CABIV
Arachnosquire
- Joined
- Aug 6, 2014
- Messages
- 95
Hey guys
Well, I've had my Avicularia since the end of August. It seemed OK, until the last couple nights. I noticed it was sitting in the same spot near the bottom of the cage for a few days, and that it hadn't really moved. I decided to poke it with a pen to see if it would react.
It did indeed move, but it had "tremors", and couldn't really seem to walk, but it could hold itself up. It also had a very strong grip, even though it tremored when it walked, I could feel it pulling on the pen.
My first instinct was to guide it over to the water dish (which I had just filled with fresh water) to see if it would take a sip (something this tarantula does not seem to be shy about). Eventually though, this began to get me nervous, since it started to try and squeeze and hide in the water dish and I didn't want it to drown itself if it couldn't really move.
I put it in an "ICU" as described in the Tarantula Keeper's Guide (chinese food container, soaked paper towel) overnight, on top of a refrigerator. When I checked on it this morning, it was standing up in a natural pose, and it was walking around a little, but still with the tremors.
Now, this tarantula has had a number of issues and changes, mainly:
1.) Always appears to be fasting. It didn't eat anything until mid November, and it may have only eaten one or two more crickets since them (i've only ever seen it eat one, but there were two "spit balls" I did recover). It last ate earlier this month, but probably only one of the several crickets I put into the tank.
2.) It may have gotten "pinched" two weeks ago when a decoration shifted unexpectedly while cleaning near the cage. I watched it leap out in what looked like the nick of time, but it seemed healthy and did not have any ruptures on it that I could see. It continued to walk around in healthy fashion, and was fairly active before and after that point.
3.)Last week, I moved the tank over from my desk to on top of my bureau. I had originally placed it on my desk behind the hutch since it was out of direct sunlight and it might have helped with the humidity (My room is very dry), but due to the layout of my room, it made it very difficult to observe the tank and the tarantula, and even just to feed/water it. Its new location is a little more out in the open. After the "pinching" above, I made sure the tarantula was in a safe spot before I moved it.
3.5) A side note on the humidity/water situation, the water dishes (there are two!) evaporate rapidly, but parts of the tank are damp near the bottom (the substrate is terra cotta hydroballs with cococnut choire over top). I'm regularly refilling the water dishes, but I hesistate to make the whole cage damp due to possible unecessary sickness
4.)This might be a "Big" one. Two nights ago, my dad was trying to light a fire in our fireplace. The chimney was blocked, and the house filled up with smoke. My room (where the tarantula is housed) did not get smokey, but I could still smell it strongly.
I've been seeing things about this so-called "DKS", but is suspect thats not really a helpful diagnosis. In any event, the tarantula seems to have improved in condition since being in the ICU, but it doesn't look like its healthy yet.
I took a video of the tremors. I will post it sometime soon.
Thanks!
Well, I've had my Avicularia since the end of August. It seemed OK, until the last couple nights. I noticed it was sitting in the same spot near the bottom of the cage for a few days, and that it hadn't really moved. I decided to poke it with a pen to see if it would react.
It did indeed move, but it had "tremors", and couldn't really seem to walk, but it could hold itself up. It also had a very strong grip, even though it tremored when it walked, I could feel it pulling on the pen.
My first instinct was to guide it over to the water dish (which I had just filled with fresh water) to see if it would take a sip (something this tarantula does not seem to be shy about). Eventually though, this began to get me nervous, since it started to try and squeeze and hide in the water dish and I didn't want it to drown itself if it couldn't really move.
I put it in an "ICU" as described in the Tarantula Keeper's Guide (chinese food container, soaked paper towel) overnight, on top of a refrigerator. When I checked on it this morning, it was standing up in a natural pose, and it was walking around a little, but still with the tremors.
Now, this tarantula has had a number of issues and changes, mainly:
1.) Always appears to be fasting. It didn't eat anything until mid November, and it may have only eaten one or two more crickets since them (i've only ever seen it eat one, but there were two "spit balls" I did recover). It last ate earlier this month, but probably only one of the several crickets I put into the tank.
2.) It may have gotten "pinched" two weeks ago when a decoration shifted unexpectedly while cleaning near the cage. I watched it leap out in what looked like the nick of time, but it seemed healthy and did not have any ruptures on it that I could see. It continued to walk around in healthy fashion, and was fairly active before and after that point.
3.)Last week, I moved the tank over from my desk to on top of my bureau. I had originally placed it on my desk behind the hutch since it was out of direct sunlight and it might have helped with the humidity (My room is very dry), but due to the layout of my room, it made it very difficult to observe the tank and the tarantula, and even just to feed/water it. Its new location is a little more out in the open. After the "pinching" above, I made sure the tarantula was in a safe spot before I moved it.
3.5) A side note on the humidity/water situation, the water dishes (there are two!) evaporate rapidly, but parts of the tank are damp near the bottom (the substrate is terra cotta hydroballs with cococnut choire over top). I'm regularly refilling the water dishes, but I hesistate to make the whole cage damp due to possible unecessary sickness
4.)This might be a "Big" one. Two nights ago, my dad was trying to light a fire in our fireplace. The chimney was blocked, and the house filled up with smoke. My room (where the tarantula is housed) did not get smokey, but I could still smell it strongly.
I've been seeing things about this so-called "DKS", but is suspect thats not really a helpful diagnosis. In any event, the tarantula seems to have improved in condition since being in the ICU, but it doesn't look like its healthy yet.
I took a video of the tremors. I will post it sometime soon.
Thanks!