dying T? please help

I purchased a B.Boehmei at an expo around two months ago,no idea of sex or age,which I know in itself is never good,it is around 5 and a half inches diagonally so I would guess very nearly adult but I couldn't say for certain. it has been fine up until 2 days ago,but now is sitting sort of "crunched" up with all it's legs sort of covering the body (not upside down) against one the glass on the heat mat side. I have found a few drops of a sticky brownish substance on the hide I am not sure what that could be? Normally has a very chilled temperament but since has been like this (aprox 2 days) has been very skittish and flicking hairs at the slightest movement. I will try to upload a pic tomorrow but any advice would be greatly appreciated...i don't think it's dehydration as I have a small dish of water gel and the abdomen isn't shrunk or shrivelled...please help if you have any ideas.
thank you

Ditch the heat mat it can literally cook them. Also boehmei are supposed to be more skittish than most Brachys.

really? it only covers about a third of her tank? and it gets pretty cold here (I live in a uninsulated chalet) I know they are a skittish breed but I've never even have it flick hairs at me before,has always seemed very docile,quite happy to wander onto my hand etc but now is barely moving except for flicking hairs when I even walk past her viv...it's about 4 degrees Celsius in my place right now,tank temp 22...is that too hot?

Ditch the water gel and get some fresh water in there. I'm pretty sure that T's cannot consume the gel, and it's a breeding ground for bacteria.

+1 on getting rid of the water gel. Just a small bowl of fresh water works fine.

As already said.

1. Ditch the heat mat, pronto. They can do fine in the 60's, if you live in a house, I suspect that for your comfort, you probably keep it at least in the mid 60's, likely at least a little warmer. If you want to heat, get a small space heater and heat the room, its by fay the safest way as t's arte drawn to heat sources, which can be bad for the t.

2. Throw away the water gel, fresh water in a dish is what you want, period, no exceptions. No sponge either! Look around on here, there are many, many pics of t's drinking from dish's, many of which are very small t's. I have yet to see a "my t drown in the dish" thread, not one.

3. The only way to know the age of your t would be to have had it since it hatched, actual age is impossible to discern as growth not only varies greatly with individuals, but as well as diet and temps it was kept. No one knows exactly how old the t they bought is. Best to just refer to the DLS (diagonal leg span).

The problem could be dehydration from lack of water and drying of the air from the heat mat, the combination was probably just too much after a while. The other problem could be that you have a mature male that's just winding down to the natural end of life. LOTS of newbs get suckered into buying old MM t's. We can solve that one with some good pics of the front of the t...the pedipalps, actually.

Welcome to the hobby as well as the boards.

The chalet I live in usually around the same as the outside temp (4-10 celcius) as we operate on a system of wrapping up and layers as heating an uninsulated place with single glazing is pretty pointless (we have 1 electric radiator) is this too cold? I will change the gel for water right away,I was told in a reptile shop near me that it was the best thing :/ they told
me I needed the heat mat too :/ seems like I'm not following the right advice...il ditch the mat and the gel but I am worried my place will be too cold as obviously a T can't up a jumper on like we can lol. thanks for the advice

hannarachnia said:

The chalet I live in usually around the same as the outside temp (4-10 celcius) as we operate on a system of wrapping up and layers as heating an uninsulated place with single glazing is pretty pointless (we have 1 electric radiator) is this too cold? I will change the gel for water right away,I was told in a reptile shop near me that it was the best thing :/ they told
me I needed the heat mat too :/ seems like I'm not following the right advice...il ditch the mat and the gel but I am worried my place will be too cold as obviously a T can't up a jumper on like we can lol. thanks for the advice

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Local Pet Stores, as we say LPS... are notorious for giving bad advice. The combination of just plain not knowing the animals with wanting to make a sale, many if not most, will advise to use a heat mat, a hygrometer, a stick on thermometer and a sponge or water gel. NONE of these things are necessary. Are you able to plug a small electric heater in and having it kind of in the vicinity of the T? Not too close but close enough to keep the chill out? As Cold Blood said, a temperature range as low as the mid 60's F.. 65 degrees Fahrenheit is about 18.5 C. 70F is about 21 C... of course if, with the space heater, you would be able to get it up to 23 - 28 degrees that would be good year round. The heat mat though, is definitely not a good thing.

good luck! I can tell you really care for your T and want what's best for it. That is the beginning of a wonderful experience with and in this hobby, welcome to the boards and welcome to the hobby.

I can try to move the viv into my partners place,he has 9 snakes all with heat mats,if I put the viv near them do you think that would work? I've taken the gel out now,replaced it with water,hopefully that helps...I figured I could trust the advice from the shop because it was reptile only I thought they would have knows what they where doing...obviously not the case :/
thank you for the help,fingers crossed from here on out!

hannarachnia said:

I can try to move the viv into my partners place,he has 9 snakes all with heat mats,if I put the viv near them do you think that would work? I've taken the gel out now,replaced it with water,hopefully that helps...I figured I could trust the advice from the shop because it was reptile only I thought they would have knows what they where doing...obviously not the case :/
thank you for the help,fingers crossed from here on out!

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actually, to have the enclosure of your spider nestled in amongst your friends reptiles would be perfect. A lot of reptile keepers that have T's keep their T's like that.

I'll do that as soon as I get home from work then,I already keep my juvie Chaco's with his snakes,cause I thought a heat mat would be too much for them (thought Bo' was big enough to have one i know better know) so I'm sure he wont mind an addition hopefully it sorts this whole situation out,if it isn't too late

just make sure he's got a bowl of fresh water.

yeah i sorted that before I went to work