A. metallica - growing concern

YagerManJennsen

Arachnobaron
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Jan 3, 2016
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I received this WC female A. metallica back in October 2016. Frankly, she hasn't been eating - for about 5 months.
For a while I chalked it up to premolt. Since her abdomen seems to have gotten smaller, premolt doesn't seem likely. I came to another conclusion "maybe she doesn't feel secure enough to eat" I thought. So I decided to renovate her enclosure in effort to make her feel more secure and hopefully gain back her appetite.

Am I just getting paranoid? Here is her new home 20170401_103109.jpg
Temps stay at ambient room temperature most of the time (exception being summer when the room gets up to 80 in the day)
 
Last edited:

KezyGLA

Arachnoking
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Apr 8, 2016
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The new digs look great. She should be comfy in there.

Try bunping the temps a bit see if that helps the appetite
 

ediblepain

Arachnosquire
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Dec 24, 2016
Messages
98
I received this WC female A. metallica back in October 2016. Frankly, she hasn't been eating - for about 5 months.
For a while I chalked it up to premolt. Since her abdomen seems to have gotten smaller, premolt doesn't seem likely. I came to another conclusion "maybe she doesnt feel secure enough to eat" I thought. So I decided to renovate her enclosure in effort to make her feel more secure and hopefully gain back her appetite.

Am I just getting paranoid? Here is her new home View attachment 235641
Temps state at ambient room temperature most of the time (exception being summer when the room gets up to 80 in the day)
Are you sure She is indeed a she, and not a He?
 

YagerManJennsen

Arachnobaron
Joined
Jan 3, 2016
Messages
508
The new digs look great. She should be comfy in there.

Try bunping the temps a bit see if that helps the appetite
i've been trying to keep the temps hovering around 78-80. The room is full of windows which doesn't help with holding in heat.
 

YagerManJennsen

Arachnobaron
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Jan 3, 2016
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I forgot to mention this earlier:
She has one fang that is chipped and one chelicerae is slightly damaged.
The other fang and chelicerae look normal. I will take some pictures and upload them when I can.
 

Venom1080

Arachnoemperor
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Sep 24, 2015
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maybe switch up the prey? moths usually get a great feeding response. i dont know how often she ate crickets in the wild.
 

viper69

ArachnoGod
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I forgot to mention this earlier:
She has one fang that is chipped and one chelicerae is slightly damaged.
The other fang and chelicerae look normal. I will take some pictures and upload them when I can.
Many Ts eat like the one above or worse, and they are all individuals too. Some WC's just don't do well at all in captivity. This MAY be the case here, but I hope it isn't.
 

YagerManJennsen

Arachnobaron
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Jan 3, 2016
Messages
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Many Ts eat like the one above or worse, and they are all individuals too. Some WC's just don't do well at all in captivity. This MAY be the case here, but I hope it isn't.
I have not thought about that before. Are you saying they can have a very long acclimation period or they just never settle in well at all?
 

viper69

ArachnoGod
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I have not thought about that before. Are you saying they can have a very long acclimation period or they just never settle in well at all?
BOTH. This is true for a lot of exotics. A breeder of a particularly rare mutation in a species of snake told me the imports with the recessive gene took over 8 years to establish in captivity. This was not a function of their genes, but of them being WC.
 

YagerManJennsen

Arachnobaron
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Jan 3, 2016
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Just an update. The T in question surprised me with a molt today. Hopefully the one damaged fang will be back to normal as well as her appetite.
 

Toxoderidae

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I had a regalis that went around the same time without eating. What she finally took was small dubias. So once she hardens up, try out some new feeders like Venom said.
 

viper69

ArachnoGod
Old Timer
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Just an update. The T in question surprised me with a molt today. Hopefully the one damaged fang will be back to normal as well as her appetite.
Post of a pic from the fresh molt, when the colors are brightest.
 
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