Brachypelma Smithi in PREMOLT?

[Georgia Theresa]

HELLO GUYS, IM ALSO A NEWBIE, I GOT AN 4 YRS OLD FEMALE B.smithi/hamorii and need an assurance.
Her last molt was in april, she is usually very active, and loves to walk and do different things, but im noticing that for last two weeks or so she seems a bit lethargic and not active at all, just sitting and sitting, very slow and little movements, been refusing a food for at least two,three weeks, and not drinking much either, otherwise looks healthy, COULD IT BE A PREMOLT STATE? THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ANSWERS.

 

[Ungoliant]

Her last molt was in april, she is usually very active, and loves to walk and do different things, but im noticing that for last two weeks or so she seems a bit lethargic and not active at all, just sitting and sitting, very slow and little movements, been refusing a food for at least two,three weeks, and not drinking much either, otherwise looks healthy, COULD IT BE A PREMOLT STATE?

How big is the tarantula (diagonal leg span)? If she is as big as she looks, it seems unlikely that she would be in pre-molt just three months after molting. This species is a relatively slow grower, and its molt cycles lengthen as it grows.

When did you get her? How long has she been in that enclosure? If she hasn't been in the enclosure for more than a few weeks, she may just have finally settled down, so she is not exploring as much. (Most tarantulas spend most of the day not doing too much.)

How often do you feed her, and how much at each feeding? (If you feed them too much, they can go into long fasts.)

If she is in pre-molt, she still has a while to go, as her abdomen isn't dark.

If she seems otherwise healthy, I would not worry. Just keep the water dish full. You can offer food once a week or so, but remove any uneaten prey the next day.

 

[cold blood]

Looking at the pic, it doesn't look pre-molt. The skin on the abdomen, visible via the bald spot, will darken and turn black, and in the final stages, it will have a stretched out, shiny look to it.

 

[boina]

No, that does not look like premolt, that just looks like a plump spider that has had enough to eat for a while... maybe fore quite a while.

Tarantulas don't need much food. My adult B. emilia hasn't eaten in over a year and my adult B. auratum hasn't eaten in 8 months and is only now in premolt. They'll be active shortly after a molt because they are hungry and looking for food. If you then feed them a lot they'll eat their fill and then settle down to do nothing much until the next molt - which may still be months, even years, away. Your's looks to be an adult, so I'd expect a molt once a year or even once every two years.

How do you know it is 4 years old? Unless you've had it from hatching or know the people who had it from hatching there's no way to tell the age of a tarantula. Pet shops seem to tell everyone the adult tarantulas they sell are 4 or 5 years old, regardless of tarantula and regardless of truth. Depending on how large your tarantula actually is it may just be possible that she really is only 4 years old, but she would have needed to have grown extremely fast for that. I'd rather think she's older because this is a slow growing species and they usually take a while to reach a certain size.

 

[Georgia Theresa]

Aww thank you everyone for your response, her behaviour changed and her bum seems more swolen even is she hasnt eaten for around 3 or 4 weeks now... ill try to reply the questions
1. Her legs span is around 14-15 cm,
Her body span is 5 cm. i dont have her previous molt,but her previous owner so i just guess.
2. I got her in April this year via ad online of some guy stating that shes 4 years old. But reading and learning about them, i find hard to believe it because of her size.
Also he was selling her as Smithi but I think She looks more Hamorii, I dont think he really knew about tarantulas...plus her substrate was soaking wet when he sold her to me...
3. Also the way he used to feed her
(throwing randomly 3-4 roaches to her enclosure without checking...leaving them in for however long) she doesnt seem to have any eating system or routine, therefore i find hard to feed her, she never jumps on a prey as shes not used to. But im scared leaving the prey in for obvious reasons.
I try to feed her either 1 nymph roach or 1 or 2 crickets or 1-2 mealworms per week, but she seems to be not really active eater, im lucky if she eats.
4. Shes been in that enclosure for about 2 months, but was always quite active and exploring.

After reading all your coments, I feel a lot more relaxed, THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH, im also happy to know that they can go long time without food, every time im worries, will she die of hunger?... uff thank you for geting me calm.

Awww. I dont trust the age that previous owner told me, but Id love to know her real age, for birthday etc.

I guess i will just let her be, and keep doing what I did....

1 last question,
how can I teach my T some feeding routine ( i.e throwing a prey evry week, wait few mins and take out if she turns away),
If i introduce this routine can she stop eating at all and get herself starved or will she get used to and learn to eat it as soon at it falls in her enclosure?

Thank youuuuuuu

 

[Georgia Theresa]

Hello everyone thank you very much again, FINALLY I can be sure!!! MY Hamorii/smithi IS ACTUALLY IN PREMOLT AGAIN, wooow, she finally started having her bum turning black , Im so glad as that explains her behavior for past month or so.
here is my T TODAY
Thanks to all

 

[Nightstalker47]

Hello everyone thank you very much again, FINALLY I can be sure!!! MY Hamorii/smithi IS ACTUALLY IN PREMOLT AGAIN, wooow, she finally started having her bum turning black , Im so glad as that explains her behavior for past month or so.
here is my T TODAY
Thanks to all

Just the early stages, it will darken considerably when the molt is imminent.

 

[cold blood]

how can I teach my T some feeding routine

Ts are opportunistic feeders, they do not require a specific routine...there's no benefit to it...You can feed on whatever schedule you like...after molting she will be hungry again and will start taking prey with much greater enthusiasm.