GBB Sling Behavior and Rehousing Questions

[PAHNKAPIE]

I uploaded a quick video to imgur, would you guys say this is a tarantula in pre-molt? It dropped right there by it and it didn’t grab it. https://imgur.com/a/xd2U7xl

 

[Thekla]

With that booty, she wouldn't need to eat even when not in premoult.
You could try again in a week, but I think you could just lean back and relax. She'll moult soon(-ish). As I said before, mine fasted about 3-4 weeks before moulting, maybe yours will be faster, maybe not. Don't worry about it. Just make sure she has water at all times.

 

[PAHNKAPIE]

With that booty, she wouldn't need to eat even when not in premoult.
You could try again in a week, but I think you could just lean back and relax. She'll moult soon(-ish). As I said before, mine fasted about 3-4 weeks before moulting, maybe yours will be faster, maybe not. Don't worry about it. Just make sure she has water at all times.

Okay! I'll take the cricket out and try again in a week then. I do hope if she molts, she molts soon! Though she will probably be too small still for me to sex her from the molt I assume.

On another note... would you guys suspect this is a male or a female from this picture? Or is it just too hard/too young to tell? Cuz it LOOKS like there's a little slit or a line on its abdomen but... I dunno.

I put in the piece of cork bark, does this look okay or is it too crowded in there now? I want to make sure they have room to molt when it’s time.

Edit: Oh they took a cricket this morning too after I put in the bark!

 

[Kitara]

About how long does it take for a GBB to go after a cricket in its enclosure?

Mine "enjoys" (yeah yeah they dont have emotions) hunting because she will never take it down immediately. She lets it go and then very slowly and creepy will stalk it until the last second and then does all kinds of crazy stunts to pounce. Sometimes it is fast, sometimes I lose interest and check later. It is always gone unless in premolt. If she doesn't eat it, I take it out and then I just dont feed again until molt.

I want to make sure they have room to molt when it’s time.

I'll let the more experienced answer the "is this ok" question, but I can tell you that mine made a little hammock and molted in that. I didnt think there was enough room because she had a nice open area, but decided to squish behind the plant. I think they just make the space work

 

[PAHNKAPIE]

Bonus? Or did you mean bolus?

I'd still get a piece of cork bark and lean it to the side of the enclosure, so it has some sort of hide.

Also, those spikes on the lid look kinda pointy/sharp. If they are, I'd try to smoothen them out a bit. Especially when in premoult, any sharp objects could pose a risk of rupturing its abdomen.
I always poke holes from the inside, so any pointy parts will be on the outside and away from my slings.

Quick update! They’ve been loving their new cork bark hide. It likes to hide down in it and occasionally peek its head out the top! Not really sure why it kinda pokes out the top like it does but...

It has put down web inside of the bark hide kinda like a hammock at the bottom. I tried to feed it today and it didn’t seem interested. I wasn’t sure if it was just scared after I took the lid off or what. I used a very tiny piece of grass to tap near it, and it didn’t go for that. Whenever the grass slightly touched it, it pulled away from it. I assume that’s a good sign it doesn’t want to eat and may be in pre-molt?

 

[Thekla]

Cork bark looks great in there.

And judging by the picture in this post, it'll definitely moult sooner rather than later. You don't need to feed it anymore until it's done. Just keep the water dish full.

 

[PAHNKAPIE]

Cork bark looks great in there.

And judging by the picture in this post, it'll definitely moult sooner rather than later. You don't need to feed it anymore until it's done. Just keep the water dish full.

Speaking of water dish, they just walked over and took a drink! it was neat to watch, I got some pics.

 

[Thekla]

I often see my Ts having a drink right before moulting, so my prediction would be that by Monday you have a freshly moulted GBB. Let me know if I was right.

 

[Mikeyspikeyz]

I'm almost certain it is going to molt. IMO They hardly ever hesitate on a take down unless they are. The cork bark is a good touch. In a couple months you will be super surprised at how much webbing there is in the enclosure!

 

[PAHNKAPIE]

Do Tarantulas like light? My room that I keep it in stays pretty dark even during the day (my bedroom doesn’t have windows) and I leave the door open so a bit of light still gets in during the day.

I read spiders usually like darkness, but lately I’ve noticed when I get home, I move their enclosure over to my nightstand for a bit and turn the lamp on over it so I can look at it and it’s enclosure a bit. I’ve noticed my spider tends to crawl up out of their burrow towards the light or turn to look at the light whenever I do this. I find it kinda cute/sweet that it likes coming out to see the light when I turn it on.

 

[PAHNKAPIE]

I often see my Ts having a drink right before moulting, so my prediction would be that by Monday you have a freshly moulted GBB. Let me know if I was right.

My GBB has not molted yet I figured I should let you know haha. They actually took and ate a cricket yesterday. I guess they aren’t quite ready yet.

 

[Thekla]

Arrrgh, I could've sworn...

Anyway, she'll moult soon(-ish), that's for sure.

 

[PAHNKAPIE]

Well my spider doesn’t seem to want to eat as shown in this video https://imgur.com/a/E3ilfWu would you guys say it’s most likely because she is in pre molt or was the cricket too big? I gotta leave for the weekend and I just wanted to make sure she would make it without food until I got back.

I had to destroy some of her webbing to get the cricket out :c

So I picked up a juvenile C. cyaneopubescens (about 1.5" still with the tiger striping) about two weeks ago. She had a bit of excitement in the store and ran around for a few minutes while the guy in the shop (NOT their T guy) tried hard not to panic, drop it, or step on it once it ran to the floor. She had another little burst of exercise when she was being re-homed, and then sat really still for a few hours before exploring her new setup. The first morning, she had climbed on top of the thermometer, webbed it up a bit, and hasn't moved since (except to shift position). She also hasn't eaten.
My assumption had been that it was just the stress of the move, since she's not particularly plump and doesn't look like she's in pre-molt. But I'm starting to worry. Her substrate is a mix of sand (~40%) and dirt (~60%), both packaged, with a water dish, some dry sphagnum, and a cork bark. The humidity at the top of the tank tends to hover at about 65-75% (the ground is probably a bit higher), and the temp is usually ~80f during the day. So, questions:

1) Is there an easy way to lower the humidity without rehousing or seriously modifying the enclosure? I don't want to stress her with another escape attempt and there isn't a way to remove the lid without tempting her to bolt. (there's a smaller gate I can open without a problem)
2) I can't really give crickets to her directly in her current spot without destroying her webbing. Any thoughts on trying a small worm of some kind that I can dangle in front of her? (I don't really care if she wants to live on the ceiling, but I want her to eat at some point)
3) Am I stressing about nothing? I know she'll fast when she feels like it, but if I knew her I'd be more comfortable. The store couldn't tell me what kind of eater she is (she was living in a burrow at the store and they just dropped in a cricket every week and never saw them again) or when she last molted, so I don't know how abnormal any of this is for her.

It’s hard to say without pics, did the shop know the last time she molted? Also it’s kinda hard to get my GBB to grab food too. I never know if they can’t sense it or if they aren’t hungry. I sometimes dangle crickets by their antenna using tongs. I feel a bit bad for the cricket but it has worked sometimes.

 

[Thekla]

Well my spider doesn’t seem to want to eat as shown in this video https://imgur.com/a/E3ilfWu would you guys say it’s most likely because she is in pre molt or was the cricket too big? I gotta leave for the weekend and I just wanted to make sure she would make it without food until I got back.

I had to destroy some of her webbing to get the cricket out :c

Well, I was wrong with my prediction when it would moult, but it surely is in premoult. I wouldn't even have bothered trying to feed it, there's no need at all. As long as the water dish is full, it could go months without eating. So, don't worry about food until it has moulted, doesn't matter how long it takes.

 

[PAHNKAPIE]

She seems to have finally molted last night while I was asleep! I should wait 3 days now before feeding her correct? (I don’t know if it’s a he or she I’ve just taken to calling her she).

 

[Thekla]

I should wait 3 days now before feeding her correct?

Not exactly. You should wait until her fangs are pitch black again. If you can't see her fangs I'd stay on the safe side and wait at least 5-7 days. As long as she has access to fresh water she will be fine! Don't worry!

 

[Mikeyspikeyz]

Not exactly. You should wait until her fangs are pitch black again. If you can't see her fangs I'd stay on the safe side and wait at least 5-7 days. As long as she has access to fresh water she will be fine! Don't worry!

This! Because most likely if they are anything like my GBB they will eat before their fangs have hardened.

 

[cold blood]

She seems to have finally molted last night while I was asleep! I should wait 3 days now before feeding her correct? (I don’t know if it’s a he or she I’ve just taken to calling her she).

Only the smallest, fastest growing species should be fed that quickly.

Best to wait a week at minimum....many ts, even juvies are still not ready to eat after just one week.

 

[PAHNKAPIE]

Hello again! I waited a full week to feed her and she has been eating well ever since, getting bigger and bigger! Her abdomen is filling out nicely again. Though I do have one question... I keep picking up two crickets from the pet store. I feed her usually one the day I get them, wait two or three days, then feed her the next one. I'm having trouble keeping the crickets alive however. I keep them in a small container with a piece of orange gel cricket feeder, which is supposed to be both food and water for them, but they end up not moving or sometimes even curled up on their backs after two days usually. Any advice on how to keep them alive longer?

I do also want to know if it's okay to feed the T one of the crickets after they seemingly died. This morning the cricket I had wasn't moving when i tapped on the container, but I picked it up with the tweezers and dropped it for my spider and she still took it and is currently eating it. Is that okay?

 

[Thekla]

Personally, I wouldn't feed any prey items I hadn't killed myself, because I don't know why they had died. But slings are still scavengers, so they will eat dead prey items.
I recommend using mealworms. They are easy to keep in the fridge and last way longer than crickets (I'm talking months here ). Get them out of the fridge a day before you want to feed your sling and give them a piece of carrot to hydrate them. Just make sure to crush their heads before feeding them so they can't burrow.