Dead Indian Ornamental

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zoiiy

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Hi all,
My 4 year old Indian Ornamental died recently, but I have no idea why. Maybe someone can help shed some light. I found it in a death curl but still alive one day, and I thought it was dehydrated. I put it in an isolation container with very wet paper towels (it crawled off the shallow water dish I provided) and it got up and was on the container wall after a day. I left it there for another night just to make sure it was alright before I move it back, but the following day I found it really dead this time. I have no idea why it died! It was looking and moving normally after reviving from the first death curl. Did I leave it in the container too long?
 
Poec54

Poec54

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Did the cage have a water bowl? Spiders don't get dehydrated with full water bowls.
 
Z

zoiiy

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I THOUGHT it was female but only based on ventral sexing. I never had an exivium intact enough. I thought it could be male when it died but the circumstances was weird?
 

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cold blood

cold blood

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Did the ICU have ventilation? Moisture may have brought it back, but the eventual stuffiness of the enclosure could have had an adverse effect. I'd have moved it as soon as it regained its self, but I wasn't there, so its easy for me to say...lol.

I agree on the water dish, curious if it did have access to a water dish...also the conditions of the substrate and even where you live are things I'd like to know...as well as the location of the ventilation in the enclosure. Dry sub, combined with a running furnace and any supplemental heat you may or may not provide could have seriously dried the air.

It was indeed a female....Its really not necessary to molt sex poecs, they're pretty obvious if you've seen a few.
 
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zoiiy

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I went away for a week and misjudged the amount of water I left. So when I came back the water dish was overturned and dry. Ventilation is ok, no supplemental heat as I live in the tropics.
The ICU container was a normal plastic fish tank with slits on top.
 
Poec54

Poec54

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zoiiy said:
I went away for a week and misjudged the amount of water I left. So when I came back the water dish was overturned and dry.
Click to expand...

There's the reason. Easily prevented if you had put the cage inside a clear plastic bag.
 
Angel Minkov

Angel Minkov

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A spider wont die without water for a week. Ive had adult Pokies go much longer without it, and even small individuals. Unless, of course, the air was dry as well as the sub and the spider was recently molted, which would mean that he had lost a lot of fluids, which he needed to get back via food or a water dish :)
 
Poec54

Poec54

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Angel Minkov said:
A spider wont die without water for a week. Ive had adult Pokies go much longer without it, and even small individuals. Unless, of course, the air was dry as well as the sub and the spider was recently molted, which would mean that he had lost a lot of fluids, which he needed to get back via food or a water dish :)
Click to expand...
Right, normally no, a week without water won't kill an adult. But a combination of factors can, especially after a molt, when they've lost most of their body fluids and have little left in reserve.
 
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zoiiy

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So, still no ideas why it revived and then died? I agree about the one week without water, which is why I'm perplexed and considering how it revived and then died on me.
 
cold blood

cold blood

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Poec54 said:
Right, normally no, a week without water won't kill an adult. But a combination of factors can, especially after a molt, when they've lost most of their body fluids and have little left in reserve.
Click to expand...
Exactly Rick, the spider in question was already in distress and had only very recently been perked back up.
 
Poec54

Poec54

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zoiiy said:
So, still no ideas why it revived and then died? I agree about the one week without water, which is why I'm perplexed and considering how it revived and then died on me.
Click to expand...

'Very wet paper towels' is a poor idea. Their lung slits are under their abdomen. When a tarantula is weak, it's difficult to hold itself off the substrate, so drowning/suffocation may have been a factor. When they're dehydrated, they need water to drink, not to lay on; they don't absorb it. The wet paper towels made it worse. I've maintained tarantulas for dealers and revived tarantulas from death curls with a good long drink, in a dry deli cup with a wet cottonball. They're usually up and active the next day, still not at full strength, but ready to eat.

Also, Poec males mature in around a year. Yours was 4 years old and you thought it was a male. There were some mistakes made which killed the spider, and a general lack of knowledge. You need to do some homework on these animals.
 
Z

zoiiy

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Um...
Okay, I said i thought it was female. Only when it died did I think it could have been male. I'm sorry that I'm not great at sexing pokies.
Also I tried the "very wet paper towels" as I also mentioned that I put it's mouth over a shallow lid with water but it crawled off that lid quickly. I thought the best way then was to use wet paper towels. And no, it did not submerge its book lungs. And it died after it got up and was on the wall of the container for at least a day, by that time the paper towel wasn't "very wet" anymore and I do not think it drowned.
Anyway, thank you for the answers. Appreciate them very much.
 
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