B. smithi in trouble

Spaceblues

Spaceblues

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I've had a 2.5" smithi for 8 days. I got a sac mate at the same time and it's doing just fine. This one has been in a stress curl since a couple of hours after I unpacked it. I figured it was just stressed and needed to settle in.

It moves around its enclosure, but it does so while in the curl... it never stretches out. It drinks from its water dish because I've seen it do so. It also has a hide available. I offered a cricket two days ago and it ate it.

I haven't messed with it at all other than to offer the cricket and to fill the water dish. I decided to see if I could get it to move tonight and I touched it gently with a brush. It just kind of stayed in one spot and "spun its wheels" in place so to speak. Like it was trying to move but couldn't get traction. I got it over to its dish in case it's dehydrated but it slowly crawled off away from it.

What should I do? Or is there anything that can be done?




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Poec54

Poec54

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You should notify the seller as soon as you unpack it and see a problem. You may need to send pics. If you haven't done any of that by now, the seller is not obligated to replace the spider.
 
Spaceblues

Spaceblues

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Poec54 said:
You should notify the seller as soon as you unpack it and see a problem. You may need to send pics. If you haven't done any of that by now, the seller is not obligated to replace the spider.
Click to expand...
I had done that immediately and sent a pic. Sorry, I should've mentioned that in my post.


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1

14pokies

Arachnoprince
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Can you post a pic of the t? Is it freshly molted or does it look like it may be in premolt?
 
1

14pokies

Arachnoprince
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I can't tell from the pic if that's just dense hair on her opithstoma or if the skin underneath is very dark?
If the skin is dark underneath I'm wondering if the trip interrupted a molt and she holding off for some reason..
I'm really not sure though...
 
cold blood

cold blood

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Odd, looks like the legs held that shape...that's my suspicion because it ate...if it were a death curl by bet is it wouldn't eat. Could they have shipped it too soon after molting? Or it suffered a bunch of leg damage during shipping...how well was it packed? Could it have been packed in too tightly? Did the seller offer any "theory"?

haha...took me a long time to hit submit...similar theory as pokie?
 
Spaceblues

Spaceblues

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The seller didn't offer any theory - just said to wait and see what happened. It was packaged well by a very reputable seller and the others that came are all fine.

The fresh molt theory seems very plausible since its scooting around, drinking and eating. If so, I'm not sure there's anything that can be done for it is there?


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1

14pokies

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cold blood said:
Odd, looks like the legs held that shape...that's my suspicion because it ate...if it were a death curl by bet is it wouldn't eat. Could they have shipped it too soon after molting? Or it suffered a bunch of leg damage during shipping...how well was it packed? Could it have been packed in too tightly? Did the seller offer any "theory"?

haha...took me a long time to hit submit...similar theory as pokie?
Click to expand...
Ya know that was actually my first theory! But then I started thinking with it being a reputable dealer it wasn't possible!
I do believe this is the case though!
 
cold blood

cold blood

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Spaceblues said:
The seller didn't offer any theory - just said to wait and see what happened. It was packaged well by a very reputable seller and the others that came are all fine.

The fresh molt theory seems very plausible since its scooting around, drinking and eating. If so, I'm not sure there's anything that can be done for it is there?

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Click to expand...
Keep it warm and feed it good, do what you can to get it to its next molt a little quicker. Hopefully it will improve significantly if it can pull off a molt in its condition.

---------- Post added 01-29-2015 at 08:45 PM ----------
14pokies said:
Ya know that was actually my first theory! But then I started thinking with it being a reputable dealer it wasn't possible!
I do believe this is the case though!
Click to expand...
Sometimes they sneak in a molt and maybe it wasn't caught, it was seen after it had started to re-gain its colors....I'm sure it was an oversight if this is the issue.
 
Sana

Sana

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I have a suggestion that's a little off the beaten path, so if anyone can offer an opinion on it that would be super. I have noticed with my T's that if one seems to be stressed or having a problem, minimizing the amount of light they are exposed to make them seem a little more comfortable. I do this in addition to the more practical things offered already, not as a substitute. Possible one of the members more experienced than me can weigh in on the possible advantages or disadvantages of this?
 
Poec54

Poec54

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Something is very wrong with that spider, maybe it got too cold in transit. I'm not optimistic for a recovery.
 
catfishrod69

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Looks like it got too cold in transit to me too. Most of the time they dont recover from this. But sometimes they will be almost dead when they come in, and after warming up, you cant even tell it ever happened. Best thing you can do is keep it hydrated and warm, and hope for the best.
 
Spaceblues

Spaceblues

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I turned on the light briefly this morning and found it like this. It's on its back and I can see one leg in the air. I didn't touch the enclosure or disturb it.

As it was trying to scoot around yesterday it flipped over on accident but righted itself. Substrate gathers under the T in a pile because it can't extend its legs. It then gets high centered and falls over. Not sure if it accidentally flipped and is too weak to right itself or if it wants to molt.

Ugh. ImageUploadedByTapatalk1422636170.685694.jpg


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catfishrod69

catfishrod69

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Looks more along the lines of dieing or dead. Substrate gathering up like that is from her reaching out trying to get hold of something to right herself. If it were me, i would check her out.
 
miss moxie

miss moxie

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I'm so sorry, that poor tarantula. :[ I'd talk to the seller again, but it's kind of hard to prove who's at fault though I'd wager something went wrong during transit as suggested.
 
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