Pre-molt Feeding

[jrh3]

Unless you have a H. chilensis sling (like me) that spends 5 months in premoult without eating...

LOL, and im sitting here with my N. Incei that hasn’t eaten in over a month, like come on and molt already. 5 months will be fun.

 

[SonsofArachne]

This is so true! I've had slings take a meal and moult later that night! lol

True, definitely depends on the species. I would hardly be surprised if a Acanthoscurria geniculata tried to eat while molting

 

[Lumina]

oh nice! welcome back.

Thank you!!



So here are the set ups I have for 2 of my P. irminia slings. The third one molted about a week ago .
You can't see the sling in the enclosure with the blue lid, so I drew an arrow pointing where (s)he's sitting

Just rehoused the sling that molted last week. Feeling right at home. Stuffing her face already hah.

 

[cold blood]

Looks fine...just add a water dish and dampen the sub from time to time. They grow quickly.

 

[korlash091]

Thank you!!

View attachment 303286 View attachment 303291 

So here are the set ups I have for 2 of my P. irminia slings. The third one molted about a week ago .
You can't see the sling in the enclosure with the blue lid, so I drew an arrow pointing where (s)he's sitting

Just rehoused the sling that molted last week. Feeling right at home. Stuffing her face already hah. View attachment 303294 View attachment 303295

Looks pretty good to me. if your P. irminia are a little like my P. victori they'll grow pretty fast. awesome eaters

 

[Tenebrarius]

are there any doctors here? my skull seems to have a very strange hand like dent on the face area.

yeah don't do that.

 

[Noah Blades]

Hello, it has recently happened to me a couple times where I have a spider deep in premolt that has been refusing food for weeks and is due for a molt by cycle days and looks, that I think what the hell and offer up a juicy cricket or roach to find that the spider eats. I would in both cases think the spider was not in premolt but in both cases the spider molted a few days after this final feeding. Something similar has happened with my g. Pulchra where it locks it self under the cork for weeks and refuses food until I lift the cork and leave a cricket with it and I come back to find it has eaten. So the big question, should we be consistently offering food even when premolt is present.? Thanks

 

[Paul1126]

Most spiders won't eat in premoult, some take food and moult the next day it is pretty rare and only happened once with my T. blondi
I do not offer prey if I know they are premoult.

 

[spookyvibes]

Something similar has happened with my g. Pulchra where it locks it self under the cork for weeks and refuses food until I lift the cork and leave a cricket with it and I come back to find it has eaten.

If you continue doing this, you’re going to potentially find one day that the wrong creature was eaten. Tarantulas block their burrows/hides off for a reason. It’s essentially a “Do not disturb” sign, and not only are you doing something unnecessary and stressful for your spider, you’re also putting it at risk of being munched on by a cricket while it’s molting, which can kill your tarantula if the cricket decided to eat part of the carapace/abdomen. There’s no point to feeding while your tarantula is in premolt imo.

 

[Lumina]

Looks fine...just add a water dish and dampen the sub from time to time. They grow quickly.

Oh there's a water dish in there. I just took the photo before putting it in. For the sake of photographic aesthetics lol.

are there any doctors here? my skull seems to have a very strange hand like dent on the face area.

yeah don't do that.

Lol what ?

 

[Taranchura]

My C. sp. Hati Hati will even eat when in premolt, but she is a weird one in any way and the only one of my Ts who would do that. So, some T's will take prey when in premolt, others won't. I wouldn't risk it. If it seals its burrow, just leave it be.

 

[Noah Blades]

If you continue doing this, you’re going to potentially find one day that the wrong creature was eaten. Tarantulas block their burrows/hides off for a reason. It’s essentially a “Do not disturb” sign, and not only are you doing something unnecessary and stressful for your spider, you’re also putting it at risk of being munched on by a cricket while it’s molting, which can kill your tarantula if the cricket decided to eat part of the carapace/abdomen. There’s no point to feeding while your tarantula is in premolt imo.

I never leave a cricket with it for more than 15 minutes so risk of the t being injured is low. In the case of the bigger Ts there was no burrow or door. So that's only been the case in the Pulchra and this particular Pulchra had went a long time and I only lifted the log slightly dropped the cricket in waited 15 min and checked to find that she was hungry. Since then she hardly ever comes out but I lift the log and feed her. She eats like a champ

 

[EtienneN]

Remember it takes a long, long time for a tarantula to starve. I'd monitor the plumpness of its abdomen and only feed if it started getting to be on the thin side.