HELP! Ceratogyrus darlingi sling in critical condition!

Driller64

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I first saw my 1/2" C. darlingi sling in a death curl position in the morning. Panicked, I blew on it and it sprung to life, acting as if it had never been in death curl. Thinking it was from dehydration, I sprayed some water in its cage and put a roach in the cage as well to see if it would eat it. I also dug another starter burrow in case stress was the problem, although it never used any burrows I or it dug. Neither helped, as throughout the morning it kept going into this same death curl position, with the same result: blowing on it or disturbing it while in this position brings it back to life. I was gone from my house for the majority of the day, so I did not have a chance to constantly disturb it. When I got home, it was in a semi death curl position, standing on its tippy toes. I blew on it, and it sprang to life as before. Fed up, it opened its cage and sprayed a large amount of water into it. Oddly, this seemed to make things worse, as if I disturbed it while it was in this position now it did not move. Using a spare deli cup as an ICU, I prepared a wet tissue and placed the sling inside the ICU. My hands were shaking (for reasons which you could probably imagine) so it was difficult to put the sling inside. It is currently sitting inside the ICU, in a death curl.

Cage conditions: Deli cup with bone dry substrate, filled nearly to the top as C. darlingi is a burrowing species. It has had three burrows, two of which I have dug myself. It used none of them. Here is a picture:



It have had it for around two and a half months. It has never molted. I bought it from Jamie's Tarantulas and it was pretty hardy up until today, obviously. It has been refusing food recently.

I have been doing gardening activities recently so couldn't it have been poisoned by some sort of chemical I had handled. It is probable since I made an attempt to feed it recently that didn't go so well so I had to remove the prey.



PLEASE HELP IT!

Update: As you can see in the picture, it has gotten to its feet and is no longer in a death curl. THEN THERE STILL IS HOPE! :D
 

Lacey

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One of my Darlingi slings was stuck in the mail for two weeks and it came to me in a death curl, still standing back up when I nudged it but definitely on the brink of passing. I put aside the enclosure I originally planned to put the little one in and made a new one, same size but with warm and moist substrate. I also put in a small water dish. I kept the enclosure warm by keeping it close to my beardie tank. I kept a close eye on it, I actually found it in a death curl with its mouth on the water dish (heartbreaking) but after two full days in the "ICU", she was totally fine!

I suspect your little one may be dehydrated though, add a water dish to her enclosure and keep me updated on her!

** Put her in the ICU now and monitor her for the next few hours.
 

Driller64

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Speedy (as I have named the sling) has moved from its original position in the photo and is now in the "cowering in fear" pose. I think maybe it should think about the fear it just inflicted upon me!
 

cold blood

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I would suggest putting the vent holes above the substrate or removing enough sub so that the ones there are doing something. It may just have very restricted airflow issues, since there is very little air space between the sub and the top. If the only useable airholes are in the top, it can cause the humidity to fall quickly.
 

Beary Strange

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So let me get this straight. After all you've put your other slings through in the past, you see this one in what you thought was a death curl and your solution was to blow on it (because tarantulas love that) and then put in a roach with what by now was probably a pretty stressed sling? Then you filled it's enclosure with water after even more harrassment...I really can't even. That poor sling. You can certainly try an ICU but if you do, put it in a warm, dark place and leave.it.alone. Stop poking, stop prodding, stop blowing...This does not apply to just spiders: harassing any animal you think might be sick is going to stress it out and make it worse.

[YOUTUBE]VP5HA2V6pIw[/YOUTUBE]
 

awiec

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Speedy (as I have named the sling) has moved from its original position in the photo and is now in the "cowering in fear" pose. I think maybe it should think about the fear it just inflicted upon me!
Put it in an ICU for a day or two and quit blowing on it, you're stressing the thing out. As far I know none of my T's have ever had an issue with my fertilization of my plants (not in their cage of course), I do wait a day before I touch any of their food and wash my hands. Just be more cautious in the future, darlingis are pretty tough so it should pull through.
 

Driller64

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"Speedy" has been moving around the ICU and is back on its feet. I think I will give it a few more hours in the ICU before transferring it out to its enclosure. I will also put some air holes above the substrate as suggested.
 

Poec54

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Spiders east and southern Africa need relatively dry substrate and ample ventilation. They can't take moist, stuffy cages.
 

Driller64

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Unfortunately, in the evening, after most of the day had passed, Speedy began going into the death curl position once more, earning it another trip to the ICU. I will do what I can, I will change the substrate in its container if there is some sort of poison in it. If it pulls through once more, I will leave it longer in the ICU so it can hydrate itself further. Also taking Belle Fury's advice, I did not disturb it beyond a small tap on its enclosure to see if Speedy was still alive. I sure hope it can pull through once more :(
 

Lacey

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Unfortunately, in the evening, after most of the day had passed, Speedy began going into the death curl position once more, earning it another trip to the ICU.
Don't move it back and forth between its enclosure and the ICU, the stress from that alone will kill the poor thing. I'm sorry Speedy's not doing well, put him in the ICU and LEAVE him there. If he starts looking better, I would keep him in there for the rest of the day/ until the morning before moving him back.
 

Tomoran

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Okay, I hesitated before responding to this post, but I feel that I have to speak up. I mean absolutely no disrespect, and this is in no way meant to be an attack, but perhaps you should refrain from buying any more Ts for a while. I know you mean well, and you're obviously interested in them, but you appear to be lacking the maturity to correctly tend to these animals' needs. Despite being on the boards for months, and having volumes worth of current information at your fingertips, you seem to consistently make beginner (and sometimes logic-defying) mistakes that jeopardize your animals. If I remember correctly, you have already lost at least a couple, and your biography states: “I'm just getting into the tarantula hobby... And I am already failing miserably in it :( “ That's very telling.

Obviously, every hobby has a learning curve, but the problem with this hobby is that when you mess up, animals can die. For example, you think your C. darlingi sling may be ill, so you blow on it, spray it, dump a prey item in with it, and finally move it...twice. The fact that your first two solutions are two things all Ts HATE shows that you lack the basic instincts needed for this hobby. And, if you think the T is near death, why on earth would you put a roach in with it? It just doesn't make sense.

Perhaps there are natural reasons for your animals dying and falling ill that have nothing to do with you. Slings can obviously be fragile, and lord knows many experienced keepers have lost some. However, when reading your posts and how you present yourself and your abilities, it's easy to imagine that these issues have been created by the quality of care. Perhaps it's just bad luck, but your reaction to your potentially sick T can make one think that it's more than that.

I do hope that your C. darlingi pulls through, and that your other Ts continue to thrive. And again, my intent isn't to attack you; I'm just making an observation. I encourage you to take it slow and stick with the ones you have for a while until things come more naturally. Raise the ones you have to adulthood before picking up any more, and in the meantime, keep reading up. The hobby isn't going anywhere. :)
 
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Driller64

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Speedy is on its back in the ICU now. Could it have just been in premolt? That makes sense.. I suppose? Anyway, will not disturb it and see what happens. What do I have to lose, anyway?
 

awiec

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Given how stressed it is, I suggest leaving the ICU in a nice dark closet for about 2 days and then maybe shine a small light to get a look at it, don't bother it, just look at it. If it seems to be doing better leave it in there for a little more then put it back in the enclosure. The only thing you have to loose is the spider and that's not fair to it; all you can do is just leave it alone for now and hope it pulls through.
 

LordWaffle

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Everything I was goin to say was already said by Tomoran, so I won't chime in with it to avoid looking like I'm harping or ganging up on you. Just wanted to tell you good luck and I wish your T the best. I hope it recovers.
 

Driller64

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Speedy is on its back in the ICU now. Could it have just been in premolt? That makes sense.. I suppose? Anyway, will not disturb it and see what happens. What do I have to lose, anyway?
17 hours later, Speedy has still made no progress in its "molt". I fear it may be time to lay Speedy to rest if its condition does not improve.
 

awiec

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17 hours later, Speedy has still made no progress in its "molt". I fear it may be time to lay Speedy to rest if its condition does not improve.
You can try giving it water via a water dropper, but if its going to die then let it do it in peace.
 

Driller64

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I am not sure but I think Speedy has passed into the next life. I am not sure because two of its legs are pointing up in the air rather than being in a death curl. It is probably just a still functioning ganglion in its otherwise shut down body. R.I.P SPEEDY :cry:

Following Tomoran's advice, I will try to refrain from buying any more tarantulas for a while. The most I will buy is maybe another Chromatopelma cyaneopubescens to have a breeding pair. They are extremely hardy in my limited experience so it should not be hard to keep alive. Wish me luck in the rest of my journey through the hobby! :D
 

LordWaffle

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C darlingi is also very hardy. As is Lasiodora parahybana and G rosea. You need to take a lesson from this. Buying "just one more" is not a lesson. Especially if you think buying two spiderlings automatically gets you a breeding pair. Slow down. Learn from your mistakes. Getting more tarantulas can wait.
 
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