# Advice on feeding an injured jumping spider?



## flamingpie (Sep 13, 2013)

I found a jumping spider the other day, not sure of the species. She's too small to get a good picture of with my phone, I'll try to get one when my sister returns my camera tomorrow. She only has five legs, and isn't very coordinated as a result. I tried to feed her a crippled moth, but she missed and then seemed to just give up after a few tries. I've given her water and a place to hide, but she hasn't eaten in several days, and I'm a bit concerned. 

Basically, I was wondering if anyone here has had any luck feeding their jumpers dead insects? None of mine are willing to eat anything they didn't kill themselves, but I was hoping someone might have had some luck getting one to eat a prekilled meal in the past.


----------



## MatthewM1 (Sep 13, 2013)

I tried feeding freshly killed crickets to some jumpers I had a little while back and some took it after and hour or so and others wouldn't touch it. Worth a shot. You could also remove the jumping legs off a cricket and try offering that, slows em down a bit

Sent from my LG-P930 using Tapatalk 2


----------



## Smokehound714 (Sep 13, 2013)

They will accept dead prey, just make sure it doesnt spoil before they eat it.


----------



## flamingpie (Sep 13, 2013)

Yeah, I've heard some people say it, but thus far none of mine have been willing to take dead prey even if it literally just died (i.e. I accidentally killed it while trying to get it into their enclosure). I was kind of wondering if I was just doing something wrong with my dead offerings.

 I tried taking the wings off of a moth and she wouldn't go for it then after failing a few times either... She's holed up now and I suspect she might be molting soon, so I think I'll leave her alone a bit, but if it keeps up I'll try the cricket idea. I've got a few small feeders that probably aren't enough for my platy anyway. Thanks for the answers guys!


----------



## Lucidd (Sep 13, 2013)

I'm guessing if they aren't touching dead bugs it's probably because they aren't moving. From playing with my jumpers with a laser light, I noticed they typically don't make a move until their "prey" does.  Maybe tying a bug to a string and dragging it lightly will make it less resistible.

Reactions: Thanks 1


----------



## flamingpie (Sep 13, 2013)

Lucidd said:


> I'm guessing if they aren't touching dead bugs it's probably because they aren't moving. From playing with my jumpers with a laser light, I noticed they typically don't make a move until their "prey" does.  Maybe tying a bug to a string and dragging it lightly will make it less resistible.


That's a very good idea! I tried holding the bug and moving it because I've seen that work on youtube, but they're a bit skittish so I can see why that wouldn't work with them. String would probably make it much more successful. Thanks a bunch!


----------



## Tenodera (Sep 14, 2013)

Poking with a hair or fine plant stem also works well.


----------



## Smokehound714 (Sep 14, 2013)

I'm actually surprised people have trouble giving any spider dead prey, especially jumpers.  

  every jumper Ive owned accepted dead prey.  I'd suggest offering water, she may have lost a large amount of hemolymph.  Spray some water so she can access the droplets.


----------



## flamingpie (Sep 20, 2013)

Update! "She" molted and from the looks of the pedipalps, I actually had a juvenile male. He grew back two legs but lost another, as he now has four legs on one side and two on the other whereas before he three on one side and two on the one that now has four. He's got a lopsided gait and still won't take dead prey, but he's a bold little thing and willingly took a tiny leafhopper right from my fingers after trying and failing to catch it on his own a few times. 

On the flipside, my platycryptus undatus male isn't eating now and hasn't for a few days. He seems to be getting old, as he cant grip the sides of his enclosure as well as he used to and has fallen a few times, so on the advice of a website I read I lined parts of his enclosure with paper towels and he's gotten over most of his climbing troubles. He still won't eat though, even when I give him easy, crippled prey, and he always ate VERY well up until now. Even a crippled small moth sends him running to the other side of the tank as if he's scared of it. Any ideas about what to do about that?


----------



## Lucidd (Sep 20, 2013)

flamingpie said:


> On the flipside, my platycryptus undatus male isn't eating now and hasn't for a few days. He seems to be getting old, as he cant grip the sides of his enclosure as well as he used to and has fallen a few times, so on the advice of a website I read I lined parts of his enclosure with paper towels and he's gotten over most of his climbing troubles. He still won't eat though, even when I give him easy, crippled prey, and he always ate VERY well up until now. Even a crippled small moth sends him running to the other side of the tank as if he's scared of it. Any ideas about what to do about that?


Hmmm, does he get sunlight daily? To me, it sounds like old age, or perhaps he needs more exercise? How long has he gone without eating? Some of my jumpers are much more likely to pounce on their prey when I put them in direct sunlight, though I don't leave them out there for too long so they don't overheat in their containers. I don't have any that have reached that age of maturity where they stop eating, but if they seemed afraid of their prey..... I would probably try mashing up a bug and feeding little droplets of its guts to the jumper. I'm guessing they wouldn't turn down a liquid form of nourishment.


----------



## flamingpie (Sep 20, 2013)

Lucidd said:


> Hmmm, does he get sunlight daily? To me, it sounds like old age, or perhaps he needs more exercise? How long has he gone without eating? Some of my jumpers are much more likely to pounce on their prey when I put them in direct sunlight, though I don't leave them out there for too long so they don't overheat in their containers. I don't have any that have reached that age of maturity where they stop eating, but if they seemed afraid of their prey..... I would probably try mashing up a bug and feeding little droplets of its guts to the jumper. I'm guessing they wouldn't turn down a liquid form of nourishment.


I definitely think it's old age as well, he probably wasn't getting the IDEAL amount of sunlight because the house I had been staying in had small windows, but I made sure my spiders did get some sun, and I usually took them to the brightest room in the house to feed them. The other two jumpers I have aren't showing any signs of problems. Going on the size he was when I got him I'm sure it's old age, but I'd like to keep him comfortable and fed at least. He still stubbornly refuses to so much as look at dead prey, even when I tried some of the suggestions on here (string, poking it, etc). It's been about a week since he last ate now, and he's still looking healthy other than the trouble gripping, so I'll probably wait another day or two and then try mashing up a bug. He takes water from a q-tip in my hand so if I actually put it right in front of him in liquid form maybe he'll still go for it. Thanks for the idea.

EDIT: I squashed a moth in front of him and he's now eating it willingly. Thanks so much for the advice, seriously.


----------



## Lucidd (Sep 21, 2013)

Hey no problem, it was just a guess but I'm glad it helped.


----------

