Slings keep dying

ilovepink

Arachnopeon
Joined
Mar 21, 2011
Messages
14
I HAD 11 slings. 5 oklahoma brown, 5 sunburst baboon, and 1 flame red rose hair. All of the sudden the baboons started dying. The one I have left seems to be doing well. 1 oklahoma brown died. And now theres one that i could describe as drunk. He stumbles around the cage, falls over, and does funny things with his legs. I really don't know whats going on but it's pissing me off. Does anyone know whats going on?
 

synic

Arachnosquire
Joined
Mar 17, 2011
Messages
69
I HAD 11 slings. 5 oklahoma brown, 5 sunburst baboon, and 1 flame red rose hair. All of the sudden the baboons started dying. The one I have left seems to be doing well. 1 oklahoma brown died. And now theres one that i could describe as drunk. He stumbles around the cage, falls over, and does funny things with his legs. I really don't know whats going on but it's pissing me off. Does anyone know whats going on?
Dyskinetic Syndrome maybe?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lIQTc9JGSKc
 

ilovepink

Arachnopeon
Joined
Mar 21, 2011
Messages
14
Thats sorta what my little one does. He acts kinda like the ground is hot and lifts his legs up real high and then falls over
 

synic

Arachnosquire
Joined
Mar 17, 2011
Messages
69
I don't know this for fact, but I've read that if one gets it, it can spread to others. Someone else would probably be of more help here :)

Edit: maybe they don't like the substrate you're using?
 

ShadowBlade

Planeswalker
Old Timer
Joined
Apr 1, 2006
Messages
2,591
There's still alot of mystery about these symptoms, many have never seen it, many don't believe it exists, many believe its husbandry problems.. who really knows?

But simply, the only thing I can recommend, is whatever batch of food they all were getting, throw it out, clean out the container, and get fresh feeder insects.

All your sp. should have been kept dry, so I'm not going to suspect any mold. What time span did these deaths occur in?

-Sean
 

esotericman

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
Joined
Nov 15, 2004
Messages
298
It sounds like a chemical exposure. You'll need to look at what has happened in the last few weeks regarding air fresheners, other pets being treated for fleas/whatever, carpet cleaners, play detective and see if anything has changed, even spray paint outside has been reported as an issue.

Spastic movement is either heat stress / dehydration or environmental exposure. This means you don't have a disease in your collection, which is a relief to most keepers.
 

BrynWilliams

Arachnoprince
Old Timer
Joined
Apr 22, 2009
Messages
1,287
As posted by someone above, if a similar syndrome is being exhibited by a population of spiders then I'd be thinking some kind of exposure rather than something hopping from T to T.

think food source, other bug repellants being used, bugsprays outside etc etc etc
 

Rue

Arachnoknight
Joined
Feb 24, 2011
Messages
239
I'd also be inclined to think it's a chemical poisoning of some kind...

Has anyone sprayed air freshner or the Glade plug-in type air freshners , Axe deodorant, hairspray, burned a Teflon frying pan, used scented candles, cleaning sprays?
 

Embers To Ashes

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
Joined
Feb 14, 2011
Messages
269
what do you clean their enclosure with? Where do you get your feeders? What are you feeding them? Do they have water?

Read the sticky on DKS.
 

ilovepink

Arachnopeon
Joined
Mar 21, 2011
Messages
14
CRAP! I didn't even think of spraying stuff. Thing is. All the baboons started dying before I sprayed anything in my room or even misted them. And the one whos walking all funny is probably from the bottle i used to mist the enclosure. I got crickets and mealworms from a petstore.
 

becky89

Arachnopeon
Joined
Jun 12, 2010
Messages
13
How big were all your slings? And did they have any source of water? Even if they like dry conditions it doesn't hurt to spray them lightly couple of times a week so they can drink droplets off the sides, plus if your tubs are well ventilated they dry quickly. Did you keep them at room temperature or did they have a heat source?

A sling I bought moved quite oddly, flailing legs in the air and just moving a bit strangely, although it moved oddly it seemed to go where it wanted, just in an weird way. It was kept in very wet conditions and the soil was hot to touch, I changed that and it's since moulted and is now fine.
 

ilovepink

Arachnopeon
Joined
Mar 21, 2011
Messages
14
They varied. None bigger than an inch and the others...pretty small. I sprayed them once a week and there was no extra heat source.
 

Sukai94

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Dec 22, 2008
Messages
336
I'd also be inclined to think it's a chemical poisoning of some kind...
I would suspect this first. Has your house ever been tented? Sprayed for bugs/ants?

Second, I knew someone who started losing T's as you describe. There was mold/mildew in the ventelation system in the house. When it was fixed, the T's stopped dying.

The best of luck to you.
 

grayzone

Arachnoking
Old Timer
Joined
Jan 17, 2011
Messages
2,461
im no expert on signs of dks, but i know the coco fiber bricks are ok for spiders/slings. i use it for my 6"parahybana, my p. regalis , and my curlyhaired t... i agree moisture and hazardous chemicals in air are likely factors and am wondering if you live in a "smoking" house hold... i ask because i was warned when purchasing my very 1st t... the petstore clerk saw my cigs so... smoke is used as an insectiside i guess? anyway, good luck :?
 

ilovepink

Arachnopeon
Joined
Mar 21, 2011
Messages
14
My room was painted a few weeks prior to getting them. No one in our house smokes. My boyfriend smokes cigars but hes never around the t's cause he doesn't like them:( I think it was the bottle i used to spray them with. I guess I didn't clean it well enough. Will the one whos walking funny recover?
 

Rue

Arachnoknight
Joined
Feb 24, 2011
Messages
239
Without knowing what it was sprayed with, it's hard to tell. But if it's still alive, it may well recover, but may also also be a little 'off' due to neurological damage (if that's what happened).
 

CRX

Arachnoprince
Old Timer
Joined
Dec 28, 2008
Messages
1,089
There's still alot of mystery about these symptoms, many have never seen it, many don't believe it exists, many believe its husbandry problems.. who really knows?

But simply, the only thing I can recommend, is whatever batch of food they all were getting, throw it out, clean out the container, and get fresh feeder insects.

All your sp. should have been kept dry, so I'm not going to suspect any mold. What time span did these deaths occur in?

-Sean
To say something like "DKS doesn't exist" is extremely stupid. There is a multitude of videos of it, and accounts of it happening. It killed off most of my Ts so I know for a fact that it exists.
 
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