E.campestratus --- PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE help people......

RugbyDave

Arachnoprince
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Apr 5, 2003
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hey guys,
i wrote in a week ago, and nothing really -- i still need help with anyone that knows this species --

i have a young E.camp -- very sluggish, isn't eating, very unresponsive, i find him/her in the hiding spot in a wierd position (not molt, and not death curl), and very unresponsive, then when provoked enough, s/he is very quick...


can't evoke the feeding response for the life of me, i've tried every tip my family can think of (and me too, for that matter) -- i don't know what to do...

she's about the size of a table spoon,and i had posted some pics of him/her in some link around here. I think its on page two. I still have to figure out how to cross link on this thing..


at any rate, abdomen isn't shriveled and nothing else looks wrong -- COULD COULD COULD be a pre-molt thing, but its only been 3 weeks since the last molt... 4 on the 17th of April...
i highly doubt its a pre-molt thing..


at any rate, please help , i don't know what to do in this situation,and i dont want him/her to die...

ive tried small crickets and other small things, but nothing -- i dont want to go down to pinheads, either..

ive even taken the legs off the crickets, and still nothing...


anyways please help me if you can!
much thanks,
peace,
dave
 

BullF-16

Arachnopeon
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Mar 15, 2003
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hope someone answers soon, I have an E camp. myself about 4 inch, fresh off amolt about 2 weeks ago. Hasn,t eaten since. Her abdomen is gettin pretty small so am concerned. but the molt was ok except for the abdomen portion being partly stuck but now ok. I love this particular T. she is great, hope she starts eating soon. .......good luck
 

jwb121377

Arachnoangel
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Aug 20, 2002
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Hey Dave I have three of this species and find them to be the most calm species of tarantula out there. Most of mine won't move unless really provoked. A tarantula can go without food for a long time with no ill affect. When was the last time she ate? If I were you I wouldn't worry to much over your PZB I'm sure she should be fine. Just keep trying to feed it once a week until it eats again and make sure to give it some form of water.
 

MrT

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Aug 13, 2002
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The only thing I can think of is, did the T shed all of its mouth parts. If you still have the shed skin you can look at it and see.
If not , you'll just have to play the waiting game. I'm pretty sure it will start eating again, when it feels the time is right.
My A versicolor didn't eat for a long whole after its last molt and I get really worried about it. So I put it in a small ICU deli cup so the cricket would be easy to find and kill, and it started eating again right away. You might want to try that. ;)

Ernie
 

nemesis6sic6

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Mar 1, 2003
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Hello

Hi, I have one my self she's about 4" and well she bearly molted about a month ago and she's starting to eat bearly. I love her very much her name is Persephonie she's my fav T. Mine eats Alot
6 medium/large cricks a day recently. Yes they are very calm but really fast sometimes. I wouldn't worry as for this species seam to not pass out easily until they reach their full potential. I'm sure you'll enjoy this species and try feeding it directly. like throw a crick or what ever ur feeding her right in front of her. they we around them most of the time so that they can feel the presence of prey.
 

RugbyDave

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Hey guys --

thanks so far...

s/he's in a cup, with a cricket, and nothing.. tried direct food -- nothing, nothing nothing!....

and its not the slow factor that bothers me, its the sluggishfactor...

Im fine with all my other T's, and my whole life i've never really REALLY had too many problems with my family's T's, but it seems like now that I got my first sling of this species, its going to hell..


i'm sure s/he'll be fine, but i dunno... im going to replace the T back in the cage for the night.. then tomorrow back to the ICU deli cup --

thanks again....
i'll post somepics too -- s/he's wicked cute,and i hope my T is ok...

peace,
dave
 

MrT

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Dave,
Leave it in the deli cup overnight to see if it eats. Most T's in the wild eat at night, as I'm sure you know.:)

Ernie
 

RugbyDave

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it's the next morning, and still the cricket lives.... and still my T is in this odd position --

damnit....

i dunno what to do ....

thanks again ,
peace,
dave
 

Chris

Arachnoknight
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Aug 9, 2002
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283
It sounds like stress to me... take out the cricket and leave your spider alone for a couple of days in a dark place.

Only disturb it to check on it ONCE A DAY.

The most common mistake I see people making is that they fuss over their spider when it really only wants to be left alone to rest.
 

RugbyDave

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I'm def. fussing over it in theory, cos in practice ive done the following over a week (or 2?):

1) 2 times in the deli cup with cricket
2) 2 times in the deli cup alone


S/he's now near my radiator (its cold here) and got a nice cover of dark shadows around her/him...


i just talk alot cos i dunno what to do with this species in this situation -- didnt know if they're known for this or what...

thanks and peace,
dave
 

kellygirl

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What is the weather like where you are? Sometimes my tarantulas go on winter fasts. The weather is finally getting warmer here and they are starting to get their appetites back. You can fool them by following Amun-Ra's advice and raising temps and humidity.

And like Chris suggested, leave the poor thing alone. You may be stressing it out. Especially if you think there could be a pending molt, you really don't want to be moving it all over the place.

This is a VERY slow growing species, IME... well, all I have is spiderlings but they have almost no visible growth after a molt.

I don't know, I guess I just echo what others have said.....

kellygirl
 

Joy

Priestess of Pulchra-tude
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Oct 12, 2002
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I'd be interested to know the temperature you're keeping it at and also substrate/type of vivarium it's living in. But my own experience is that these guys are fairly slow at recovering from molts, so it could just be that, and your spider may start eating at any time. Assuming your set-up is OK, I too would advise just letting it alone for a while and offering food again in a few days.

Joy
 

RugbyDave

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Hey guys --

thanks again --

I do leave her/him alone.. Like i said, i've only moved her 2 times in about 2 weeks (once to the deli cup, and then back to her tank)....

I def stick to the "less is more" when it comes to T-first aid... Alot of times, if you just leave the poor creature alone, they can bounce back on their own -- they've evolved this way over many many years... alot of people are real quick to make changes and do REAL quick Temp changes and humidity changes without thinking of the adverse effects on the T's..

while this works sometimes, alot of times it doesnt -- the stress can be the final kicker.

so in summation:
1) don't worry -- s/he isn't stressed and being moved around alot. THanks for checking though! (Seriously!) :)
2) shes in a small small tank. I think iposted before it was about BARELY a hand tall, BARELY half a hand wide, and BARELY a hand deep. There's a bout 4" of substrate, too (some peat, potting soil and bed a beast-- my own special mix.. it seems to work great!)
3) I'm doing my own version of heat and humidity -- slowly raising the temp, and slowly adding more humidity (through light mists and wet papertowels on the tank.

and kellygirl -- I'm about a 10 hours drive north of you in Pittsburgh, Pa. Its' the first day above 60 degrees in a LOOOONG time.. its currently 74 where I am, and i had her in some ambient heat...


hopefully she'll eat soon...

but keep in mind i may make a fuss here on the board about her/him, but i RARELY move my T's around or handle them even. I'm seriously from the school that thinks that handling T's too much isn't good... The people who know me on this board know my deal... I'm not saying i want to get into that discussion, cos none of us are T's and we don't know, but I DEF. don't move them around alot.

I hope she seems to perk up a bit ...
Thank you all so very very much. This forum kicks some mighty major ass!

peace,
dave (who's off to artofthemix.org to put up some new mix CDs i made with my new T) :)
 

vulpina

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Dave,
Hey, I emailed you some more info on the dealer in Pittsburgh.

Andy
 

Godzilla2000

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Mar 14, 2003
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I just have one question: How long ago did you purchase your Pink Zebtra Beauty? I have one as well. And she didn't eat for awhile as well. I've now had her a month and she eats at least two crickets. I think I may have to hold off because her rump is starting to get big. I don;t think you have anything to worry about as long as she's drinking water and keeping herself hydrated.
 

RugbyDave

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Hey!

I got her/him maybe a month ago -- I'm pretty sure s/he's hydrated, as i don't notice any difference in abdomen size, and s/he doesn't hang out near the waterdish... plus i do mist a little just in case s/he isn't hydrated enough...


and i play her alot of My Bloody Valentine, so she's got the good music ---


I'm looking forward to the day s/he eats... its been a long time, even though its alright for some T's -- i just don't know so much about this species, so i don't know whats odd or not, since each T is really really different :)

I'm glad your PZB is looking healthy! How big is s/he? What kind of cage is S/he in? Do you keep your PZB like a G.rosea?

peace,
dave
 
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