Spider MD

[Smotzer]

OK, that makes sense. I think I misunderstood what you were trying to say. I agree with that, that flawed husbandry causes the majority of issues that we see with tarantulas in captivity.

Perhaps, my wording was poor!! So hard to communicate sometimes over text nuances. Glad you agree I didn’t doubt you would! Thanks

 

[YungRasputin]

Where did I say not to care for your animal and let it die??. Quote that please. I said fix the human error. 99% of every problem I have ever seen on here has been created by poor husbandry In some way shape or form. You don’t need a vet to fix that you need the keepers to fix themselves. For the remaining 1% of problems thats different. Almost always in the hobby humans are to blame. It’s not like fleas it’s bad husbandry with arachnids.

1) the way in which i read your post it seemed as tho it was being suggested that since arachnids are such evolutionary troopers that medical issues are of no concern, shouldn’t be treated if possible, and so on; if i read it wrong and mischaracterized your post then my apologies

2) i do think bad husbandry can lead to several known and unknown maladies however i don’t think every medical issue related to arachnids in captivity could be attributed to bad husbandry alone

what could be mentioned here i think would of course be probability, but this would be an unknown given that this forum is not the end-all, be-all for arachnid keeping and some keepers may not be able to detect specific maladies and chalk up a death to something else

 

[Poonjab]

Spider cancer

 

[Tarantuland]

It sounds like there are two questions being asked- ones that affect wild tarantulas, and ones that could affect tarantulas in captivity. I think refining this question would be helpful. Obviously, wild caught specimens brought into captivity may experience either. Things like SADS aren't real, but the bottom line is not every spider is going to make it to adulthood, even in perfect conditions.

It seems like now every week, multiple people worry about impaction. A year ago, nematodes were the hot thing to be worried about. These are both very real things that happen, but it is much more frequently to see a terrestrial spider in a large enclosure with 5-10x the space of the spiders leg span from the lid to the substrate than it is to see the harmful kind of nematodes. I've lost T's to dehydration and I know others here have, and that's probably one of the biggest reasons people lose T's. On the flipside sometimes people really overdo the humidity. We also still often see posts about people dropping T's or them taking a fall.

A bad batch of crickets is something that pops up frequently that everyone has heard about but never seems to have anywhere specific to point.

it doesn’t mean that we as keepers can’t find new and innovative ways to care for our specimens

Honestly, I feel like this line of thinking can be dangerous. There is a foundation already laid out fo tarantula care. Of course I'm in favor of improving our husbandry as our knowledge increases. Sure, we can expand upon it, but most the time I see keepers trying to reinvent the wheel they wind up with a dead or injured T. If you follow people's advice on the boards, you will have decent husbandry. It is frequently that someone posts, ignores advice, and then asks how their T died.

Diskonetic syndrome is the main concern, bad molts, and constipation

Dyskenitic syndrome syndrome? Constipation? You mean you don't sprinkle metamucil on your crickets?

those are what immediately came to mind for me as well - along with “sunken stomach”

Do you mean not molting the sucking stomach?

 

[YungRasputin]

It sounds like there are two questions being asked- ones that affect wild tarantulas, and ones that could affect tarantulas in captivity. I think refining this question would be helpful. Obviously, wild caught specimens brought into captivity may experience either.

I think examining both is useful in a comparative/speculative sense

Things like SADS aren't real,

it was real insomuch as it was a phenomena within arachnid keeping which seems to have been propelled by the uncritical acceptance of husbandry tips from would be gurus

but the bottom line is not every spider is going to make it to adulthood, even in perfect conditions.

is this a challenge?

Honestly, I feel like this line of thinking can be dangerous.

i don't rightfully see how - i think there is enough space in the forum for advanced level keeping discussions and i think there’s enough experience/knowledgeable people here to pool discourse from - this being said, this thread was primarily trying to get my own personal list going of all known observed conditions within arachnids, both in the wild and captivity

There is a foundation already laid out fo tarantula care.

a foundation is not a house and science isn’t static

Of course I'm in favor of improving our husbandry as our knowledge increases.

this is good

Sure, we can expand upon it, but most the time I see keepers trying to reinvent the wheel they wind up with a dead or injured T.
If you follow people's advice on the boards, you will have decent husbandry. It is frequently that someone posts, ignores advice, and then asks how their T died.

while i am sure there’s loads of good advice here i also see a lot of people reference past threads and when I’ve gone to those old threads there’s nothing of actual value there eg: a thread i made recently in which i discussed how old threads on Cyriopagopus schmidti had no useable information outside “maybe keep it like other OW fossorials”

in any case, wheels have evolved over time as well - science has been constantly upended - our entire conception of astrophysics was turned upside down by 1 bored postal worker

Do you mean not molting the sucking stomach?

yes perhaps

 

[Tarantuland]

it was real insomuch as it was a phenomena within arachnid keeping which seems to have been propelled by the uncritical acceptance of husbandry tips from would be gurus

I'm not sure what you mean by this, but I'm pretty sure the misbelief that "SADS" even existed was largely due to a misconception that avicularia needed high humidity.

is this a challenge?

No, it is a biological fact. Google type 3 survivorship curve, and r-selected species.

i don't rightfully see how - i think there is enough space in the forum for advanced level keeping discussions and i think there’s enough experience/knowledgeable people here to pool discourse from - this being said, this thread was primarily trying to get my own personal list going of all known observed conditions within arachnids, both in the wild and captivity

I'm not discouraging discussions on improving husbandry or having discourse- and I agree that having a central thread for many of these issues could be helpful. The phrasing of "new and innovative ways to care for our specimens" is what I am skeptical of. Having one central place people can check for common issues and add their experience with their T's isn't a bad idea- but that doesn't really encourage innovation. When I've seen people thinking they were being innovative here, it usually is a person ignoring advice, and results in a spider's death. That's why I am cautious of that wording.

in any case, wheels have evolved over time as well - science has been constantly upended - our entire conception of astrophysics was turned upside down by 1 bored postal worker

If you're referring to Einstein, he worked in a patent office, not as a postal worker. The patents he worked on involved electromechanics, and he already had scientific papers published before beginning that job, and finished his PhD-including the paper on special relativity while working at the Swiss Patent Office.

C. schmidti Question

I received one of these slings as a freebie with my last order, and I would very much appreciate some guidelines on how to care for it. I have not cared for an OW before, and I probably would have waited a while before deciding to purchase one, but I am weak, and I was brain-dead from driving...

arachnoboards.com

Question about H.schmidti

Hi. I am just newcomer and I don't know about tarantulas that much. I just have my cute T.blondi/Cyriopagopus sp/Brazilian pink(?-kind of pamphobeteus)/H.hercules/Pterinochilus murinus(green form) and SSS(centipide) So, recently I have a chance to get a 'H.schimidti'(Adult female):razz...

arachnoboards.com

Cyripagopus schmidti used to be Haplopelma schmidti, so maybe if you look that up you'll find more. It is also common practice to keep different species in the same genus similarly. Not always, and often with some adjustments, but often it is relatively similarly.

 

[Smotzer]

some keepers may not be able to detect specific maladies and chalk up a death to something else

That doesn’t mean it’s not still caused by them because they can’t detect it.