Tarantula still alive from sting from Pepsis formosa

[Steve Nunn]

Hi,
I hope you have better luck with your experiment

Here is a link to mine

http://www.selenocosmia.com/articles1.html

Thanks for posting your observations!

Steve

 

[Galapoheros]

I checked out your link. That was very interesting. The first time a tried this was years ago when I found a pepsis wasp dragging a young A. moderatum across a dirt road in W tx. This was back in the early 90's and had never heard of anybody attempting to revive one after a sting. Feel like I am in like company to hear about others doing it too...ha, kind of makes me laugh. Anyway, that one pulled through in two or three weeks. Someone on the forum let the ones they revived go after a year! Maybe a determinant factor in their survival has to do with "where" they are stung...internally. What if vital organs are too close to the sting. Maybe that instance would cause the organs to fail, so death is inevitable for the T. But if the sting is further away from vital organs, it's organs may do their job in getting rid of the toxins?.... Oh well, does it matter? Just my curious nature I guess. I love it man! When I pick this tarantula up now, it opens it's fangs. I'm thinking it just feels threatened. But I'm truly getting the feeling that it has associated getting picked up with getting food! Probably fooling myself. But it keeps it's fangs closed when I pick it up when it has food that I give it. I use tweezers to pull the leftovers out. I really think he is going to make it. I sure want to go out of town. But that's hard to do after starting the challenge. It's turned into a commitment. Here's another picture of it having a meal.

 

[Captante]

Cool, glad to hear he's doing better ... keep us advised!

 

[Anthony]

While there is life there is hope. Good work

 

[MysticKigh]

<bump> Hoping for an update?

 

[Stanky105]

<Bump> Heres to hoping for an update.

 

[Empi]

I am also curious as to the condition of the little guy...

 

[ilovebugs]

amazing.

I want to try this with regular spiders found in dirt dauber nests/coccoon/whatever you call 'em.

 

[Galapoheros]

Hey that's a good idea. I've found some interesting spiders in those dauber nests. They do all the collecting work for you. Bad news though. The T got to the point where it could grab it's food if I nudged it against him. He was just starting to walk too. I walked by his isolation cell and he looked weird to me. He had tried to molt. He was halfway out and wriggling three legs that he had gotten out of the old exo. The other legs looked like they hadn't started coming out at all. He was very alive but he had gotten stuck. Someone else said the same thing happened to one they had. I think it was "Wade". Too weak was his guess and mine too. I tried to help after I thought he just couldn't do it. He didn't make it. They can make it. I've seen it. I'm two out of four now. The other that didn't make it showed no improvement from the time I found it. Two others seemed completely recovered in a month or two. This one was almost 2 months stung and still slow but was improving. I think it would have been pretty healthy in 3 or 4 months.

 

[cacoseraph]

Hey that's a good idea. I've found some interesting spiders in those dauber nests. They do all the collecting work for you. Bad news though. The T got to the point where it could grab it's food if I nudged it against him. He was just starting to walk too. I walked by his isolation cell and he looked weird to me. He had tried to molt. He was halfway out and wriggling three legs that he had gotten out of the old exo. The other legs looked like they hadn't started coming out at all. He was very alive but he had gotten stuck. Someone else said the same thing happened to one they had. I think it was "Wade". Too weak was his guess and mine too. I tried to help after I thought he just couldn't do it. He didn't make it. They can make it. I've seen it. I'm two out of four now. The other that didn't make it showed no improvement from the time I found it. Two others seemed completely recovered in a month or two. This one was almost 2 months stung and still slow but was improving. I think it would have been pretty healthy in 3 or 4 months.

i wonder if you could dope a pepsis stung tarantula with the stuff i've heard "they" use to keep some of the large meal worms or superworms (or whatever species i heard that in connection with) from molting

i think that stuff might only keep them from doing their ultimate molt, though... not sure

 

[Empi]

Hey that's a good idea. I've found some interesting spiders in those dauber nests. They do all the collecting work for you. Bad news though. The T got to the point where it could grab it's food if I nudged it against him. He was just starting to walk too. I walked by his isolation cell and he looked weird to me. He had tried to molt. He was halfway out and wriggling three legs that he had gotten out of the old exo. The other legs looked like they hadn't started coming out at all. He was very alive but he had gotten stuck. Someone else said the same thing happened to one they had. I think it was "Wade". Too weak was his guess and mine too. I tried to help after I thought he just couldn't do it. He didn't make it. They can make it. I've seen it. I'm two out of four now. The other that didn't make it showed no improvement from the time I found it. Two others seemed completely recovered in a month or two. This one was almost 2 months stung and still slow but was improving. I think it would have been pretty healthy in 3 or 4 months.

That's too bad. Poor guy...

 

[Galapoheros]

That's too bad. Poor guy...

Yea that sucked. I spent allot of time trying to get him healthy again. It was a challenge. But, he is living on through one of my centipedes. :drool:

 

[Stanky105]

Yea that sucked. I spent allot of time trying to get him healthy again. It was a challenge. But, he is living on through one of my centipedes. :drool:

lol, well, "waste not" i suppose. Its cool reading about the experience though.

 

[parabuthus]

Aww man, I would have buried the little guy after all that effort!
Great read btw. Better luck next time.

 

[Galapoheros]

Nice to hear that several enjoyed the sitcom. Could be my imagination but it really seemed that this guy learned that he was going to get fed when I picked it up. I feel lucky to be in the middle of a T colony. I was watching my pedes last night in my kitchen. I stood up and saw something out of the corner of my eye that obviously saw me move because it darted around the edge of a wall. It was about 7 feet up the wall by a window. It was a tarantula. It saw me move and I was a good 10 feet away. Could have been something else that scared it but I don't think so. Just thought it interesting that it sensed me that far away.

 

[desertdweller]

I too have a stung T that I scooped up before the nasty T Hawk could drag it away. Totally new to this T World but my T is still alive and keeps its body suspended on its own, no walking though. I put drops of water in its mouth not knowing if it is taking the water in but I live in high desert of Arizona so know it can go for long periods with no food or water. I have had this one 10 days and already see a tiny improvement. Will stay the course, now that I know recovery is possible. Have REIKI'd it too. Will post more with changes.

 

[8+)]

Why is this in this forum, something to do with it being started 2 years ago?

I don't understand why you guys are "rescuing" these spiders, is it just as an experiment? :?

This is nature, and the wasps are every bit as interesting and deserving of life as any T. From the descriptions, it sounds like the cure causes more suffering than the affliction.

At any rate, turning them loose after recovery sounds like the worst idea of all, as they weren't meant to pass on their genes.

 

[Galapoheros]

Ha, how'd this thing get woken up? I started this thread before I had ever looked at the T section. Yeah, at the time, just an experimental challenge, for me anyway. You might want to start a new thread in the T section desertdweller, you'll get more feedback with the intended audience. good luck.

 

[desertdweller]

Thanks Galapoheros, will probably do just that. Just learning to navigate this site. Sorry about your T. Mine is showing steady improvement at only 2 wks. Hopeful.