Milou
Arachnopeon
- Joined
- Feb 3, 2023
- Messages
- 3
Hello everyone! So I’ve had my Eresus Walckenaeri for over a year and a half now, and watching her grow from a tiny sling to the size she is now has been a super beautiful and exciting experience for me (I’m a beginner, she is my first spider).
However she hasn‘t taken any food in the last two (almost three) weeks and started to act very sluggish, so I’m worried about her and would like to ask for some advice. (With her current size, I feed her around once a week).
Ever since I got her she was always super active and pretty food aggressive, but right now she seems the exact opposite.
Now she occasionally peeks out of her net only to immediately go back inside and stay motionless. Whenever I offer her food she „closes“ her net and remains still. This is how she would normally act right before or after a molt, but her last one was almost a month ago and inbetween then and now she did actually take some food, so I really don‘t know where this sudden change in behaviour might come from. Two days ago she left her net and since then she is sitting in another corner for her enclosure (it‘s right next to her web though) but still remains motionless.
(Edit: When I offer her food, no matter the size (I even tried giving her fruit flies again) she just threatposes at it or retreats as if she is trying to flee- again, very unusual for her.)
I know this species is not typically known for being super visible/active, but she has always been that way so this sudden change really has me worried. Could she still be full from her previous meal from over two weeks ago? Is she maybe about to molt soon again? My main reason for concern stems from the fact that she gets all of her moisture from her prey (I keep her enclosure super dry, just like recommended) and I’m scared that she might get dehydrated by not eating.
I also thought that she might be impacted since she keeps her abdomen in a pretty weird position, and I also haven‘t seen her do any webbing or relieve herself in a while (I attached a picture of her abdomen just in case). But I don‘t know how to tell for sure.
Another thing I thought of is that she could still be somewhat full from when I accidentally overfed her in December. So until her molt in November I would only feed her fruit flies, but since then I decided to feed her small crickets since they were more appropriate for her current size (I asked the owner of the pet store I buy her food at and he also agreed). But because of the recent temperature drop in my country, the small crickets I usually feed her don‘t survive very long and the store only sold medium-sized ones in December- so I fed her one of those (it was around her own size). This turned out to be a mistake on my part, because she immediately overfed, and the morning after her abdomen looked like a bloated balloon that might pop at any moment (I also attached a picture of that, it‘s the third one). Since then she has molted twice (once in late December, once in early January). I made sure not to feed her too soon after this, and only gave her fruit flies so she would still get her liquid. But now her abdomen is pretty normal-sized again (again, I attached a picture) so I don‘t know if this could really be the reason. Or maybe she is still stressed from molting two times in such a short timespan? I would really appreciate any advice or help. I‘m super worried and would be devastated if I lost her. Thank you very much in advance!
However she hasn‘t taken any food in the last two (almost three) weeks and started to act very sluggish, so I’m worried about her and would like to ask for some advice. (With her current size, I feed her around once a week).
Ever since I got her she was always super active and pretty food aggressive, but right now she seems the exact opposite.
Now she occasionally peeks out of her net only to immediately go back inside and stay motionless. Whenever I offer her food she „closes“ her net and remains still. This is how she would normally act right before or after a molt, but her last one was almost a month ago and inbetween then and now she did actually take some food, so I really don‘t know where this sudden change in behaviour might come from. Two days ago she left her net and since then she is sitting in another corner for her enclosure (it‘s right next to her web though) but still remains motionless.
(Edit: When I offer her food, no matter the size (I even tried giving her fruit flies again) she just threatposes at it or retreats as if she is trying to flee- again, very unusual for her.)
I know this species is not typically known for being super visible/active, but she has always been that way so this sudden change really has me worried. Could she still be full from her previous meal from over two weeks ago? Is she maybe about to molt soon again? My main reason for concern stems from the fact that she gets all of her moisture from her prey (I keep her enclosure super dry, just like recommended) and I’m scared that she might get dehydrated by not eating.
I also thought that she might be impacted since she keeps her abdomen in a pretty weird position, and I also haven‘t seen her do any webbing or relieve herself in a while (I attached a picture of her abdomen just in case). But I don‘t know how to tell for sure.
Another thing I thought of is that she could still be somewhat full from when I accidentally overfed her in December. So until her molt in November I would only feed her fruit flies, but since then I decided to feed her small crickets since they were more appropriate for her current size (I asked the owner of the pet store I buy her food at and he also agreed). But because of the recent temperature drop in my country, the small crickets I usually feed her don‘t survive very long and the store only sold medium-sized ones in December- so I fed her one of those (it was around her own size). This turned out to be a mistake on my part, because she immediately overfed, and the morning after her abdomen looked like a bloated balloon that might pop at any moment (I also attached a picture of that, it‘s the third one). Since then she has molted twice (once in late December, once in early January). I made sure not to feed her too soon after this, and only gave her fruit flies so she would still get her liquid. But now her abdomen is pretty normal-sized again (again, I attached a picture) so I don‘t know if this could really be the reason. Or maybe she is still stressed from molting two times in such a short timespan? I would really appreciate any advice or help. I‘m super worried and would be devastated if I lost her. Thank you very much in advance!
Last edited:
