T. blondi cause of death

garlicpickle

Arachnopeon
Joined
Jun 15, 2009
Messages
19
I mated my blondi in March. Around a month ago (I am not sure exactly when as she was webbed into her hide) she dropped a sac. A few days ago I noticed she was out and about, I peeked in at the sac and saw it was bad so removed it. The female seemed lethargic, on inspection her underside was crusted with a brownish deposit which was covering two of her book lungs. I managed to remove most of it with a damp Q-tip and put her into ICU. She drank a lot of water and seemed to be improving, but today I have found her almost dead with a pink fluid on the tissue under her mouth. The bad sac which I removed also had the same pink colour on the outside.
Has anybody seen this "pink problem" before or have any theories?
My best guess is some kind of fungal infection, it seems too much of a coincidence that the sac and the discharge from her mouth should both have the same pink tinge.





 

Falk

Arachnodemon
Old Timer
Joined
May 28, 2009
Messages
679
Bad air circulation, mold? Does it smell?
Dont understand why you moved her to an icu if she wasnt severly dehydrated, if she already is very ill that stress caused by a totaly new and unfamiliar environment can be harmful.

I hope she makes it:(
 

garlicpickle

Arachnopeon
Joined
Jun 15, 2009
Messages
19
she's dead, hence the thread title. :(

I moved her out of her tank after taking away the mouldy sac. She was acting oddly (hunched up not moving in a corner) and her underside was covered in the crusty stuff you can see in pic #2.

I was hopeful that cleaning her off might help with reoxygenation as her book lungs had been covered in crud before, but that evidently wasn't her only problem.

The watery stuff from her mouth smelt bad yes.
 

Andrei

Arachnopeon
Joined
Dec 2, 2010
Messages
9
The bad smell is usualy the mark of a bacteria. It would be interesting if you can, to take some of that fluid and send it to a lab and ask them to determin what bacteria in there. And so, you will know what killed your T and in the future you will be able to avoid it.
 

Falk

Arachnodemon
Old Timer
Joined
May 28, 2009
Messages
679
she's dead, hence the thread title. :(

I moved her out of her tank after taking away the mouldy sac. She was acting oddly (hunched up not moving in a corner) and her underside was covered in the crusty stuff you can see in pic #2.

I was hopeful that cleaning her off might help with reoxygenation as her book lungs had been covered in crud before, but that evidently wasn't her only problem.

The watery stuff from her mouth smelt bad yes.
Sorry about that, i thought it was the sac.
 

Cirith Ungol

Ministry of Fluffy Bunnies
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Joined
Dec 22, 2004
Messages
3,886
The bad smell is usualy the mark of a bacteria. It would be interesting if you can, to take some of that fluid and send it to a lab and ask them to determin what bacteria in there. And so, you will know what killed your T and in the future you will be able to avoid it.
You will find lots of bacteria everywhere. In the fluid, on the T, on the dirt, in the air. It's not like there's only going to be 1 type of bacteria on the site and THAT will by some default have to be the one that killed the T. You will find lots and you'd have to investigate each type in order to determine where they turn up, why, what they do.

And what will you do with that knowledge? If you get those bacteria again how will you know? And how will you fight them if you happen to know that they are harmful?

Bad smell can pretty much mean anything. A skunk's spray smells bad and it's not bacterial in the sense you suggest. Rotting tissue smells bad, yet rotting occurs with every newly dead organism within therefore necessary temperature and humidity range, yet there is nothing that you learn from identifying that smell as obviously the animal is already dead by that point.

Sorry, but I am not quite sure what you wanted to have said with any of your post that does help a normal hobbyist who doesn't have access to a high-tech biology lab and the time or money on their hands to make detailed bacterial analyses.
 

garlicpickle

Arachnopeon
Joined
Jun 15, 2009
Messages
19
Cirith Ungol, I think we can safely say that bacteria were present (when are they not) :? and no, I don't have access to anywhere that could do a bacterial culture for me.

My main reason for posting was to ask about this pink colour and if anyone had seen it on a sac before, or had pink fluid coming out of the spider like it did from my blondi's mouth. And if the outcome has always been fatal. Somebody I know on another forum has just lost several N2 A. geniculata where the nymphs turned a bright pinkish red and died shortly after - a similar thing I presume.

I've lost spiders before to bad moults etc but this pink colour followed by rapid death is something I have not seen before.
 
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