HELP My Avic

I have an avicularia versicolor. I dont know if its male or female. She was too young to tell when i bought her. Well recently she molted, and didnt eat. (she normally pigs out afterward) 2 days ago she crawled in her water dish and hasnt left. I forced her out tonight and she is walking like 2 of her legs are too long. Then she sits still with her legs squeezed tightly against her body. I am worried about her. Can anyone shed any light on this?

How long has it been since it molted? It sometimes takes awhile before they feed again. If it was sitting in the water dish I would say it's dehydrated from the molt.

That's my thoughts as well. Also, how big is it now?

a few things...

Feeding directly after a molt puts the T at risk of breaking a fang.

As T's get larger they take more time to recover from a molt, it is the single most exausting and physicaly demanding thing a tarantula will ever do.

The water dish thing, i agree it may be de hydrated after the molt, let the spider be it knows what is best for it.

if you are worried, keep the T out of direct light and in a quiet place.

It is walking around and drinking, things do not seem fatal.

Good luck and be calm, the spider knows what it is doing.

She is 2 years old and 3 inches. Its been 5 days since she molted. I took her out of her cage and put her in a 10 gallon with a dark towel over it in a dim/quiet room. I put a shallow dish of water. She has crawled into this dishand wont come out aswell. As water, I normally use calcium enriched water bites. I am gonna clean her cage. My b/f has me scared that the soil i am using might have a toxin in it. He said that there is perlite in the soil that i am using. Is that It? Should I keep her in this 10 gal til she is acting better? Should i try to feed her?

well if im not mistaken perlite is the little white balls in the potting soil you can buy right??? if this is the case I think but could be wrong that perlite has no effect on T's...i have seen a lot of T inclosures with that type of potting soil...yes and like phoneixx said about the feeding thing you should wait about a week somtimes more after a molt..

First off, get rid of the water bites. If your T is dehydrated, that could be why. I'm not sure if spiders can even get anything out of them. Tarantulas can drink standing water, and that's what your spider needs, especially if it is dehydrated. You might also want to search this board for posts regarding the use of an ICU.

Nicole

nicole nailed it, clean standing water. and dot even think of using a sponge! spiders wont drown unless they get water in the booklungs and they know better than to do that.

I have heard that perlite IS bad for tarantulas... I believe it is something about it accumulating in the booklungs or something to that effect. I think I may have heard about it from Chip (Code Monkey). Vermiculite, however, is safely used by many tarantula hobbyists.

As for the water issue, I'd definitely ditch the stuff you're using for just plain standing water. However, I'm wondering how long you've had this girl... you say she is 2 years old, have you had her that whole time? Have you always used the water bites? How long have you had her in the cage with perlite?

Here is what I suspect might have happened, if the water bites and perlite are not to blame: your tarantula may have suffered a bad molt and may be unable to drink because of damage to the fangs or even internal damage. She may be attempting to drink but if she has been unsuccessful (due to the inability to drink from the water bites or due to damage), that could account for persistent visits to the water dish.

I'd say go ahead and prepare a new enclosure without the perlite, gently move her over, give her standing water, and then leave her alone. If you see her condition worsening (such as seeing her constantly trying to drink but the water level stays the same or if she is unable to kill her or consume prey), you'll need to put her in ICU (do a quick search through these boards and you'll find lots of info on making an ICU).

I think there are people who have been able to feed and water tarantulas after a substantially bad molt... but it takes a lot to do so and you'll need to do it until the next molt when, hopefully, new fangs (or whatever else was damaged) regenerate. If you can get a good glimpse of the fang area without disturbing her, you might be able to see if there is any visible damage.

Again, this is only a hypothesis but I'm thinking that if her usual conditions haven't changed and this is new behavior for her, then a bad molt could account for what has happened.

Keep us updated and best of luck!

-Kelly

I am going to get some vermiculite tomorrow. She seems better already. She has come out of her water and crawled around some. She is even sleeping with her legs spread instead of them held tightly against her. What do you suggest is a good water "bowl" for an aboreal species?

I'm so glad for you to hear that she's improving. Good stuff.

Kellygirl said:

I have heard that perlite IS bad for tarantulas...

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Interesting...I was just discussing that with someone the other day in one of my threads. http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/showthread.php?t=35966&highlight=vermiculite

Not only have I read that it's bad for Ts, but that it's bad for humans too. I knew I should've grabbed that link...

BlkCat said:

I am going to get some vermiculite tomorrow. She seems better already. She has come out of her water and crawled around some. She is even sleeping with her legs spread instead of them held tightly against her. What do you suggest is a good water "bowl" for an aboreal species?

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I'm glad to hear she's doing better.

A water bowl for an arboreal...all's that important is that she can't drown in it. A peanut butter jar lid (cleaned, filled with some small rocks if necessary, or just to be safe), will be fine. It's really more for humidity than anything.

Arboreals spend most of their time up in the trees...and very rarely come down to the ground. And to be honest...in normal circumstances if an arboreal drinks from a water dish, it's because it's dehydrated. That could very well be the source of your Ts current problems. A bad molt is caused alot of the time because it's not humid enough...especially in arboreals.

Tarantulas should get most of the water they need from their food, but I always mist one side (the back, so you can't see any water marks), and a bit of the web of my arboreal tanks (and other high humidity species), once every day...every other day, or every three days...depending on the species and how the tank "looks".

That's also more to just add humidity, but alot of them will drink off the sides of the tank. In fact I've only seen one of my arboreals drink from a dish, and I had just gotten him. But I have seen all of them drink from the side of the tank.
My P.regalis actually hangs out on the screen and lets me give her a drink with the squirt bottle up close, although I don't recommend that with any T. It just kinda happened, and it's something that she initiates.

Apart from that, just make sure that she has adequate ventilation for the extra humidity.

Good luck with her.

Great News. She is doing great!!!! I scalded her cage. Got new drift wood and peat moss. A shallow water bowl with marbles in it. She Is walking the way she used to. She wanted to walk all over me and not go back in her cage. Just like she did before. She hasnt eaten yet. Should I try to feed her or wait a lil longer? I just wanted to thank you all for all your help!!!!! And Alaria Thanks you too!!!

BlkCat said:

What do you suggest is a good water "bowl" for an aboreal species?

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What I like to do with my arboreals is get a plastic soda bottle lid or any type of lid and hot glue to either the sides or on the driftwood,corkbark etc. Here is a picture of one I did for my P cambridgei. It is smaller than you Avic so you might want to find something a little bigger for it.
If you decide to put on the bottom of enclosure, an ash tray or just anything that is wide and shallow. I started putting mine up higher because it SEEMS like they are more apt to use it. That is just my me speculating though lol.
Either way will be fine though.
Oh, and I am glad to hear that it is doing better