ICU early success

[wayne balcombe]

hi all,

i brought a spider home from my local pet shop today, its a Ceratogyrus marshalli that is about 3.5" legspan.
When i popped into the shop earlier it was in a complete death curl and i did indeed think it was dead. i pointed this out the the shop owner and he immediately took the tub that it was in to the bin ready to throw it away but i saw it move, well twitch a little, so i stopped him and asked if i could have the spider (free of course) to see if i could get it back to healthy condition, he looked at me in a way that said "good luck and hope you enjoy a challenge" but i took it anyway.

1500 - I removed the spider from the cricket tub it was in using a pair of rubber tipped tweezers and laid it upsidedown to inspect it for parasites, it did not struggle and was too weak to turn back over so stayed in the "death curl" position. No mites or other parasites found.

1510 - i placed the spider in a cricket tub i prepared with several layers of wet kitchen towel, put the lid on and placed the ICU on my spider cabinet, the temperature is maintained at 26.2 degrees during the day and a drop to 23.7 at night.

1535 - The spiders legs are starting to come out of the death curl and leg IV on the right hand side is almost completely extended. the spider is moving more now and seems to be drinking from the wet kitchen towel.

1545 - i went back to work.

1925 - the spider is no longer in a death curl and has started to move around the ICU.

2100 - the spider is now looking perfectly fine and is moving around the ICU with no problems, the spider is now acting quite agressively when the tub is picked up taking up a defensive posture.

So far it seems that the ICU has worked a treat and i'm very impressed with the recovery this spider has made, i was convinced when i started this endevour that it would fail and the outcome would be the eventual demise of the spider as it seemed in such a bad way when i first saw it, but its recovery has astonished me, these are exremely robust spiders and with a little care and attention seem to recover rapidly.

i plan on keeping the spider in the ICU for a couple more days and then house it in a slightly moist environment and see how it gets on.

[Kurt Baird]

Fantastic news!

Hope it continues on the path of recovery!

[ralfkonen]

Well done,Wayne, and thanks for posting this.
I think that's very useful information for newbies like me.

[wayne balcombe]

This morning i checked on my patient and it seems in very high spirits, attacking and striking at the the wet kitchen towl in the ICU when i picked it up.

considering this spider was about an hour from death when i picked it up yesterday i'd say thats a positive sign.

[James Box]

nice one! it's always nice when it works!!!

[wayne balcombe]

thanks james, i've never found the need to ICU a spider before and didn't think it would be as effective as it has been with this one, i would assume that due to the rapid recovery of the spider, severe dehydration was the underlying cause of its disstress.

i fed the little blighter tonight and it did not hesitate to destroy and devour the small hopper handed to it.

[James Box]

yeah it sounds like you caught it just in time.
it seems sometimes there's a point of no return, but othertimes a good drink is all that's needed to restore a spider from near death!
really pleased for you that it worked in this case!

[Tania Baker]

wow... i have 2 of this species... one 3/4" sling and a 3" .... well done you on bringing the spider back from the brink of death .... I look forward to updates... and what a bargain!!! A free "dead" T that turns out to be full of life with the right TLC ... pics would be appreciated. Well done!!! Love it when a story has a happy ending

[wayne balcombe]

Hi Tania, this is a species i've not had much experience with and after seeing this one up close i wonder why i'd not added one to my collection earlier, they are really nice spiders.

i'll be removing it from the ICU later today and housing in a temperary set up so i'll get some pictures when i do that.

i'll keep you all updated.

[Kurt Baird]

They are a brilliant species. Just fed mine a small hopper, and is now doing laps of its pot with this hopper in its mouth.

[Phil Rea]

Well done on the recovery, but once it's back up and running don't over moisten it in general. Just make sure it has constant access to a water bowl, and enough substrate to burrow

[wayne balcombe]

Sorry to dig this thread up again but thought i'd report on the latest.

this spider has been doing really well and developed a voracious appetite utill a couple of weeks ago when it stopped eating and sealed itself in its burrow, on thursday i checked on it and found it had moulted and whats more is deffo a female.

[Denny Teasdale]

Well done bud...and to think the pet shop was just going to throw the T away...!!! you would think they would have and ICU themselves...!!!!

I like a happy ending..!

[wayne balcombe]

Cheers denny, its made a nice addition to my collection and to be honest i havent seen many of these around for a while so a confirmed female is always a bonus.

The bloke in the pet shop now knows what an ICU is and how to utilize it and has done a couple of times since this incident, thats due to the fact that most reptile retailers concentrate on there scaley stock's wellbeing and the inverts are often an after thought so dont recieve the correct care.