Out of character behaviour

[Richard Pike]

Hello all !!

I am new to the forum and Tarantulas in general and I hope you all don't mind if I ask a couple of questions about my new friends...

Avicularia avicularia (Pinktoe tarantula). I've had her about three weeks now and I'm not sure she's settling. He's quite small, approx. 2 inches leg span, and spends a large portion of the day (and night) near the bottom of the viv hiding. I've seen her (him?) taking a trip around the tank late at night and know she's been eating. The tank itself is approx. 17 inches tall and contains various items to crawl over and produce a web on if so desired. Temperature low-mid 20s. I'm misting the tank every second say or so - spraying down towards the substrate (quite shallow) as I'm not sure whether she likes everything wet.

Haplopelma lividum (Cobalt blue). This is my most recent addition - only had him 5 days now - he's approx. 2 inches leg span. When he entered his tank he just sat there for a while, that night he found the hide and vanished for two days... that's it I thought, my pet hole has arrived. To my surprise he's now back out - this morning sitting next to the heat mat and this evening on top of the hide in full view (Not that I'm complaining!). My thought is that perhaps the substrate may be too wet for him?

Any comments on the above gratefully accepted.

Thanks

Richard

[Peter Roach]

1) I think that the avic should be kept in the mid to high 20's

2) I havent kept many avics but the ones that i did have HATED being moved and would take weeks to settle in before webbing up

3) For any spider to be sitting on a heatmat and especially a pethole like a lividum, shout one thing to me . . . . . . TOO COLD ! ! !

[Colin D Wilson]

The Guyanan Avic will be ok in that tank, there's plenty of room for it to roam around thats for sure and is a good thing as they are quite exploratory, just make sure there's enough ventilation. I'd personally cut down on the spraying and give it a good spray only every week for drinking water, then let it dry out quite a bit.
The temp could go up a tad, and as Pete says some Avics won't web in a new tank untill they've settled and sometimes even until they're getting ready for a moult.

Haplopelma .... not really into these but as Pete said if its sitting near a heat mat then i'd assume it's a bit too low temp for it to go about its normal "live in a hole" life.

[Richard Pike]

Hello Peter and Colin,

I've increased the ambient room temperature to 26 degrees to see how it goes. I've noticed the avic has started her web so it was probably just a settling in period... The H. lividum is still patrolling the tank looking lost... I think he'll settle in okay, but at this early stage he is giving me time for some great pictures before he vanishes.

Thanks both for the replies.

[ralfkonen]

Where are the pictures then, Richard?

[Richard Pike]

I've added a couple to the pictures area of the forum... not managed to capture the PinkToe yet... she's being very elusive.

Here is a link to the picture thread

[Richard Pike]

Very stationery Cobalt Blue...

Sorry guys - more advice required.

My Cobalt Blue has decided not to move. It's been approx 48 hours in this position now and I'm waiting patiently... I don't know if he is about to moult or perhaps something more sinister.

Any suggestions?

[Lee Corless]

[QUOTE=Richard Pike;54544]Sorry guys - more advice required.

My Cobalt Blue has decided not to move. It's been approx 48 hours in this position now and I'm waiting patiently... I don't know if he is about to moult or perhaps something more sinister.

Any suggestions?

I do not know what to suggest... I have 2 adult female H. Livs..... one has made her hole and lives in it and takes food with no problems. My other one has never made an attempt to build a hole... She just sits on the substrate. hardly moving or eating....

they are both in excatly the set up, large critter keeper with the exact same substrate and exactly same depth of substrate.

So i do not know what to suggest. but I would welcome answers too.

[Richard Pike]

Thanks Lee,

It's a little worrying that s/he has not moved in the last couple of days... I just hope it's the moulting process and nothing too serious. I really do not like the way in which the legs are starting to curl under the body!!

I've only had him/her for about 10 days... I don't think that s/he had a chance to settle very well...

At least if it is a moult I can stop saying s/he !!

[Peter Roach]

Try sticking something into the substrate to start a hole, it may just need a helping hand to remind it that it is supposed to live underground LOL

You havent mentioned what the set up is.
ie. Type and depth of substrate, decor etc

[Richard Pike]

Thanks for the reply Peter.

I think he was just a sick spider. Came in this morning (day 3 of not moving) and he seems to have eggs on him - so I'm assuming he's no longer with us.



For info. the tank is probably too shallow.. Small glass viv. 4 inches deep of eco-earth. About 14 inches long. The hide was a long piece of cork bark down the middle (he spent a couple of days under it). Not much decor in there. Just the bark and a water dish.

[James Box]

Thanks for the reply Peter.

I think he was just a sick spider. Came in this morning (day 3 of not moving) and he seems to have eggs on him - so I'm assuming he's no longer with us.

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For info. the tank is probably too shallow.. Small glass viv. 4 inches deep of eco-earth. About 14 inches long. The hide was a long piece of cork bark down the middle (he spent a couple of days under it). Not much decor in there. Just the bark and a water dish.

hi there, i'm sorry this is probably too late,but i think those might be mites that have gorged. mites themselves are not a worry usually as they hitchhike on a living animal and drop off whenever food is nearby (ie dead and decaying matter like dead crickets). but these look full. they as far as i know don't eat living things.

whenever a spider is starting to curl up like that, it might be dehydrated. if it's weak and can't straighten out, it's one of the few times i'd personally suggest hand watering. it has on occasion worked for me. the worry is that the spider may perk up quickly and all the rest you can expect from a scared spider!
you can try lowering the spider's mouthparts into a waterbowl (making sure the booklungs are clear). the other method that i have tried is physically picking up the spider and while holding it upside down, dripping water onto its mouth.
i managed to save my Chilobrachys sp andersoni (that sadly didn't place at the BTS expo boohoo) a year or 2 back by doing this. each day for 5 days i did this, and each day she would perk up slightly and turn herself over. i'd carefully rehouse her after, and everyone was happy. i could tell she was doing better each day, and on the last day, as soon as i cracked the lid, she darted into her burrow, signifying that she was fine!

so that may help if you're faced with something like this in the future (if it is in fact too late to save this spider), it's something you can try. i must stress that this is not "encouraged" as handling is often dangerous for both you and the spider. but with some care and caution and common sense, it may work. at the very least, the first method of putting the spider mouth down in their waterbowl, may work and is probably safer and less stressful for the spider, so i'd try that first.

all that being said, i have heard that alot of Haplos seem to emerge into open air and die with little sign that anything was wrong. i've had it happen a few times myself, though having thought it through more, i strongly suspect i over-watered and over-fed. i'd certainly like another bash at lividum, so may try again one day.

also, if this was an adult, it's always possible she was just old.

also i didn't spot anyone else mentioning it, but if the spider was in moult, she wouldn't be curling and looking stiff. the most common position for moulting is lying flat on their backs. moulting upright does occur, but it is very rare.

[Colin D Wilson]

Possibly he was originally wild caught and has underlying problems.

Those "eggs" look quite big, looked like mites for a start... i'd be tempted to keep em in a container and see if the hatch out ... just to see what they are.

The substrate could be a fair amount deeper, i'd be inclined to give 8 inches minimum for this type of spider.... they do well in cereal tubs to be honest... i know you wouldn't be able to see it but then again if it dug to the extent it should have then you wouldn't see it anyway

[Richard Pike]

Hello James,

Thanks for the reply and very sound advise! I never thought that he may be dehydrated. I had him for less than 2 weeks and he never really settled. His Viv was very wet tho... too wet really for my liking. I'm not sure on his age - going my size I thought he was quite small so assumed he was quite young. But this was probably misleading.

It's too late to save this one - he mites have taken hold. But I will bare this in mind should this sort of thing happen again.

[Richard Pike]

Hello Colin,

Can't believe how quick the mites appeared. Last night I was wondering what was wrong with my T. This morning the 'eggs' appeared tonight they have hatches and ... well you can guess the rest.

Not being a mite expert, any idea what these are? And could it be these that killed the T?



Thanks.