Phlogius sp. goliath

[James Box]

sounds good! i will sign up methinks
congrats to Lauren for her successful treatment!!!

[Grant Miller]

Update - Loza`s T , the white crusty mass (dead dry nematodes) that was being expelled from the T after treatment is now gone and the T has been taking prey / feeding / webbing in a normal manner .
this is the second 100% successful case of an adult T severely infected with nematodes being brought back to good health from the brink of certain death .
All things considered I`m very happy with the end result , I Know loza (Lauren) is .
I will ask Lauren if she will post her steps of my treatment for her t (full pics from beginning of infection right through to cure plus the equipement used during the process) . I`m not sure as yet whether we are using it as an article in our soon to be released bi-annual journal "Thula" but if we are then I doubt she will post it here .
The Australian invertebrates forums journal "Thula" is free to download but you will need to sign up to the forum (free) to access the journal .

PS- the journal contains a very lengthy article about Australian funnel webs aswell as a disection by me of an adult Selenotypus sp.3 which died from a fall onto its water bowl plus many many other interesting articles about Australian inverts which would be of use to you new collectors of our T`s from down under .
Cheers Grant "Grunto" Miller .

[James Box]

that's great news about Loza's spider!

as for more fantastic T's becoming available to us over here, that is brilliant!
all the best with the breeding!

my "Nebo"s are still tiny, but i am looking forward to them growing up. quite fond of beige spiders

[Grant Miller]

Loza`s (Lauren) T is back to its old highly strung self , it has regained full use of the pedipalps and chelicerae . Loza hasn`t offered it prey as yet as the T is still expelling a dry crusty white substance which I believe to be dead nematodes and will be confirmed soon .
Hi james , S. nebo are a great Aussie T , one of the 7 sp. I`m breeding this year (currently have heavily gravid females of P . goliath , P . sarina , P . crassipes , P . hirsutus , S . kotzmans , S . armstrong beach and S . nebo) . I`m sure you guys will soon be able to get your hands on all the above sp. once our Aussie captive bred stocks allow

[James Box]

fantastic news, and alot of helpful information there, Grant!
i have a few tiny Selenotypus sp Nebo slings, my first and only foray into Australian Theraphosids at present, though i do have a little Liocheles waigiensis scorpion from Queensland. fantastic animals.

this treatment seems to be having some amazing results!

[Nicola Dolby]

Excellent news Grant, hope the little one starts eating again. Let us know and the guys on the ATA site as well, I'm sure Brendan & co. would loveto hear about this (if it hasn't already been mentioned!!!)

[Grant Miller]

A fellow hobbiest (Loza , the member who had discovered the salt bath treatment) just had a severe case of nematode infection in one of her Aussie Phlogius sp. hirsutus , she had tried her method however the infection was so extreme the T had a continual heavy discharge from the eosophogus and the typical lethargy and paralysis of the palps and chelicerae , noted as in previous cases , the T refused to lay any silk .
The hobbiest contacted me and following my method (as outlined above) performed the proceedure on the P. sp. hirsutus yesterday (10/8/09) , the T was then placed into an observation/recovery enclosure and upon inspection 1 to 2 hours later the T made a half hearted attempt at striking at the hobbiest (the pedipalps and chelicerae appeared to move in a normal fashion though still alittle sluggish .
As of this morning (11/8/09) the T appears to be behaving in a totally normal manner , it has full manipulation over its pedipalps and the cheliceral manipulation appears normal , the T has also webbed up its recovery enclosure . The hobbiest will present the T with a feeder cricket this afternoon upon her return from school so as to gauge the T`s ability to take down and consume prey , all things considered it looks like another successful nematode infection treatment but I admit its still only early days , I will keep you updated on the T`s recovery .

[Nicola Dolby]

Thanks for the reply Grant and don't worry about the time! I think it would make ainteresting study as to the environmental impact upon theraphosid development! We already know climate simulation can inspire egg sack production/moulting in Asian theraphosids after breeding, so maybe this could be expanded to see to what extent these beau tiful creatures are influenced by their surroundings and how they adapt. All the best,
Nicola

[andy hood]

Beautifull species grant, i have a tiny sling in my collection

[Grant Miller]

Hi Nicola ,
Even though I keep my Phlogius sp. (rainforest/forest/coastal) T`s on the same dry substrate as I keep my Selenotypus / Selenotholus sp. (arids) I havent noticed an increase in the moult rate . Having said that though my adult arids moult once every 2 to 3 years whereas my adult rainforests seem to still be moulting once every year . Phlogius sp. (those from more humid areas) are certainly faster growers than those arid sp. and hence will naturally have a faster successive moult rate but as yet I cannot say with any certainty whether their moult rate is a direct result of the substrate on which they are kept .
Sorry for the late reply , we had a power out here which blew up my computers power supply and I have only just been able to rectify it .

[Nicola Dolby]

Hi Grant. Great work and I'll take on board what you've said! A lot of my spiders are fossorial and needing high humidity. Have you found with the species from more humid areas than the dry substrate triggers the moulting cycle at all?

[James Box]

Hi Grant,
thanks for that in depth reply!
i don't know that we have that many outbreaks here in the UK, but you do periodically hear about them.
potentially, because Phoridae seem to do well here, if one spider were to break out with a case of these, (according to the theory), Phorids may carry them to another spider and spread the "infection". so even though we don't have as many cases (or so it seems), they could potentially be quite damaging to a collection.

I had a thought while reading your post...is there any reason not to mix some salt into the substrate? if blended in well, maybe it'd also help keep numbers of nematodes down...maybe along with the cabbage?
i wonder if woodlice would be hurt or hindered by using either, because alot of us here use them as tank cleaners.

at any rate...this is exciting news, and i am glad you are finding successful ways to cure these problems.

thanks for keeping us updated!

[Grant Miller]

A fellow hobbiest on the AIF (Australian Invertebrates forum) was experiencing a "boom" in nematode related deaths in her slings and so she tried "experimentally" to treat her slings with a salt bath . To date she has a 100% success rate with numerous slings going from near death to full health within 24 hours of treatment . With my large adult goliath I felt something more drastic needed to be tried since I could physically see the nematodes within her esophogus and crawling on her ventral side around the sternum and coxa (she was covered in them) .
The entire "operation" so to speak was completely experimental in every sense of the word but what did I have to lose by trying ? my alternative was to do nothing and watch her suffer until she died . I`m glad I "give it a go" and I`m sure she is too .
Within our T`s we have noticed an increase in nematode related deaths coinciding with the cold weather , we are throwing around the thoughts that perhaps the cold weather causes the T`s immune system to be lowered , coupled with the fact our T`s rarely move around when its cold making them an easy target . Also I believe the moist substrate we keep T`s on is playing a role in the likelyhood of nematode infection since nematodes rely on the moisture surrounding the substrate particles to enable them to freely move around hence home in on our T`s . I`ve kept Aussie T`s for over 9 years and feel I have perfected a way to keep nematodes from reaching my T`s . When setting up an enclosure I ensure there is atleast 5 centimeters of bone dry substrate on the surface (nematodes live within the first few centimeters of substrate only) with a "slightly" moist substrate below , The T can burrow down to the moist substrate yet any introduced nematode into the enclosure is unable to move through the dry substrate and eventually dies before being able to reach a host , I am yet to experience a nematode invasion in my enclosures and have only had to deal with nematodes within T`s that I recieved already infected . The key here , especially when adding moisture to the substrate , is to keep the substrate immediately surrounding the burrow completely bone dry .
We have step by step instructions on performing the "salt bath" treatment aswell as an indepth thread on my treatment of the above Aussie goliath on our forum , as yet no-one else has had to treat an adult T for nematodes so I cannot speak for success rates with my method however , numerous members have used the "salt bath" treatment on slings and all report a 100% success rate when the instructions have been adhered to .
Think of nematodes as you would a leech , what kills leeches....salt , I am also trying out a new method of repelling / killing substrate borne nematodes and thats by using dried , crushed into a powder , everyday garden variety cabbage . Mixed into the substrate it is un-noticable and has been found via use in the horticulture industry to repel nematodes , so far the results are looking promising after treating several batches of "cultured" nematodes but I`ll keep you posted on the end results .

[James Box]

Hi Grant,
i am just catching up with these pic posts...otherwise you would've had me posting much sooner...because this is a pretty amazing story!
so far, the latest i had heard was that increased temperatures (high 30's C) stopped and killed nematodes, but could very well kill the spider too.
but you've had amazing success with a saline solution.
all i can say is well done...were you trying it experimentally or had you heard of research into that solution?
your spider is beautiful and congrats on her gravidity!
all i can say is wow...this is great news for everyone!

[Lisa Baines]

My goodness!!!

well congratulations on helping her to pull through and all the best for a healthy brood. Well done mate