Ts stuck in blizzard for 4 days, need help

[jake9134]

recently got some Ts (p. irminia, and P. reduncas) from a seller and they were stuck in-transit for 4 days in the middle of a blizzard. when they arrived they were still alive except for 1. they are currently not moving much, just twitching their legs. I origionally thought they were just cold so I placed them in a warm room for 3 days but not much has changed so I put them in ICU.

Is there anything else I could do to help these guys make it?

Heres some pics of my ICU, Its a incubator I made a long time ago for difficult germinating seeds. has a thermostat and have it set at 80F, the slings are in deli cups and vials with soaking wet paper towles.

 

[Newflvr]

Caught in the Weather

I hate to be the bearer of bad news but with no changes for that long they more than likely are gone. If you kicked up the humidity theres not much else you can do. Unpack them 1 at a time completly and see if there's any movement. Did you talk to the seller about this situation, I postponed shipments because of that storm. Please post and update us on how this works out. Good luck Kevin

 

[demasoni521]

That's probably the most you can do. I had an A. Brocklehursti sling shipped to me in cold weather, and it lasted a week and all it did was twitch its legs and eventually die. I hope your T's will make it.

 

[Berta]

We had this happen with a large shipment a few months ago. Most were either clearly dead or clearly alive, but we had one that was just twitching. We ICUed it, and it seemed to gain a little control of its movements, but still mostly sat in one place and twitched when it tried to walk.

We just kept it warm and watered, and it's lasted long enough to attempt a molt. Sadly, it was too weak or damaged to complete the molt successfully, and has the exuvium still attached to its pedipalps and chelicerae. Even so, it's still alive and not too skinny, so we're holding out to see whether it will make it through another, better molt.

So, we don't know how things will ultimately go for this guy, but I guess my message is that you might as well do what you can and cross your fingers. Some of them may pull through.

 

[webbedone]

Nothing left for you to do but to keep warming them up, kick it up to roughly around 84 F and see what happens.

 

[captmarga]

Best of luck. My chilled Ts that twitched and did not move normally died (3 of my 7 deaths).

Holding out hope along with you...
Marga

 

[jake9134]

update

well they have been in ICU for 2 days now but not much change.
Really don't want to lose these, been trying to get decent sized suntigers for quite a while.

 

[Bill S]

You're probably beating yourself up enough already for having them shipped in such bad weather - but it is worth repeating that a little patience is a good thing when purchasing live animals. Waiting for good shipping conditions can be the difference between dead tarantulas and tarantulas that you will have for many years.

 

[Merfolk]

Went away from home for 24 hours this week. Once back home, all my clocks were blinking and it was obvious that the place was without power for long. All my Ts were totally sluggish and looked like they were out of the freezer. All recovered, except my Emperor scorpion and My T burgundy:evil: She was limp and motionless and remained a full 24 hours without moving a hair (no death curl thoug)...she is now exposed in my freezer : (

DAMN!!!!!

 

[captmarga]

It's been terrible for a lot of us. I sympathize with everyone who lost Ts. I lost eight of 59. One I probably can't replace, sadly, and one that even if I get the same species, it won't have the same reactions and quirks. Have to love Mother Nature.

Marga (still in the single digits in TX!!!)

 

[Merfolk]

Baby LP and baby Cornsnake died as well RE-DAMN!

 

[Thespiderguyz]

Shipping in weather definately is a risk. I recently purchased a MM Avic Versi and he was caught in the flight cancellations last week in the midwest. Little to say but he also was very slow and barely twitched. He didnt make it. Luckily the shipper was nice enough to refund my funds. Now were waiting on the weather to clear up so our other pair of T's arrive nice and warm.

 

[Newflvr]

Cold Weather

Just to show sometimes T's can amaze you Wensday I recieved a large king baboon that was in express shipping for 2 days, our temps 0 degrees and she's doing well. Yesterday 13 T's arrived and it was -8 degrees they are fine. I've also lost some in shipping this winter, just goes to show sometimes things go right and sometimes not so much.

 

[BrettG]

It is risky this time of year,but do-able if you use your head and pack things PROPERLY.Plenty of foam and insulating materials need to be used.And Kevin,we are soooo glad to hear that she is doing well. Hope you enjoy her as much as we did.

 

[jake9134]

another update

well they seem to be doing slightly better, one even put up a threat display about 5 seconds after I checked on them.
A few things still worry me though. they have been in ICU for quite a while so I moved them to a container with 1/2in of coco fiber with a slightly damp paper towel over the top of it to lower the humidity a bit. I did this because white stuff(possibly mold) started forming on the tip of the hairs on some of their legs. Has anyone expierence this before?

They are still very sluggish and not moving much

I have also been keeping them in the dark for what seems like forever.
Could this be detrimental to them? I know too much light is bad but I read somewhere that some light helps their circadian rhythms and without it, it could cause stress.

I normally keep my Ts in my closet(its a walk-in) with a 15watt fluorescent strip light directed away from the tanks. this room is heated with a heat lamp(over my desert hairy) to 77-78F.

BTW when I had them shipped the weather on my side was at 50-60F, had no idea about the coming blizzard till after he tried to ship them(don't watch the news that often), fedex also didn't mention any delays till two days after he shipped them. He also used a double box expecting next day delivery.

 

[Merfolk]

What I don't understand is that my T stirmi died after exposure to cold that only went a bit under normal, yet my T apophysis was almost frozen solid (someone left the window open for the whole night in February last year), with a reverse dead curl (legs touching above the head) yet it recovered and became a magnificient 9" MM. Weird.

Update: My 5 years old MF C elegans died as well...

 

[jake9134]

A long over due Update

Well they all eventually died except the one P. irminia. For 6 months I killed crickets and placed them under his mouth and hoped, he would web up the ground of the entire enclosure and over the top of crickets so cleaning was a chore..after molting a third time after the incident, he (presuming its a he due his to last mangled molt) has regained full mobility and acts like a normal angry and moody suntiger. since first receiving him he has grown 2 inches and hopefully will be maturing soon so that I can breed him with my female which also just got done molting after 4+ months of refusing food. Just shows that you should never give up until they become smelly and decayed:biggrin: the other spiders that died were preserved and donated to my invert zoology professor so at lease they didn't go to waste.
here a pic of the "male" and the female I hope to match him up with.


Now If I could only train the female to not squirt poop on the glass I would be golden..it just smears and streaks after I clean it up and I don't like having my hand in there too long.