Speaking of Ts dying in their water dish...

[Code Monkey]

Originally posted by MizM
Wow Code, sad picture. It's hard to see, but was the opisthoma kinda of holding on to the carapace area by "just a thread?" I noticed that with my brown phase g. rosea that had UADS.

No, everything was externally prim and proper. Any stretching you see in the pic is from the totally relaxed pose he assumed in death.

 

[MizM]

Next question: can one see the pumping stomach on an exuvia?

Sorry, didn't think of this on the last post!

 

[Immortal_sin]

I was wondering if the long stringy thing on the exuvia is that particular lining..myself...
I'm thinking it might be, hopefully someone can clarify this

 

[Code Monkey]

Originally posted by MizM
Next question: can one see the pumping stomach on an exuvia?

Sorry, didn't think of this on the last post!

You can, it's part of that little "tree" that sticks up inside the empty cephalothorax/prosoma from where the mouth is. I have NO idea whether they were present on this guy's last moult and threw that shed out months ago.

Unfortunately, this is one of those even if you examine the exuvia and find that something went wrong there isn't anything you can do situations. And in the case of this guy, it's all academic speculation anyhow.

 

[arachnopunks]

Do you have any fur pets? You probably take the precautions but I inadvertantlly killed our P. murinus because of our dog. I used to just grab a few crickets by hand and toss them into her. She stopped dead (no pun intended) in her tracks and it looked like she was on her way to the dish. I realized after quick examination and a s-load of head scratching that it had to be the dogs flea treatment. I had petted my dog and tainted the crickets as I feed them to her. It was one of those once a month treaments and now I am careful to wash my hands or use the tweezers to feed, sometimes both. Just a thought.

 

[Code Monkey]

Originally posted by arachnopunks
It was one of those once a month treaments and now I am careful to wash my hands or use the tweezers to feed, sometimes both. Just a thought.

Yeah, that stuff is killer to Ts. If we treat (which we only do if there's a problem) I wear gloves to apply it and throw them out afterwards. I haven't treated at all this season (lots of ticks but no fleas and ticks are easy to control manually).

 

[arachnopunks]

That sucks!! He was obviously well hydrated and looks very healthy, other than being dead you know. It is just one of those things.

You treat your furpets like we do with the gloves and all. We also have a sign over our spider shelves to remind us and others to wash their hands before handling our T's just in case.


-Jill

 

[phoenixxavierre]

Originally posted by Bjorgly
Here is my weird A.seemanni, sitting by the water dish as always. She is usually totally underwater. I have a bad feeling she might be next to go. It's abdomen is way smaller than it looks.

This looks like an Aphonopelma burica. Comes out of Costa Rica. It's the rainy season there and if she's wild caught, she is probably expecting the rains to come. I would suggest power feeding and moistening the substrate by overflowing the water dish. Pick out leftovers of course to keep the mites away. It looks obvious to me that she's wanting moister conditions. I keep all my Costa Ricans moist from now through November. December comes and I allow their homes to dry out completely except for a water dish. Just a suggestion.

 

[MizM]

Thanks guys! I always check exuvias before tossing them, I used to keep them but have way too many to mount!! But, since I've been practicing sexing (not practicing sex!)=D I have been examining them from top to bottom. I will be sure to inspect for stomach linings and the such. I wonder, if it doesnt shed, could you maybe reach into the mouth and gently pull it out? Would have to be micro-surgery with a well chilled T, but...... Well, I don't suppose it could hurt to experiment, since the T is doomed to a slow death anyway. CM, you should try, you sound like you have some of the necessary tools!

As far as flea control goes... SO lucky. Haven't had them for 6 years now. I don't use chemicals of any kind, but if I DO happen to get fleas, I'll start with the yards and shampoo the dogs.

 

[phoenixxavierre]

Originally posted by MizM
I wonder, if it doesnt shed, could you maybe reach into the mouth and gently pull it out? Would have to be micro-surgery with a well chilled T, but...... Well, I don't suppose it could hurt to experiment, since the T is doomed to a slow death anyway.

The problem with this is if the stomach lining doesn't have a layer of moisture anymore between the layer that should have been shed and the new stomach lining you could end up pulling out it's entire lining, old and new. Similar to a reptile shed, you can cause complications and even death when attempting to pull a bad shed off. But if they're looking like they're going to die anyway, I guess it's worth a try. VERY risky though!

 

[Nixy]

Originally posted by phoenixxavierre
This looks like an Aphonopelma burica. Comes out of Costa Rica. It's the rainy season there and if she's wild caught, she is probably expecting the rains to come. I would suggest power feeding and moistening the substrate by overflowing the water dish. Pick out leftovers of course to keep the mites away. It looks obvious to me that she's wanting moister conditions. I keep all my Costa Ricans moist from now through November. December comes and I allow their homes to dry out completely except for a water dish. Just a suggestion.

Makes me wonder if checking out the weather network once in a while in the regeons that each respect wild caught comes from might not be a bad idea. Could give the owner a bit of insight into some spaztic seeming behaviors and could be just plain interesting.
Another odd thought erks it's way to the surface.

 

[MizM]

Well, they can't live with it still in there.... right?

 

[phoenixxavierre]

Originally posted by MizM
Well, they can't live with it still in there.... right?

There is much, much, much more that we don't know than what we do. Perhaps if a tarantula has been kept well hydrated and fed previous to a bad molt, it could possibly survive to another without dying. More than likely it depends on the particular species and the particular individual. G. roseas, as we all know, notoriously go on long fasts and still manage to remain healthy and molt, etc. So who knows? And how to know for sure if the lining of the sucking stomach has been molted or not? It's possible that the tarantula has sucked on that part of the molt, chewed on it, etc. effectively destroying any sign of it. I've had tarantulas shed and a while afterwards I've seen no sign of it on their molt, and yet they ate and drank just fine. Hard to know what these various ailments are. A thorough understanding and knowledge of the tarantula's anatomy and familiarity with it would probably be best in such a situation. Then again, if the tarantula appears it's going to die anyway, it could be worth a shot.

 

[MizM]

That's why I'm donating all of my Ts bodies to RIESM!!!! (Including the two 10" t. blondis I just lost!) They are going to find out EVERYTHING there is to know about Ts! Well, as much as they can anyway!!

Newbies who haven't already: PLEASE read the sticky at the top of the tarantula forum about the Research Institute......

It's important to help them out with their research for just this reason!