My tarantula died

Hi,

About a week and a half ago I noticed Afkha seemed sluggish.

She has been off her food for a little while so I thought she may be going into a shed and made sure the humidity and temps were ok and just kept an eye on her.

Her backend seemd nice and full so I wasn't overly concerned by the lack of appetite.

At that point if sprayed or anything she would scoot away as normal but, as the days passed, she reacted less and less to me pottering in her tank or even touching her. :(

I noticed her legs starting to curl up underneath her when she was at rest and got that sinking feeling.

Thinking possible dehydration I upped the tank humidity yet again and tried calling round the various exotic vets (we have two as it happens one of whom is partially retired ).

The partially retired one had no advice to offer aside from checking for mites, mold, pesticides or ants all of which I had already done.

The vet school didn't even know to suggest that but did offer to take a look and asked if I would be willing to donate the body for study. I declined and hung up. :mad:

When I came through this morning she was sitting upright with the back two pairs of legs curled totally up under her and the rest of he body fitted to the ground she was lying on.

I tried to leave her as long as I could but I was finally forced to admit she was gone. :tears:

When I picked her up I couldn't beleive how heavy she felt - and her back end seems even more swollen than it did when she was ok. I'm wondering if it could have been some sort of gastro-intestinal problem?

I can't remember exactly when I got her but I know it has been since before 1997 as that date is written as a shed on the back of the tank and I feel certain I have had her longer than that - even so I thought she should have had a few more years with me still to go.

I took one last set of photographs.

http://satanswombat.googlepages.com/AfkhaRIP4.jpg

This is how I found her;

http://satanswombat.googlepages.com/AfkhaRIP7.jpg

http://satanswombat.googlepages.com/AfkhaRIP2.jpg

http://satanswombat.googlepages.com/AfkhaRIP10.jpg

I gues I now have a coupe of extra 18x12x12 tanks - I was in the process of building her a new one when I first spotted the problem and put it on hold.


dr del

awww.. sorry for your loss Derek. She was pretty. I'm sure she had a wonderful life with you. :hug:

That's a huge bummer. So sorry to hear Derek. :hug:

I've got a smithii now that lives on my desk, they're one of my favorites.

12 years is still a good run, especially if it's more than that.

On the bright side and it may seem cold but I've been doing this a looooooooooong time, now you've got 2 openings to be filled or one large one.

Too bad you're so far away. I'd send you some scorps if you were closer.

It always sucks losing a pet......sorry...

Thanks folks,

I really don't know how old she was as she was pretty much full sized when I got her.

I was actually wondering if I could alter the cages enough to work for baby cresties - or possibly even temp snake housing.

The snakes would need a fair bit of adaption though so might not be worth it.


dr del

Sorry to hear about this.

I did not even know they could live that long, sounds like she had a nice full life with you.

She was pretty, and I have an extreme fear of spiders. I'm sorry Doc. Remember, when a life passes, another is reborn.

If she was in any pain, she isn't now. Hold a bp, they always make me feel better :)

Awww. I'm very sorry to hear this. I'm glad she had such a long lovely life with such a caring keeper.

Sorry Derek. It's tough to lose a pet that you have had for so long. She had lots of good years with you.

Awww Derek I'm so sorry she's passed away. I'm totally clueless about the normal lifespan for this type of spider but it does seem she had a good long run of it under your care and I'm sure a wonderful spidey life to lead. It's awful to lose an old friend though. :(

I am so sorry for your loss Derek :tears: I check the invert section on here all the time to see if anyone post anything new. Not many people post in here very often so it is unfortunate that the first post in this section in awhile happens to be a friends loss of their T :( Again, very sorry Derek!!!!

Im so sorry Derek, this thread brought tears to my eyes:( I sounds though that she had a nice long life with you and that you really loved her. Its so tough to loose any pets, especially one you've had so long. any thoughts of getting another in time?

- Matt

Thanks again guys,

I think I will wait a bit before deciding if I want to get another tarantula or not.


dr del