H. lividum DYING?!

miserykills · Nov 7, 2014

My girlfriend got me a "cobalt blue"/ H. lividum from a LPS where they had it in a kritter keeper with about an inch of coconut fiber and no water dish. attached is a picture of what it looks like now and obviously its not healthy. It's not moving much but it is responding to being touched by a paintbrush. So far I've added a big shallow water dish right in front of it in case it's dehydrated and sprayed the substrate to increase humidity. What else can I do??

miserykills · Nov 7, 2014

ok after a quick search of the forums I decided to add another water dish and spray down the tank a bit. I also covered as much of the ventilation as I can to keep in humidity and put it in a dark place so it wouldn't be disturbed. I will check tomorrow morning for updates but please let me know if I'm doing anything wrong or could be doing something better.

jigalojey · Nov 7, 2014

Well it's defs on the way out since it's in a death curl, did it have any water in the pet store container?

miserykills · Nov 7, 2014

jigalojey said:
Well it's defs on the way out since it's in a death curl, did it have any water in the pet store container?

No it was just coconut fiber and a piece of wood in a kritter keeper. Now it has a ton of water.

ratluvr76 · Nov 7, 2014

icu??? is it already dead? put it in an icu!.

Neoza · Nov 7, 2014

Indeeed! ICU was my first reactin! Its dehydrated!!

Poec54 · Nov 7, 2014

Neoza said:
Indeeed! ICU was my first reactin! Its dehydrated!!

A drink of water cures dehydration, ICU's can't do anything more than that.

That spider looks like a MM, which may explain some of this.

miserykills · Nov 7, 2014

It spent all last night sitting in its water dish and is now much more active! I just put it in an ICU. It tried to run away when I was moving it instead of just moving its legs when touched like last night. For the ICU I'm using a betta cup from when I got my fish (I don't have any deli cups or anything but it is a very similar size) with the big hole on top covered and I poked 4 small holes for ventilation. It's on paper towels wet with warm (not hot) water and the water dish it was laying in last night. So there should be plenty of humidity and plenty of water to drink. Is this the proper set up for an ICU? I've never had to do this for any of my tarantulas before so I'm not completely sure, but I did look it up and this is what I found.

---------- Post added 11-07-2014 at 09:15 AM ----------

Poec54 said:
A drink of water cures dehydration, ICU's can't do anything more than that.

That spider looks like a MM, which may explain some of this.

I didn't see your post until after I put it in an ICU so I guess it's a little late for that...It's definitely not a MM because it's tiny. Like less than 2 inches. And I know this species (if it is the correct species) gets much bigger than that lol.

freedumbdclxvi · Nov 7, 2014

Pics of the palps? That spider sure appears like a MM as Poec said, and it sure looks a bit larger than a 2" legspan.

miserykills · Nov 7, 2014

heres another picture with a quarter for scale. It's legs might make it a little over 2" but I'm just guessing really since I can't measure accurately right now.

freedumbdclxvi · Nov 7, 2014

Definitely not mature. Looked far bigger in that first pic than it really is.

klawfran3 · Nov 7, 2014

miserykills said:
heres another picture with a quarter for scale. It's legs might make it a little over 2" but I'm just guessing really since I can't measure accurately right now.

well in that new picture is certainly looks better. These guys need a significant amount of humidity/moisture, so I'm glad you were able to save the poor thing.

miserykills · Nov 7, 2014

klawfran3 said:
well in that new picture is certainly looks better. These guys need a significant amount of humidity/moisture, so I'm glad you were able to save the poor thing.

yea i hope it will be ok. right after i took this picture it sprinted out of the cup lol. I got it back in no problem though, I just didn't expect it to be able to run after being dehydrated.

Just for future reference how much moisture do they need? All of my tarantulas prefer dry except for one more or less. I've been searching for care tips online already since i got it but I trust everyone on here more than care sheets for obvious reasons.

Also to the people who thought it was mature, is that the coloring that mature males have? I figured they would be very blue.

Red Eunice · Nov 7, 2014

IME, had mine a bit over 2 yrs, these are burrowers, from Myanmar/Thailand tropical species. So moisture is a must, along with a warmer temperature. Mine was in a 5 gallon aquarium with substrate of what seems to be topsoil and vermiculite mixture and has moss on the surface. I have a water dish and sterilized piece of tree bark in there too. They are fine in moist, not soaked substrate and a temperature near 80 degrees. I'm rehousing mine 2morrow into a 10 gallon tank, at nearly 5" dls, she needs the room. I hope this info helps and your t gets better. Its color will get very blue as it matures, mine looks black til the light hits her just right. Then its a deep, velvet looking blue.

miserykills · Nov 7, 2014

When should I try taking it out of icu and back into its enclosure? I added a ton of substrate so it will have plenty of room to dig and a couple water dishes to make sure it won't go thirsty again. Idk if moving again so soon will cause unnecessary stress or help relieve stress. It's definitely not 100% better yet but it's on its way.

Poec54 · Nov 7, 2014

miserykills said:
When should I try taking it out of icu and back into its enclosure? I added a ton of substrate so it will have plenty of room to dig and a couple water dishes to make sure it won't go thirsty again. Idk if moving again so soon will cause unnecessary stress or help relieve stress. It's definitely not 100% better yet but it's on its way.

Sounds like it's ready now. Is the substrate moist (but not soggy)? You can give it a pre-dug burrow to start in; they don't like being stranded out in the open.

Formerphobe · Nov 7, 2014

Eight to ten inches of firmly packed, damp substrate with a prestart burrow. I use a combination of topsoil, potting soil and eco-earth. Sphagnum moss on the surface helps maintain humidity and they will incorporate it into their burrow opening. Adding isopods will decrease chances of mold and they make an excellent cleanup crew for hidden boluses.

Males and females look alike until the males mature. Then they turn a brownish gray color while the females get more blue with maturity.

miserykills · Nov 8, 2014

I have pretty much the whole enclosure filled with eco earth packs as tight as possible. It's damp (not wet) and i sprayed where the sides are showing a little just incase it can get a little water that way. I have a burrow started about 2 inches into the substrate also a piece of cork bark with a small hole dug under it incase it wants to start one there instead. I think I have some moss somewhere I can add tomorrow and isopods I'll deal with later. There's not really a place for me to get them right now but if it seems necessary I'll find somewhere that sells them.

cold blood · Nov 8, 2014

Make sure to leave a little room at the top, the t is gonna need room to put all the substrate that it excavates as it burrows.

Tongue Flicker · Nov 8, 2014

I thought it was a male on his way to the rainbow too.. oh well.. good luck!

H. lividum DYING?!

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