The worst day ever!!

[Redneck]

Ok.. So I started this thread to say "Hey my female A. avic. Leggs had finally molted!" Sadly I have to change the topic!

I stopped half way through this thread and went to check on her again.. I started looking at my critters and noticed some of them were not where they normally are.. Strange? Soo I took a closer look.. Most of my little one were in a death curl? I thought how could this happen.. With almost a panic.. I started buliding ICU's 7 total..

With the help of my Mother & my Sister it didnt take long to have everyone out of their enclosure and in the ICU..

Here is a the babies that are in the ICU..

(3) P. regalis slings (Two are going to pull through!) (Low hopes for the 3rd one.. )
(1) C. andersoni (Molted yesterday.. Low Hopes.. )
(1) P. irminia (Low Hopes.. ) One of my prized T's
(1) T. violaceus (Low Hopes ) Another one of my prized T's
(1) Adult G. rosea female.. (No hope.. )

So I am honestly at a loss for words.. The ONLY thing that has changed is the temp.. It got 5 degrees cooler.. That puts them at 76 degree.. I didnt think nothing of it.. I have had them at a lower temp before..

Here are their setups.. I doubt thats the problem.. I read caresheets from this site..

(3) 2'' P. regalis slings (1) 2.5'' T. violaceus (1) 2.5''-3'' P. irminia

Enclosure - Plastic Catchcup (Around 100 vent. holes on sides and top..)
Substrate- Coconut Fibers
Moisture - Slightly Damp (Not soaked!)
Water Dish - Yes - Always full
Feeder Offered - 2-5 Small crickets a week..
Decor - Red Oak Bark & Moss.. (Offered in all of my T's enclosures..)

(1) 2.5'' C. andersoni

Enclosure - Same as slings above..
Substrate - Same as slings above..
Moisture - Half Dry, Half Damp.. (He stayed on the dry side..) (Molted Yesterday..)
Water Dish - No - (He was a heavy webber and never let water sit in the dish..)
Feeder Offered - 2-5 Small crickets a week
Decor - Moss (He would burrow soo I just offered something for him to anchor his webbing to..)

(1) 5.25''-5.5'' Adult G. rosea female

Enclosure - Plastic Tub (Several 1/4'' Holes on sides & top..)
Substrate - Same as above slings..
Moisture - None - (Kept her bone dry..)
Water Dish - Yes - (Always Full!)
Feeder Offered - 1-2 Large crickets a week.. (Mostly offered her one.. She has never been a big eater..)
Decor - Red Oak Bark hide..

I dont know what happen.. This is how I kept them all.. The temps. would range from 74 degrees at night to 81 degrees in the day..

I never thought I "loved" my critters.. But I am seriously watery eyed right now.. Wondering what I might have did wrong..

To the experianced keepers.. With the information I have provided.. Can you spot somewhere I may have been the cause of this?

No chemicals (Cleaning, Pesticides, ect. ect.) have been used around any of them.. No one in my family want to see any harm happen to my critters.. In fact my Mom has T's.. My sister has T's.. no one has been here other than them.. Being that none of my other T's are affected.. I am confused at this!

Sorry to make this so long.. This is by far the thing I wanted to ever post on here! Any thoughts or opinions on what could have been different?

 

[Ariel]

Oh, no! this is horrible! I don't know what to say...the only thing I can think of is, were you declorinating the water before you gave it to them? Thats honestly the only thing I can think of.

 

[Sadistic Haplo]

Were they all purchased from the same source? if that's the case, i'd contact the person ASAP

 

[Redneck]

Ariel - I only offered them Purified water.. I buy bottles of it in a huge package.. I never offer tap water.. I dont even mist them with tap water..

Sadistic - They were all for the most part recieve from different people.. I have had them mostly in my care since they were .5'' - 1''..

 

[Ariel]

I always declorinate the water myself, because my mom told me, you don't know where the bottle water comes from, it could be clorinated as well. I don't know if its true or not but...

 

[Redneck]

Thanks Ariel I will be sure to start clorinating my water from now on..

 

[Arachnoholic420]

any fume's... exhaust... maybe bad crickets??? sorry to hear bro... hope they pull thru... it's because of this instances im always checking on my slings every night b4 i go to bed....

 

[Ariel]

Thanks Ariel I will be sure to start clorinating my water from now on..

your welcome. I don't know if thats really what happened, but it's definately something to consider. I'm really sorry about your little guys and I really hope they pull through.

 

[Redneck]

any fume's... exhaust... maybe bad crickets??? sorry to hear bro... hope they pull thru... it's because of this instances im always checking on my slings every night b4 i go to bed....

Fumes and Exhaust.. I dont believe so.. I cant smell nothing.. Though they are more sensitive than I am... I honestly dont know.. No one has sprayed anything back there..

Crickets.. They were bought from the same place as I always buy them..
I feed the same crickets to my other critters.. Wouldnt that affect them as well?

 

[BCscorp]

Im not sold on the chlorinated water being the culprit here....but I let water sit for at least 24 hours before using it. Keep in mind though that the chlorine isnt the only problem there...theres chloramine which is another part of chlorine. If you look into water conditioner for fish you'll see theres more than chlorine in tap water.

Im concerned about the red oak bark. It apparently is very rich in tannin which is a poison in some respects. Is the bark old/somehow treated to remove the tannin? Im just guessing here because otherwise it seems that you care well for the spiders.
good luck and I hope this gets figured out for you and your T's.

 

[Redneck]

Im not sold on the chlorinated water being the culprit here....but I let water sit for at least 24 hours before using it. Keep in mind though that the chlorine isnt the only problem there...theres chloramine which is another part of chlorine. If you look into water conditioner for fish you'll see theres more than chlorine in tap water.

Im concerned about the red oak bark. It apparently is very rich in tannin which is a poison in some respects. Is the bark old/somehow treated to remove the tannin? Im just guessing here because otherwise it seems that you care well for the spiders.
good luck and I hope this gets figured out for you and your T's.

Well I use bottle water.. So I dont know how its treated/purified.. I never use tap for any of my critters.. Snakes, Scorpion, Gecko, ect. ect..

I dont know about the bark.. It was baked at 400 degress for 1 hour..

I was with a buddy of mine when it was cut down for fire wood.. I desided to take a few peices for my critters.. I have this same bark from the same tree in with many of my other unaffected T's..

 

[sharpfang]

I just wanted to relay condolences......

Sad story Redneck.......You don't deserve to have a bunch of T's die, the way you take good care of them.........I hope atleast something is learned, for someone from this........Man - Sucks A sudden drop in temp to even 70-65 shouldn't do it.......I don't know what happened..........Maybe corkbark hides next time in case.

- Jason

 

[Spunky]

5 degree Temp drop would not cause a dieoff like this. A couple of questions I have:
Does anyone smoke in the house?
Has there been any Lysol spray or other cleaner used in the vicinity of the T's?
Any pesticides used outside that could have made it into the T enclures?

Just quick thoughts, sorry for your losses.

 

[Redneck]

5 degree Temp drop would not cause a dieoff like this. A couple of questions I have:
Does anyone smoke in the house?
Has there been any Lysol spray or other cleaner used in the vicinity of the T's?
Any pesticides used outside that could have made it into the T enclures?

Just quick thoughts, sorry for your losses.

No one in the house smokes..
No pesticides used anywhere around the house..
Lysol might have been sprayed in the kitchen.. I will have to ask if anyone has.. Could that have been the problem being that its in a different room?

 

[Spunky]

Not sure if Lysol sprayed in a different room would be a problem or not, I am just brainstorming on possible causes. I am however extra cautious with aerosol air fresheners and chemicals such as this around my T's.

Other common denominators from your original post:

1. Water source - I don't think this is the problem.
2. Coco fiber - unlikely problem unless heavily molded or something noticeable
3. Cricket source - possible, no way to prove
4. Red Oak Bark - unlikely, unless the tannin as referred to in another post is slowly leaching out of the bark, in which case it could theoretically kill them. Assuming all of the bark was introduced at the same time, part of its natural curing process could be occuring on a larger scale.

Just some thoughts, unfortunately no solutions, I will keep thinking. Good luck with the little guys that look like they are going to pull through.

 

[jbm150]

Wow, sorry man, wishing you the best!

So many at once, probably environmental. Temp change shouldn't have mattered that much. Would think it would be chemical, in the air. Could be from water but so sudden, I doubt it. That means they all would have been drinking at once. Unless it was chlorine outgassing from the water. But you use bottled, doubt its that.

Are they near any vents? Someone could have sprayed something in one room and it transferred to your Ts that way. Did you turn the heat on? Perhaps something from your heater?

 

[Redneck]

Not sure if Lysol sprayed in a different room would be a problem or not, I am just brainstorming on possible causes. I am however extra cautious with aerosol air fresheners and chemicals such as this around my T's.

Other common denominators from your original post:

1. Water source - I don't think this is the problem.
2. Coco fiber - unlikely problem unless heavily molded or something noticeable
3. Cricket source - possible, no way to prove
4. Red Oak Bark - unlikely, unless the tannin as referred to in another post is slowly leaching out of the bark, in which case it could theoretically kill them. Assuming all of the bark was introduced at the same time, part of its natural curing process could be occuring on a larger scale.

Just some thoughts, unfortunately no solutions, I will keep thinking. Good luck with the little guys that look like they are going to pull through.

Thanks for taking the time.. I also am very cautious with aerosol air fresheners.. I just didnt think about it being in a different room..

The crickets.. I am very picky on which ones I feed.. But as you say there is no way to prove thats the cause.. Is very possible.. Wish there was a way to find out..

As far as the Red Oak Bark.. Im not much of a plant person.. So I need to ask.. Tannin? What exactly is it that could be in the bark that could cause the issue? The curing process? If its not on the tree wouldnt it be considered dead? After being baked doesnt that also lower the chances of being harmful to the individual tarantula?

By my questions I dont doubt anyones answers.. I am just trying to learn about this so I dont make the mistake again..

 

[Endagr8]

Gosh, Tommy. Random deaths suck in general, but seven at once?

That's gotta be very depressing.

 

[paul fleming]

Your set ups are fine .....that would not be the reason for a lot of different T's going the same way.
My guess would be chemical in one form or another.
I can't think of anything else that would cause this.......forget about the temp drop.
Sorry......honestly and I hope they all pull through.

 

[Redneck]

Well... I believe I found the problem.. With all the talk of chemicals.. I talked to my Mother.. She used bleach in the back room..

She said one of her dogs had made a mess and she went to clean it up this morning.. Must have been some time after I fell asleep.. I would have never let her use it.. She didnt use it on the same side as my critters.. But I have a fan blowing around back there to circulate the heat.. Must have send the fumes around that way..

I am stil going to ask.. Could this be the cause? The fumes from the bleach?

Thank you to everyone that threw out there thoughts and opinions..