tarantula possibly dying???? help

[Tony1987]

hi. i bought an A. seemani back in february, unconfirmed sex. since the purchase i've had nothing but worries and problems with it. for starters, it has not eaten a thing since at all since the day i got it so thats roughly 7 months without food. at first, i just thought it to be shy or reclusive as it always stayed in the hide... but later figured it may be stressed due to the way it would curl up tight and stay in one corner of the tank on the odd chance that it would leave its hide. at the beginning of may 2019 it molted so of course i assumed this was the reason it refused food and the reason it was acting strange. still, after molting it would not eat a thing. i tried mealworm(superworm) and also crickets. i had tried leaving the food in for 24 hours to see if the tarantula takes it when not desturbed but it did not. it was originally housed in a larged flat critter keeper which i finally decided was way too big and could have been causing it stress so i moved it to a smaller more suited container but i have seen no difference over the last 2 weeks.
i have always provided fresh water for my taranantulas and also for this species i have kept the substrate slightly damp on one side. i thought it may have been possible that it lost fangs during a molt but i have check thoroughly and thats not the case. im at a loss to be honest. im pretty much a beginner and have been keeping tarantulas for 2 years and only have 6 in my collection, the A. seemani being the latest i purchased. as of yesterday, i found the tarantula laying on its back, at first i thought it may be molting and it definitely was not dead as its leg was moving ever so slightly. the tarantula has been and still is at this very moment very lethargic and weirdly inactive, even for a T! i decided yesterday to leave it alone incase it was molting and check it again today once i finished work....roughly a 24 hour gap. alas, the T is still in the same position. legs are not curled in towards the body but im entirely unsure if its even alive or not. i could use some expert help from you other more experienced keepers in the hobby. please help ASAP. i fear this one may not survive. thanks in advance

 

[Vanessa]

please help ASAP. i fear this one may not survive. thanks in advance

You've provided a good description, but you need to supply photos, please. Both of the spider and the enclosure... mostly of the spider, though. Do you have the shed exoskeleton from their last moult? Did they shed their sucking stomach properly?

 

[Tony1987]

<a href="https://ibb.co/Ns81R91"><img src="https://i.ibb.co/FKSsp5s/IMG-20190816-162846.jpg" alt="IMG-20190816-162846" border="0"></a>
<a href="https://ibb.co/dgjfsqn"><img src="https://i.ibb.co/jRb8927/IMG-20190816-163059.jpg" alt="IMG-20190816-163059" border="0"></a>
<a href="https://ibb.co/4Ff0cCn"><img src="https://i.ibb.co/wdL2T8F/IMG-20190816-163144.jpg" alt="IMG-20190816-163144" border="0"></a>

 

[Tony1987]

this was the best i could do for photos. the tarantula was moved into this container around 2-3 weeks ago. water is changed around every 3 to 4 days with food offered once per week.
its kept at around 22-24 celcius, same with all my other T's. the rest are doing just fine so im puzzled(- also as to your question, no sorry i dont have a molt. it molted a good while ago and the molted ended up in pieces by the time i had taken it out of the enclosure)
i took those photos not 5 mins ago and notice a weird white patch in between the 2nd and 3rd under leg on the left of the image. (right side of the tatatulas body) ive not noticed this before and have no idea what it is.

 

[sasker]

It does not seem to be in a great state, to be honest. What is that crusty thing on the left where the leg is attached to the body? I looks like mold or a wound or something. The abdomen are not the size one would expect for a molt, it should be much bigger. Also, the spinnerets seem folded under the abdomen. Not something I have ever seen.

Did I understand correctly that it did not eat at all since its last molt? Have you checked if the sucking stomach has molted correctly? Check this threat for more info on that:

http://arachnoboards.com/threads/checking-for-the-sucking-stomach-on-your-molts.306981/

I wish I could help, but I am out of ideas.

 

[Tony1987]

It does not seem to be in a great state, to be honest. What is that crusty thing on the left where the leg is attached to the body? I looks like mold or a wound or something. The abdomen are not the size one would expect for a molt, it should be much bigger. Also, the spinnerets seem folded under the abdomen. Not something I have ever seen.

Did I understand correctly that it did not eat at all since its last molt? Have you checked if the sucking stomach has molted correctly? Check this threat for more info on that:

http://arachnoboards.com/threads/checking-for-the-sucking-stomach-on-your-molts.306981/

I wish I could help, but I am out of ideas.

ive no idea, but in the two containers ive kept it in there was zero sign of mold. im at a loss, all i feel that i can do is wait for the inevitable unfortunately.
its sad because ive treated it no differently to my other t's which are doing fine.
could it be mature male by any chance, i know they dont live very long in comparison to the females?

didnt properly check the molt at the time and no longer have it so im not sure about the sucking stomach. in my defense when i took the molt out it was in pieces, which i assume probably isnt a good sign either but at the time i thought nothing of it as the t was moving around fine

 

[sasker]

It's not a mature male, so we can rule that out. Sometimes stuff happens and spiders die. I think I personally would have added a little more ventilation, but I can't say that that's the reason why your spider is in this situation.

As for the shredded molt, I often find my molts in pieces, especially if the tarantula molts in its hide. They first stick it against the wall for a while and throw the garbage out when they feel like it later. Needless to say, it is one mangled mess by then. That's in itself not a bad sign. It might be if the molt did not come off in one go, but I doubt that that's the problem here. You would find pieces of molt stuck on the spider, which is not what went on here.

 

[Vanessa]

Okay, I looked at the photos. I also increased them a fair bit to have a closer look. It looks as though the white on the sternum/leg is feces that she might have crawled through. The spinnerets are okay, it just looks like they are pointing the wrong way, but they aren't.
Overall, she looks fine and nothing screams that there is anything wrong. I don't know what to say except I have a female who has had nothing but problems since I got her. What does she do when you flip her over? Have you tried giving water or bug soup manually? Have you tried placing a cricket directly at her fangs? That is what I have had to do with my female, since she cannot catch them very well herself and never seems to gain any weight.

 

[sasker]

It looks as though the white on the sternum/leg is feces that she might have crawled through.

Could be indeed. In the first picture there seems to be some of this white stuff around the spinnerets as well. Is that correct? If so, this might be a case of impaction. I don't see it on the second picture, though. I hope I am wrong.

 

[Tony1987]

Okay, I looked at the photos. I also increased them a fair bit to have a closer look. It looks as though the white on the sternum/leg is feces that she might have crawled through. The spinnerets are okay, it just looks like they are pointing the wrong way, but they aren't.
Overall, she looks fine and nothing screams that there is anything wrong. I don't know what to say except I have a female who has had nothing but problems since I got her. What does she do when you flip her over? Have you tried giving water or bug soup manually? Have you tried placing a cricket directly at her fangs? That is what I have had to do with my female, since she cannot catch them very well herself and never seems to gain any weight.

i have tried tong feeding previously but the tarantula shunned it basically, turned away uninterested. i am not brave enough to flip him/her over, as i said im still fairly new to the hobby and have never handled. i did just give a gentle poke around both sides off it
with a paint brush and got absolutley no reaction. to be honest, im fairly certain its now dead. it's still in the same postion only the legs look more curled towards the stomach, no signs of movement at all when touching it. unless its fell from the side of its previous container which is possible but unlikely, i am totally out of ideas. fall gap between the top and the substrate in the critter keeper was around 3 inches gives or take. i did see it climbing the corner a couple of times but i just cant see this being the problem.

 

[NukaMedia Exotics]

i have tried tong feeding previously but the tarantula shunned it basically, turned away uninterested. i am not brave enough to flip him/her over, as i said im still fairly new to the hobby and have never handled. i did just give a gentle poke around both sides off it
with a paint brush and got absolutley no reaction. to be honest, im fairly certain its now dead. it's still in the same postion only the legs look more curled towards the stomach, no signs of movement at all when touching it. unless its fell from the side of its previous container which is possible but unlikely, i am totally out of ideas. fall gap between the top and the substrate in the critter keeper was around 3 inches gives or take. i did see it climbing the corner a couple of times but i just cant see this being the problem.

Have to agree it looks dead. When feeding just drop the feeder next to it instead of wanting it to take directly from the tongs.

 

[CommanderBacon]

I'm so sorry ;__; That's really traumatic. It looks like you were keeping it well, fwiw.

 

[Arachnophoric]

I'm also not seeing any sign of the problem being anything you did, OP. An unfortunate turn of events when it's seemingly nothing you can fix or intervene to help

Due to it never having ate since it molted, I'll put my money on it having not molted the sucking stomach. Perhaps she tried molting again as a last-ditch attempt at fixing the problem but was too weak to pull it off, since she hasn't been able to get any sustenance.

 

[Tony1987]

I'm so sorry ;__; That's really traumatic. It looks like you were keeping it well, fwiw.

thanks, means a lot to me. guess i'll have to get myself another. A.seemani is under rated and a classic in the hobby from what ive read. was also my largest tarantula

 

[Vanessa]

Try feeding water manually while she is in this position and see what happens. Don't give up yet.

 

[Tony1987]

I'm also not seeing any sign of the problem being anything you did, OP. An unfortunate turn of events when it's seemingly nothing you can fix or intervene to help

Due to it never having ate since it molted, I'll put my money on it having not molted the sucking stomach. Perhaps she tried molting again as a last-ditch attempt at fixing the problem but was too weak to pull it off, since she hasn't been able to get any sustenance.

its crazy because i learn new things about tarantulas everyday. ive been keeping 2 years, but before that i have been watching tarantula videos on youtube since 2010 from the likes of jon3800, tom moran, dark den, exotics lair and other such content creators. never have i heard mentioned a topic about the sucking stomach or other people's T's having suffered the same problem. as there isnt anything i can do i will just put it down to bad luck and get another. i wouldn't let this put me off the hobby as i find these little creatures to be super interesting and love keeping them. maybe i'll get that GBB i always wanted

 

[Tony1987]

Try feeding water manually while she is in this position and see what happens. Don't give up yet.

what do i feed with, i have an eye dropper would that work?

 

[Vanessa]

what do i feed with, i have an eye dropper would that work?

Yes, put a small drop of water on her mouth and see if it gets sucked in. It might take a while.

 

[Tony1987]

Yes, put a small drop of water on her mouth and see if it gets sucked in. It might take a while.

ive did as you said and waited around 7-8 mins. its not looking good still im affraid

 

[Arachnophoric]

its crazy because i learn new things about tarantulas everyday. ive been keeping 2 years, but before that i have been watching tarantula videos on youtube since 2010 from the likes of jon3800, tom moran, dark den, exotics lair and other such content creators. never have i heard mentioned a topic about the sucking stomach or other people's T's having suffered the same problem. as there isnt anything i can do i will just put it down to bad luck and get another. i wouldn't let this put me off the hobby as i find these little creatures to be super interesting and love keeping them. maybe i'll get that GBB i always wanted

It's not an incredibly common/well known issue, but it does happen. Youtubers aren't usually the best source for information (Tom Moran being the exception in the lineup you listed) as their content mostly, if not entirely focuses on entertainment (oh joy, another tarantula-harassment video ) rather than education, let alone educating viewers on uncommon issues you can come across in your keeping career. While a handful of content creators may never come across a sucking stomach issue happening in their collection, on a site as populated as Arachnoboards it comes up every so often.

I'm not saying that is for certain what has happened with your T, but it's the best working theory I can think of based on what we've seen. Basically that'd mean there's a piece of molt, specifically the inner lining of the esophagus down to the stomach which they usually molt out, is obstructing the passage and leaving your T with the inability to eat and possibly drink. Sometimes when this happens the tarantula will still try to eat but can't, other times it will be uninterested in eating whatsoever. If the T can somehow survive until its next molt, they can recover, but that road to recovery is much easier said than done as the tarantula will have to undergo the taxing process of molting while being in a weakened state.