They're supposed to smell like a dead mouse right?

Hey everybody. Sorry to say I haven't been around much lately. I return once again seeking words of wisdom from more experienced keepers. I'm concerned that I may have a dead H. maculata sling, though the reasons I'm concerned seem a little vague as I'm thinking about them. Maybe someone can give me the piece of information that will help me know if I have an empty container or a just a normal spider.

I received the sling in January of this year and put it into a plastic peanut container with a couple dozen 1/32 inch holes drilled in each side for ventilation and a few in the top lid. The sling was 1/2" at the time. The substrate is store brand topsoil with no additives chemical or organic and a small amount of sphagnum moss mixed in since I live in a dry climate and I have had success with keeping humidity a bit higher and more stable this way. The container is about 2/3 full of sub with bark and plastic plants to offer lots of hide options. The sling has a 20 oz soda bottle cap of water and has been fed crickets both live and prekilled, as well as mealworm chunks. I use a syringe to dampen alternating spots of the substrate once or twice a week depending on the relative humidity in the room as a whole that week. I have a second sling from the same sac in an identical setup on the shelf beside the one I'm worried about and it's thriving.

The maculata I'm concerned about hasn't been seen since it was put in the container. Some webbing and obvious burrowing showed up within the first week and was added to or altered for the first month. It threw a molt out of it's burrow about a month after it arrived. About two months ago prey stopped disappearing when it was put in live or placed at the mouth of the borrow prekilled. Previously a couple weeks of prey being untouched was just considered a signal of a molt taking place. This is the first time that it has been this long without touching a single prey item. Nothing about the borrow or web has changed noticeably. I just can't see anything that makes me think there is something alive in there but it doesn't smell bad or strange. I realize that I offered a sling of a notoriously shy species the ability to burrow as it pleased and that it's a spider and prone to do things that I find strange and make me worry.

Even if they die in a burrow they're supposed to smell like a dead mouse right?

If they are dead you'll usually smell it. But untouched prey will also have me worrying, especially if it's a sling still. I'll dig it up carefully, even if this means destroying the burrow, it can always make a new one if it's still alive.

I would hardly say the smell is as pungent as that of a dead mouse.

I've found they actually do better with less moisture. I do add some, but infrequently. When I kept them moist I lost several pretty quickly (a couple weeks)...since I started keeping them drier, they've been doing much better and have been more active as well.

If you smell it, its probably dead...I'd do a search and recovery.

I haven't had a smelly death yet, so I wouldn't say no smell is necessarily indicative that it's still alive. It could totally just be full, but if your intuition is telling you something isn't right, I'd check just to be sure. I'd go slowly and disturb only a bit at a time, that way if it reacts fairly quickly, you've messed up it's set-up as minimally as possible. But after messing around for a bit, it still doesn't react--that's when I'd become concerned about the T more than ruining it's burrow. Good luck--I sincerely hope it's alright.

I really appreciate all of you for the information and advice. I was wondering about attempting excavation. I've never attempted to access a burrow for anything. Any advice on tools and techniques for this venture? I'll take a wild guess and say that I had better treat it like there is an unhappy H. maculata in the container and work with it it the same setting as a rehouse. Beyond that though, paint brush to sweep dirt carefully away from the burrow and long handled spoon to remove it from the container? I have no idea which direction the burrow actually goes from the surface opening.

Hey cb that's an interesting tidbit. I was under the impression from my research that they originate in a reasonably moist part of Africa. I'll let the humidity drop some (not a long project here) and see how they do.

When I have to dig one up, I use a much larger, shallow plastic container and lay the smaller one down inside it. I'll then use a plastic spoon to slowly and carefully take out the substrate. I work very slowly and carefully as to not possibly injure the specimen. With a really small spider, I'll use a paint brush to shift through whatever I pull out to make sure that the spider isn't mixed up in it. I try to work the spoon at an angle, keeping my hand around the side of the opening so that if the tarantula does bolt out, it doesn't go straight up the spoon and onto my hand. I actually have one that I heated the handle a bit to give it more of a bend for just this purpose. With moist sub, it sometimes comes out in chunks, so I'll use the tongs to maneuver the chunks out, then I break them up and search them. Many times, I've found that with a little digging I'll uncover the the hole leading to the den, which you can then use as a guide. Again, just work slowly and calmly.

I also always have 10" tongs and catch cup handy. Most times, the spider will just cower in a corner trying to stay hidden, but I have had a couple bolt once they are uncovered. I'll usually put some crumple paper towels around the mouth the container so that if the T does bolt, it has something to hide beneath.

I do hope that you find him alive and well.

Tomoran said:

When I have to dig one up, I use a much larger, shallow plastic container and lay the smaller one down inside it. I'll then use a plastic spoon to slowly and carefully take out the substrate. I work very slowly and carefully as to not possibly injure the specimen. With a really small spider, I'll use a paint brush to shift through whatever I pull out to make sure that the spider isn't mixed up in it. I try to work the spoon at an angle, keeping my hand around the side of the opening so that if the tarantula does bolt out, it doesn't go straight up the spoon and onto my hand. I actually have one that I heated the handle a bit to give it more of a bend for just this purpose. With moist sub, it sometimes comes out in chunks, so I'll use the tongs to maneuver the chunks out, then I break them up and search them. Many times, I've found that with a little digging I'll uncover the the hole leading to the den, which you can then use as a guide. Again, just work slowly and calmly.

I also always have 10" tongs and catch cup handy. Most times, the spider will just cower in a corner trying to stay hidden, but I have had a couple bolt once they are uncovered. I'll usually put some crumple paper towels around the mouth the container so that if the T does bolt, it has something to hide beneath.

I do hope that you find him alive and well.

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This is probably the best method or if you can lay out a large towel and slowly remove sub from the container then the spider (if it is alive and well) should pop out, just watch for slight movements as most tarantulas are decent diggers. I've excavated my P.muticus using this method a few times and usually the spider stops when it hits the towel for easy capture.

le-thomas said:

I would hardly say the smell is as pungent as that of a dead mouse.

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I can't figure out that smell, it's somewhat unique lol

The spoon and paintbrush method is pretty much what I envisioned. I think I will have to try the towel. If the tarantula is alive and well I suspect that it will be around 1" or a little more like it's sibling is currently. I actually get to see the sibling once in a rare while so I have at least a vague guess on size. I imagine that this is going to be a little time consuming as projects go so I'm going to have to plan time in to the next day or two that I can overtake the bathtub for a while without my five year old trying to run in and out and ask me questions.

In my experience, they do stink. I made a beginner mistake maybe 14-15 years ago and bought these containers that were prone to molding. I couldn't tell if the spiders were dead or alive. Until the stink hit. They were unmistakably dead. The other way to find out if you have a dead t is too gradually pour water down the burrow. T's will always come out of their burrow as to not drown. Best way to transfer Haplos!

Some can have an odour -- suppose it depends on how moist or dessicated dead T is. I wouldn't describe it the same as the horrible sweet stench of a mouse, but you when you smell the 'dead' smell -- you never forget it.

I would go looking for the fellow if your gut feeling is that strong something is amiss.
Personally, I hope your fellow is alive and well and comes charging out all miffed you disturbed his lair.

Good luck for happy ending.

I'd imagine the bigger the spider the stronger the odor.

Any update on the situation? Was the little fella allright?

I'm seriously hoping Sana didn't unearth a newly molted 3 foot H. Mac that turned around and ate her.

PTX said:

I'm seriously hoping Sana didn't unearth a newly molted 3 foot H. Mac that turned around and ate her.

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What would THAT bolus look like? :? :?

cold blood said:

What would THAT bolus look like? :? :?

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Even seen an Egyptian mummy exhibit at a museum?
That, but with less white cloth and curses.

PTX said:

Even seen an Egyptian mummy exhibit at a museum?
That, but with less white cloth and curses.

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Mummies are not generally round though.

PTX said:

I'm seriously hoping Sana didn't unearth a newly molted 3 foot H. Mac that turned around and ate her.

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Me too -- stories like that might get Ts banned!

cold blood said:

Mummies are not generally round though.

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I agree, although they have the desiccated part down pretty good.