and was quite excited by that. He gets food and water here, bu I've considered letting him go since he seems mature, eager, and he might be able to mate. He Let me know what y'all think about keeping him vs letting him go. For now, his name is Frank (like Frankenstein, I know
)I doubt this will help anyone, but here it is. If you catch it soon after exposure and/or all hope is lost, it might be worth a shot. I'm reasonably certain this is the newest addition to the seven miracles, but perhaps this can help more critters. Again, consider the ethics of this. Even though it worked for me, I'm still not sure it was the right choice.
Should I let him go outside and potentially find a mate, or do I keep him and ensure he is fed and comfortable for the remainder of his adult life?
. Super dumb I know. I’ve never cared for a spider before and wasn’t thinking. I’m going to continue to monitor the spider and will try to wash it if thing escalate :/ .
like in space movies .