wasp stung tarantula

TarantulaDummy

Arachnopeon
Joined
Dec 28, 2019
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On August 27, 2019, I found a tarantula in my driveway that had been stung by a tarantula hawk wasp and was paralyzed.
I caught it and cared for it giving it water by a tiny syringe. (It’s been a rescued class pet for two classrooms, hoping we can eventually set it free again. *goals*)
It began to start walking in late October/early November. It would not eat crickets or worms. Not sure its fangs are able to move or if it has been preparing to molt.
It flipped onto its back on December 25 and is still on its back moving its legs but does not appear to be molting, so almost on day 4 now and hasn’t eaten since August.
What do I need to do? I’ve misted the substrate and recently moved it to the bathroom where it gets more humid from showers.
We are not sure if it is a male or female but we think it might be a male? We are clueless and just trying to learn as we go and teach our students how to care for them and hopefully help them not have a fear of spiders.
Photo 1 and 2 are 8-27-19
Photo 3 12-23-19
Photo 4 12-28-19 (just misted area)
 

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zyphonix223

Arachnosquire
Joined
Jul 31, 2019
Messages
141
If it had actually been stung by a T hawk and left there, i'm sure its gonna die :( The babies are going to eat it alive. I hate things like tarantula hawks, but I guess we "need them" to keep down the tarantula population.
 

TarantulaDummy

Arachnopeon
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Dec 28, 2019
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If it had actually been stung by a T hawk and left there, i'm sure its gonna die :( The babies are going to eat it alive. I hate things like tarantula hawks, but I guess we "need them" to keep down the tarantula population.
Thanks for responding! Let me clarify that I caught him mid-drag by the wasp and intervened. The wasp does not lay eggs until it gets the tarantula back to its nest.

My question is do tarantulas get stuck on their back or only go on their back to molt? This guy is pretty squirmy for being on his back this long but I don’t want to mess up a molt.
 

Pyroxian

Arachnophobophiliac
Joined
Aug 31, 2019
Messages
187
If it had actually been stung by a T hawk and left there, i'm sure its gonna die :( The babies are going to eat it alive. I hate things like tarantula hawks, but I guess we "need them" to keep down the tarantula population.
Afaik, the stinging and egg-laying are two separate events. Usually the wasp will drag the paralyzed spider away to a burrow and then deposit the eggs. If the spider was found above ground there will be no larvae present and manual watering along with potentially feeding a slurry of feeder insects could save it. There was a very inspiring (but horrifyingly labor-intensive) story posted here not long ago about a first-time keeper who saved 7 of them and had nursed them through to a point where they all were moving and some were actively hunting.

Edited to add this link:

https://arachnoboards.com/threads/7-rescued-from-tarantula-hawk-help.324393/

@TarantulaDummy there are many threads here related to this. I would recommend searching and reading them, but rather than adding replies to old threads keep it consolidated here. I have absolute faith that people with far greater knowledge of the subject than I (or likely you) have will read this and jump in to offer suggestions or thoughts. Ultimately you'll have to decide for yourself who to listen to, but certainly give credence to info provided by staff members - they all really know their stuff.
 
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