B. klaasi molted twice without eating, still hiding

[Mithricat]

Here's the story

I bought a Brachypelma klaasi sling back in early January. About a week later she started moving substrate around and sealed herself in her cork bark. When I bought her the abdomen was huge and dark, so likely in premolt.

A month later (February) she molted, I realized it when I saw she was larger and more colorful when at some point she came out and stood on the water dish for a few minutes. I later found and removed the molt too.

Since then she dissappeared in her burrow and sealed herself in. A couple of days ago (after 2 months!) she came out for a few moments and I saw she was even bigger so I carefully lifted the cork bark and sure enough she had molted again. I noticed her abdomen had also began turning dark again so I think she might be in premolt for a third time in a row!!!

I've been trying to get her to eat since I got her but so far she hasn't touched a single feeder and despite that he has molted twice.

I'm a bit worried now that she's still in her burrow... How many times can she molt without taking a single meal? I've been putting lateralis the size of her body in the tank about once or twice a week (now that she's grown they're actually just the size of her abdomen alone) and leave them overnight but nothing... I even see them going deep down her burrow while exploring the tank but she won't take them...

 

[Lokee85]

If you're unsure if she will eat, it'd be best to prekill the feeder and leave it outside her burrow entrance and she'll take it if she wants it. Remove it if it's still there the next day.

Is her abdomen still plump? While I've never had a T molt twice without eating at least once in between, I have heard of it, and if her abdomen was really big, she obviously stored up enough food/energy to get through those molts without needing any extra. It doesn't sound like there's anything to worry about, even though I know it can be nerve wracking when they don't eat for a long time (I've got one B. albo sling going on 70 days since her last meal).

What size is the sling? What is the enclosure like? She may also be staying hidden if her enclosure is too big. Would you mind posting pics of the full enclosure and of the spider (if able)? This may help give a better understanding of the situation and get some better advice for you.

 

[Mithricat]

The enclosure is a standard small Faunarium. I'm attaching pictures below



(note, the heating pad hasn't been used for a couple of months now and the cotton is outside the enclosure, also the lamp is usually off but I turned it on to take the pictures)

The substrate is coconut fiber and currently is moist under the topsoil. The size of the sling is around ⅓ of the cork bark hideout.

You can even see the lateralis I placed inside last night hanging around the entrance to the burrow, on the left hand side of the cork bark...

As far as her abdomen is concerned, it's still not wrinkled but doesn't look like a grape like it did when I bought her. I can't take photos unfortunately without lifting the cork bark.

 

[Vanessa]

How large is she? It is very uncommon for them to have back to back moults like that without eating. Are you positive that she never ate? The only thing I can think of is that something was wrong with her after her first moult that she moulted again soon after to correct it, or try to correct it. Something like her sucking stomach didn't shed properly.
Do you still have the exuvia from the first time she moulted? You should check both exuvia to see if her stomach is visible.

 

[Mithricat]

How large is she? It is very uncommon for them to have back to back moults like that without eating. Are you positive that she never ate? The only thing I can think of is that something was wrong with her after her first moult that she moulted again soon after to correct it, or try to correct it. Something like her sucking stomach didn't shed properly.
Do you still have the exuvia from the first time she moulted? You should check both exuvia to see if her stomach is visible.

When I got her she was around ½ of an inch, now I'd say she's around 1½ inches (both are leg spans). She has grown a lot since I got her.

She was so small the first exuvia has almost crumbled to dust. I have a piece of it left and the latest one is almost intact, where do I look for the stomach?

I'm absolutely positively 100% sure she never ate because I was unfortunately removing each feeder from her enclosure between 24-48 hours later, uneaten. She hasn't had a meal since at least January 8 when I bought her, don't know about previously in the shop but when I picked her there were no feeders or leftovers in the store container where they kept her. Her abdomen was insanely large though.

 

[Lokee85]

where do I look for the stomach?

On the inside of the molt, by the chelicerae, there should be a bit in the middle that looks like it came from inside the Ts mouth. I wish I had a pic, but unfortunately I don't... Perhaps another member with pics will respond with more help.

 

[Vanessa]

When I got her she was around ½ of an inch, now I'd say she's around 1½ inches (both are leg spans). She has grown a lot since I got her.
She was so small the first exuvia has almost crumbled to dust. I have a piece of it left and the latest one is almost intact, where do I look for the stomach?
I'm absolutely positively 100% sure she never ate because I was unfortunately removing each feeder from her enclosure between 24-48 hours later, uneaten. She hasn't had a meal since at least January 8 when I bought her, don't know about previously in the shop but when I picked her there were no feeders or leftovers in the store container where they kept her. Her abdomen was insanely large though.

Unless you had a microscope, or a very good macro lens, chances are that you probably wouldn't find it at that size. Were you feeding live or pre-killed? Because, if it was pre-killed, there is a good chance that it was looking uneaten, but she was eating some of it. It's very tough to tell sometimes, unless you actually catch them eating pre-killed. For her to have increased in size, she must have been eating something. When they moult, due to physical issues, back to back like that - there would be very little change in size.
For future reference, this is what the sucking stomach looks like in a shed exuvia. I always check mine, because I have friends who have lost their tarantula because it was not shed properly.

 

[Mithricat]

No, there's absolutely no way I could see anything that small in there... I will try but it's rather unlikely I'll be able to.

I was feeding live, just putting little lateralis in the enclosure, coaxing them in her burrow and leaving them there for between 24-48 hours before returning them to the colony. There's no way she could have eaten because all of them were alive and well.

Is it possible that a large meal prior to my purchasing her could sustain her through two molts?

EDIT: Just checked the latest molt and I CAN clearly see the sucking stomach with my eyes, it's tiny but visible. So it was shed normally which would mean she didn't do an emergency molt, right? Could this mean the last molt was just a normal molt?

 

[cold blood]

You need to re-house into a smaller enclosure. A 16oz deli cup would be more appropriate....over-size enclosures encourage excessive hiding, which directly leads to less aggressive feeding.

Deli Cup Setup for Terrestrial Slings 1-3"

• cold blood
• Mar 13, 2017
• 6
• enclosure

Deli cup set up for terrestrial slings 1-3"

 

[Sana]

Not all tarantulas will eat roaches. Approximately half of mine wouldn’t eat a roach if they were starving. Have you tried other feeders? Crickets, while the most disgusting of food groups, are the single feeder that I have never seen a tarantula refuse unless it has a good reason (it’s a G. porteri or premolt being good reasons).

 

[Mithricat]

Not all tarantulas will eat roaches. Approximately half of mine wouldn’t eat a roach if they were starving. Have you tried other feeders? Crickets, while the most disgusting of food groups, are the single feeder that I have never seen a tarantula refuse unless it has a good reason (it’s a G. porteri or premolt being good reasons).

No I haven't tried any other feeders, the store recommended roaches from the beginning (that's what they feed all their Ts) and despite not liking roaches initially I learned to like them. I do confess I haven't even tried any other type of roach other than lateralis because I'm trying to increase my dubia colony size while killing off whatever lateralis I have left... Would it perhaps be possible she may like a Dubia? Your post really made me think. Perhaps I should try giving her a Dubia nymph instead?

You need to re-house into a smaller enclosure. A 16oz deli cup would be more appropriate....over-size enclosures encourage excessive hiding, which directly leads to less aggressive feeding.

Right now I'm keeping her in a 23*16*17cm (9*6⅓*6⅔ inches) Faunarium. I do have an extra, smaller, Faunarium which is 18*11*12.5cm (7*4⅓*5 inches). Would that be good enough for her size or should I go even smaller?

 

[cold blood]

Not all tarantulas will eat roaches

I disagree.

I do confess I haven't even tried any other type of roach other than lateralis because I'm trying to increase my dubia colony size while killing off whatever lateralis I have left... Would it perhaps be possible she may like a Dubia?

Lats are like candy, as readily taken as crickets.....dubia are the ones people have issues with, but ts do eat them.

Right now I'm keeping her in a 23*16*17cm (9*6⅓*6⅔ inches) Faunarium. I do have an extra, smaller, Faunarium which is 18*11*12.5cm (7*4⅓*5 inches). Would that be good enough for her size or should I go even smaller?

As a general rule, a t shouldn't be in anything like that till nearly 2"....below that and they are an escape risk.

I would use a 16oz deli cup like I posted a pic of.

 

[Mithricat]

After considering your replies I decided to take drastic steps, I opened the enclosure, lifted the cork bark and threw in a headless dubia nymph right on the spider.

At the same time I had prepared a new small deli cup with fresh substrate and a catch cup to move her out if she didn't go for the roach.

Well, it sort of worked. The spider immediately struck at the nymph which fell under her but continued to ignore her for a while. I turned around to bring the deli cup closer and a few seconds after turning back I saw the leg movement of the dubia causing the spider to strike and keep her fangs sunk into the nymph's body. Around half a minute later she lifted herself off the floor with the roach still hanging by her fangs.

Right now, around 5 minutes later the dubia is still on the spider's mouth. I'm not sure if worked because I don't see her fangs doing the characteristic up and down motion so it doesn't look like she's crunching her meal.

 

[Sana]

I disagree.

Lats are like candy, as readily taken as crickets.....dubia are the ones people have issues with, but ts do eat them.
As a general rule, a t shouldn't be in anything like that till nearly 2"....below that and they are an escape risk.

I would use a 16oz deli cup like I posted a pic of.

Now that you’ve gone and said that I’m going to have to try lats and see what kind of response I get. Brat.

 

[Mithricat]

UPDATE: She ate, the dubia nymph is gone, only tiny pieces remain. So apparently she either doesn't like lateralis or I need to throw her food on her to eat.

I moved the cork bark on the other side of the enclosure and didn't replace it, not wishing to disturb her while she was eating. 12 hours later she's still out in the open where the hideout used to be...

My girl is weird...

When do I feed again? I'll try throwing her some lateralis this time because they need to go and I have around 20 left.

 

[Ungoliant]

When do I feed again?

I feed my slings 1-2 times per week (depending on the size of the meal and how fat the sling looks).

 

[KezyGLA]

Am I the only person who is thinking it can't be klaasi due to the moults/growth rate ?

 

[Vinny2915]

When do I feed again? I'll try throwing her some lateralis this time because they need to go and I have around 20 left.

Normally once or twice a week, but due to this weird behaviour of molting without eating in between I would try feeding much more frequently until she molts again and you can relax on this issue a bit. I would try feeding as much as she will eat.

 

[Mithricat]

Am I the only person who is thinking it can't be klaasi due to the moults/growth rate ?

I don't have any reason to doubt the shop (they're pretty reputable here though mostly when it comes to reptiles), besides I did keep her quite warm throughout the winter. Of course we will know for sure when she's a little bit older but the little coloring she has so far does match what I expected.

When I got her her abdomen was full to the point of bursting. If you check out her first pictures back from when I got her you'll see her abdomen was the size of a small grape, insanely large, like 5-6 times her carapace. This is probably the reason she had enough energy to molt twice. I'm not sure if this is something that happens frequently but I have no other explanation...

 

[Liquifin]

I don't have any reason to doubt the shop (they're pretty reputable here though mostly when it comes to reptiles), besides I did keep her quite warm throughout the winter. Of course we will know for sure when she's a little bit older but the little coloring she has so far does match what I expected.

When I got her her abdomen was full to the point of bursting. If you check out her first pictures back from when I got her you'll see her abdomen was the size of a small grape, insanely large, like 5-6 times her carapace. This is probably the reason she had enough energy to molt twice. I'm not sure if this is something that happens frequently but I have no other explanation...

Good to hear that your T. is eating again, but you bought your T. from a reptile dealer? If I had to be honest, almost all reptile dealers are clueless on T.'s (no offense)