Tarantula CAN die in a waterdish!

VukSRB

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I saw two times on the internet when tarantula died because it decided to molt in her water dish, but I never tought it would happen to me...

My mature female C. cyanognathus died while molting in the water dish that was ⅓ full. I saw her last night out of her burrow, standing in the dish. I knew she was in premolt and I assumed that she got out for a drink and decided to chill in there. Today I saw her mid-molt in the water but I didn't want to disturb her as I tought that she was okay since her booklungs were above the water level. Sadly 7 hours later I saw tiny flys flying around her dead body. Her two legs got stuck probably because water entered inbetween her new and old exoskelet and changed the pressure inside those gaps. I am very sad. I wanted to share this with you. R.I.P.
 

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viper69

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This is an exception to my rule where I would have interfered with nature and removed from dish the water or the T.
 

coolnweird

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My sincere condolences, losing an animal in your care never gets easier. This is a very interesting situation, thank you for sharing.

While personally I agree with viper, try not to blame yourself! Knowing when to interfere and when to trust the spider is one of the most challenging parts of the hobby. Whatever you do, you will always wonder if you could have done more; I have taken action only to have the spider die, and I have left nature to take its course and had the spider die. This was a very unfortunate thing you had to deal with, and I hope it hasn't lessened your enjoyment of the hobby. Wishing you all the best!
 

thedragonslapper

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Apart from the substrate around the water dish it looks kind of dry in there. Is it possible she tried to molt in the water dish because that was the most moist spot she had access to? Not being critical of your husbandry I’m just curious (your pics don’t show the full set up). If this happened to me I’d be devastated and baffled.
 

NMTs

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I need to preface this by saying I don't want to come across as critical when you've gone through a tough loss, which I truly am sorry for. I'm really just wanting to help reason through what happened.

The real question should be why did this happen? A fossorial species choosing to leave it's burrow in order to attempt a molt in a partially filled water dish indicates other serious issues that need to be considered. One would have to assume it chose to molt in such a precarious position because that's the best option it had and would likely have had the same issues regardless of where it molted. So to say it died because it molted in the water dish is very likely inaccurate. It's more likely it knew the situation was grim and was trying to find the best chance for survival. A common saying here is that "the T knows best", so why would it have chosen this spot to attempt a molt, and without even attempting to lay down a molt mat as far as I can tell?

Again, sorry about your T.
 

Wolfram1

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I always wonder if a molt is something that comes about rather apruptly for them.
That would explain why some spiders lay on their back for a very long time, before anything happens. While others don't manage to flip over in time and molt upright.

It might simply have been bad luck/timing of the molt setting in as i do not see a molting mat in the waterdish.

Was there one? Or had it planned to molt in the den, gone for a last sip and simply not made it back in time?

Sorry for your loss.
 
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VukSRB

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Apart from the substrate around the water dish it looks kind of dry in there. Is it possible she tried to molt in the water dish because that was the most moist spot she had access to? Not being critical of your husbandry I’m just curious (your pics don’t show the full set up). If this happened to me I’d be devastated and baffled.
I am sad, but it's not due to husbandry. Supstrate is very deep and the lowest parts are moist. She had a burrow all the way down where it's perfectly humid enough...
 

Smotzer

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I personally think it was looking for moisture as well. Hard loss loosing one like that. Sorry for your loss!
 

jc55

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That is odd but obviously can happen as it did to you but sorry to hear you lost your tarantula and thanks for sharing the information.
 

LucN

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First time I hear of a T dying in the water dish. Very strange that she decided to molt there instead of the security of her burrow. Sorry for your loss.
 

VukSRB

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Terrarium was 8x8x12 arboreal fipled 70% with supstrate. I moved her in there 10 months ago. She didnt dig much, just 2 inches under the corkbark. Lower 50% of supstrate was very moist, dark in colour. I always overflowed the waterdish and poured a bit of water in the corner untill it drips ro the bottom of the enclosure. She didn't dig anyrhing or ate in the past 8 months, I knew something was off...
 

NMTs

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Now look at this: 🤔
Says it was floating... They can literally walk on the surface of the water. Have you ever tried to submerge an old molt in a dish of water? It's practically impossible because of the micro-setae that create an air-pocket around the exoskeleton. Again, just because you found a dead spider in a water dish, doesn't mean it drown...
 

Arachnopets

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Finding it dead in the water dish does not necessarily equate to the water dish being the cause of death.
 

CanebrakeRattlesnake

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If I die in my bed it doesn't mean the bed killed me, it just means I died. It probably had either incorrect husbandry and/or an underlying health issue and died when it went for a drink, or accidentally rolled into the water dish when the container was picked up.
 

VukSRB

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Im just poimtimg out that I've seen alot of cases online where tarantulas were found dead in a waterdish. I know that exoskelet is hydrophobic and they cannot drown because pockets of air can last a long time, but stuff happens... We need to continue to write and discuss about evrything, we know little about tarantulas overall.
 

NMTs

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Im just poimtimg out that I've seen alot of cases online where tarantulas were found dead in a waterdish. I know that exoskelet is hydrophobic and they cannot drown because pockets of air can last a long time, but stuff happens... We need to continue to write and discuss about evrything, we know little about tarantulas overall.
Agreed that discussion is important for the hobby, but we need to be sure not to mislead people by spreading of misinformation. I've yet to see anything that I would consider definitive proof that a tarantula drowned in a water dish, but there are numerous incidences of tarantulas dying as a result of dehydration because they didn't have easy access to clean water. If someone sees discussion about tarantulas drowning in water dishes and decides not to provide one, it could certainly lead to incorrect husbandry that would be dangerous for the T's.
 
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