Strange deads and symptoms...

Neso

Arachnopeon
Joined
Aug 24, 2020
Messages
2
I wanted to know if anyone has more information about what is happening to me.

I have been with tarantulas for many years and have only seen anything like it once. I was travelling, a heat wave arrived where I lived, I had my lings in a large plastic box, that must had an oven effect and when I arrived many had died and others had neurological symptoms when moving.

But this is much more rare, I have received animals from 2 different owners but in the same shipment, all between 2 and 5 molts:
4 incei
5 h. pulchripes
5 blue fang
5 cyaneopubescens
5 irminia
3 electric blue
1 h. maculata
1 d. pentaloris
1 n. chromatus

The shipment arrived 3 days ago. It took 8 days to arrive from destiny, but almost all kept some humidity. All animals were in good condition.
The first day I was only able to place a few of them in their new terrariums, which moved like lightning. Within minutes the weaver species were already making webs. I was only able to feed a few, all of those ate, including the inceis.

The next day one of the inceis was almost dead, moving its legs strangely, there were remains of a half-eaten cockroach. I took her out and in a few minutes she was dead. I kept putting the remaining animals into their new terrariums and they all came out like lightning again. They all ate, from different cockroach species. The animals that I had transferred to their terrariums the first day and I had not been time to feed looked great, so I fed them to. I re-feed the remaining inceis.

Today I start to review and find:
The 3 remaining incei dead, with prey half consumed
2 irminias with trembling movements
2 cyaneopubescens with trembling movements and very bent legs, 1 have something white on the fangs that looks like remains of the prey
2 blue fangs with erratic movements
1 dead pulchripes with a grayish drop on the fangs and 2 with trembling movements and very bent legs
I don't understand anything. I talk to the guy who sent them and he tells me that in the area where he lives, a strong heat started right after sending them. Here we are at 26 - 28 C°. I know that questions about substrate, humidity are often asked... but I keep other animals and only these that came together have this problem. Coconut fiber and spraying as soon as they arrive at all. It looks like dysnetic syndrome. Simplifying the facts that I see that may have caused this:
They received strong heat a few days during shipment, this may have damaged them but they do not showed symptoms.
After weaving and hunting without problems, some begin to show symptoms next day and die, and some of them affected by the problem remain thin even with remains of the prey near.
Could it be that heat damaged them? And that they only show that when the stress caused by the prey triggers the symptoms? Seeing the sequence is what it seems but I don't see a los of sense in it.

Seeing this I don't know what I can do to help those who still survive with symptoms or if the others will start to show it. I don't know if anyone has any answers or information on this.
 

dogpack

Arachnosquire
Active Member
Joined
Jun 8, 2022
Messages
65
Wow, I hope there is an answer and that things work out well for you and the animals.
 

Dorifto

He who moists xD
Joined
Aug 10, 2017
Messages
2,681
Hola Neso!

Are you sure that all the problems were caused by the heat and not the feeders? Heat may cause neurological issues, but it's extrange that they were acting normally and then suddenly they get ill.

Also spraying them with a heat wave it's not quite ideal, as it could raise the humidity too much depending on the amount of ventilation they have. This can create stagnant conditions inside and could suffocate them.

Wich part of Spain are you from? To have an aprox idea of your climatic conditions. Right now I have almost 40°C, thankfully today is quite dry.

Could you post a picture of the enclosures?
 
Last edited:

Neso

Arachnopeon
Joined
Aug 24, 2020
Messages
2
Some of them ate runners, some of them p. Americana (not wilds) and some of them buffalo worms, so its strange. My other ts eat them usually. They came from Toledo, that is where the heat wave was. Where I live in my house we dont pass 30 C°.

Some more have died and others already present the problem. For now I will not feed them more. Whether it was the heat or not, it seems that it depended a lot on the species, por how the inceis fell and others were like nothing. But now one of the electric blues has already started with symptoms.

I think that they have enough ventilación. In the 8 days travel probably they had too much humidity for the heat. But why they didnt look bad when they arrived? Its all very strange.
 

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Dorifto

He who moists xD
Joined
Aug 10, 2017
Messages
2,681
They look to have plenty of ventilation, but keep an eye on any signs of condensation.

Which Ts died and are dying? Only the new ones or the already stablished ones?

Did you used anything new? Substrate, enclosures, feeder batch etc?
 

gregor

Arachnopeon
Joined
Feb 5, 2008
Messages
13
Its not the heat... unless they are exposed to direct sunlight
where do you keep your feeders? seems to me like they could be responsible for this, ussualy they have higher tolerance to poison.
by your description it could be pesticides.
if i were you, i wouldnt feed them anymore with those feeders
good luck
 

wonderful

Arachnosquire
Joined
Jul 17, 2021
Messages
85
So there is another recent post about a mailman spraying insecticide into mailboxes. I’m wondering if this might be something to consider with your spiders. Even if they weren’t placed in your mailbox, maybe somewhere along the way they were exposed and that’s what’s causing this.
Insecticide on box. Opening box and handling spiders with hands that touched outside box poison?

 

Tarantuland

Arachnoprince
Joined
Mar 19, 2020
Messages
1,354
I’d think it’s the substrate or something. Gotta be a common denominator somewhere
 

ForTW

Arachnobaron
Joined
Oct 20, 2021
Messages
405
Inceis are smaller therefor they need a lot less poison to die.

A short heatwave should not be the problem but you never know how extremly the delivery guy exposed them to sun. Anyhow, a overheated spider gets saggy. Yours don't seem to show something alike.

So it does sound like poison to me aswell. I think safest is to quarantine them!
 
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