Your first experience with losing a T?

[SoulSpiegel12]

I realize this topic can be very touchy but I actually just had my first experience with a dead T. It was my little juvenile b smithi I had for almost a year who ended up passing away last night. I will admit when I discovered it's body with no life in it, I cried for a couple hours. It was my very first T and I miss it very much. How did you all deal with your first T loss?

 

[Toxoderidae]

Only lost one T. Wet Molt. Called her corpse a filthy communist. She was a petco T. Did everything I could, died 2 months later.

 

[chanda]

My first loss was a wild-caught local Aphonopelma (one that I had caught myself) that hooked out as a mature male after I'd had him for a few months. I knew the clock was ticking, but it was still kind of sad when he finally died - not to mention inconvenient timing! I'd brought a bunch of my bugs and spiders to my kids' school for our annual Halloween Creepy Crawly Bug Day. (I actually brought them the day before, so I'd have everything set up and ready to go in the morning.) He was looking a little sluggish, but I was hoping he'd hang in there for just one more day. Unfortunately, no such luck. When I showed up Halloween morning, he was in a death curl. All I could do was shove the cage under a table and hope the kids wouldn't notice.

At least that one was expected. My juvenile P. irminia (who I just posted about the other day) had a bad molt and lost a leg. (I'd initially thought it was two legs, but it turned out she just had one tucked under her in a weird way.) I was hoping she'd recover, but it doesn't look like that's happening. She's had very limited mobility, only moving a few inches in the last three days, and now she isn't moving at all. I've tried hydrating her, but beyond that, there really isn't anything I can do. It's really disappointing to lose her - of all my recent acquisitions, she was my favorite - and I keep wondering if there was anything I could have done differently. It's always sad losing any of the little creatures we take into our care.

 

[ErinM31]

I received a dead sling from a dealer, but that really doesn't count as it was dead before it was really mine.

My real first experience losing a T was my AF Euathlus sp. red whom I only had for a few months, but the night I realized that she likely didn't have much longer, it hit me hard and I cried quite a bit. It was a much more subdued sadness when she passed a day or two later. She was wild-caught and likely old; looking back, there were signs. I really did all that I could for her and took comfort in knowing that at least her last days were as peaceful and comfortable as possible.

My condolences on your losses, @SoulSpiegel12 and @chanda

 

[TheInv4sion]

My first time losing a T was 110% my fault. When I got my first T I chose a G. rosea because of the small price tag. I was handling it in my Kitchen (horrible idea) and my brother randomly screamed from his room which caused me to flinch. She immediately bolted away and fell towards the floor. I made an attempt to catch her but missed and she ruptured her abdomen. I used super glue to help seal the wound, but she passed away several days later. I hated myself for it for a good while before buying a G. porteri, A. chalcodes, and A. avic. A different WC G. rosea died in my care for no apparent reason. I have reason to believe it was mature male that just died from age but I cannot remember exactly what it looked like. My last T to die was my WC Avic avic. It appeared to have died due to either parasite or disease/bacteria.

 

[MorganRose]

I'm sorry for your loss, I completely understand where your coming from.
Unfortunately it is going to happen in this hobby.
I've lost 2 mature males, a.avic, c.huahini and I have a old mature L. Parahybana who matured over a year ago and is still going.
I lost one female p.chordatus a few months ago to what I suspect was old age, when I cleared her home out I found a phantom egg sack, I was really devastated when she died, she was very beautiful and very docile.

 

[MorganRose]

Do you think it's harder for people who name their tarantulas?
There must be more sentimental attachment to a being that you've named compared to one that you haven't.

 

[chanda]

Do you think it's harder for people who name their tarantulas?
There must be more sentimental attachment to a being that you've named compared to one that you haven't.

Yes, I do think it would be harder to lose a named tarantula - not necessarily because it was named but because (at least for me) I probably won't bother to name a tarantula with whom I don't feel a sentimental connection. I don't automatically name all of my inverts - just the ones that have something unique about them above and beyond typical species traits. Others are just referred to by species, gender, size, or other descriptive terms. (Eg. the big male D. diadema, the juvenile GBB, etc.) The ones I've raised from slings (vs. the ones I've purchased as adults or sub-adults) and the ones that have more of a "personality" that I've gotten to know over time are the ones that I'm going to name - and the ones that I will feel worst about losing.

A bigger factor, though - at least for me - is whether or not I feel like there was something I could or should have done about it. A mature male dying of old age is disappointing, but he's lived his life and there's nothing I could have done to prolong it. In addition to a couple of tarantulas, I've also lost a number of other inverts (scorpions, centipedes, millipedes, mantises, whip spiders, vinegaroons, etc.) over the years. As long as they were mature specimens at or near the end of their natural lives anyway, I don't really feel too badly about losing them - particularly species with short life spans to begin with. With juveniles, on the other hand, I always wonder if there is something I did wrong or should have done differently.

 

[MorganRose]

I completely agree with you, you've got a very interesting outlook on this subject.

I think a lot of keepers go through those emotions and thoughts, I'd imagine people loose that attachment when they have a large amount of tarantulas or perhaps turn their hobby into a profession.

I've got 37 tarantulas and I've only named 21 of them, and as you mentioned the individuals that I haven't named don't have those unqiue characteristics or other have more then one of the particular species, I still treat them equally obviously.

 

[SausageinaNet]

My first T was also a small B.smithi. I had it for around one year when it died. I wasn't really emotional about it but instead I really wanted to know what went wrong. The T hadn't eaten in around 6 months and was very scared of its food and anything which wasnt the point the first 6 months I had her.
My outlook on Ts dieing might seem cruel to some people but especially when it comes to slings I see it like this: We seperate them early so not to many will get eaten and we try to get as many through as we can but nature does pretty much the opposite by killing of the weak ones and letting only the strong survive.
Over all I lost 3 Ts now and it will never be a nice feeling to find a dead T. You should keep in mind the more your collection grows and especially with more small slings you will probably have to deal with more deaths. Nobody is immune to Ts dieing in their care and I am pretty sure that even after 50 years of owning countless Ts you will get some that just weren't supposed to make it through.

 

[Venom1080]

Versi sling, felt sad for a bit, almost cried. But felt better in a couple hours. I still miss it a little bit however..

 

[YagerManJennsen]

My first loss was back in January when I was still just starting out. I had a little baby B. albopilosum sling. Just molted into an inch long, I was so happy to see it grow...only to discover that it escaoed out of one of the ventilation holes in the starbucks cup it was housed in. To this day I still let loose a couple crickets a week, just hoping that it might still be alive somewhere and being able to occasionally eat.

 

[MorganRose]

My first loss was back in January when I was still just starting out. I had a little baby B. albopilosum sling. Just molted into an inch long, I was so happy to see it grow...only to discover that it escaoed out of one of the ventilation holes in the starbucks cup it was housed in. To this day I still let loose a couple crickets a week, just hoping that it might still be alive somewhere and being able to occasionally eat.

Is it hot where you live? Chances are it's probably still alive.
I had a h. Colombia small sling which escaped in December and I found it at the beginning of Feb, I was surprised because the average temperature was like 5 degrees.

 

[YagerManJennsen]

Inside it's usually around 70 degrees F. We have 5 cats so there's a possibility that a cat could have gotten a hold of it and killed it.

 

[MorganRose]

Fair enough man, still tarantulas are masters of stealth, you'd be surprised.

 

[YagerManJennsen]

Fair enough man, still tarantulas are masters of stealth, you'd be surprised.

Very true. Since it was so small I doubt that it would go adventuring out in the open.m,y first thoughts were that it couldn't have gone far and was probably somewhere close by in a dark space or under a piece of furniture.

 

[KezyGLA]

I have only lost one T. It was my second T an A. Avic. I raised it from sling to juvenile and then when I split up with my ex she opened the windows in my bedroom where I kept my Avic alongside my G. Porteri. It was the middle of a scottish winter with temps below freezing.

I got home from work to find my house frozen Avic in death curl completly unresponsive. I was very upset at the time. It was a great little T but very delicate. My G. Porteri managed to survive somehow. I guess they really are a hardy T. It was very sluggish and took a while to come out from its burrow. I was so happy the Porteri made it. It softened the blow. I still have her 10 years on

 

[xFujimoto]

I haven't lost a T yet, but I've been expecting it from a few days after bringing home my first one, since it was a pet store acquired mature male g.rosea. At the time, I actually didn't know the difference between male & females, so I've been calling him a her ever since, it just stuck. Name's Aurelia, and I know I'm going to be upset when she dies. If I think about it too much even now I cry

I bought Aurelia in September 2014...she...he, is still alive. I'm thankful but I know it's going to hit me hard when she finally dies.

 

[WildPortraitArtist]

My first ever tarantula, a juvenile euathlus sp. red, died a day after exhibiting DKS last week Only been in the hobby 3 months, was not expecting to lose one so soon, especially not her.... I'm devastated that I lost her

 

[pnshmntMMA]

Had an A versicolor sling die on me for no reason. It happens.