Recovery?

[hairmetalspider]

In the after photos...where you went about sealing her up with glue, what is the stringy white strands attached to her? Is that, for whatever reason, some sort of webbing or animal hair?

 

[Talkenlate04]

I was thinking that if there is a next time that it may work out better for you to use a syringe. Wouldnt need as much glue and you could save some fluid for whatever:? Glad she's come'n round for ya!

Ehhh maybe. But how would I know if I was only removing cyst fluid and not something more important?

In the after photos...where you went about sealing her up with glue, what is the stringy white strands attached to her? Is that, for whatever reason, some sort of webbing or animal hair?

Yes that be cat hair. Right after she woke up she decided to run around like batman. She picked up some kitty hairs on the carpet that stuck to her drying glue.

 

[von_z]

Wow, awesome! Definitely keep us posted with updates and pics.

 

[proper_tea]

Can you explain a little more about using CO2 to put her down? How much? Dry ice, or what? How do you keep from just suffocating her? How long does it put her out for?

Hopefully I will never have to use it... though I'm sure that you just gained so many cool points in this hobby (and so many crazy points to the rest of the world)

-c

 

[Talkenlate04]

Well I used baking soda and vinegar. So I took a soda bottle and put a 1" layer of baking soda at the bottom. After that was done I held a balloon in one hand and the vinegar in the other. Right after you poor the vinegar into the container it starts to fizz and give off the Co2. Take the balloon as fast as you can and use it to cap the top of the bottle. The balloon will start to fill up, but the reaction is not that strong so as the fizzing stops squeeze the bottle so the air in the bottle fills the balloon.
I already had the T in an airtight container (well mostly air tight it was a deli container with no holes in it) You crack the lid and let the balloons contents empty and close the lid right away.
Almost within the first minute you could see the Co2 starting to work. First I saw her spreading her fangs wide like she was trying to breath through her mouth, then she started trying to bite the container, then she started to get clumsy, then she lost her grip on the walls and slid off. After she had lost her motor skills I still waited about 10 minutes for her to become all the way still. Its a bit of a guessing game. To much Co2 for to long and she dies, and to little she would have woke up in the middle of the surgery. I just happened to guess right with the amount this time. She was down maybe 20 minutes start to finish.

 

[GartenSpinnen]

First of all that was amazing what you did, your really talented. VERY cooL!

In the future, i dont know if you know this or not, but taking bakers yeast and sugar works very well to have a more controllable longer supply of Co2. The more yeast you add and smaller amount of sugar, the lower amount of Co2 and longer it will last, up the sugar and you get more Co2 and it does not last quite as long. By long duration (low concentration) im talking up to 2 weeks constant supply Co2, short duration (high concentration) 2-3 days. You can measure the amount by placing the formula in a pop bottle, rigging up aquarium hose out the top of the pop bottle and then placing the aquarium tube under water. The more bubbles you get in a lower amount of time the higher the Co2 levels.
Cheers!

 

[Talkenlate04]

I had no idea you could do that. I'll have to keep that in mind if there is a next time.
So there is no liquid involved? Just yeast and sugar?

 

[proper_tea]

Would you consider using Co2 on an already injured spider? For example, I've seen plenty a thread where someone's spider, for one reason or another, has split it's abdomen, and is bleeding to death. Would the Co2 be more likely to kill it in this situation?

I'm imagining a situation where a T that I really don't wanna get bit by is injured and bleeding to death. Better to just put on some gloves and make a brave face... or knock it out?

-c

 

[Talkenlate04]

I am not to sure. But the next time I have an injury of that sort I am going to try the Co2.
With an injury like that if you just put on gloves and grab it, it will struggle and fight back causing more blood to be lost and increasing the odds that it dies I would think. But that is just a guess on my part.

 

[hairmetalspider]

How is she doing as of today? Is the wound healing up properly?

 

[Talkenlate04]

Healing how? I don't expect the wound to heal all the way till she molts if I can get her that far. But she is still active and walking around so I hope she gets there.

 

[hairmetalspider]

Healing how? I don't expect the wound to heal all the way till she molts if I can get her that far. But she is still active and walking around so I hope she gets there.

'Healing' more so implied that there is no leakage nor swelling, etc.

If she makes it, you should post some photos to see the advancements or lakc thereof.

 

[GartenSpinnen]

I had no idea you could do that. I'll have to keep that in mind if there is a next time.
So there is no liquid involved? Just yeast and sugar?

OOPS! I posted that in a hurry yes water! Man i must have been more tired than i thought lol.


This is more detailed on what you do...

Take a 2 liter pop bottle.
Add water up to the top of the paper label on the pop bottle. (generally this is a good way to figure it)
Add 2 tbs of yeast
Add however much sugar you want (1.5-2 cups is usually a good amount to get things going!)

Now take and drill a hole just big enough for airline tubing in the top of your lid.
Slid the airline tubing down into the lid about 1", it should be ABOVE the mixture. THIS IS IMPORTANT! It MUST be ABOVE the mixture, not in it!


Seal the airline tubing in place with aquarium sealant. Seal it at the top of the lid, AND inside the lid. Let this dry and do not cover the bottle with the mixture in it, let it vent until the lid is finished.

Gently shake up the mixture a bit, and place your finished lid with aquarium tubing on it tightly. Give it around 24 hours and you got a very reliable supply of Co2 that will last you awhile.

Hope this was more understandable, i cant believe i wasnt more thorough earlier, sorry bout that

Ill go make an illustration to show you everything finished.
Cheers

Edit- here ya go...

 

[Talkenlate04]

Yes that is a much better explanation. I had an idea where you were going with it but was failing to understand how there was going to be a reaction with two dry products.

Ill keep this in mind for sure. Sounds interesting. I might even do it just to do it.

 

[GartenSpinnen]

Just to let you know... dont add more than 1-2 tsp yeast. I posted "whole packet" and if you do that it just wont work as good as 1-2 tsp will.

Also make sure that you dont leave the solution sealed air tight, it will go boom and big mess. Co2 has LOTS of pressure. You would be suprised how much Co2 a bunch of yeast can put off when they eat the sugar.

I keep forgetting the amount of yeast you should add for a 2 liter. I always setup with the larger 3 liters or bigger containers because i needed a very large amount of Co2. 1-2 tsp is good for 2 liter, anything more add some, anything less decrease it. Mostly you need to experiment. You cant really mess it up, but changing things slightly will drastically change the amount of Co2 put off and how long it lasts.

Also room temp or warm water is the best way to go for this. It makes the yeast react a lot faster than cold water IME.

Did i mention not to seal it air tight? Yea i did this with 4 3 liter bottles and they went boom all over the carpet. It smelled horrid and was very messy and sticky!

Cheers

 

[Pestilence]

I've learned something.. thanks! ...still theres the risk of killing the T when you overdoes. yikes

 

[DrAce]

Yeast is a good method of producing CO2. Wouldn't vinegar and baking soda be a much quicker and more controlable source?

 

[sparular]

Baking soda and vinegar or dry ice would be better in this case for 2 reasons.
1. Yeast take a while to get going and produce significant levels of CO2. This would be better for long term CO2 production like for a planted fish tank (which is what I used it for).
2. Yeast are fungi that can be infectious. So it's probably best to stay as microbe free as possible.

If you use dry ice make sure not to chill your T's while you anesthetize them or they could die.

 

[Talkenlate04]

Yeast is a good method of producing CO2. Wouldn't vinegar and baking soda be a much quicker and more controlable source?

It was a real fast reaction that was for sure. If your not ready you will miss a bulk of it.

 

[JayzunBoget]

so many questions...

Ryan, where had you heard about using CO2 as an anesthetic for tarantulas?
How many other people have used this method?
There is a (possible mis-)conception put forward by Romain Pizzi, of the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland Edinburgh Zoo/Dept of Veterinary Clinical Studies in the book Invertebrate Medicine by Gregory Lewbart that,"Carbon Dioxide is commonly used by entomologists for invetebrate anesthesia, but spiders might die."
Perhaps this is a popularly held misconception. It would be nice, as isoflurane is not something that the average person can easily lay hands on.
Also, did you manage to collect any of the fluid for possible vet examination? Has anyone who has had a T with a hernia had the contents of it analyzed?
BTW amazing surgery,Ryan, any zoo should be proud to have you. You should relate that experience in your resume.
PS Steve, how is your metallica? Sorry I wasn't able to keep up with her progress.