- Joined
- Feb 2, 2008
- Messages
- 185
it has not eaten since i got it so im kinda worried. i have had it for about three weeks. it is about 4.5 inches. and is not in pre molt. Also it appears to be fine but pretty soon its going to get skinny.
Trust me, no it won't. Tarantulas can go months and months and MONTHS without eating if they're healthy and they feel like doing so. Unless you see actual shrivelling or something, don't even worry about it.but pretty soon its going to get skinny.
When animals (including us) are moved into a new environment, this can cause varying amounts of stress. This stress can express itself physically in a number of ways, such as; decreased appetite, depressed or (worse case scenario) completely shutdown digestive system, depressed immune system.
Different species tend to deal with acclimation better or worse, tho' every individual can be unique. A. seemani is often considered a good first time T, even tho' it is most often offered wild caught, because it tends to deal well with the stress of acclimation.
As long as it has a decent booty on it, and you do what you can to minimize stress factors, she'll eat when she is comfortable. Stress factors can involve in cage disturbances, vibrations from heavy foot traffic or speakers (pc speakers count!).
And don't sweat 3 weeks. Just wait till she makes you sweat through 3-6 months of premolt fasting when she is older!
A lot of the reptiles, amphibians, and inverts that I deal with go through this every year, except usually the first one. I call it "winter slowdown". It's not hibernation, exactly. The deeper into winter it gets, the more I notice customers coming in more rarely for feeders and more people with questions about non-feeding animals....I am not sure why they do this but i have a "hunch" that it has something to do with the temperature and humidity, seeing how both specimens started this behavior around the September as it got cooler and carried it on until spring or summer...
-Nate