T. gigas sling probably dead

[ledzeppelin]

Hello,

Today I turn to you with great sadness.. I suspect that my T. gigas sling has passed. It was a 3/4" sling and it was the first one I ever owned. It has been refusing food for a fortnight, so I suspected premolt. Today I found it on its back so I was excited for a molt. It has not moved from the initial position in about 10 hours now, so I'm thinking it has passed.. I have a set of questions for you now.. Have you ever had a sling so tiny molt so much time?? All of mine have completed it in max 3 hours or so..

I also must tell you the idiotic thing I've done.. I offered it a cut up mealworm yesterday and today, when I saw the spider on its back I saw that it began to mold.. I left it there anyways because I thought its better not to disturb it during molt. It has been 10 hours since, and I have not seen any progress with the molt, so I, in panic, tried to remove the molding mealworm.. I have moved the spider with that action and I feel incredibly stupid.. Do you think it is possible that a molt lasts so long, and if yes, what are the chances it will die from my actions.. I have no experience with such long molts with spiders that small.. I have thought though, of a possibility, that it passed on the wall of the enclosure and simply fell down curled on its back.. but I feel chances of that are pretty slim...

 

[KezyGLA]

Its just one of those things. We must try not to disturb at any point during molting process. I am sure a little bump wouldnt done as much damage as you think it would. You would be surprised how many Ts have arrived with me that have moulted in transit and survived long trips. But none the less it is best that they are left be. So dont beat yourself up about a slight movement.

I wouldnt worry abount the mould bein the trouble either as it has only been there for a day. Its not like your T was livig amongst it long term.

On the timescale issue. I have seen a couple of my slings take what seems a long time to moult for their size. Maybe one has made it. The rest got stuck or never flipped again.

Occasionally slings die mid moult. Its just how it goes unfortunately.

There really is nothing you could have done to help it at the time. Even now I would leave it alone and check again tomorrow. Dont get mad at yourself over it.

 

[ledzeppelin]

Yep, this morning there were no changes, so i guess it died. This might sound a bit ridiculous but I always get a bit blue when a spider of mine dies.. I really have almost to no losses.. This was my fourth one to perish in 10 years.. I can hardly listen to reason and stop blaming myself.. I don't know.. Maybe it was my fault, maybe not.. Blah spider deaths suck.

 

[KezyGLA]

I had 1 death about a decade ago then I had about 6 come out the blue towards the end of lst year. 2 AF I. mira and some slings died without real reason. It just happens mate. And yeah it does suck

 

[Crowbi]

I'm so sorry for your loss

I've only been in the hobby since last November but I've read that yeah sometimes these things just happen and there's nothing you can do. Some slings just aren't meant to reach adulthood.

It does make me worry for my own T gigas sling which is about maybe 1" and hasn't been the best feeder, nor has he moltedd since I got him in December either.

 

[johnny quango]

@ledzeppelin sorry to hear about the little sling it's the part of the hobby I hate all seemingly going well then all of a sudden a dead tarantula.
I feel your pain I had this happen last December my E constrictus sling died mid moult I gave it about 50 hours and nothing and that was always a great eater it had moulted 4 times before in my care without an hitch. I also have a similar issue now my juvenile M mesomelas moulted 10 days ago and as suddenly gone downhill for no apparent reason yesterday

 

[KezyGLA]

@johnny quango hope it picks up man. Thats too nice a sp. to lose.

 

[Andrea82]

Yep, this morning there were no changes, so i guess it died. This might sound a bit ridiculous but I always get a bit blue when a spider of mine dies.. I really have almost to no losses.. This was my fourth one to perish in 10 years.. I can hardly listen to reason and stop blaming myself.. I don't know.. Maybe it was my fault, maybe not.. Blah spider deaths suck.

So sorry for your loss
This is the worst part of this hobby, having spiders die for no reason at all. Don't be too hard on yourself, there are also many spiders who are disturbed during molting, and come out fine. So your sling dying has probably nothing to do with you disturbing it.
It is frustrating, getting everything right, care-wise, and still some die.

 

[Andrea82]

@ledzeppelin sorry to hear about the little sling it's the part of the hobby I hate all seemingly going well then all of a sudden a dead tarantula.
I feel your pain I had this happen last December my E constrictus sling died mid moult I gave it about 50 hours and nothing and that was always a great eater it had moulted 4 times before in my care without an hitch. I also have a similar issue now my juvenile M mesomelas moulted 10 days ago and as suddenly gone downhill for no apparent reason yesterday

Hope it gets better!

 

[Jeff23]

Sorry for your loss. This is an area where I worry some as well since some of my deli cups aren't very clear. So far I have always missed the molt event which is a relief from the injury stand point. But it would be fun to see one live one of these days.