Sarahntula
Arachnopeon
- Joined
- Feb 25, 2021
- Messages
- 3
I have an a chalcodes, mature female who, when advertised before I bought her, was "4 years old". Upon her delivery to my location two years ago, I noticed that she was aggressive and would eat really well, so beautiful, etc ... In fact, I posted a video of her liveliness to a facebook tarantula group. Two members, who are pretty savvy with Ts, commented that she was much older than 4, that she was probably 8 - 12 years old.
About six months into her owning me, she stopped eating. I attributed that to where I had her in my home or stress or pre-molt behavior.
After moving her to various locations in my home which did not pan out for her, I finally moved her into my office where she was really happy. It was very quiet and dark. She started webbing on the floor of her tank, something she had never ever done before, and she really looked happy. This was right before Thanksgiving of last year.
Right after New Years, I noticed her gait started getting wobbly. I kept her water dish full and every now and then very lightly misted the tank. I did this because of this room being the warmest in the house.
Her gait got more wobbly and DKS was discussed. I offered her a dubia of adequate size, she took it, and danced, and I rejoiced with her. But, about two hours later, she had discarded it and, in fact put it in the corner of the enclosure and went back to being her wobbly self. And then, one day, I observed her in a tight death curl. She was right next to her water dish. I got sad because I got her for docility reasons, for looks, but also because of her gender. So, I picked her up, kissed her abdomen (ok, ok ... no need to comment about that) and told her that, as soon as the weather was good, I would bury her near my rosebush. I put her down next to her water dish, which she loved being near, anyway. So, I left her there for two or more weeks. One evening, I went in to feed the other spiders and lo and behold, I observed her legs moving. I quickly picked her up, filled her dish, thinking she needed to rehydrate, and put her mouth on its edge.
The next morning I came in and found that she had moved to the middle of the dish and was sitting there (the water dish is actually for an invertebrate like a gecko or snake and is small and she can access water really easy). I left her there, and later that day she made a complete 180 degree turn. I consulted with some experts who all thought she needed rehydration desperately, so I just left her in her dish. Her legs were still curled under her. However, when I fill up the dish, the legs stretch out, her chelicerae move back and forth, and I can see her fangs moving, too. Her carapace has now become a bright color, her legs are of a deeper color, and her abdomen is all fluff and round. I was speaking to another expert who cautioned me about nematodes and when I went to go look at her closely for the "froth at the mouth" type description, she lifted her abdomen and had a bowel movement in the water. She was pissed at me for lifting up her dish and moving the far end closer to me .... I don't like fooling with her because I don't want to stress her out at this very delicate, uncertain time.
The day before yesterday, I gave her a meal worm gumbo... which, I don't know if she ate it because it was filled with substrate the next morning, besides the fact she had moved off of the cap of gumbo and was tilted to the side. When I went to clean it, she wouldn't let it go.
She finally let it go. I placed her back in her filled up water dish, put the hide over her like she is normal and ... that's it.
But ... her curl. She's colorful, reacts to me when I approach the tank by giving me a half-assed threat pose and ... her legs are curled ... and ... here she is. Her name is PUB, which is an acronym for Princess Urticating Bitchface.
I don't know if PUB had eaten the gumbo. All I know is that she has been like this for a long while. Do I wait til the weather gets more stable to see if she snaps out of this or is she too old or do I ... put her in the freezer? I am really struggling here. May I have some kind words of advice ... please?
About six months into her owning me, she stopped eating. I attributed that to where I had her in my home or stress or pre-molt behavior.
After moving her to various locations in my home which did not pan out for her, I finally moved her into my office where she was really happy. It was very quiet and dark. She started webbing on the floor of her tank, something she had never ever done before, and she really looked happy. This was right before Thanksgiving of last year.
Right after New Years, I noticed her gait started getting wobbly. I kept her water dish full and every now and then very lightly misted the tank. I did this because of this room being the warmest in the house.
Her gait got more wobbly and DKS was discussed. I offered her a dubia of adequate size, she took it, and danced, and I rejoiced with her. But, about two hours later, she had discarded it and, in fact put it in the corner of the enclosure and went back to being her wobbly self. And then, one day, I observed her in a tight death curl. She was right next to her water dish. I got sad because I got her for docility reasons, for looks, but also because of her gender. So, I picked her up, kissed her abdomen (ok, ok ... no need to comment about that) and told her that, as soon as the weather was good, I would bury her near my rosebush. I put her down next to her water dish, which she loved being near, anyway. So, I left her there for two or more weeks. One evening, I went in to feed the other spiders and lo and behold, I observed her legs moving. I quickly picked her up, filled her dish, thinking she needed to rehydrate, and put her mouth on its edge.
The next morning I came in and found that she had moved to the middle of the dish and was sitting there (the water dish is actually for an invertebrate like a gecko or snake and is small and she can access water really easy). I left her there, and later that day she made a complete 180 degree turn. I consulted with some experts who all thought she needed rehydration desperately, so I just left her in her dish. Her legs were still curled under her. However, when I fill up the dish, the legs stretch out, her chelicerae move back and forth, and I can see her fangs moving, too. Her carapace has now become a bright color, her legs are of a deeper color, and her abdomen is all fluff and round. I was speaking to another expert who cautioned me about nematodes and when I went to go look at her closely for the "froth at the mouth" type description, she lifted her abdomen and had a bowel movement in the water. She was pissed at me for lifting up her dish and moving the far end closer to me .... I don't like fooling with her because I don't want to stress her out at this very delicate, uncertain time.
The day before yesterday, I gave her a meal worm gumbo... which, I don't know if she ate it because it was filled with substrate the next morning, besides the fact she had moved off of the cap of gumbo and was tilted to the side. When I went to clean it, she wouldn't let it go.
She finally let it go. I placed her back in her filled up water dish, put the hide over her like she is normal and ... that's it.
But ... her curl. She's colorful, reacts to me when I approach the tank by giving me a half-assed threat pose and ... her legs are curled ... and ... here she is. Her name is PUB, which is an acronym for Princess Urticating Bitchface.
I don't know if PUB had eaten the gumbo. All I know is that she has been like this for a long while. Do I wait til the weather gets more stable to see if she snaps out of this or is she too old or do I ... put her in the freezer? I am really struggling here. May I have some kind words of advice ... please?