Sick Tarantula

Croin

Arachnopeon
Joined
Jan 4, 2004
Messages
3
Hello Spiderfolks!, I'm new here so I don't know if anyone can answer my question, but here it is.........

I've been keeping spiders for 18 months now and really enjoy the hobby, but I now have a problem that I can't find the answer for.

I had to go away for a few days to go to a funeral, and when I got back I found 1 of the heatpads on my tanks had failed. The digital thermometer recorded a dip to just 3 centigrade and it could of been at that for 2 days.

The spider is an adult female Columbian Giant (Megaphobema Robustum) of unknown age as I bought her as an adult. I extracted her from her burrow and she appeared dead. I put her in a smaller box with some of her usual substrate, made it moist, and put her on a new heatpad to warm up. I was happy to see small movements after about 6 hours and she got more animated after about 24 hours.

However, she does not seem to have escaped unscathed. She appears paralysed in several of her legs, cannot raise her body off the ground and cannot move about. She is lively when I try and present a half-dead cricket to her and flails around with her legs, but cannot manipulate the cricket into her mouth parts. It appears she can drink when I place her near her water dish.

Any advise on how to care for her, and any other comments would be most welcome.

Thanks

Croin
 

metallica

Arachnoking
Old Timer
Joined
Aug 18, 2003
Messages
2,512
i wouldn't worry about drinking, she being a Megaphobema, i bet you keep the soil moist, that should be enough. please dont try and feed her crickets, this will only stress the spider more! if the abdomen is still round, don't worry!

there is not much more you can do else, but wait for a molt and see how she does then. but remember, molting only renews the outside, not the inside....

good luck, and be patient!

Eddy
 

Croin

Arachnopeon
Joined
Jan 4, 2004
Messages
3
She was very healthy before the mishap and has a large round abdomen. I don't think she will survive a moult as she has little or no strength left in her legs to wriggle out of her old exoskeleton. I'm wondering if she is distressed or suffering through her immobility, for if she is I would help her go to happier hunting grounds.

Croin
 

pelo

Arachnoangel
Old Timer
Joined
Apr 16, 2003
Messages
938
I had somewhat the same thing happen...only it was due to shipping.Temps were good at time of shipping but dropped drastically during the night...down to appr 2-3 dgrs C.(unusual for the time of year)The spiders(E.rufescens) arrived alive but very limp and lifeless.I immediately put them into a container with moist paper towel and into a warm area...appr. 27-29 dgrs. C.One died within about 12 hrs and the other hung on for about 3 days and was exhibiting the "exact" same symptoms as yours.During that time she seemed to be getting better and then turned for the worst...I'm thinking that the very low temps must do harm internally that they can't recover from....maybe brain damage??muscle damage??Anyways about all you can do is what you're doing and hope for the best.Hopefully it'll recover...peace..
 
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