Xenesthis immanis is struggling

fcat

Arachnodemon
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He has been in his hide religiously for the last two weeks. His sister molted around the time he disappeared. I have been monitoring him daily however, because when I bought him he has a tiny perforation in his abdomen and was leaking fluids. I have been taking off the old starch as it molds, and reapplying fresh for at least a month now. I have watched his abdomen swell, observed a few position changes but he hasn't come out or shown his feet to express interest in food.

This morning I noticed him completely out, looking nice and plump. He looked normal but was not moving. Tonight he is acting unlike any other tarantula.

He seems very weak, his movements are ataxic. I can see fluid leaking from his carapace. At the risk of sounding completely foolish, my intuition is telling me he having trouble popping his carapace and is extremely uncomfortable.

Here are a couple videos. The most concerning movement is in the last one...it's nothing short of writhing. He's been doing it with the substrate too (although it looks like he is trying to free himself from the moss). Like he is hugging it. The back legs usually stay relaxed and I see gentle movements, like you'd see during molting.

Since he has been hiding out in his burrow, I have been using a syringe to target water within his hide, and then I keep the lower layers moist by overflowing a water dish in the corner with a bundle of moss in the corner behind it to act like a drain, so I can keep the top layer on the dry side. His hide/burrow is about 8 inches long, and I water the back corner.

Today I placed a bottle cap to slide under him. I sprayed the wall where he retreated to when he touched the water in the cap. I also added a larger bowl so he can't travel very far without encountering a water dish.

He is in a room with 100ish other tarantulas. No one has ever exhibited anything close to this. His sister and neighbor is on the same watering schedule, she's thriving. There are no other pets in the house aside from isopods and leopard geckos, in another room.

This one shows the delicate back leg movements while he's hugging substrate, and a little glistening is visible at the carapace/trochanter level. Full enclosure briefly visible at the end, more/better pictures can be provided if you think it will matter


This one shows all the legs moving. He inched deeper and deeper into his hide over the course of 30 minutes, then made his way back out in a matter of one or two.


This last one is the best depiction of the writhing movement. He will hug the substrate too if that's what's under him. The only thing he wants nothing to do with is water. He's acting nothing short of revolted by it. I guess I am relieved to see him fighting with something he can drink from.


I have since left him alone. I feel like he is trying to molt and can't.

Picture of fluid coming from carapace. We have survived each other this long it will be a shame to get him so close to fixing his leak to lose him now.
PXL_20231107_011029520.jpg

Here is his perforation. It looks dry. I have been ridiculously careful applying starch as to not drop any on his spinnerets.

PXL_20231107_012335298~2.jpg
 

DonLouchese

Arachnosquire
Joined
Oct 16, 2022
Messages
103
Hello there,

by behaviour wise I wouldn't say It's to worrying yet. I think this T could actually manage to pull through if he can get through molt succesfully and by your recordings I can tell he is very very close. Would be a shame if he didn't make it to the molting stage - then what happens is not in your hands.

I wish you the best of luck .

Regards,

Don
 

fcat

Arachnodemon
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696
Hello there,

by behaviour wise I wouldn't say It's to worrying yet. I think this T could actually manage to pull through if he can get through molt succesfully and by your recordings I can tell he is very very close. Would be a shame if he didn't make it to the molting stage - then what happens is not in your hands.

I wish you the best of luck .

Regards,

Don
Thank you for weighing in, this does reassure me. He has remained on the moss bed by his water dish. It wicks so it's a nice soft bed.

I'll be leaving for a 24 hour shift in a few hours. Ironically my job is to save humans from their toe pain, stainless steel allergy, or heart stopping and it kills me that there is no one to save my boy.
 

DonLouchese

Arachnosquire
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Oct 16, 2022
Messages
103
Let's bet he'll save himself. I remember myself giving up sometimes with Ts , when then again everything turned out fine. So yeah let's hope for the best and keep us posted!

- most likely you've seen some miracles happen in human healthcare, so this is nothing different.
 

fcat

Arachnodemon
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696
I just got home from work. He was found in the same position as when I left.

He is still moving, but much weaker. He isn't fighting me so I placed him on water dish.

He looks so playful here but I'm certain he is deteriorating. As far as I can tell, he still won't drink, I've seen his chelicerae move once.

The swimming motion I believe is his attempt to get away from the water.

Here are two videos. On the time it took me to write this, L3 and L4 on both sides have curled under him. He is still swimming with the rest.

Between the videos, I nudged him back a bit off the edge of the bowl. As soon as he is free from water he tries to hug anything he can (my paint brush).

I'm off the next three days to observe. Should I be more aggressive with watering him? Or should I wait for him to become less responsive first? Or should I be focusing on alleviating stimuli?

I moved him to the top shelf of my 78° room before leaving for work yesterday.






Thank you.
 

fcat

Arachnodemon
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696
It's been 4 days. He hasn't moved since last night except he was in a full blown death curl this morning. His spinnerets were moving though. I took pictures of his carapace last night so I could monitor for changes, and then compared before disturbing him today. Just in case my theory of him not being able to pop was true, by my definition he is already molting. I didn't want to disturb a molting spider but I'm considering euthanasia at this point.

I pinch grabbed him and put him on the water dish in a more deliberate attempt to water him, making sure his mouth parts were submerged. I left him there for about 15 minutes until I noticed his chelicerae start to move. He was maintaining a very tight position with his fangs and I never saw them move.

I decided to place him on his back after taking him off the water dish. I picked him up and positioned his body vertical then placed a spatula to his dorsal side and then lowered them down together horizontally. I placed a few water drops to see if it would elicit a reaction. He moved his fangs a little bit the drops did not disappear, they ran down off of him as he moved his fangs.

I decided to give him a few hours on the spatula before deciding to attempt fluids one last time, and then euthanize him if I couldn't get him to drink. This has been a bad week, in as few words as possible my relationship is on thin ice over this spider, my boyfriend thinks I'm crying about us lol, and I still have to put him out of his misery, but mine too. I swear he is trapped in there and no one can hear us crying for help. And the longer he tries, the weaker he will get.

I woke from a nap to this. He's alive. How much time should I give him to right himself? I can anticipate he will be too weak.
PXL_20231109_212013580.jpg
 

DonLouchese

Arachnosquire
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Oct 16, 2022
Messages
103
Hello there,

From the picture presented he looks just like any other spider after molting. He should turn over at any point. I'd still be positive.

I mean you got to the point where he is either good to go or he died in the process.

I would say that there is to much thinking involved but he didn't look any different from the start of the thread just a slow spider close to molt. Patience, these buddies are doctors themselves.

Regards,
Don
 

fcat

Arachnodemon
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Joined
Jan 1, 2023
Messages
696
Hello there,

From the picture presented he looks just like any other spider after molting. He should turn over at any point. I'd still be positive.

I mean you got to the point where he is either good to go or he died in the process.

I would say that there is to much thinking involved but he didn't look any different from the start of the thread just a slow spider close to molt. Patience, these buddies are doctors themselves.

Regards,
Don
Hello and thanks for stopping again!!!!!!!

i can see his sucking stomach molted. He's still moving his legs continuously so that is reassuring. Hopefully he gets some wind in his sails by morning; my camping trip will be much more enjoyable without having to worry if he flipped or not.

i appreciate your time and wisdom, good sir! Hopefully I'll be back with a positive final update in a few weeks.
 

fcat

Arachnodemon
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Messages
696
Hi Don!

Wanted to share this with you:

IMG_20231120_082655.jpg

That is a cricket that he tracked down and caught.

About 3 days ago his fangs were black, so I gave him a twitching cricket. At first he ignored it, then I found him standing over it and doing some squats? All I can describe it as was it was like he was picking up and placing the food, and webbing his catch, but he forgot to pick up the cricket. He never ate it. He ran away from my shadow into his hide. HUGE PROGRESS. I finally pulled the spatula that I had been using as yet another water reservoir. He has been all over every square inch now, dry or moist substrate. His abdomen looked the smallest it's been since he molted.

About 5 days ago his movements became intentional. Although I would call it a scamper. I'm not saying he's gimpy, but I haven't seen him walking around anywhere. Just appearing in new places. I have not done a single thing to stimulate him, I've only refilled his water dishes. On this day I noticed one of his spinnerets moving continuously, while the other is in a tightly held position to the abdomen. I mentioned in an older post that this was the only movement I saw out of him when he was in a death curl.

After he molted until about 7 days ago. I would describe the movements as a continuous ripple, gentle, like the motion of a waterbed. Water is lava, he wants nothing to do with it. He pushed his molt away though. That was my first good sign.

As of today, the spinneret is flaccid. I still have not seen him drink but I haven't seen anything close to a death curl either. I'll call this a comeback after he completes his next molt?

Youve given this guy more time @DonLouchese by keeping me hopeful, and the second I can say you saved his life, I will. We are eternally grateful. ❤❤❤

-Lisa and Rougaroo
 

DonLouchese

Arachnosquire
Joined
Oct 16, 2022
Messages
103
Hello there!

I am very glad that you've overcome the situation togheter with your beautifull girl/boi. As always the key element is to trust into the power of nature to do it's own and most certainly it always surprises us. I can say that the little lad looks absolutely stunning and makes me want to get another one of immanis this instant haha.

As always great pleasure to help and I hope he/she has a lot more beautiful years to come. Maybe you've even realised what it is from the last molt he completed which would be then awesome so you can name him :p

Best regards and to many new adventures,

Don
 
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