B. Smithi ( annitha ) in premolt ?

[TwinKy]

Hey guys I recently got a brachypelma Smithi and I was wondering if it could be in premolt. She's only 1.5-2" and I got it last week but since then she didn't show any interest in food ( crickets, cut off superworms ) and is very lethargic, barely moves through day and night and her abdomen seems kinda big for it's size. I'll attempt to feed it again in a few days, also this is my first T I'm new to the hobby.
Thanks guys

 

[Blueandbluer]

I always tell people who ask this question -- your guess is as good as ours on whether a spider could be in premolt or not. That species is generally calm to the point of being nearly a rock, so I can't imagine what "lethargic" would mean in this case. That's just how they roll. Lay off with the feedings a while. Everyone is way too used to mammals when they first get a T. One that size likely only needs feeding once every one or two weeks. She doesn't look to be starving. Just give her some time to settle in to the new surroundings and relax before you start tossing feeders at her.

What I do is have a schedule. I toss in a feeder, and remove it if they don't take it within 10 minutes. If they don't, then that's fine. I'll wait until the next scheduled feeding day before trying again. The bigger they get, the longer the time between scheduled feedings. My mature spiders only get fed once or twice a month. They can go very very long times without feeding, and this way you aren't stressing them out with eeders crawling over them constantly. They'll eat it, or they won't; they'll molt, or they won't. Just relax and let them Spider, they're good at it.

As an aside, looking at the tiny bit I can see of the enclosure, there may be some things you could consider changing there. If you want advice about that, start a new thread with pics of the whole enclosure and folks will be happy to help.

 

[Tarantuland]

These guys can go extremely long in premolt. Since the abdomen doesn't look skinny, I wouldn't worry about it. However that enclosure looks entirely too large and poses fall risk, so I'd try to fix that.

 

[WolleWolf]

For me it looks like it has molted a few weeks ago. The abdomen is full with hairs. Though I dont think it is in premolt.

Did you buy this B smithi as unsexed?

 

[sasker]

For me it looks like it has molted a few weeks ago. The abdomen is full with hairs.

Mine looks the same way, just bigger. It molted more than a year ago. This species is not known for the tendency to kick a lot of hair. So, unless you stress it out a lot, they tend to keep their hairs.

@TwinKy : Likely premolt. Try to feed again next month. I had mine refusing prey for a while, so I assumed she was in premolt. After a few months I tried again and she ate. Their food requirements are minimal. No stress

 

[WolleWolf]

This species is not known for the tendency to kick a lot of hair. So, unless you stress it out a lot, they tend to keep their hairs.

Okay, my juvi female B. smithi has the baldest butt (never stressed) of all my T´s...

 

[sasker]

Well, your mileage may vary Not one spider is the same. Perhaps yours will quiet down somewhat when it gets older. In my case, she became more defensive. This is not a tarantula that I would consider handling because she is rather bitey

 

[The Grym Reaper]

This species is not known for the tendency to kick a lot of hair. So, unless you stress it out a lot, they tend to keep their hairs.

Okay, my juvi female B. smithi has the baldest butt (never stressed) of all my T´s...

With Brachys it's basically a case of flipping a coin to see if you get a hair kicker or not, I keep every species in the genus and the only one that has ever kicked hairs at me is my juvie male smithi, he doesn't kick much/often though.

 

[Blueandbluer]

With Brachys it's basically a case of flipping a coin to see if you get a hair kicker or not, I keep every species in the genus and the only one that has ever kicked hairs at me is my juvie male smithi, he doesn't kick much/often though.

My B boehmei is super kicky. She starts kicking just when I open the enclosure to give her water or toss in her feeder. She's nearly always bald by molt time.

 

[sasker]

I keep/have kept 5 species of this genus and I have never had any of them kick hairs, or perhaps a little bit during rehouses. I have heard from others that B. boehmei is quite an avid hair kicker, but I have never kept this species.

 

[viper69]

I keep/have kept 5 species of this genus and I have never had any of them kick hairs, or perhaps a little bit during rehouses. I have heard from others that B. boehmei is quite an avid hair kicker, but I have never kept this species.

My AF hamori was quite flicky, and my AF boehmei was the most flicky- which is typically the case for this species, it’s the worst of the genus.

 

[KenNet]

I have 2 JF B. boehmei, one kicks hair when I open the lid to feed her, sometimes even before. The other female has never kicked hairs. My JF B. hamorii is always calm and never kick hairs.

 

[TwinKy]

These guys can go extremely long in premolt. Since the abdomen doesn't look skinny, I wouldn't worry about it. However that enclosure looks entirely too large and poses fall risk, so I'd try to fix that.

I tried to put as much substrate as I could and creating a hill on the back of the enclosure to minimize risks as much as possible however I can't do that on the front since it would close all of the cross ventilation holes

 

[TwinKy]

For me it looks like it has molted a few weeks ago. The abdomen is full with hairs. Though I dont think it is in premolt.

Did you buy this B smithi as unsexed?

Yup bought it as unsexed and got it two weeks ago. I tried to feed it since then but it showed no interest in food ( live crickets or cut off superworms ) and its abdomen keeps getting darker and darker each day starting with a small black spot.
Its lack of interest in food, its ' rock-like ' state and that black spot on its abdomen were mostly the reasons why I was wondering if she could be in premolt or not

 

[WolleWolf]

B smithi is a pricer Brachy and at this size the previous owner should know the sex. My thoughts were, that this T molted few weeks ago and was sexed as male, then sold as unsexed. My honest thoughts, but I could be wrong though.

Nevertheless B smithi males lives long too and are also beautyful.

 

[TwinKy]

B smithi is a pricer Brachy and at this size the previous owner should know the sex. My thoughts were, that this T molted few weeks ago and was sexed as male, then sold as unsexed. My honest thoughts, but I could be wrong though.

Nevertheless B smithi males lives long too and are also beautyful.

I bought it from a reputed online retailer based in Belgium since I live in France so I don't really know but I will definitely post pictures of its molt once it did its thing !