Smithi suddenly stopped eating dubias?

[poppyplays]

Hey!

My Smithi loved dubias for the longest time. But a few months ago she stopped eating them. She's def not fasting, as she still goes for crickets. Whenever I throw a dubia into her enclosure, she slowly walks towards it, touches it with her front legs and suddenly lifts her front legs and her body up (it isn't a threat posture, she is standing on her tiptoes with her front feet slightly raised) and completely ignores the dubia.

Again, she eats crickets so no fasting. Has anyone had this happen? I just care because I still got a lot of dubias left and crickets are quite hard to get in my area....

 

[sasker]

I have had this happen with dubias and superworms. My tarantulas take them just fine, but sometimes they just stop liking them somehow. I have a theory that a single bad experience with one of these feeders can trigger such a response. Dubias have quite strong legs with little barbs. Once I noticed one of my tarantulas having trouble with a dubia because it did not grab it correctly. It let go when it couldn't handle the kicking and it shied away from dubias ever since.

At least your tarantula eats other prey items. You may want to try red runners. They are soft like cricket and trigger a similar feeding response, but minus the chirping. They tend to stay alive longer as well before feeding. I hate having food die on me even before I can feed them.

 

[Teal]

Crickets are rubbish.

Faster moving roaches are a good idea, like lateralis or Americans (there are two different ones).

It is not unusual for a T to start ignoring certain prey items in favour of others.

 

[antinous]

Put it on a fast and it’ll take them again sooner than later. Never had a tarantula outright refuse a food item after being put on a fast. They can’t afford to be picky in the wild.