Sudden P.Metallica death, looking for answers

lunarae

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I would think dehydration. With how the weather has been all over the world, the spraying regiment you do combined with the local humidity may have stopped being enough. I can't say for sure of course, I'm not that experienced, but if I had to hazard a guess that's what I would shoot for.
 

Venom1080

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looks very dry. i say dehydration. my grammostola are kept more humid then that. its a lot less humid indoors, even if its 80% outside.
 

SuzukiSwift

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Yes you are right of course, I should have provided a water dish regardless so that was a mistake on my part. I am still not convinced this was dehydration though, he/she had only been in that enclosure for three days. Last year I left these Ts for five weeks to go on a trip with no one to water them the whole time and they were fine (around this time of year) I seriously doubt he/she would have died of thirst in three days. Although, I can not of course 100% rule it out
 

SuzukiSwift

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Actually the more I think about it the more it seems there is no other explanation, I think my mistake was that I assumed from previous experience with him that he was fine with that setup when he probably was not =(

Lesson learned, thanks everyone. Don't recommit my mistakes ae
 

viper69

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Tarantula blood is called hemolymph and it is a clear liquid.
Is that true on the color? I would be quite surprised if it was completely clear, given they use hemocyanin and not hemoglobin. Many arthropods use hemocyanin, including true spiders, and their blood is blue in color.

Ours is red due to the iron in the protein, and theirs is blue due to the copper in the protein. Octopui are another animal whose blood is blue and not red, solely due to a different element being used, also copper for them as well.
 

REEFSPIDER

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Actually the more I think about it the more it seems there is no other explanation, I think my mistake was that I assumed from previous experience with him that he was fine with that setup when he probably was not =(

Lesson learned, thanks everyone. Don't recommit my mistakes ae
Is that true on the color? I would be quite surprised if it was completely clear, given they use hemocyanin and not hemoglobin. Many arthropods use hemocyanin, including true spiders, and their blood is blue in color.

Ours is red due to the iron in the protein, and theirs is blue due to the copper in the protein. Octopui are another animal whose blood is blue and not red, solely due to a different element being used, also copper for them as well.
from what I have read and come to understand tarantula hemolymph is clear to grayish white or greyish blue, others call it sometimes a clear milky liquid. For the most part I have only experienced clear liquid inside of true spiders as I have not dissected a tarantula. But if someone here has and would like to shed light I'm open to here it.
 

viper69

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If I would have to hazard I guess I would agree in thinking he was male, definitely more on the leggy side. Unfortunately I suck at sexing Pokies, perhaps someone can tell me from the pictures what sex he was.
Suzuki if you flip the T on its back and give us a great clear ventral shot, you should be able to sex him by the "dot method". IME a T of that size doesn't dehydrate in 3 days. They are already suffering from dehydration previous to 3 days. I can't rule out dehydration, but I'm not convinced it is.

Below is a pic of my young male P rufi. It was about 2", notice the "dot" where the black arrow is pointing.

 

REEFSPIDER

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Off topic but there is a local sea creature called the sea hare and it is like a slug. It's blood is neon pink. :astonished:
 

viper69

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from what I have read and come to understand tarantula hemolymph is clear to grayish white or greyish blue, others call it sometimes a clear milky liquid. For the most part I have only experienced clear liquid inside of true spiders as I have not dissected a tarantula. But if someone here has and would like to shed light I'm open to here it.
Greyish blue, is blue, certainly not red. ;) I do know it can be clear though as well. I suspect the difference in color depends upon 2 things at least, the amount of hemocyanin in the sample, and how oxygenated it is.

Here's primary literature for you, ie scientific article on its color/composition

Color> http://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-642-66679-7_5

http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF00297748
 

Angel Minkov

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Greyish blue, is blue, certainly not red. ;) I do know it can be clear though as well. I suspect the difference in color depends upon 2 things at least, the amount of hemocyanin in the sample, and how oxygenated it is.

Here's primary literature for you, ie scientific article on its color/composition

Color> http://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-642-66679-7_5

http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF00297748

It is a clear liquid, like water. Once I was trying to help my P. ornata male which was stuck in a molt with 1 leg, ended up falling off in the process - the haemolymph was colorless, not even close to being blue.
 

REEFSPIDER

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It is a clear liquid, like water. Once I was trying to help my P. ornata male which was stuck in a molt with 1 leg, ended up falling off in the process - the haemolymph was colorless, not even close to being blue.
this is also what I've experienced aswell but we are all here to share are individual experiences and observations. I'm not opposed to what's been said regarding some color variables inside of our pet spiders hemolymph. That's why we have the boards. Discussion and learning.
 

viper69

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It is a clear liquid, like water. Once I was trying to help my P. ornata male which was stuck in a molt with 1 leg, ended up falling off in the process - the haemolymph was colorless, not even close to being blue.
Great, please contact the scientists of that book chapter with your findings.
 

ratluvr76

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Yes you are right of course, I should have provided a water dish regardless so that was a mistake on my part. I am still not convinced this was dehydration though, he/she had only been in that enclosure for three days. Last year I left these Ts for five weeks to go on a trip with no one to water them the whole time and they were fine (around this time of year) I seriously doubt he/she would have died of thirst in three days. Although, I can not of course 100% rule it out
you say this spider was recently rehoused... is it possible that the substrate you used was somehow contaminated? is it only this one that was rehoused or were there others that are fine using the same batch of substrate you used for this enclosure? just a thought.
 

darkness975

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Hey @SuzukiSwift good to see you again, though I wish it was under better circumstances.

It could be an environmental factor like what was suggested before.
 
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