Just a suggestion: If this happens again, try placing the T in warm water, about 1cm deep. It's less stressful on both you and the T. It will also encourage them to drink. Also, if you notice another T behaving like this, early enough, try offering food like worms. They have a high water content, which can prevent constipation. I'm very sorry you lost her, Petko!
I knew a guy who kept getting constapated tarantulas. He said the roaches he fed them were too high on protein. So he swapped the type of roaches and not only that, he said he actually changed the food of the roaches to something lower in proteins. I wish I knew exactly the changes. But I guess u can look into what bugs u feed them and what the bugs are eating.
That is interesting and something I constantly think about. I alternately feed my roaches apple, banana, cucumber, bug burger patties - once a week. In addition, my T's have always fresh water and are only fed every few weeks or months (otherwise they get too fat and this can be deadly, as is well known). So far they have pooped after every meal and that is a good sign for me.
I'm not sure the problem would be the protein, I think it's more related to the kytin on the body of the feeders that makes the exoskeleton so probably some roaches have a higher amount like dubias in comparison to other species or crickets and worms.
@@daneox01dk spiders don't eat exoskeleton, they only drink the insides. In frogs and delicate small lizards hard chitin definitely can cause blockage.
Petko I love watching you and your channel and I know your heart is in the right place. These losses are tough and Im sorry. I do think you are losing too many to this issue and the whole thing hurts my heart. Hydration is for sure the primary problem. Not sure if substrate is too dry but please🙏 start keeping a full water dish in the enclosures. They know when they need to drink so they need to be able to find water. Once captive they are at our mercy so we have to provide what they can no longer seek for themselves. Its logical that feeders are also an issue. Certain foods have constipating or laxative effects for us and can even cause various digestive complications so I am certain for them also. It would be good for T hobbyists to research and broadcast on this subject. My sense is roaches are not a good T feeder.
In the wild, there is no water dish. However, i do belive when the tarantula is in need off water, it will go look for water it can drink. Tarantulas can go long time without water. But they do go look for it when needed. To provide a waterdish for tarantulas, you will just be sure that it allways have acces to water, which is a good thing! And it also makes so you dont have to mist your enclosure all the time... but the constipated problem is not cuz off lack off waters. But it could be your feeders thats the problem.
"A bad or wet molt - This is one of the most supportable theories. Several of the reported instances of tarantula impaction followed bad or wet molts by spiders. In these cases, it’s suspected that some unseen internal damage due to the difficult molt has blocked of the passage of waste, causing the spider to become impacted. I know that in both of my cases, the deaths happened as the spiders were putting weight back on after molts."
How did I get here? This is the most interesting and informative constipation video. Who knew that tarantulas can get this way? Thanks for education on spiders and helping her. PS it's not just a pet. Not just a tarantula. It's love. And you show your hobby to us and give the community a better understanding.
My Birupes simoroxigorum has been like that for months. I put her in the water dish + raising humidity in the enclosure and she pooped. Since then she have been doing better (some days it did not look like it). Yesterday she finally managed to eat an asticot. I am so happy for her, but still doubtfull of her recovery. Only time will tell 🤞🏼
I'm really sorry for your loss... They're not just tarantulas, they spend their life with you and you love them. Sure it's not the same as a dog or something, but it's still love. I hope we're able to figure out the cause of it someday. If I had to take a guess I would think it's in the molting process, there's a lot that can go wrong
This made my heart hurt. I know that they don't feel the same way we do, but it hurts when they go. I am so sorry for your loss and her and your suffering. I am thankful you showed some of how to preserve! Thank you for including that. Looking forward to your next video!
Me personally I give a water dish in the enclosure. Very rare to see them use it but do see them drinking on occasion and I'm sure they drink a bit more frequently just without me seeing. Plus I give them earth worms every fourth feed due to the high moisture content.
That all sounds right! I was thinking high moisture bugs, and I'm not sure he has water dishes in every enclosure... but I would! What do you think about enclosure humidity also? Still sad...
@@sandywalter9728 *sorry ended up being a longer comment then I expected myself 😂🤣 I personally don't stress much about humidity (for all my animals) but I guess it does depend to an extent one where you live (for context I live in Gwynedd in North Wales). I just use a soil mix for all my animals (top soil, pond compost, sand, gravel, leaf litter, wood (like sliver birch, oak etc) and sphagnum moss with the ratio's varying depending on the species). I personally don't like coconut fibre but not saying it's bad. But just more annoying to work with as it's impossible to make it into a healthy soil if using it as is. Because if its nature it's prone to massive dramatic swings of humidity as well as doesn't hold structure etc (of borrowing T's they can make it work structurally because of their webbing. But for anything else it's hard for them to make actual dens). And yeah prone to getting too dry, then too wet because it's too dry you try to compensate with heavy spraying etc. Plus as I said impossible to make it a healthy soil if just using it or as your main filler. Plus top soil is cheaper while being able to be made into a healthy soil easily and hold moisture and structure better. Imo it have a healthy setup you need a healthy soil. And a healthy setup means less maintenance and less maintenance means less stress in the animals especially when dealing with sensitive species. I view it like fish keeping. Keep the water healthy you keep the aquarium healthy. Holds moisture in the soil well without having the issue of if you spray it and the water sits on top and flows to the edges and goes down the sides but leaving the soil in the middle bone dry under the surface. And still drains well and stays airy. Plus I have plants in the setups and so gives ranges in humidity. With my more rain forest species including frogs etc I only spray when it looks like it needs it so often only once or twice a week sometimes less. Exception being species of lizards that drink water drops. But with them I spray the cage once a week still but once a day (first thing in the morning or straight after the lights are off depending on the species) I spray a small but of mosquito netting I keep stuck on the side as a watering station. Outside of this when I clean the water dishes I scrub them in the cage, pour out the water into the soil, hold it on its side while blasting it with the jet setting on my sprayer to clean it out (this pours into the soil) then refill with the spray. So adds moisture to the soil too. Plus this way saves a lot of time too. Will add I have a 7L, or bit under 2US gallon, pressure spray pump. Big handle you pump until happy then you twist and lock the handle and it has a big hose with a trigger you hold down to spray. Lot easier then a hand held squirty. These enclosures have high humidity in general but have zones of even higher humidity (base of plants, underground etc). People make the mistake of thinking it's from a rain forest so needs the soil wet which isn't the case. If you go to a rainforest if you're away from a water source unless it's just rained it's rare to see wet wet soil. As long as it's not dry and you have a bunch of live plants (these release humidity as they "breath") typically your fine unless if you live in a very dry place. Living in the UK we have pretty high ambient humidity to begin with and the extra from a healthy soil and the plants is generally enough with the spraying being more about maintaining the plants themselves. Plus even for baby slings I don't like putting them in tiny tubes/tubs. Once they've become fully formed I put my slings into 20cm cubes (8inch). With a good 4inch of substrate. Larger space means more soil and ventilation means it's easier to keep humidity stable. Again like fish tanks. The larger the tank the more water the easier it is to maintain water quality as the same amount of waste in a 200L aquarium is more diluted then in a 20L aquarium. I just release the sling where I want it to make its web/tunnel. Shove a plastic cup over it and that location and leave it a few days before removing. The sling will make its home in that area so I just drop food in that section. Plus it means I can just leave it in that cage for years without having the issue of not keeping an eye on molts and resulting in a spider being in a cage that is too small for it to even streatch it's legs out in which you see with a lot of keepers with larger collections.
I saw Snake Discovery treat a snake with some kind of constipation or blockage with vibration therapy and it actually helped. Maybe thats something that could work on Ts too?
sorry for your loss :( it was really good of you to try and help her. as sad as it is, its also super interesting! i hope we can find a cause/remedy soon
@@jdssurf they have enzymes that break down even the chitin to some extent...but mybe it clumps together and hardens inside them almost like a cement...we need prebiotics for tarantulas.
You did your best, Petko. I’m so sorry she didn’t make it. Thank you for sharing so we can learn from your experience. I applaud your bravery and compassion! I enjoy your videos a lot, thank you!
Sorry for your loss. You did try to help her. I've seen keepers soak their lizards with this problem, but soaking a spider would be hard to do. Although the wet paper towel seemed to help a bit. Maybe keep the T on the paper towel longer. I read have no idea about treating illness in spiders. Thank you for the information. I love watching your videos.
Keep in mind Petko we are not al telling you that your lack of water dish is killing all your animals, i don't use them in every enclosure, but i'm starting to after all these years. Your humble enough to ask for advice, so until we can give you solid answers, we're just giving you tips on a few things that we've noticed seem to benefit our personal collections. Not saying that's what causes blockages. Before you make your video on water, just know it's ok if you decide it might be what you start doing, we're not going to say we told you so, we're just trying to help and we're here cuz we luv ya dude. In the end, you may be right, and we're a bunch of dummies, but as long as we're all humble. Hard to tell with this girl though. I still wonder if we need to mix up the diet, idk my friend.
Glad to have come across this video. I’m pretty sure this is what happened to my Phidippus regius female last year. I never knew why her abdomen was so weird after she passed. 😕
Very cool content. I hope we can see more like this. At the same time I hope you don't have to deal with sick Tarantulas very often as well. The next time one ages out a full necropsy would be cool to watch. See the organs and maybe work out a way to show how they move their legs.
This is very sad! 😢 You might say that it's just a Tarantula, but I was always felt close to all of my Tarantulas! The reason why I don't have Tarantulas anymore started with her jealousy and growing hatred towards me! She always accused me of cheating, but she was the one doing what she wanted to do whenever I was at work! No responsibility for her own actions. But this is new to me because I had 82 Tarantulas and NEVER had this problem with any of them, losing only 1 because I couldn't keep the humidity high enough for my Xenesthis Immanis (may not 🚫 be the correct spelling), it's been so long ago! Now because of my health issues and the woman ♀️ I am with, she and her son are afraid of Spiders and Scorpions. I hope and pray 🙏 that you find out the problem and you find a way to overcome it and share it with us! ✌️
Definitely try a warm water soak next time. Thats what we do with chickens when they might be egg bound and it can help stimulate them to release. Maybe the same can apply to tarantulas
Petko I love watching you and your channel and I know your heart is in the right place. These losses are tough and Im sorry. I do think you are losing too many to this issue and the whole thing hurts my heart. Hydration is for sure the primary problem. Not sure if substrate is too dry but please🙏 start keeping a full water dish in the enclosures. They know when they need to drink so they need to be able to find water. Once captive they are at our mercy so we have to provide what they can no longer seek for themselves. Its logical that feeders are also an issue. Certain foods have constipating or laxative effects for us and can even cause various digestive complications so I am certain for them also. It would be good for T hobbyists to research and broadcast on this subject. My sense is roaches are not a good T feeder.
The thought of a constipated Tarantula has never crossed my mind; not even close. This was a welcome early morning surprise. You could clearly see the problem with your close-up shot. 👌 nnnNice 👀 Your cameras and lights are awesome, and you do a great job at capturing things the way you do. We have Tarantulas and Baboon Spiders here in my city, in South Africa. I got close enough for some vids, but I could not pick them up. It was cool to discover, in person, that some live underground. Just saw eyes shining in the ground and discovered a Baboon spider in a burrow
Interesting... she defecated on very wet paper towel. Maybe a humidity issue? Maybe occasionally flood the half side of the enclosure of the tarantula even though that species lives on arid environment 2:26 you mentioned she stays on the humid side of the enlosure quite often on her final days Also.. In humans, drinking lots of water is one way to prevent constipation. Dehydration is one of the major reasons of that because if you are dehydrated your body pulls the liquid out of your stool hence the constipation issues. l think it can be true for Tarantulas. I think Maybe a water dish can be a huge help.. My thoughts 🤔😮
And changing up food sources & the foods he gut loads them with. I agree he should keep water dishes in the enclosures with non-heavy webbers & more arid environments at least. Every living thing needs a water source & for some of these species, I don't know if food & the occasional water droplets are enough for healthy hydration. I think this girl may have had a bad molt internally, though.
I understand the argument for no water dish is that they dont have it in nature. However, when kept in captivity, i think that argument is null and void. In captivity, we feed them regularly to give them the best possible longevity, which is not the case in nature. In nature, they have predators to worry about, which isn't the case in our collections. In nature, they also have access to morning dew, puddles, and maybe even small streams to access water. They may not need a water dish, but we go to all these other lengths to ensure their survival. Why not drop in a water dish as well. They may not need it, but it certainly doesn't harm them, especially since one of your previous videos showed us that they can be submerged in water and be fine. I'm still a big fan of your videos, but just a thought for the anti water dish front
I have heard that if you have a tarantula with potentially a large internal blockage that holding their butts in hot (maybe soapy?) water can cause the hardened lumped to soften and break up, making it easier to pass the pieces.
Poor girl must have been in so much pain. Thank you for trying. I do think putting her is tepid/ warm water to drink which could break up the poop when she drinks it.
I wonder if there is anything that would work as a laxative for spiders that could be used in safe dosage. As you know there is for humans, but other animals in the wild, certain things can be a laxative for them, wonder if there would be one specifically to help spiders. Though laxatives expend a lot of water content in the body and spider might not drink after.
I listened to a recent Tom Moran podcast with an exotic veterinarian who is in the hobby, and if I remember correctly, besides a water dish, you could also put a little bit of vegetable oil right on the anus area to help them pass the poop easier, since it would be slicker, and that's after you moisten the butt.
Eventhough it is sad to see a beautiful tarantula go, but this is very helpfull for people like me who have only few tarantulas. And not much knowledge, but this helps what to look for when there behavior changes. Have a hamorii and a phormictapus auratus who has been hiding in her closed up burrow for two months now, wich makes me a little bit nervous on how she is doing bit don't want to disturb the burrow to check.
Same . Was worried of my other T that has huge abdomen and not seeing poop on the enlosure. She's still active and feisty though not like his lethargic..
I saw that and thought of my emila (she's 10 years old now). My world would collapse. 😢 It's extremely important what you feed your roaches. The healthier the food, the healthier the spider! One of the first things I learned as a beginner. We humans just like to feed our animals things that we think are good but don't really know it. My roaches get cucumber, apple, banana and bug burger. And all my T's have water dishes!
Looks like she really might have died of old age. Certainly didn't look blocked and she pooped in the ICU too. That's good news. But it made me chuckle that we bothered an old lady by wiping her butt for no reason. Lol
Sorry you lost your T. I have been watching your post for a couple of years now (at least I think it has been that long). I even had a jumping spider as a pet for a little over a year and then she died. I know how it feels to have a pet, even it they are creepy crawlers, LOL!
This has happened a few times to me as well. Whats worked for me is once the blockage is cleared and she pooped( almost every time it squirted out) after that put her in a sterile container on a papertowel. Keep the papertowel moist. Keep her warmer than normal and the humidity high almöst to the point of condensation on the walls and ceiling of container. The blockage is usually clearded but they are still very ill. They will drink from the droplets or the towel as well or if its an adult put a water dish or bottle cap with water inside. Ive gotten a few slings out of death curl and my electric blue juvenile. It oftens happens after a molt they start going in death curl because of the energy and stress used to molt and obviously even when healthy after a molt they lose a lot of fluid. Heat/Hydrate/High humidity.
A friend of mine had a couple of tarantulas with constipation. They did not survive it. He was really upset as there was no real information on the matter (and there still isn't!). So he started watching all his tarantulas and kept a feeding chart. 2 more got constipated and passed away. He was so sad. To the point where all he did was watch documentaries on tarantulas. He scared me half to death when he jumped up in excitement!!!! 😱😤😨. He started looking through all the feeding charts and noticed that he was only feeding roaches, mealworms and crickets with sometimes grasshoppers! It was the feeding that was causing it! All of those feeders are really high in calcium! He started switching up their food and didn't drop the food right on the tarantulas so that the tarantulas would have to kind of work for their food. He hasn't had any issues at all since. That was 8 years ago! If you think about it. Tarantulas eat a very wide variety of insects (with the occasional mouse, frog, lizard and bird depending on their size) in the wild. Where as in captivity it is the same thing all the time!!
@@calliew311 Yeah I thought the same, the amount of taruntalas dying is not alarming but dying of the same issue seems high (if that was really the case and not mistaken for some other problem). Maybe they need some kind of variation in their diet, but I am just making a blind guess.
@@roderickbalt8993 that's what I've heard other people saying too. May be the amount of Dubia and not much variance, but that's a guess since he has a large colony and crickets are more difficult to keep, that maybe it's all the protein. I mean if humans ate 90% protein and 10% water, we'd be constipated too, just like Henry Viii was, since they believed vegetables to be peasant food and they "gave me (him) wind." Lol.
Just a thought, but do you have hard water? I'm guessing in nature a tarantula is getting rain water or other water that's likely soft and acidic. If they don't have the biology to get rid of the excess minerals in the water I wonder if it could cause the rare blockage
This is becoming a serious problem. Dayum :/ One of the first videos i watched from this channel unfortunately was also the consipation video 2 years ago. This is really sadge :/
Constipation is probably due to a lack of water. The digestion of tarantulas is partly done inside the nourished insect, if the tarantula has water available, it is not supposed to be constipated....
Yeah, thank you for this Petko. I think my Acanthoscurria Geniculata died of constipation blockage. So , so sad. So, so sorry for your loss Petko. 😥🌹. The strange thing is that I had a water dish in my female Acanthoscurria Geniculata enclosure? 🤷🏾♀️. All 7, of my remaining tarantula's all have water dishes in their enclosures? So, I really don't know? 🤔 🤷🏾♀️. It's really hard to know to be honest what causes it? I preserved my female Acanthoscurria Geniculata. RIP, beautiful T. 😢😢😢🌹🌹🌹😮
I read someone's theory that it may be all the Dubia roaches in Petko's Ts' diet. The theory was that roaches have a lot more protein than crickets or meal worms or super worms. It sounded plausible but no way to know if that's actually what happened. I have 10 Ts, I haven't had impaction, yet, and hopefully will never have it.
I've only been keeping for 3 years but I have a large collection and I've never had signs of constipation with one of my spiders. I wonder what your thoughts are about giving your tarantulas a water dish. All of mine have one and i feel like it might be a good failsafe to prevent this issue as well as problems with molting. I look up to you as a keeper and I think there are many good ways to keep spiders and I wouldn't tell you how to keep your animals but I often see my spiders taking a nice long drink then taking a poop after and I wonder what your thoughts are about that. As always I love your videos and thanks for sharing! Sorry for your loss. 🖤
I don't know tarantulas but when I inquire about adopting one, I often read that we have to place a bowl of water in the enclosure. I think she miss water maybe ? And it is was too late when you tried to save her ? I don't know, it is a proposition. I m sad for you, she had pretty colors :( hope you good luck next time to find solutions of this !
Something is up with one of my new slings-homoeomma peruvianum...it ate fine 2 weeks ago...its not in a death curl but front legs slightly curled and constantly twitching front legs also a little sluggish...no bugs or mites...I'm new to the hobby & very comfused
No no no to euthanasia by freezing. It's a slow, stressful and if they can register it, a very painful death. As horrific as it sounds the most effective and quickest method for euthanasia is a brick, but obviously that's way harder on the owner than simply placing in a freezer and forgetting about.
I think he's reluctant to use a brick because he wants to taxidermy the tarantula afterward and squishing it would destroy the exoskeleton. But isn't there a gas of some sort used for humanely euthanizing inverts while still allowing preservation afterward? Maybe he could try that.
In a previous video he researched it extensively. Most articles had said freezing but he decided on putting the dying T in mixture of dish soap and water and it fortunately died instantly. As for the brick he said he cares and respects esects her too much
By scratching.. Do you mean like rubbing their abdomen with their legs? My lil cobalt blue died last week and she had been scratching her abdomen as if she was trying to kick hairs he doesn't have.. But.. I couldn't find any hardened poop on her after she had died.
