Better to be safe than sorry, right ?

[LucN]

Ok, so here's the situation : My G. rosea has been off-feed for over a year now. Being a rosea, it's normally no cause for concern. However... I never dared to leave the prey in more than a few hours and kept a close watch on her reaction. She always straight out ignored the prey item. This time around, I decided to try something different : I left a prekilled cricket near her. That way, should she suddenly regain her appetite, she has something nearby that's no hassle for her to catch. On the other hand, in case she may be coming up to a molt, the cricket can't nibble on her while she's helpless.

Better to prevent an unfortunate incident than deal with it later, right ? For the record, I've had this T for 11 years now. Up until late summer last year, she NEVER went on a fasting spell like this and always accepted food, which I know is generally not the norm for the species. Perhaps it's because I never overfed her during that time. She does look a bit rough and is somewhat lethargic, so maybe a molt is truly coming. They truly teach us the very definition of patience

If she doesn't touch that cricket a couple of days later, I'll remove it and leave her be. We shall see...

 

[Tbone192]

Ok, so here's the situation : My G. rosea has been off-feed for over a year now. Being a rosea, it's normally no cause for concern. However... I never dared to leave the prey in more than a few hours and kept a close watch on her reaction. She always straight out ignored the prey item. This time around, I decided to try something different : I left a prekilled cricket near her. That way, should she suddenly regain her appetite, she has something nearby that's no hassle for her to catch. On the other hand, in case she may be coming up to a molt, the cricket can't nibble on her while she's helpless.

Better to prevent an unfortunate incident than deal with it later, right ? For the record, I've had this T for 11 years now. Up until late summer last year, she NEVER went on a fasting spell like this and always accepted food, which I know is generally not the norm for the species. Perhaps it's because I never overfed her during that time. She does look a bit rough and is somewhat lethargic, so maybe a molt is truly coming. They truly teach us the very definition of patience

If she doesn't touch that cricket a couple of days later, I'll remove it and leave her be. We shall see...

Prekilling prey is a very common and safe practice when feeding T's. My general rule for prekilled prey is to leave it for a day and then check on it. If uneaten I will remove and try again in a few days.

 

[viper69]

Yes

 

[TheraMygale]

I do that to when a tarantula has not shown interest in food. I get results with my slings and juveniles more then my large adults. There is no risk in doing this.

send us pics of this tarantula for our own reference. Please.

 

[Smotzer]

They truly teach us the very definition of patience

That they do! And teach us to view life through a different lense and pace! If only more people experienced what you have here and would understand the worrying wont change it!

 

[cold blood]

1. If its refusing that long, its not going to suddely up and decide to eat....which leads to

2. Fat ts do not require food, regardless of how long they fast.

3. This long fasting period is EXACTLY what should be expected from a rosie thats been fed heavily.

4. Rose hairs are notoriosly picky with their food sources....not only can they refuse certain prey items even when theyre on the feed, but ive never heard of an adult taking pre killed prey.

All this leads to the obvious conclusion that feeding your t right now is pointless, feeding dead prey is simply an exercise in futility.

 

[Ultum4Spiderz]

A Year fasting is nothing for this genus . Mine back when I had one stayed plump during fasts. Perfectly healthy !!
I would had wasted hundred’s of feeders if I tried prekilled she only ate live prey.

 

[LucN]

1. If its refusing that long, its not going to suddely up and decide to eat....which leads to

2. Fat ts do not require food, regardless of how long they fast.

3. This long fasting period is EXACTLY what should be expected from a rosie thats been fed heavily.

4. Rose hairs are notoriosly picky with their food sources....not only can they refuse certain prey items even when theyre on the feed, but ive never heard of an adult taking pre killed prey.

All this leads to the obvious conclusion that feeding your t right now is pointless, feeding dead prey is simply an exercise in futility.

1. I wouldn't doubt your wisdom in this since you've certainly been longer at it than I have. I thought it was worth a try. I'll remove that dead cricket then.

2. I feed very sparingly, you could accuse me of under-feeding if anything. Each get 2 crickets or 1 superworm a month. No more, no less. Thus far, I've had no issues following this feeding pattern.

3. See #2.

4. Well, being in Canada, I don't have access to as many feeders as you guys have in the US. As I've mentioned in my opening post, up until a year ago, she *always* ate, be it cricket or superworm.

Thanks for your input ! I appreciate the knowledge being shared Now I know.

Edit : I never did mention the most important detail : She's not fat... and not exactly skinny either. The abdomen is about the same size as the carapace, give or take. No pictures handy right now, but I'll try to get some at some point. This time of year is usually when she molts, so maybe that'll happen in the coming weeks.

 

[cold blood]

I wouldn't doubt your wisdom in this since you've certainly been longer at it than I have. I thought it was worth a try. I'll remove that dead cricket then

Im not chastising you for offering, just explaining why its not necessary....you offered, no harm will come...aside from the pre killed prey...lol

I feed very sparingly, you could accuse me of under-feeding if anything.

I did NOT accuse you of anything, i simply mis read your op....factually speaking, nearly all captive ts tend to be fed more than needed, especially super slow growers, which is probably why i missed the word never in your post.

On top of that, heavy feeding may have consequences with regards to fasting, but its not bad or unhealthy for a t, nor is it a sign of bad ownership, so its not something to take personally, or as an accusation.

 

[LucN]

Im not chastising you for offering, just explaining why its not necessary....you offered, no harm will come...aside from the pre killed prey...lol

I did NOT accuse you of anything, i simply mis read your op....factually speaking, nearly all captive ts tend to be fed more than needed, especially super slow growers, which is probably why i missed the word never in your post.

On top of that, heavy feeding may have consequences with regards to fasting, but its not bad or unhealthy for a t, nor is it a sign of bad ownership, so its not something to take personally, or as an accusation.

I didn't take any of your comments as an attack or as accusation... On the contrary, I genuinely appreciate constructive and informative feedback like this. I'm just saying that I'm possibly not feeding them enough ? 2 crix a month is so little... right ? Of course, I wouldn't be doing that with a larger T such as A. geniculata or L. parahybana.

 

[cold blood]

2 crix a month is so little... right ?

thats a good feeding schedule for a rose hair IME....I feed mine about the same....sometimes only once a month.

 

[LucN]

thats a good feeding schedule for a rose hair IME....I feed mine about the same....sometimes only once a month.

So... the rest being B. boehmei, B. hamorii and T. albopilosus, is it ok to feed them like my G. rosea... or would it be best to feed them extra ? Genuinely curious.

 

[cold blood]

So... the rest being B. boehmei, B. hamorii and T. albopilosus, is it ok to feed them like my G. rosea... or would it be best to feed them extra ? Genuinely curious.

I feed them a little more often...especially the albo, they are actually a tropical species, and I think they have a little higher food needs.

 

[LucN]

I feed them a little more often...especially the albo, they are actually a tropical species, and I think they have a little higher food needs.

Noted, so I'll change up my feeding accordingly and see how they react. With the albo, she's usually the first of my 4 to catch her prey. Guess her prey drive is stronger.

In the meantime, I'll stop attempting to feed my rosea until she molts... whenever that will be.

 

[LucN]

Ok...

this has been going on for a month or more, my G. rosea has been behaving oddly and I'm not sure what to make of it. Basically, her new routine is the following : Visit water dish, wander around and stop in a corner, scrunch up as in death curl, stay in that position for hours, then suddenly make a trip to the water dish again. Rinse and repeat.

The death curl stance often throws me off guard as it looks legit, except there's always a leg or two that is stretched normally. She'll sometimes visit the water dish numerous times a day. Extensive preparation for an upcoming molt... or is she just slowly withering away ? This occurred to me years back with a WC Aphonopelma. For the first couple of molts, it ate ok, but after the last one, it just seemingly lost its vigor of living... and eventually passed. Could the same be happening to my G. rosea ?

I have no real clue how old she is. She was a (most likely) WC juvie about 3" DLS back in 2013. Could it be old age be finally catching up or she is simply torturing me with this odd behavior ?

 

[Matt Man]

In the meantime, I'll stop attempting to feed my rosea until she molts... whenever that will be.

When I have fasts (rare) I just adjust the schedule, from an attempted feed of once a month, to every other month, to every 3 months. I pull the cricket if no interest (I typically let them go at this point not wanting any opportunity of any cross contamination and figuring they got their death sentence commuted)
for my Grande Dame A, chalcodes she refused for over a year, just kept her water dish full. She molted, I allowed her to harden and she readily fed. I keep her on a slow feeder rotation as I'm trying to avoid another big fast

 

[LucN]

When I have fasts (rare) I just adjust the schedule, from an attempted feed of once a month, to every other month, to every 3 months. I pull the cricket if no interest (I typically let them go at this point not wanting any opportunity of any cross contamination and figuring they got their death sentence commuted)
for my Grande Dame A, chalcodes she refused for over a year, just kept her water dish full. She molted, I allowed her to harden and she readily fed. I keep her on a slow feeder rotation as I'm trying to avoid another big fast

Try in 3 months time ? I guess it's worth a shot... if she hasn't passed by then. We'll see.

 

[Matt Man]

Try in 3 months time ? I guess it's worth a shot... if she hasn't passed by then. We'll see.

I started at once a month for a couple months (always first feed of the month to keep a schedule). When they were all refused I went to every other month. Near the end, every 3rd month. As we came to the second "every 3rd" I noticed she was in premolt, close to 14 months after I originally reduced her feedings.
She successfully molted and got her appetite back. I got her as a large, most likely WC female. I've had her for 7 years and am guessing she is in her mid 20s

 

[TheraMygale]

My tarantulas behave like that. I better stop reading about you worrying or i will start to worry hahaha.

@Charliemum has tons of tarantulas that don’t eat for months, some she does not even see.