Why isn't my Brachypelma Boehmei eating?

robogun14

Arachnopeon
Joined
Jan 6, 2013
Messages
7
For the past 6 months my B. boehmei hasn't eaten a thing, usually this behavior is somewhat normal because she normally fasts for a good chunk of the year and she usually doesn't lose any weight but recently I noticed that her abdomen has been getting smaller. I keep her well hydrated and try to feed her a meal worm every week but now she runs away from her food and won't make an attempt to touch it even if I leave it in the cage for a day or two. Can anyone help me out on this issue?
 

EulersK

Arachnonomicon
Staff member
Joined
Feb 22, 2013
Messages
3,292
It's not an issue that needs helping. She might be getting ready for a molt or simply not hungry. My guess is the former though, it's that time of year. Care to provide a picture or two?
 

robogun14

Arachnopeon
Joined
Jan 6, 2013
Messages
7
Right now she's hiding in her little cave so its a little hard to provide a picture but i'll get one in the morning. She doesn't seem to be darkening like she's about to molt. She has a bald spot on her abdomen so it would be clear to see if she's about to molt soon.
It's not an issue that needs helping. She might be getting ready for a molt or simply not hungry. My guess is the former though, it's that time of year. Care to provide a picture or two?
 

EulersK

Arachnonomicon
Staff member
Joined
Feb 22, 2013
Messages
3,292
Right now she's hiding in her little cave so its a little hard to provide a picture but i'll get one in the morning. She doesn't seem to be darkening like she's about to molt. She has a bald spot on her abdomen so it would be clear to see if she's about to molt soon.
Darkening is the absolute last step when it comes to molting. The little "window" of their bald spot helps, but it's not definitive. She could still be getting ready.
 

crystalfreakkk

Arachnosquire
Joined
Feb 19, 2018
Messages
78
You could try feeding her something besides mealworms, but if she’s not eating then there’s nothing you can really do. Just give her water, you can’t make her eat.
 

boina

Lady of the mites
Active Member
Joined
Mar 25, 2015
Messages
2,217
Congratulations, my B. emilia hasn't eaten for over a year and doesn't look like she's going to start any time soon... Try a cricket instead of a worm if you must, it often induces a stronger feeding response, but in general I'd say just wait for a molt. It will happen, sooner or, well... later.

Post a pic of the enclosure, just to exclude any obvious problems with the setup, not that I think a Brachypelma needs a bad setup to stop eating.
 

robogun14

Arachnopeon
Joined
Jan 6, 2013
Messages
7
I'm sorry for taking such a long time to respond. the problems has gotten worse and I dont know what to honestly do. I have offered meal worms and she still refuses to eat. I have offered crickets and all she does is bite them and runs away. she doesn't go near her water bowl and she is started to shrivel up even more. At first I thought her behavior was somewhat normal since I have read around the boards and find that they sometimes do this, but now she is honestly on the brink of death. I have placed her in an ICU to try and re-hydrate her and but there has been little to no success. She doesn't hold herself up anymore and she is very weak. She has no signs of premolt at all. Its been almost a year now since she last ate. Im going to try to upload some images of her right below, but if you guys can please help me try to make her normal again that would be honestly amazing. I have owned her for 6+ years and she is my first tarantula so I hope you can understand that she is my baby.

I understand these pics may or may not be good enough but at the moment these are the best I have. I never carry her in general, but these photos were taken just before I placed her in the ICU. Since then, I have kept her in the ICU for a night and transfer her to her cage. I have her cage set up to be moist on one half of the cage and dry on the other half. She barely moves around and she is so weak that sometimes she falls over.

Here she is in her cage after being taken out of the ICU. She is really sluggish and slow. Usually she is very skittish and will kick her hairs, but now she just refuses to do anything. I don't know what to do; I believe I have tried everything but if you guys have anymore helpful tips and ideas I will gladly take any to all.
 

Attachments

Last edited by a moderator:

IngBocca

Arachnopeon
Joined
Oct 24, 2018
Messages
2
The abdomen seems dark, maybe she is ready to molting soon. She don't look too skinny o dehidratate. You can provide to fill water dish and wait, i think that you can do nothing else.
 

antinous

Pamphopharaoh
Old Timer
Joined
Mar 28, 2013
Messages
1,668
Can't open the photos for some reason, I blame my crappy Wifi, but as @boina has said, Brachypelma are notorious for going on long fasts and this isn't anything to worry about. If the abdomen is indeed 'shriveling' up as you say, then provide a full water dish at all times.
 

robogun14

Arachnopeon
Joined
Jan 6, 2013
Messages
7
The abdomen seems dark, maybe she is ready to molting soon. She don't look too skinny o dehidratate. You can provide to fill water dish and wait, i think that you can do nothing else.
I provide water to her all the time, but the problem is I originally caught her in the death curl which is causing me to go through a full blown panic about her. I'm sorry if I seem to be missing any details, a lot is going through my mind about this whole situation. I guess I need to calm down and just keep an eye out for her. It would make sense if she maybe close to molting soon because its been a year and a half since her last molt, but at the same time seeing her not eat and staying away from her water for awhile worries me since she was always a hearty eater and she originally looked dehydrated which would be the cause of me putting her in the ICU. Seeing her not being able to hold herself up and how she is just to sluggish to even kick hairs worried me.
 

antinous

Pamphopharaoh
Old Timer
Joined
Mar 28, 2013
Messages
1,668
I provide water to her all the time, but the problem is I originally caught her in the death curl which is causing me to go through a full blown panic about her. I'm sorry if I seem to be missing any details, a lot is going through my mind about this whole situation. I guess I need to calm down and just keep an eye out for her. It would make sense if she maybe close to molting soon because its been a year and a half since her last molt, but at the same time seeing her not eat and staying away from her water for awhile worries me since she was always a hearty eater and she originally looked dehydrated which would be the cause of me putting her in the ICU. Seeing her not being able to hold herself up and how she is just to sluggish to even kick hairs worried me.
I don’t know how I skipped through that, but NEVER put an arid species in an ICU, it’s detrimental to them as they cannot deal with the humidity. Only thing you could do now is sit and wait.
 

boina

Lady of the mites
Active Member
Joined
Mar 25, 2015
Messages
2,217
Well, this tarantula is clearly on the brink of death (see pics), so everyone please stop saying fasting is normal and it doesn't look too shriveled.

It's impossible to see in the pics, but could this be by any chance a mature male?

If it is indeed a female, sometimes tarantulas just get sick and die. There is nothing much you can do about that. Tarantula medicine doesn't exist, so we don't know what illnesses they get, let alone how to treat them. All you can do is provide an optimal setup and hope for the best. Unexplained deaths are rare, but they do happen.

An ICU won't help, if anything it will make her/him die faster.

Oh, and just for the record: that isn't a boehmei but a hamorii.
 

robogun14

Arachnopeon
Joined
Jan 6, 2013
Messages
7
I don’t know how I skipped through that, but NEVER put an arid species in an ICU, it’s detrimental to them as they cannot deal with the humidity. Only thing you could do now is sit and wait.
that is honestly news to me! I have always read that if the tarantula seems sick,injured, dehydrated ect ect you're supposed to put them in a ICU. What you are saying makes total sense
 

antinous

Pamphopharaoh
Old Timer
Joined
Mar 28, 2013
Messages
1,668
Well, this tarantula is clearly on the brink of death (see pics), so everyone please stop saying fasting is normal and it doesn't look too shriveled.

It's impossible to see in the pics, but could this be by any chance a mature male?

If it is indeed a female, sometimes tarantulas just get sick and die. There is nothing much you can do about that. Tarantula medicine doesn't exist, so we don't know what illnesses they get, let alone how to treat them. All you can do is provide an optimal setup and hope for the best. Unexplained deaths are rare, but they do happen.
100% agree and I apologize for my earlier post, I couldn't open the photos as they wouldn't load.

that is honestly news to me! I have always read that if the tarantula seems sick,injured, dehydrated ect ect you're supposed to put them in a ICU. What you are saying makes total sense
Yea, ICUs, in my opinion, usually do more harm than good in most situations.
 

robogun14

Arachnopeon
Joined
Jan 6, 2013
Messages
7
Well, this tarantula is clearly on the brink of death (see pics), so everyone please stop saying fasting is normal and it doesn't look too shriveled.

It's impossible to see in the pics, but could this be by any chance a mature male?

If it is indeed a female, sometimes tarantulas just get sick and die. There is nothing much you can do about that. Tarantula medicine doesn't exist, so we don't know what illnesses they get, let alone how to treat them. All you can do is provide an optimal setup and hope for the best. Unexplained deaths are rare, but they do happen.

An ICU won't help, if anything it will make her/him die faster.

Oh, and just for the record: that isn't a boehmei but a hamorii.
I bought Hades from Ken the Bug guy and he had it labeled as a boehmei on his website. she doesn't have the tibial hooks nor the "boxing gloves". When she was purchased she was 3/4ths of an inch, 6 years later she is around 3 to 4 inches so I really dont think shes at the mature/adult stage unless she's a full blown runt. I refer to her as "She" because on her last molt I tried my best to sex my tarantula and I believed to see the flap. I could always be wrong because i am human. But from what you are saying is theres not a lot I can do :(

How moist are your substrates?
I usually keep the substrate dry and just over fill the water bowl just a little. I understand that shes a native species to desert like territory and I always kept her room temp. with a slightly overfilled water bow,l but when i noticed this new behavior and her legs curling up under her a couple of days ago I added some more water thinking that she was just extremely dehydrated for some reason. I really do appreciate all of you and your comments on this posts.
 
Last edited by a moderator:

Arachnophoric

Arachnoangel
Joined
Aug 29, 2016
Messages
947
that is honestly news to me! I have always read that if the tarantula seems sick,injured, dehydrated ect ect you're supposed to put them in a ICU. What you are saying makes total sense
It was commonly recommended back about 5 years ago or more and even gets mentioned in the TKG. Kind of as in "I've done everything I can and can't think of anything else to do" scenario, but the only thing they're really good for are dehydrated Ts, and even then it's generally recommended that you just give your T access to water in the comfort of its enclosure. Other than that they're really more like little tarantula death traps.

Is it possible to upload an image of the entire enclosure? I agree that it your T seems too young for it to be old age causing this, which would leave illness or injury to be the cause. Only thing I can really think of besides sickness is maybe the T took a fall and has an internal injury, but I'm not sure if that would cause them to quit eating...
 

robogun14

Arachnopeon
Joined
Jan 6, 2013
Messages
7
It was commonly recommended back about 5 years ago or more and even gets mentioned in the TKG. Kind of as in "I've done everything I can and can't think of anything else to do" scenario, but the only thing they're really good for are dehydrated Ts, and even then it's generally recommended that you just give your T access to water in the comfort of its enclosure. Other than that they're really more like little tarantula death traps.

Is it possible to upload an image of the entire enclosure? I agree that it your T seems too young for it to be old age causing this, which would leave illness or injury to be the cause. Only thing I can really think of besides sickness is maybe the T took a fall and has an internal injury, but I'm not sure if that would cause them to quit eating...
Here's some old pics of her cage before she started acting up and a photo i just took 5 minutes ago. I have never really seen her crawl on the side of the cage besides the time I first got her when all she would do is climb to the top and fall back down to just do it all over again (That was 6 years ago). I mostly see my GBB do all the climbing on the walls of her own enclosure. 100% of the time Hades is seen on the substrate usually dead in the center of the cage or somewhat near the cave or water bowl. In the current pic the substrate is a little more wetter than usual because I originally thought she needed the hydration. I always kept the eco earth bone dry besides around the water.
 

Attachments

crystalfreakkk

Arachnosquire
Joined
Feb 19, 2018
Messages
78
A few questions from me. Do you still have her last molt? Have you ever witnessed her eating since the last time she molted? Have you found boluses in her enclosure or has she just taken a bite and left the carcass without digesting? Honestly her abdomen doesn’t look so bad. If she was starving/dehydrated I would think it would be a lot smaller than that.
 

cold blood

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Jan 19, 2014
Messages
13,223
First off, mature doesnt mean max size for a female....they mature way before that....if yours is indeed frmale, its almost certainly mature....its also the right size for a male to mature...this was my incling...but if you say no emboli, then thats not the case.

Second, the height is extreme in the enclosure....meaning its incredibly dangerous...to use that tank, you would need to fill it almost 3/4ths of the way with substrate to keep the distance from sub to top safe.....i would speculate that a fall, causing internal damage, may very well be the root cause of its issues.

As mentioned just above, if it hasnt eaten since last molt, there could have been complications....namely with the sucking stomach....nothing to do in this case but cross fingers and hope it can molt again.
 
Last edited:
Top