Tarantula Dead or Molting?

[vickywild]

Thats fascinating! I wonder what she was doing.

 

[tarantulagirl10]

Very strange indeed. Please keep us updated on her.

 

[TheChunkster]

Okay, so I'm not sure what an "aborted" molt looks like. She looks about the same. While she was in the water, her body seemed to "swell up" but now her abdomen is decently big and she has just been in the same corner, maneuvering around all day. She seems like she has good motor control, tiptoey, but shes always been that way. Also, her hair seem, whats the best word for it...more protruding? Messier? Fuzzier? Those are the best ways I can describe it. Might be because of the water exposure. Let me know what you all think. Here are some pics of her now.

 

[TheChunkster]

Also behavior-wise, I have noticed her she seems to lift her legs inward toward the top of her body (like the opposite of a death curl) and she is resting on the ground by only her sternum and abdomen. Strange....

 

[bobusboy]

Just don't mess with it. If it is molting you'll sign its death warrant by moving it.

Its not good for the T to be moved while moulting; but its a far cry from a death warrant. I'm not saying to go a head and move your T when its moulting but there are plenty of cases where the T was moved and it moulted just fine. And a few cases where I've had to go in and retrieve live food from underneath my Tarantula to stop it from hurting the T during its moult.

I don't think that you'll ever see a tarantula breath--book lungs absorb air passively. The opisthosoma doesn't contract as there isn't a diaphragm contracting the lungs for operation. Tarantulas are so wonderfully different and alien from us in function.

I think I recall hearing some one talking about a pulsing in the abdomen and some one saying that it was the tarantulas heart; the tarantula was dehydrated and bleeding out or something IIRC.

 

[TheChunkster]

Shes just sitting pretty still, in the same corner. I think she drank some water. Is there anything I should do for her?

 

[Musicwolf]

Shes just sitting pretty still, in the same corner. I think she drank some water. Is there anything I should do for her?

I would just let her be. If she was attempting to molt - good chance she'll start again. If she was just being a weird Rosy, then she's still fine . Refill her water bowl and just watch the weird Rosea show!

 

[Embers To Ashes]

I know rosies like it bone dry... but maybe she was in her water bowel because she was too dry? I dont even know if thats possible, but everybody can agree that rosies are weird. What if she "knew" that if she soaked in the water right side up (wich would make her lungs be in the water) she would die and decided upside down was better?

Just a thought. I would mist the wall of her tank.

 

[vickywild]

Maybe she heard the new Tomb Raider game won't have any swimming levels and is doing some protesting.

 

[TheChunkster]

Maybe she heard the new Tomb Raider game won't have any swimming levels and is doing some protesting.

Haha...what? Haven't exposed her to too many video games! I don't know about misting her tank, I was instructed that she really wouldn't like that. Its just weird she was in the water upside down. She seems fine, still just in that corner pretty still with her legs crunched upward and her sternum/abdomen resting. One other think I noticed, she has these...how to I put it, white rings under each of her legs in the joint areas, I think these are just muscles, they just seem more...prominent now? Also I think she is 12-14 years old. She hasn't molted in over a year, but I've heard that's normal for tarantulas her age.

 

[Alexandra V]

Haha...what? Haven't exposed her to too many video games! I don't know about misting her tank, I was instructed that she really wouldn't like that. Its just weird she was in the water upside down. She seems fine, still just in that corner pretty still with her legs crunched upward and her sternum/abdomen resting. One other think I noticed, she has these...how to I put it, white rings under each of her legs in the joint areas, I think these are just muscles, they just seem more...prominent now? Also I think she is 12-14 years old. She hasn't molted in over a year, but I've heard that's normal for tarantulas her age.

Haha. Well, maybe she was just dehydrated and that's why she soaked, and as was already said, she knew she would drown so she decided to stay alive and soak upside down. It would make sense that after a soak, the softer parts of her would swell a little because of the added moisture... I really don't know.

 

[TheChunkster]

Haha. Well, maybe she was just dehydrated and that's why she soaked, and as was already said, she knew she would drown so she decided to stay alive and soak upside down. It would make sense that after a soak, the softer parts of her would swell a little because of the added moisture... I really don't know.

Could she really be that smart to understand how her lungs work and be able to work out a safe measurement of the water level? Do tarantulas normally take little baths? Also, what would it look like if shes dead, she is alive, but here are some images of her state now.

 

[lunashimmer]

To me, it looks like she wasn't trying to molt at all--check out the bald spot--no darkness like if she began a molt and then stopped, or even if she was getting ready to molt. But I am not an expert, I've only had Ts for a little over a year.

If a T is in a death curl, it's usually on its belly with its legs curled tightly around the body and then under. From pics I've seen, it looks like a ball o'spider. Your rosie is definitely not in a death curl. It sounds like she's being just a normal weird T.

Keep us updated!!!

 

[DannyH]

At the pet store my dad works at, there is a rosie that frequently likes to stand in her water for a period of time. Shes all healthy otherwise, but she has never gone into a molting position before. I think she may have just been having a drink, and decided it was time for a molt, realised she was in water, and got out.

 

[captmarga]

You went to a party, she decided to use the pool while you were gone and got BUST-ED. I *so* want to photoshop in the pool floatie and a mai-tai beside her.

She looks a little stressed (legs scrunched over eyes) but not abnormally so. I have several Ts that sit like this for days.

Marga

 

[0siris]

Hahaha, she was just chilling in the water dish man, give her a break...that's perfectly normal for roseas :wall:

You should caption that screenshot...T: Daaamn its hot!

Imo this should be stickied and referenced any time someone asks about strange G.rosea behavior...

 

[TheChunkster]

Thanks for everyones input! She seems okay now. She is out of the corner and moving slowly around like her natural weird self!

 

[Formerphobe]

I came back from a party and found my Chilean Rose Hair upside down in its water dish

Very strange, but then, she is a rosea...
Maybe she was at a party, too?
Perhaps she fell in inadvertently and couldn't get out before you caught her, so she figured she's make you think she did it on purpose? (The typical, "OMG, did anyone see me do that? Oh, yeah, I planned that...")

I'd be tempted to set up a nanny cam on this one, just to see what other shenanigans she is up to when no one is watching.

Glad she seems to be okay.

 

[TheChunkster]

She's At It Again

Here she goes again...:clap:

 

[Goomba]

This is just so damn bizarre. I don't know what to think.