GBB sling refusing to eat since 6 months

[StarPum]

Hello everyone,

I'm coming to post here after being a silent reader for a long time because I'm having struggles with my GBB and I'm getting very worried.
She has refused food for about 5 months now & she is just a juvie. I got her when she was super tiny from a well known breeder and am sure she isn't WC.

At first I though it was just a very long permolt and didn't really focused on it, I tried to feed her but she was just refusing. But about 2 weeks ago she started to act like she was afraid of the worms, running away from them when they would move to close (I don't prekill them but I do crush their heads to avoid burrowing, so they still move a bit when dropped).

Her substrate is a mix of coco coir and vermiculite (80/20) and is kept bone dry, she has a full water dish that I refill daily and that I clean every 3 days. She is drinking (I've seen her drinking yesterday). She's also moving quite a bit, and I believe she's pooping too because I've noticed (and cleaned) poop last Friday. Her abdomen is still nice and plump and I haven't noticed any weight loss.

This morning I check on her and she was next to the glass so I could have a good view on her mouth and chelicerae and noticed that her mouth looked somehow swollen, darker than usual (and darker than my others T) and moist; and I couldn't see her fangs (like they weren't here at all). I tried to take a picture that I'll attach but I didn't want to bother her too much and don't have a camera so it's probably hard to see... Sorry :/
I'm working id the darkened and swollen mouth wouldn't be simply because she went for a drink just before I check? It was only located on her mouth and I didn't see anything strange on her abdomen / book lungs.

Thanks to anyone who can help!


Pictures :

 

[Arachnophoric]

It looks like your T simply took a drink. I'm not seeing any unnatural swell, tarantula mouthparts have a normal "bump" to it that you can usually see ventrally.

It is odd that your T hasn't eaten/molted in the last 5 months though. Has she eaten since her last molt? If she's plump and active though and the only odd behavior you're seeing is that she isn't eatng, you may be right in your initial assumption that it's just an unusually long molting period.

 

[StarPum]

Yeah it's what I though but with the fact that she's not eating I got super worried ^^ thanks. Better safe than sorry!

She's eaten twice she her last molt that was about 5 and a half month ago. I hope you're right... She isn't acting strange at all(well, not stranger than my other Ts ^^"). Her last molt cycle was 90 days so it seems very long for me, but it's not unheard off either.

I forgot to mention something else, I used to live in a poorly insulted flat and it got super hot inside during the heat wave in July. I tried to keep my Ts in the coolest room but it still climbed up to 28 - 30 degs. Celsius in there during the day. I've moved about 3 weeks ago, would it possible that the moving + heat combo made her feel unsafe? That could be why she's stirring away from worms maybe.

 

[Arachnophoric]

Yeah it's what I though but with the fact that she's not eating I got super worried ^^ thanks. Better safe than sorry!

She's eaten twice she her last molt that was about 5 and a half month ago. I hope you're right... She isn't acting strange at all(well, not stranger than my other Ts ^^"). Her last molt cycle was 90 days so it seems very long for me, but it's not unheard off either.

I forgot to mention something else, I used to live in a poorly insulted flat and it got super hot inside during the heat wave in July. I tried to keep my Ts in the coolest room but it still climbed up to 28 - 30 degs. Celsius in there during the day. I've moved about 3 weeks ago, would it possible that the moving + heat combo made her feel unsafe? That could be why she's stirring away from worms maybe.

More pics of her body condition and the rest of the setup could help us eliminate any other possibilities, it'd be very odd for her to have eaten enough out of two meals for her to last to her next molt... Moving could attribute to her lack of interest in food, but 3 weeks is plenty of time to settle in.

30C isn't a bad temp for this species, a bit on the warm end but nothing I'd have been concerned about and is even optimal in promoting quicker molt cycles, iirc.

 

[StarPum]

Yeah it's what I though as well. I'm at work atm but I'll take more pictures and share them either tonight or tomorrow. I'll keep you posted, thanks for helping

Hi, sorry for the delay Vorace was hidding and I couldn't get a picture of her! Here's what I manged to get, you can see her (will at least you can see her butt) and the setup. I know it's a bit big for her but she webbed quite a lot and didn't had trouble finding prey when she was still eating.

I've noticed since a few days that she's always in this stress pose with her legs tugged in front of her... It don't look like a death curl but more like she's super stressed (even when I try to make no light or noises when walking into my T room)

 

[PrimalxTyrantula]

Ok I don't want to alarm you so we will go through the steps together when it comes to your gbb. But you don't have alot of anchor points for her to web. As a juvenile gbb they kind of go crazy with the amount of webbing they use. I think your enclosure is a little too large for it. But...

Keep in mind that the older they get the longer they go between molts. I've had mine in a 8x8x8 acrylic enclosure from juvenile and you can see in the pictures she's quite comfortable. But they don't usually like to eat IME mine is a beast and will take alot when she's hungry but then she will go anywhere from 3 to 5 weeks before she's hungry again. I used to panic about it but then learned how she is and it kind of clicked for me. Now I have more understanding with my gbb. She isn't angry she actually quite calm and let's me know when she's ready for food.

Try to give her some anchor points. See if that changes it. You should literally see a carpet of webbing with gbbs and that is my only concern with yours.

I can trust my gbb. She's a good girl

 

[StarPum]

Hi everyone,

This is a follow-up from this post.
Long to short, my GBB haven't eaten in 6 months and didn't molt since 7 months. She had 4 successful molts with me before. There are no signs of nematodes or any other problems.

As suggested in the initial post, I've added anchor points in her enclosure and waited - without success. She have lost some weight since (I didn't observe a weight loss until recently). I can't say for sure if she's drinking but I keep her water bowl full. Today I found her in a simili death curl, and I'm extremely worried at the point. I can't figure out what's wrong.

Does anyone have advice? Thanks you all very much.

 

[Hoxter]

In that time, did you confirm that problem with swollen mouthpart? I guess in all that time you might have had a chance.

I remember seeing a threat about tarantula being unable due to losing fangs, what owner did was kill prey items and basically make a soup out of them in water dish so tarantula could have all needed nutrients just from drinking. I'd suggest you do something like this if nothing changes and T gets skinnier.
But lets wait for some more experienced people to say something, maybe they'll have an idea.

 

[StarPum]

Thanks for your reply! I forgot to clear that up, her mouth seem rather normal ans it was probably because she had drink just before I checked. I've paid close attention to her month and didn't see it abnormal again.

I'll make a worm mush to make her have nutriments, although she still have fangs, maybe something went wrong internally? Thanks for the suggestion! That's already a good workaround.

I've tried to feed her when I feed my other Ts, but she runs away from the preys and goes into a stress posture with her legs risen above her legs so I just remove it from the enclosure since I don't want her to be even more stressed :/

 

[Venum]

I'm certainly no expert, but have you tried offering different prey items? I've read about some Ts refusing certain foods but accepting others.

 

[Demonclaws]

Sounds like complications of sucking stomach. I lost a P. machala after 10 month of not eating. It looked like it ate after the it molted, and produced a bolus. Afterwards, it would either grab the prey then drop it later, or not interested in food at all.

Hope yours makes it through.

 

[StarPum]

I'm certainly no expert, but have you tried offering different prey items? I've read about some Ts refusing certain foods but accepting others.

Yes, I've tried offering red runners and crickets without luck.

Sounds like complications of sucking stomach. I lost a P. machala after 10 month of not eating. It looked like it ate after the it molted, and produced a bolus. Afterwards, it would either grab the prey then drop it later, or not interested in food at all.

Hope yours makes it through.

It does sound similar. Did it shown any signs besides refusing to eat? I have hope too :/

 

[boina]

Well, complications can arise on both ends of the tarantula: they may not molt the sucking stomach properly or they may have a clogged anus. This can also come from not molting the anus properly or from other, as yet unexplained conditions. I've had at least three tarantulas die from impaction, i.e. not being able to poop. They usually stop eating at some point and then get more and more lethargic and finally die. It would be rare to happen in juveniles since they usually molt often and molting will clear up most forms of impaction, but you said it hasn't molted in several months, so this may be a possible problem, too.

Anyway, there isn't much you can do besides providing proper husbandry parameters (which you did) and sometimes some animals just die.

 

[Ungoliant]

This is a follow-up from this post.

I have merged these two threads, as they're about the same tarantula (and the same issue), and it helps people follow the discussion.