Awwww =(

Today was supposed to be a happy day. It was supposed to be the day I received my first T. An A. Purpurea! I waited and waited all day. I tracked my package. It was in my city at 9:30am. I expected it to come any minute! I waited ALL day. Today it was around 100 degrees outside. My package came at around 5:45 pm. USPS fails! They are so sloooow! Anyways, I was so excited. I opened my package saw my fruit flies...they were fried...dead...When I saw that my heart sank. I thought dear god my T! He is probably dead too! I got him out and nudged him a little. He moved a leg. I knew he was not dead. He is barely alive. I rushed to the store (because "smartly" I didn't have an ICU container) and got a container. I punched tiny holes in it and filled it with substrate and misted it. Then I put my half dead T in there. My little sling is barely alive, though I could have sworn I saw a threat pose. My imagination and hopes. It is no fault of the breeder it is the fault of the heat and the damn postal service who likes to take their sweet sweet time!! I don't know what to do. I wrote the breeder about my T and my fruit flies so hopefully she can do something about it. I've got some pictures of my not-so-well T. =( I am hoping that tomorrow I do not see the death curl. I haven't seen it yet, though in the pictures it does look extremely bad. He was still moving then so idk.

Here are a couple pictures...






Sooo I just checked on Spidey...Not a good outcome. He looks dead. No death curl though. No movement. I will leave him alone for the rest of the night though.

EDIT: Also, he already had a messed up leg from his previous molt. So that may be why his legs look so funny? Have no clue though.

All that you can do is hope for the best. Next time, look at your weather forecast, Make sure it is clear of highs and lows.

Sorry to hear that your first T came to you in that condition. Looking at the pictures, it looks kinda mangled. Anyway if you still plan on getting another T, why not go for the hardier kind like Brachypelma or Grammostola genus? Avicularia have a high mortality rate as slings, at least from my experience.

...and that is why i hate using usps! where I'm at they suck!

aww dude that sucks so much!
my first t package came with 2 doas - the p irminias
my a.versicolor however made it alive!

even though it was priority and there was no "lag", i talked to the seller and he gave 2 extra a versicolors on my next purchase!

Wow, it does look in rough shape. There probably ought to have been a cooling pack included with the package, although I suppose temperatures can be difficult to anticipate if the seller lives in a different region of the country. i hope your sling makes it, rough experience for your first arrival.

Yeah I hate USPS too. They take their sweet ol' time where I am at. We get our mail at like 4pm or 5pm! It used to be we used to get it at noon. =/ I must be last on their list. The little T is not moving. I am assuming it has passed on. The little bugger was soooo cute. No death curl that I can tell. I am thinking it may have fried in the box like the fruit flies and just cooked that way and maybe it was my imagination that it moved it's leg? I have no clue but I am pretty sure it is dead, now. I did all I could for it. Tomorrow I am going to the breeder and getting a versicolor and more fruit flies. The Purpurea I had was her last one =( But she may have more soon so here's hoping I can get another T as well! She refunded me for the T and my versicolor is free so that's good. =)

BTW, there was a cool pack in there. It felt like a heat pack by the time it got here though! =(

The only reason I wanted the sling shipped in the first place was because shipping was cheaper than what it would have costed to go to where she is at...so not worth saving the money though!! =( Now I know. Lesson learned.

Poor little tarantula, those pictures make me feel really sad. :'( Too bad about the purpurea though. Purpurea's are really pretty. But versicolors are amazing too. Of course, I don't really know much about keeping care of the arboreal though. I just know which ones are pretty and which ones are.

You live in California and you're buying from a "she" who has a variety of Avic slings and fruit flies..Jamie? She's awesome!!
I'm getting one A purpurea, a P miranda, and a P regalis from her today, not to mention my own set of flies!

Popsmoke63B said:

...and that is why i hate using usps! where I'm at they suck!

Click to expand...

It's also illegal to send venomous things via them. :giggle:

I'm sorry for your loss. Treat it as a learning experience and don't give up.

+1 Amoeba. Never give up, the death wasn't your fault Amy.

Thanks guys! =)

I'm getting my replacement today, although as I see it even though I didn't get to know the little guy nothing could replace it. He WAS my first T, but unfortunately the heat was too much and usps took their sweet, sweet time! >=(

I wish I was getting another purpurea BUT the one she sent me was her last one, so I have to go with my second option a Versicolor. I don't think I can have more than one T right now though I wish I could! My brother was already upset I was getting one T! He is afraid of spiders, although he did say my purpurea was cute! lol (even though it was dead)

Maybe with time he'll see I really love these spiders and agree to let me have another one! =D

i used to get my mail at noon aswell but the usps cut alot of jobs so mailmen have larger areas to cover so your mail gets delivered later, for me 4pm. regardless usps sucks big time. I was tracking a package last week and it was 30 minutes away at a sorting facility and it stayed there for 2 days , i could have drove and got it.

---------- Post added 10-14-2011 at 02:10 PM ----------

Amyshizzle said:

Thanks guys! =)

I'm getting my replacement today, although as I see it even though I didn't get to know the little guy nothing could replace it. He WAS my first T, but unfortunately the heat was too much and usps took their sweet, sweet time! >=(

I wish I was getting another purpurea BUT the one she sent me was her last one, so I have to go with my second option a Versicolor. I don't think I can have more than one T right now though I wish I could! My brother was already upset I was getting one T! He is afraid of spiders, although he did say my purpurea was cute! lol (even though it was dead)

Maybe with time he'll see I really love these spiders and agree to let me have another one! =D

Click to expand...

if he hates spiders this is probably why he thought it was cute. give him some time, when he sees it attack its prey he'll want one of his own

What a shame that got to be crazy heart breaking! The fact of ordering a spider online kind of freaks me out, i have not done it myself, but I don't like evan like ordering my books online :/.

smoothie4l said:

What a shame that got to be crazy heart breaking! The fact of ordering a spider online kind of freaks me out, i have not done it myself, but I don't like evan like ordering my books online :/.

Click to expand...

You can trust many dealers/sellers that you find on Arachnoboards. I've personally been scammed once (Paypal resolved the problem) and will now only deal with people with a good amount of reviews. Most people (like myself) have a link to their review thread in their signatures. Have faith in people! There are many reliable dealers like Tarantula Canada. If I lived in Canada I wouldn't hesitate to order from them, as well as Mack and Cass.

sorry to hear your sling didnt make it...100 degrees does put a toll on things, especially sitting in a van or truck for hours...

My new sling is here. =) Fast little guy!! =D Took me a little while to get him into his enclosure. lol He did not want to go in!

He is a versicolor and so cute and tiny. I got some free dubia's like 5 of them...little baby ones and more fruit flies as well since mine died in delivery.

Next time I order a T and I know it's going to be so hot I will not do it until it cools off. I do not want that to happen again! =(

glad your newbies are good...yeah those little versi's like to escape when misting or feeding...i have 7, and almost every time they run right out onto my arm when im misting....

lol I will have to be careful of that then! He can't really go anywhere where he is at but if some how he gets on the floor he can be gone forever! =/ His enclosure is tiny so he probably will come out when misting. I need to get a smaller mister. Mine is meant for bigger enclosures.

yeah i gotta keep an eye on mine too...my T room is so cramped...i recently had a S. polymorpha pede get out...never to be seen again...i really need to get it all cleaned out and organized...it seems like the smaller the bottle, doesnt help...they all pretty much mist the same...i try and premist before i mist in my slings that way there is a good flow and it doesnt sputter...but yeah once they get out on my arm, theres almost no forcing them back in...i usually stick the vial over them, and keep it tilted upside down, since they are arboreal, they climp up to the bottom, then i slide the lid under, flip it over, then snap on the lid....