Hello, i just bought my first sling, it made a big tunel in the substrat and whould not come at the surface, sometimes i can see its abdomen and its pretty pale, what should i do? Im afraid its something that she doesnt like, i have her for almost 2 weeks and she hasnt come up so i can feed her.
brachypelma smithi sling care
- Thread starter WarAdmiral1937
- Start date
ledzeppelin
Arachnobaron
- Joined
- Jan 8, 2013
- Messages
- 433
@Anitcolor That's completely normal behaviour. Use water bottle cap for a waterdish, about once a week slightly overflow it, and prekill the prey of appropriate size by crushing it's head and leave it in the enclosure for the T to find it. If it remains there after 24 hours, remove it an try in a day or two. When the abdomen reaches a nice swollen black colour all around, this is its time to molt. Having a burrow, it will most likely barricade itself in the burrow but don't panic. Just keep the bottle cap nice and filled, substrate around the cap slightly moist, and wait for it to appear in the new suit 
ledzeppelin
Arachnobaron
- Joined
- Jan 8, 2013
- Messages
- 433
About 2" would be sufficient with a tiny sling. Well, there is really no rule of thumb for moving Ts. The only thing really, is that you want to avoid moving it when it is in premolt, or freshly post-molt.
thank you so much for being kind and polite. Today i put a mealworm ( i squished its head but moved slowly 2-3 times) and it disappeared, after a few hours the tarantula came outside its borrow but all her body had a dark color.After some time i went to check on it and i saw in her fangs ( mouth region i guess) a piece of the mealworm i gave her earlier, she was nibbling on it . Is she in pre molt? And is the mealworm stuck to her? Today i just decided to put food not knowing what state the tarantula is in and im afraid a did very bad
Andrea82
Arachnoemperor
- Joined
- Jan 12, 2016
- Messages
- 3,685
T's in premolt don't eat normally. But it being a sling could mean it will molt tomorrow when fed today.Don't worry, if it is taking food, it's alright. It's when the slider refuses food and leaving live prey in with it that is not wise.
Debbie Mcclure
Arachnosquire
- Joined
- Oct 8, 2017
- Messages
- 60
I am so glad I found this forum. I can relax a little bit now. I just received my very first 1/2 in B. Smithi Thurs morning and she absolutely refuses to eat anything dead or alive. I've tried both, lol. I've watched a lot of videos, read up on them b4 I ever purchased one. But jus like a new mother, I was soooo unprepared for my new baby whom I have loving named Isabelle. Hoping she's the female I requested. . But I thot I was already killing her but after reading this forum, I now know she's in premolt. Her abdomen is completely black now, no hair at all. I thank God for all you experienced people that can help us newbies out. I just thank God she isn't dying.
- Joined
- Mar 7, 2012
- Messages
- 4,095
She should molt any time now. Just keep her water dish full in case she gets thirsty.
- Joined
- Aug 31, 2012
- Messages
- 5,640
Probably a Brachypelma hamorii, not Brachypelma smithi. The species was reclassified recently.
Debbie Mcclure
Arachnosquire
- Joined
- Oct 8, 2017
- Messages
- 60
I had been jus keeping a little piece of cotton in with her and keeping one side of the enclosure moist and she was staying on that side. I put her a small water dish wit a rock in it and she stays close to it. She has started to eat a little. I tried to give her a super worm last night and she ran all around her enclosure to get away from it. She wouldn't touch it, seemed afraid of it. I cut it into smaller pieces and checked on her later and she was chowing down. Tysm for your help