Sling not eating

[Nathan Duke]

Hi

I'm new to this hobby and wanted to know something, I'm sorry if this is a stupid question but I got a new Tarantula a week ago and it hasn't eaten anything since. Whenever I try to get it to eat it just runs away from the food ( usually a small cricket) and if the food is dead it has no interest. What am I doing wrong? Is it me? The T? The substrate? Btw the substrate was from a company called spiderlife, I got it from a local pet store. I've attached a pic of the T aswell as the substrate. Please help, any advice or suggestions would be amazing.

 

[Garth Vader]

It might not be hungry. The abdomen looks plump. Just offer food and if it refuses after a few hours, take it away. They can really go a while without eating.

It's hard to see your full enclosure but I'll try to tell you some basics- have a water dish (just a dish, no sponge or rocks, keep it simple), provide a hide, and use more substrate. You don't want there to be too much vertical space, your terrestrial tarantula could fall and rupture it's abdomen. There are lots of threads on here about making enclosures so do check them out!

 

[Ellenantula]

Agreed -- just keep offering food weekly. Agreed also your sling's rump doesn't look shriveled or starving or anything.
Climbing indicates some healthiness but also makes me wonder if substrate is much too damp or just slightly damp for your sling. Does he always climb on sides or does he sometimes come down to bottom?
Does your T have a silk leaf, small cork bark or burrow or anything? Is a water bowl provided?
I also can't tell what size your sling is -- large or tiny. What kind of T is it?
A pix of full set-up would help, size of T, etc. I can't tell by pix if it's a large cup or a tiny vial. Is lid ventilated?

A week isn't that long to settle in. I've had slings take food the day they arrived via shipment and ones that took a couple weeks.
Pre-moult could also result in T not taking food yet (though generally I would expect a darker, shinier & plumper rump than yours has).

A week isn't long enough to determine much, and pix of entire enclosure set up with sling in it would be a big help in getting board assistance!

 

[Tenebrarius]

Hi

I'm new to this hobby and wanted to know something, I'm sorry if this is a stupid question but I got a new Tarantula a week ago and it hasn't eaten anything since. Whenever I try to get it to eat it just runs away from the food ( usually a small cricket) and if the food is dead it has no interest. What am I doing wrong? Is it me? The T? The substrate? Btw the substrate was from a company called spiderlife, I got it from a local pet store. I've attached a pic of the T aswell as the substrate. Please help, any advice or suggestions would be amazing.

the abdomen indicates it's not starving. Ts will sometimes fast for certain time periods. just wait a while and it'll be hungry again.
not eating is also probably a good indicator of premolt, but fasting could be possible too.

 

[z32upgrader]

As others have said, the spider is still settling in and may not be interested in eating yet. It probably feels like the cricket is a threat, and is climbing to escape it. It probably is climbing to get away from the moist dirt too. Add a thick layer of dry substrate for its comfort as well as to reduce the overhead space in the enclosure. The distance to the lid should only have 1.5-2x the spider’s legspan.

 

[Kitara]

This is the hardest part for me (I'm new too) and from reading here for the last few months, it's a very common concern among us newbies. Mine (b. smithi) was a little under 1/2" and molted about two weeks ago. I got it, it took one meal, then it closed up its burrow and hasn't come out since. So, it's been about three weeks since it had food. I feel like at that small it has to eat! But, I keep telling myself that Ts will do what Ts want to do and when it gets hungry, it will come out. So I keep offering it a couple times a week and then take it out when it doesn't eat it.