@ Onyx:

That is the risk you take for having any live stock posted. If you stick a "FRAGILE" label on the parcel,its a recipe for disaster! :pinch:

I only know of one member that will sell you a specimen and demand payment only when you have received your tarantula and everything is well. CERATOGYRUS!!!

Will check this afternoon to see if the little one has moved at all and move to an icu.

You know if I did anything to cause this I would understand but everything was by the book. I always wash my hands before going near my T's and I dont handle the slings at all as they are to fragile. I have never had this happen and it is killing me i keep trying to step back and think what went wrong here. was the package handled to violently and the little one got hurt. I have checked all my other T's and all of them are as happy as can be. I always use new substrate and never and I mean never reuse T enclosures just in case. I have read so many story's of dyskenetic syndrome and other horrible illnesses so I am very careful with my T's.

I just want to know what is going on here

I can honestly say the packaging was good and by the book. But at the end of the day I suppose it doesnt matter how well the packaging is if some idiot troughs the package around or drops it.

Try to make sure that your T is not living in TOO high a humid environment. This species tends to do well in high humidity but also needs good ventilation and air flow. I have read that they get ill if the humidity is too high and there is not enough airflow, and their book lungs are somehow affected, sorry I can't remember the whole article now.

If you do use an ICU, don't make it too moist either. Actually set it up and put your humidity meter inside to check the avg humidity before putting the T in.

Martinique's average humidity is around 80%, this means it fluctuates between the 70's and high 80's. It's too easy to over moisten a little container and the humidity will sit at 100%, which is no good. I have seen A. Versi's in pet stores where the owners are so worried about the humidity that the little tubs are dripping with water, and not long after, all of them are dead on the top shelf.

AS DocMorrie says below... HUMIDITY + VENTILATION

HS

I've killed many A. versicolor slings in the past... :blush:

However, I haven't lost one since. VENTILATION is the golden threat you must follow to raise these beauties. A Deli-cup with no ventilation holes is a death sentence for them... I have tried many different methods. Very high humidity will not kill them, IF there is sufficient ventilation holes - been there done that. High humidity in an enclosed deli-cup, with insufficient ventilation holes WILL kill them - Fungi will grow in their booklungs long before you realize it - been there, done that... Again!

The method I have found to be successful is to create as many ventilation holes as possible. I aggree, I might overdo it, but I haven't lost another versi yet. :whistle: (Touch wood!). My deli-cups, where I raise versi's in, look like it have been in a "needle-machine gun" war! Keep the humidity high and the temperature slightly raised above room temperature.

I have found that my versi's (slings) do better with pre-killed crickets... Why? I don't know. One of my adult females, which I raised from a 1cm-sized sling, won't catch alive pray even to today. She is a proper hand reared tarantula! She will only takes a cricket from a tweezer, very gently. She is a real lady. :lol: My other versi's have grown out of that habbit, tackling their pray down!

I wish you all of the best with your versicolor baby... If the situation takes a turn for the worst, please don't loose heart. It is a difficult species to raise, and sometimes it feels like they drop you for no apparent reason.

Onyx wrote: I just want to know what is going on here

The T was either sick when packaged or hurt in transit
If the sender has not advised you before purchase that the risk is yours then you should ask for compensation should it pass away.
Sending avic's through the post is never a good idea