L revivensis dying

[fishwithoutabik]

I got 4 L revivensis about a month ago. They are adult female. I set them up in clear containers with two sticks forming an X like I had seen on other widow setups on here (coco fiber at bottom). All 4 of them webbed and hung upside down like expected. The coco was barely moist. However, they do not seem to be eating at all. One of them was mailed with a latteralis (sp?) and I left it in the new container in case that is what it was used to eating. I have tried baby crix, baby dubia, flightless fruitflies and they are still not eating. Two have died, the remaining two are shriveling.

Any suggestions?
http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h9/fishsansbike/widowa.jpg
heres a picture the second day i got them, if that helps any.

[What]

You may want to try saturating the substrate and warming them up a bit.

Sometimes old Latro females just up and die though.

[buthus]

The one you show here does not LOOK (pics can fool though) starving nor dehydrated.
If they have not eaten since you got them, try placing an opened up crix into their webs ...close to the spiders. Ive placed food (liquid guts open) right up against their chelicera and have saved a few but usually when they get to that point, they usually die.

questions...
When you received them, were they adults? (Did they molt while in your possession?)
Are the 2 that are still alive starting to curl up? ..or are they still active and moving around ok?
How warm is your bug room? How consistent is that warmth?

Have you tried misting their webbing? If so, did they drink? Dehydration will kill a widow before starvation sets in. And from my experience, the mid-easterns need it DRY, but are big time webbing droplet drinkers.

Your weather forecast for your area shows evening temps in the mid 60s down to possible lower 50s. Thats perfect temps. These girls have probably been in bug room conditions all their lives and are burning out fast. If they were mine, they would be brought outside to a shady place and kept there.

Latrodectus thrive when in inconsistent temps. They need cold. Often cooler temps ...(even in the lower 40s down to freezing) will quickly bring them back to life. My fridge has been full of widow cups more then a few times. ;)

Just realize that keeping latros isnt a piece of cake ...it seems like it should be, but it aint. IMHO, its stable bug room conditions that has defeated so many attempts.

Good luck!

[fishwithoutabik]

The one you show here does not LOOK (pics can fool though) starving nor dehydrated.
If they have not eaten since you got them, try placing an opened up crix into their webs ...close to the spiders. Ive placed food (liquid guts open) right up against their chelicera and have saved a few but usually when they get to that point, they usually die.

questions...
When you received them, were they adults? (Did they molt while in your possession?)
Are the 2 that are still alive starting to curl up? ..or are they still active and moving around ok?
How warm is your bug room? How consistent is that warmth?

Have you tried misting their webbing? If so, did they drink? Dehydration will kill a widow before starvation sets in. And from my experience, the mid-easterns need it DRY, but are big time webbing droplet drinkers.

Your weather forecast for your area shows evening temps in the mid 60s down to possible lower 50s. Thats perfect temps. These girls have probably been in bug room conditions all their lives and are burning out fast. If they were mine, they would be brought outside to a shady place and kept there.

Latrodectus thrive when in inconsistent temps. They need cold. Often cooler temps ...(even in the lower 40s down to freezing) will quickly bring them back to life. My fridge has been full of widow cups more then a few times. ;)

Just realize that keeping latros isnt a piece of cake ...it seems like it should be, but it aint. IMHO, its stable bug room conditions that has defeated so many attempts.

Good luck!

That picture was day 2. they looked great then. now their abdomens look shrively.

They are adults. One of them did molt in my care after a few days, that one died already.

They have not been very active at all, I was hoping the flightless fruitflies might work for food since they crawl right up to them, but no such luck. I will try cut open crix.

They are already curling up and very little movement at all. I did mist their webs a few min ago.

Temps, well, they are kept on a shelf which is the coldest spot in the house, (my room, the side by the vent w/out being directly in its path).

Thank you so much for all this info! I am learning, apparently they aren't as easy as tarantulas. The young L menavodi I have right next to them are thriving, so it's kinda frustrating.

[buthus]

That picture was day 2. they looked great then. now their abdomens look shrively.

They are adults. One of them did molt in my care after a few days, that one died already.

They have not been very active at all, I was hoping the flightless fruitflies might work for food since they crawl right up to them, but no such luck. I will try cut open crix.

They are already curling up and very little movement at all. I did mist their webs a few min ago.

Temps, well, they are kept on a shelf which is the coldest spot in the house, (my room, the side by the vent w/out being directly in its path).

Thank you so much for all this info! I am learning, apparently they aren't as easy as tarantulas. The young L menavodi I have right next to them are thriving, so it's kinda frustrating.
See if you can get them to feed on crix chunks. ..and if they do, put them into the desert cold at night.

[UrbanJungles]

You will also want to try slightly larger prey...the animal in the pic looks like it could take an adult cricket...not fruit flies. They need to feel something moving in their webs in order to get excited!!

[fishwithoutabik]

Well, they have both died. Thanks for all of the advice. One of them did seem to get a bit more active when cooled, I put her into a smaller enclosure with a cornucopia of carnage (chunks of crix and back halves of juvenile dubia). However, she still did not eat. :wall: :wall: :wall: