Feeding During Pre-Molt

[Tranz]

I have a 1 1/4" G. Pulchra sling which has definitively refused to eat for over a week. I have had it for five weeks. In fact, I have in embarrassed horror watched my cricket bully turn into an 8-legged arachnowimp, allowing crickets half its size to literally walk all over it!

I'm pretty convinced it's not eating because it's in pre-molt. My question is, should I keep offering food daily, or every other day, or just stop offering it food until it molts? Also, when and if it finally does molt, what's the soonest I should offer food?

 

[ArachnoJoost]

You could try offering dead prey items to your pulchra, that way the sling doesn't get stressed, and if it wants to eat, it will eat it. Don't know about the intervals of offering food, every few days should be enough I think.
About the feeding after a molt, see the thread 'eating after a molt' (quite new thread).
greetz,
Joost

 

[Code Monkey]

My policy: you start refusing food and aren't losing weight, you get nuthin'!

Until I see a moult or there is actually noticeable weight loss, it's just wasting mine and the spider's time in my experience. Of course, at their hungriest, no one is getting offered food every other day, so a refusal of food might mean a little more in my house.

 

[Tranz]

Krunch Has Molted

Well, wouldn't you know the first day I didn't keep looking in on Krunch every hour, he ended up molting. In late afternoon, I suddenly realized I hadn't checked on him for about five hours. When I peered into his little cave, it looked strange. He had way too many legs, and was light, almost blond, and seemed bigger, and there was a roundish wad of spider legs at his left, lying halfway out of the chair tip he calls home. The impression I got was that he was trying to free himself from this wad of exuvial legs. To that end, I misted the sides of his keeper and put a plastic cover over part of it.

When I looked in on him later, I could see his rear instead of his front, but the ball of spider legs was still in the same place. That happened twice. Duh! Maybe he wasn't attached to it, after all. Still, I can't tell for sure. I'll wait until tomorrow to snag it away, and hope he's free of it.

 

[Rookie]

No fair!

Man, everyone's s'lings are moulting except for mine! I'm a little jealous Tranz, you beat me to the punch in the Pulchra moulting race. Peso just refuses to grow up. I feed him, he eats. I feed him, he eats. Same thing every time. Of course, I only feed live now, and it's incredibly fun to watch, but still..i want a moult!
Patience Paul, patience...
Congrads on a shiny new Krunch.
Cheers,
The Rookie

 

[kosh]

rookie......dont feel bad.......everyone's slings arent moulting.....if you check my thread about the curlies from Holley...you'll see that most of those arent moulting yet, i think only Holley has a few that have moulted so far.....but im sure all of us are anticipating moults soon though.......

 

[Al Muoio]

The only guys I've seen moult are my jumping spiders. None of my T's have moulted yet.

 

[Tranz]

After about a day, I pulled the exuvium (at right) out. It was so light, a puff of air sent it airborne.