my chilean rose

[Paul Thurston]

Hi I have a Chilean Rose Tarantula.....in the past week i have noticed that my crt has not eaten and has at the same time become less inactive.She seems to have trouble walking as though she has joints problem and upon studying her she becomes somewhat skittish and continually wanders round in circles flailing her legs continuously over her back. On closer observation she seems to have a bald spot on her abdomen......could she be shedding ? and if so how long would this last as she seems to be in great discomfort.

Any ideas or help would be greatfully recieved.

[James Box]

it could be a couple of things...one is possible dehydration. the solution is to give her some fresh water and make sure she drinks. she should lower herself down over the waterbowl and have a good old sip, if this is the problem. repeat for a few days til she appears to recover.
you may have some success with an "ICU," which is basically just a small, unfurnished container big enough for her and a source of water. adding some damp kitchen roll may help raise the humidity. be cautious of overwatering in that state, and it may stress her out. it's best in my opinion if you can just ensure she drinks in her tank, but again letting her discover it for herself may be the best tack.

the other possibility i can think of is something similar to mammalian dyskinetic syndrome (though it's actually something else). this seems to have a chemical cause which could be a variety of things. i hope this isn't the problem as it usually means death

it's worth searching this forum for ICU, dehdration or Dyskinetic Syndrome, and you may find some other tips.

good luck to you and your Grammostola rosea

[Aaron Annal]

Hi Paul,
A G.rosea can go months without food and mine can seem not to move for weeks but from what you describe with how she is walking doesnt sound like she is molting but i could be wrong.
Is the bald spot on her abdomen dark ?
If she was getting ready to molt it would be have you got a water bowl in with her ? so she has access to fresh water
If she is getting ready to molt she could go a long time before she does as mine stops eating months before she actualy molts.
Aaron

Edit-As James says an ICU is worth a try if she isnt using the bowl provided

[James Box]

oh should add that a bald abdomen doesn't indicate a moult, it just indicates stress has happened at some point, or maybe she likes eating cricket pincushions lol
as Aaron says, the bald spot should go very dark before a moult.

[Paul Thurston]

Thanks for the advice....Since having purchased my arachnid she has always had access to clean fresh water but in the four months of having had her ive never seen her drink! I was always led to believe that they took fluids from their diet of crickets,and that water was just an additional source for humidity along with misting.
But again many thanks for the input.

[James Box]

yeah, for this species it's not a common sight...but they do get thirsty to sometimes and need an extra amount.
i'm told there's a morning mist where they come from, so they do have access to some water there...
it's hard to replicate that in captivity, as in the wild the moisture would dry quickly, and in captivity misting daily would raise humidity to unacceptable levels...