sads death

[darrell hetzel]

quick question for the masses.

my friend has an A. versicolor. tonight she passed. i know that slings are fragile little creatures, and will pass for appearantly no reason. she was two days behinde on eating and stayed on the ground. he figured it was just premoult. the interesting part is she died in almost a agrivated pose. one front limb wass up and fangs where bared. i have a horrable camera and can not get a good picture of somthing so small. has anyone seen anything like this?


p.s.
anyone got info on s.a.d.s. (sudden Avic death syndrome)?

[Elaine Ross]

Info on S.A.D.S.......there is no such thing. It's only a name given by people that didnt know how to care for them in the way they needed.

Avics are no more fragile than any other T to raise if the conditions are correct. Get the husbandry correct and there are generally no problems.

There are many reason for slings dying but it its more noticeable in captivity where natural selection of the weakest isnt playing a part in the deaths. There will most likely be a few from each eggsac that will die for no noticeable reason.
In my experience, I've noticed that the people that are losing Avic slings to "S.A.D.S" are keeping them in tubs that are way too small, too humid, not enough ventilation etc. Its always been assumed that the deaths are down to Avics being fragile where in reality, with the correct conditions, they are hardy little tykes. I tend to keep all my Avics dry with light misting twice a week and have had no issues raising them. People assume that to achieve high humidity they need to be kept wet.
Enclosure size seems to be an issue too, I keep all my slings in large tubs where they have room to hunt and a choice of areas to web. Given lots of space Avics will actively hunt which is awesome to watch especially in something as small as 1cm.

[darrell hetzel]

thanks for the info. i had heard "sads" thrown into a conversation once, and that is all i knew about it. i do know that avics are fragile. the only one i have i got as an adult. although its never a plesant thing for a sling to die, i hope the information will help if i get one as a sling. the info will be passed on. thanks again.