G. rosea wont eat

[Londoner]

Just by this picture alone she seems ok. I mean there is no bald spot which tells me she isn't stressed kicking her hairs off. The abdomen seems of right size and not shriveled. I also think she is not ready for a molt as her abdomen has no major black spot that would indicate an upcoming molt. Roseas are notorious for hunger strikes, and like said above do everything slow. Just keep fresh water and offer her a cricket periodically. If she refuses it, or kills it try again in a little while. It's important to keep fresh water available.
One thing, does she have a burrow? At first when my rosea was my first T and I was still learning I didn't have a burrow for mine, or I kept disrupting it so I could see him. He got really stressed and stopped eating. I'm not saying you are doing this but I bring it up just in case it is valid to you.

I'd broadly agree with this except for the part about the black spot. As there's no bald patch, we can't say one way or the other if the abdomen has begun to darken or not.

Good luck.

 

[spiderengineer]

just out of curiosity is red light in the picture from a heat lamp or from the photo?

 

[MagicalLobster]

I responded to another thread about my G. Rosea I had for 11 years. Sometimes it would go over a year without eating with no problems. They are tough.

Don't worry about it not eating, I've had my rosea for around 9 years, and she's only eaten 6 or 7 times since i got her, and it looks pretty healthy.

 

[Anonymity82]

Mine does the same thing and her abdomen is about 2/3s the size of yours. Plus she has some weird growth on her book lungs. She just lays there... day after day... week after week... I throw in a cricket, she acts very offended by this. I check on her the next day it's either dead or just hanging out far away from her. She has a water dish, that's what's important.

The pedipalp may have come off from a fall. That's the only thing I can think of. There seems to be a large distance from the top to the substrate.

 

[whamslam3]

just out of curiosity is red light in the picture from a heat lamp or from the photo?

its from a heat lamp but its rly high up (since i have a stand tht extends) and i rarely use it or leave it on for very long.

Mine does the same thing and her abdomen is about 2/3s the size of yours. Plus she has some weird growth on her book lungs. She just lays there... day after day... week after week... I throw in a cricket, she acts very offended by this. I check on her the next day it's either dead or just hanging out far away from her. She has a water dish, that's what's important.

The pedipalp may have come off from a fall. That's the only thing I can think of. There seems to be a large distance from the top to the substrate.

ya im assuming it was from a fall too i hate when she strts to climb makes me nervous but she rarely does it and i think she learned her lesson from last time. the other time i caught her doin it and i kinda eased her down.

 

[Stan Schultz]

it has been a very long time since my G. rosea has eaten anythin. she stopped eating after one of her pedipalp came off and tht was in dec. 2012 now she just strted recently just killing the crickets instead of just ignoring them but not actually eating them. whats wrong?

Did you just hear that? That was the newbie alarm going off!

There's nothing wrong with being a newbie as long as you do something about it. After 45 years of keeping tarantulas, I still consider myself a newbie. We can trace a tarantula's ancestry back over HALF A BILLION YEARS. They've had that long to develop and fine tune their lives and lifestyles. They're incredibly complex and detailed creatures. We're gonna be playing catch-up for a long, LONG, LONG time!

The first thing you need to understand is the KISS principle, not to infer that you're stupid. Inexperienced, maybe. Stupid, I don't think so; you can read, write, and use a computer. But, I digress. As long as you supply the basic necessities of life for your captive tarantula, the less you incorporate into its cage and care regimen, the less there is to go tragically haywire. KISS, indeed!

The second thing you need to understand is that tarantulas are like no other creature you've ever kept or even heard about before. All your ingrained assumptions and prejudices don't apply to them, and may even be dangerous to them. They're not tropical fish, reptiles, birds, or hamsters, and you don't take care of them like any of those animals either. One of the biggest problems with newbies is trying to get them to abandon all those prejudices and begin to look at the world from the vastly alien perspective of a huge, fuzzy spider.

FASTEN YOUR SEAT BELT.
MAKE SURE YOUR SEAT BACK AND TRAY TABLES ARE SECURED IN AN UPRIGHT POSITION.
THIS IS GOING TO BE ONE H*** OF A RIDE!​

For starters:

Read Stan's Rant. Pay particular attention to the part about not believing pet shops. [strike]Read[/strike] Study the four recommended books.

Read the entire Myths... webtree. Pay particular to the two webpages that discuss temperature and humidity.

Read Care and Husbandry of the Chilean Rose Tarantula. Twice!

Read Substrate.

The biggest complaint I have about your cage is that there's far, FAR too much room between the top of the substrate and the top of the cage. (I'll abbreviate this as the CIH = "Clear Inside Height".) The rule of thumb (that most enthusiasts tend to stretch or ignore) is that the CIH should not exceed 2 or 3 times the DLS* for spiderlings with a DLS less than 2".

The CIH should not exceed 1.5 times the DLS for most tarantulas with a DLS of 2" or larger.

Very large (e.g., adult Theraphosa or Pamphobeteus), very old, or very obese tarantulas should never have a CIH greater than one (1) DLS.

You can do either one of two things about this:

1) Buy a smaller cage.

2) Add a lot more substrate.

Your choice.


(Click or right-click the thumbnail to see a larger image.)
Grammostola rosea. The Alien figurine and the color of the cover are optional. Use a single rock in the water dish, not a collection of small pebbles.

Re: Not eating. You need to take a good look at the tarantula's fangs and the remaining pedipalp. Use a flashlight if you need to. Do they look okay? Or, do they look damaged or crippled?

For real now. How long have you had this tarantula? Did you get it from a pet shop or from someone else who had it for a pet?

How long has it been since it last ate?

Get back to us with this information as soon as you can.


Enjoy your little 8-legged wonder!


* DLS = The distance between the tip of one front leg and the tip of the rear leg on the opposite side when the tarantula is in a normal resting posture. Yes, I know it's terribly imprecise. But, we're not going for gold medals here or competing for a new car. All we're trying to do is get a feel for the size of your tarantula. BTW, body length is about 1/2 the DLS.



"Mine is bigger than yours is! Neener, neener, neeee-ner!"

:laugh:

 

[whamslam3]

i have had her for bout a year or more
i got her at a reptile store
the fangs and pedipalp seem fine to me although its rly hard to get a good look at them (fangs) cuz they always r hidden for the most part. but like i said, she has killed 2 crickets since it happened so....
i still catch her drinking water so thts good at least
and i havnt seen her climb the walls since but if she strts to do it again ill prob get a smaller cage

 

[Stan Schultz]

i have had her for bout a year or more
i got her at a reptile store
the fangs and pedipalp seem fine to me although its rly hard to get a good look at them (fangs) cuz they always r hidden for the most part. but like i said, she has killed 2 crickets since it happened so....
i still catch her drinking water so thts good at least
and i havnt seen her climb the walls since but if she strts to do it again ill prob get a smaller cage

If you've had her about a year she's probably somewhere between the beginning and mid-course of the "Dreaded Hemisphere Shift." If so, her fasting is no big surprise or cause for concern, especially if she's still drinking. Read Care and Husbandry of the Chilean Rose Tarantula for a more complete discussion.

If she doesn't begin to eat within the next year or she begins to look shriveled, you should get back to us.


Enjoy your little 8-legged weirdo!