G. pulchripes juv feeding problems

Red Raptor

Arachnopeon
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Hello, I'm pretty much out of ideas of why my golden knee Juvenile refuses any food offered to her for nearly a year now.

I acquired her at 8th of June, 2016, since then she molted once at 17.7.2016.
Since then she refused any food I offered to her.

I tried feeding her with Meal worms and Super worms.
I tried leaving the worms for the night, squished their heads a bit but eventually after 1-2 weeks i found them as beetles...
She just backs off or turns around, as like she isn't interested.
Both worms I feed with oath meal and keep rotating fresh carrot while removing the old remains.
I make sure to change their oath meal bedding every now and then to prevent mold.
In addition I occasionally grind cat food and add it as well.
The worms look nice and plump and already passed several cycles.
So i don't think the food is the issue.

In addition to this I make sure her bottle cup is always filled with fresh water at all times.

My seller stated that she had no issues eating mean worms/super worms before.

She is VERY shy, and mostly hangs around her lair, so I don't even try to handle her.

She doesn't show any symptoms of weakness (abdomen/leg dragging/small abdomen) or dehydration.

I just can't figure for the life of me why she is refusing food for so long.
I have searched the internet and didn't find someone with my case, especially as she is only a juvenile.
I never found someone with the case of a juvenile refusing for for such long time.

Hell, I feel like I spend more time tending to the worms rather than my spider.

Please help, I'm completely out of ideas and have no clue what else can I do, she is my first T.
 

The Grym Reaper

Arachnoreaper
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Jul 19, 2016
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Several Grammostola spp. tend to fast for long periods, pulchripes is one of them (despite having better appetites than rosea/porteri/etc.), there's not really anything you can do, if the abdomen still looks good (not shrivelled) and it always has fresh water then it'll be fine, it will eat again eventually.

Another option would be to get more spiders ;)
 

Red Raptor

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Several Grammostola spp. tend to fast for long periods, pulchripes is one of them (despite having better appetites than rosea/porteri/etc.), there's not really anything you can do, if the abdomen still looks good (not shrivelled) and it always has fresh water then it'll be fine, it will eat again eventually.

Another option would be to get more spiders ;)
Do they fast even at juvenile stages? I thought they only fast when their mature/adults.
 

The Grym Reaper

Arachnoreaper
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Do they fast even at juvenile stages? I thought they only fast when their mature/adults.
I'm sure I've seen people on here who have had both slings and juvies of slow-growing species (Aphonopelma/Grammostola/etc.) fast for months at a time so I honestly wouldn't rule it out, not much you can do other than continue to offer prey once every week or two and keep its water topped up.
 

nicodimus22

Arachnomancer
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Sep 26, 2013
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My G. pulchripes fasted for about 8 months as a juvenile. It's not unheard of. Just keep the water topped off and keep offering food every 2 weeks to check its appetite.
 

sdsnybny

Arachnogeek
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Apr 29, 2015
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Juvenile is a subjective term whats her leg span? And a good Pic of her and the enclosure she is housed in will help a lot. Grammostola pulchripes tends to like it a bit less than dry conditions. Have you tried overflowing the water dish or making a damp corner in the substrate to see if she prefers that area over completely dry?
Sometimes its the smallest changes in environment that trigger fasts or feeding responses. I have raised 2 form sling to adult and they both prefer it moist rather than bone dry.
 

Red Raptor

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Jun 8, 2016
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Juvenile is a subjective term whats her leg span? And a good Pic of her and the enclosure she is housed in will help a lot. Grammostola pulchripes tends to like it a bit less than dry conditions. Have you tried overflowing the water dish or making a damp corner in the substrate to see if she prefers that area over completely dry?
Sometimes its the smallest changes in environment that trigger fasts or feeding responses. I have raised 2 form sling to adult and they both prefer it moist rather than bone dry.
Il definitely try the damp corner method and see if there is any change in her behavior, While i do try to overflow her dish from time to time, her substrate is mostly bone dry.
The moment she will wander out of her lair il take a picture and post it here.
 

cold blood

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Juvenile is a subjective term whats her leg span? And a good Pic of her and the enclosure she is housed in will help a lot.
This^^

The term juvie means a lot of different things to different people...how big is the specimen?

Please get us a pic of the t.

Not eating for a year is not unheard of, not eating for a year after a molt, that's a whole different story.

My first thought is actually a small MM.
 

Red Raptor

Arachnopeon
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Alright, here are some pictures, sorry for the quality of the T pictures, as i haven't managed to catch her out of her lair for a proper shot.
The moment il be able to take a better picture of her il post it here.

Also, what is MM?
 

Moakmeister

Arachnodemon
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Oct 6, 2016
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Alright, here are some pictures, sorry for the quality of the T pictures, as i haven't managed to catch her out of her lair for a proper shot.
The moment il be able to take a better picture of her il post it here.

Also, what is MM?
The enclosure looks like it's too big. It should be only bout three times the legspan of the spider. MM means mature male. A mature male is a male tarantula who has molted for the last time in his life and is ready for mating. He has sexual organs on his pedipalps and in most species tibial hooks on his front legs to hold back the female's fangs.
 

Jason B

Arachnosquire
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Sep 10, 2016
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From what I could make out in the photo..The enclosure should be about half its size, but the spider certainly doesn't look to be starving either. Even the hide the spider has is a bit to large and it could be feeling exposed even in that hide. Also you said you squished the worms head but later found them as beetles, you need to squish the head a little harder if there turning into beetles the purpose of squishing the head is to kill them. Enclosure issues aside I would also attempt to feed it another type of prey item. While i've had success with both meal and super worms, sometimes a faster moving prey item gets a better feeding response.
 
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