P. muticus regular post molt behavior or something else?

magneto

Arachnoknight
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Sep 27, 2011
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196
P. muticus regular pre molt behavior or something else?

Edit: The title should say pre molt, not post molt. If any moderators could change it I would be grateful.

I's still very early so I'm not really worried yet, but I figured it's no harm to throw it out there right?

I've had a 1-1.5 inch P. muticus sling for a few weeks now and it has pretty much behaved the same since I got it. Constantly perfecting it's burrow or sitting in the entrance waiting for prey. When I first saw it emerging from it's burrow a week after I got it, I saw that it was so fat it looked like it was close to bursting, and someone here commented on a photo I uploaded that it looked like it would molt soon, so I haven't fed it since.

Until yesterday that is. It was sitting in the burrow's entrance like it used to while I was feeding the rest of my T's and when I was done with the others I had one tiny dubia nymph left in the feeder box, much smaller than what I would normally feed it, so I thought it can't do much harm to try, so I threw it in. The T didn't eat it but didn't flee either. The dubia disappeared into the burrow before I could remove it so i'ts still in there. Not ideal when It's close to a molt but i's so small that I don't see it as a threat to the T.

Today I noticed that the T was sitting halfway between the entrance and the innermost part of it's burrow. Nothing strange about that, but the positioning of it's legs was a bit odd so I looked closer and it's not a death curl but not that far off either. And it will usually teleport further into the burrow if i point a flashlight at it for more than a couple of seconds or if i move or touch the container in any way. But this time it was completely unresponsive to both light and movement. I even pressed lightly against the wall where it sat and the wall touched it slightly but still no response whatsoever.

So, should I be worried or is it probably just the molt coming?

I took a picture of it. Sorry about the horrendous quality. I'm stuck with a camera phone with a broken lens.

P. muticus 2.jpg
 
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Chris LXXIX

ArachnoGod
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Dec 25, 2014
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I think pre molt behavior, probably, so nothing to worry. Don't feed her/him. There's a little cap available as water dish? Mine loves to have a good drink prior to molt. I keep mine on the dry side, moist is only the lower parts but not so much.
 

magneto

Arachnoknight
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Sep 27, 2011
Messages
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I think pre molt behavior, probably, so nothing to worry. Don't feed her/him. There's a little cap available as water dish? Mine loves to have a good drink prior to molt. I keep mine on the dry side, moist is only the lower parts but not so much.
Thanks. I'll keep an eye on it through the night just in case though.

That's exactly how I keep it too. A little moist at the bottom while the rest of the sub is dry and a soda cap as water dish. I actually noticed just noticed that the water dish was compleatly dry even though I overfilled it yesterday, so it has had a big drink.
 

Chris LXXIX

ArachnoGod
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Thanks. I'll keep an eye on it through the night just in case though.

That's exactly how I keep it too. A little moist at the bottom while the rest of the sub is dry and a soda cap as water dish. I actually noticed just noticed that the water dish was compleatly dry even though I overfilled it yesterday, so it has had a big drink.
So nothing to worry, for me. Indeed pre molt.
 

magneto

Arachnoknight
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Update :(

After still no movement whatsoever and something that resembled mold on top of it I decided today to poke it with a paintbrush to confirm my suspicions. When it didn't move, I decided to carefully dig it out and that's when the stench hit me. As I have suspected for the last day or so, it has "Sadly ended it's earthly career" :(

So i guess there's nothing else to say but "Noli Timere Theraphosidae Messorem" and move on...
 

Chris LXXIX

ArachnoGod
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After still no movement whatsoever and something that resembled mold on top of it I decided today to poke it with a paintbrush to confirm my suspicions. When it didn't move, I decided to carefully dig it out and that's when the stench hit me. As I have suspected for the last day or so, it has "Ended it's earthly career" :(

So i guess there's nothing else to say but "Noli Timere Theraphosidae Messorem" and move on...
No.. I'm sorry man. The loss of a benign, gentle giant Theraphosidae like the sweet Pelinobius muticus is always a tragedy. A tragedy! They are my fav T's and i'm always sad to hear those unfair news.
 
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magneto

Arachnoknight
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Thanks. I was really fond of this one.
I have no clue what killed it. It acted completely normal and content right up until it died. The fact that there was no proper death curl also hints to a sudden death.
 

cold blood

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Dang that's too bad, I was really expecting it to just be pre-molt:( I can tell ya I'd be bummed if I lost mine (2"), really cool species that doesn't exactly grow like a weed getting to even that smaller size.

The classic "death curl" is almost always associated with dehydration...since that's not always the cause of death, they don't always curl when they die.
 

EDED

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
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Aug 12, 2004
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sorry to hear

one of my favorite species
I liked the older taxonomy name better

sometimes this happens,
and happens to all of the hobbyists
maybe you could pick up another in near future to replace.
 

magneto

Arachnoknight
Joined
Sep 27, 2011
Messages
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The classic "death curl" is almost always associated with dehydration...since that's not always the cause of death, they don't always curl when they die.
That I didn't know, so at least I learned something new from this. Thanks.

---------- Post added 07-29-2015 at 06:31 AM ----------

sometimes this happens,
and happens to all of the hobbyists
maybe you could pick up another in near future to replace.
Thanks. I'll probably get a bigger specimen sometime in the future. Never had much luck with small slings. This is the second one that died in my care, the first one being a Holothele incei that died midmolt of dehydration. I have never had a juvenile or adult die on me though, so maybe it's safer to stick with those. I guess I'll know if more og my recently acquired slings start dying too.
 

Arachnomaniac19

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Aug 23, 2014
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I've personally found that these guys do better in higher (75-80) temperatures. I've tried lower with my guy that I used to have and he didn't do so well. When I kept him warmer, he did fine.
 

magneto

Arachnoknight
Joined
Sep 27, 2011
Messages
196
I've personally found that these guys do better in higher (75-80) temperatures. I've tried lower with my guy that I used to have and he didn't do so well. When I kept him warmer, he did fine.
Thanks. It has crossed my mind that the temperature could be the cause here. At night it can get as low as 67-68°F in the room. Didn't think that was dangerous, but if they are temperature sensetive that could be it.
 
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