Little Red

[CaiusV]

My Brachypelma vagans sling has been buried for 2 weeks solid, having buried himself about 2 days after he molted last, and it was a week before that the last time he'd eaten. He's dug himself into the substrate and sealed himself in, and hasn't emerged once to scavenge for food, not having eaten for 3 weeks, and having molted in that time. I recap because I'm that worried. I know molting can take A LOT of energy on the Ts part, so the fact that he hasn't eaten is SEVERELY concerning, and the fact that he hasn't emerged is even more so. He's about 3/4 inch last I saw; how long can he go without food at this stage, and how long should I wait before losing my mind and going digging for him? x.x

 

[sasker]

About how big is your sling? I think three weeks is not a concerning long time for a tarantula to go without food. I know the feeling of impatience to feed a spider after it has molted, but at this point it seems a bit too early to worry. They know what they are doing and they will emerge when they think it is time to do so.

 

[KezyGLA]

B. vagans can grow surprisingly fast. In my experience raising small slings of this species is that they are almost constantly in premoult throughout the younger stages. I have had slings moult twice within a month on numerous occasions.

Yes they require energy to moult but they are capable of moulting without a feed in between. Just place waterdish right at the mouth of burrow so water access is close. It may come out of its burrow in the little hours and you just dont see it.

 

[darkness975]

I don't think enough time has passed to be too concerned yet. Like stated above make sure it has access to water since that is the most crucial thing for a post molt spider.

 

[Venom1080]

Don't worry. Just leave a full water dish in and let it be. It's probably not going to eat, so I wouldn't bother trying to feed it.

Tarantulas generally don't ever eat when in premolt, not eating is completely normal. In fact, I don't think I've ever had one eat when a molt was in the near future.
All tarantulas can go without food for an extremely long time, especially in premolt.

 

[Charlie69]

I understand why you are worried. I also worried the first times a sling burrowed. Now I'm getting used to it. Just make sure waterdish is full. If you want to, you could also leave a prekilled food outside it's burrow. But don't start digging. If you do, you will stress it. And then it's not going to want any food.