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  • #1

    Bad weekend

    I'm gutted. Up until now I've been lucky with all my T's, they have been molting, eating and doing fine. But this weekend, I lost 2. For some reason my little B.Albopilosum started to shed, but never made it out of the old skin. It popped the carapace but that's as far as it got. I had noticed a cricket in there with it, and removed that quickly, but maybe it wasn't quick enough? Either the cricket had a bite, or the humidity wasn't high enough. Though none of the other's kept the same way seem to be having a problem, and it's last shed was ok. Then saturday during routine checks for shed skins and old food etc, I noticed my A.Seemaani all scrunched up at the bottom of it's burrow. I left it alone but it didn't move. Confirmed dead last night. Add to this a lost sling a couple of weeks ago, who died a day after arriving, I've lost 3 in 2 weeks now.
    I suppose these are the peril's of keeping these creatures. I do my best to make sure the conditions are correct for them, but I suppose this sort of thing is always likely to happen. I did have a successful shed, my P.Cancerides sling molted ok, but again noticed a cricket still in with her. Although I hated to disturb her, I moved her to a new sling pot, as her fangs were still white and I didn't want either a) her breaking them on trying to kill the cricket, or b) the cricket having a go back. She seems ok, and is webbing up her new home. Mad weekend. I'm hoping to get to the Newark show this weekend, where hopefully I can replace these lost T's.
    Tags: bad, weekend
  • #2
    Steve, i know your pain! learning how to keep slings alive is such a challenge. i've had some very bad luck myself. i suppose with experience we'll start to have a better success rate, but at the end of the day, slings are pretty fragile creatures. there's a very good reason hundreds are born at the same time, because not all will make it!
    it's still absolutely gutting to lose them, though!
    Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars... Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.
    -Martin Luther King Jr.

    <-Black Metal Contra Mundum->
    My Collection: - Support captive breeding

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    • #3
      Yes, they are a challenge. Still it's a buzz to watch them grow, but then a big downer when they die. I'm fretting now as I got home today to find my G.Pulchra on her back! After losing te B.Albopilosum this weekend to s bad moult, I'm very nervous now. I've misted her tank, and filled her water bowl. Humidity is up to 75% so hoping it's good enough to help her. I won't settle tonight. She's my first T, so holds a special place. She's a good 4" so I'm hoping she successfully moults as she'll look fab afterwards. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

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      • #4
        good luck mate, i'm sure she'll pull through!
        Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars... Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.
        -Martin Luther King Jr.

        <-Black Metal Contra Mundum->
        My Collection: - Support captive breeding

        Comment

        • #5
          Cheers James
          She made it About 11pm last night, phew! checked her this morning and all seems ok. Busy drying out and she's back on all 8. Skin measured in at 5", so she's knocking on 6 now. I say she, we bought her as a female, but I'm hopeless at determining sex. I suppose time will tell. But either way there are no signs of maturing into a male. Had another sling successfully moult as well, so starting to feel much better now. I'll put the others down to bad luck rather than me doing something wrong.
          Steve

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          • #6
            congrats, glad she's made it through! sounds like she's getting big...that's the nice thing about this species, they're fairly large, full grown!
            Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars... Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.
            -Martin Luther King Jr.

            <-Black Metal Contra Mundum->
            My Collection: - Support captive breeding

            Comment

            • #7
              Yes, nice spiders. But hard to breed I've been told. Think that's why we don't see many slings around. I'm glad I removed the cricket the night before now. Can't believe it's taken 5 weeks from last eating to her eventually moulting. I'll give her a week, then see how hungry she is. She's a lot skinnier than she was. I'm sure she'll be ravenous. As I say, she was my first purchase so was sweating all would go ok. Things looking good so far.

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              • #8
                great!
                yeh, i guess they have a long moult cycle.
                i bought a male and a friend of mine got a female, so when they both mature (in about 4 years) we'll be attempting to mate them.
                Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars... Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.
                -Martin Luther King Jr.

                <-Black Metal Contra Mundum->
                My Collection: - Support captive breeding

                Comment

                • #9
                  Hi,

                  I'm really sorry to hear about your spiders - that is a pretty terrible weekend.

                  A tip that I was given for tarantulas who look as though they are struggling to complete a moult is to roll up sausages of kitchen paper and soak them in water and place them around the tarantula so the immediated environment is very humid. The tarantula keeper from Whipsnade told me this, what a star as it helped enormously.

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                  • #10
                    Thanks Claudia
                    Yes, hopefully won't have too many of those. Thanks for the tip, I'll keep it mind for future problems. My B.Albopilosum though hadn't even started to make it out of the old skin. It was plenty humid in there too, I checked with my portable hydrometer.

                    James
                    Nightmare! My she has turned out to be a HE! I got my first good look at her....sorry him last night after work. He was all sprawled out (must easily be 6" now) and the hooks were there as plain as day. I'm so deflated. I didn't buy the spider as a female, but said I'd prefer one. They aren't cheap, and I've only had him 5 minutes. Still I have heard of these living for a lot longer than the 3-6 months most adult males last for. So I might be able to enjoy him for a while yet.
                    I ended up rehousing some of my slings last night. I found that my A.Seemani had died from some sort of fungal infection. It had dug a burrow, but this was always very wet, and I could never get in there to soak up the excess moisture. Since I found this I've rehoused 3 into better suited containers and added more ventilation. It's such a fine line with slings. Fail in one area and it could be curtains for them. The joys of owning Tarantulas, lol

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                    • #11
                      i know exactly what you mean. mould is a killer, and it's hard to guard against. i use vermiculite in most containers just because i know it's not as conducive to mould growth as soil is. of course, remains of crickets can also grow mouldy, so the peril remains

                      sad about your G. pulchra...you should give him a chance to breed! i'm sure someone on here must have a mature female. if you're coming to Newark, try and hook up some deal there.
                      the slings can be quite lucrative to sell, as they produce around 800 young when successful!
                      so it may not be all bad news
                      Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars... Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.
                      -Martin Luther King Jr.

                      <-Black Metal Contra Mundum->
                      My Collection: - Support captive breeding

                      Comment

                      • #12
                        Well any of the containers that are heavy in condensation are being replaced. It seems worse in the ones that dig the deep burrows. The 3 I moved last night seem ok. I hate disturbing them, but after last weekend I'm a bit twitchy.

                        I'll post a thread after xmas. I'll feed him up first and get him built up a bit as he's looking a bit skinny. Then see if anyone fancies trying to breed using him. I just know if he goes I won't see him again. It's just a bitter pill to swallow as he is one of my favourites. Also thought he's be a round for a good while yet

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