GBB Not Eating....

Charlottesweb17

Arachnopeon
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Jan 31, 2017
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My GBB has not eaten since her first molt about a month ago and is looking thin.
I rehoused her last night thinking maybe she was unhappy with her enclosure as it was way too wet, mouldy and full of dead cricket carcasses. I put her Ina brand new enclosure much better than the old and exactly the same. I gave her overnight to get used to her new digs and tried feeding her this morning but she refused her food again.
I have been trying to feed her each week with the others and she hasn't eaten.
Other than being in premolt and bored with her food is there anything else I may be missing?
 

Venom1080

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Why was it in a such a poor cage to begin with???

Yeah, it may have just been slowly dying. It should stop now.

Try different feeders if you can as well.

Pics would help as well.
 

Grace Cannell

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I'm not entirely sure why she hasn't been eating since her moult but rehousing is pretty stressful for Ts and can make them pretty unhappy for a while. One of mine has a major strop even when I'm removing any bolus or poop. I would give her some time and just make sure she has water always available. In future it may be best to keep an eye for mould and any visible cricket carcasses and clear them as and when you see them so you're not having to regularly stress your T out with a rehouse. As for being bored of food, changing their live food is ok but a T doesn't think "oh I had that last week and the week before". They can't afford to think like that in the wild.
 

Devin B

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Your GBB should be kept on bone dry substrate with a water dish. Also there shouldn't be any dead prey left in the enclosure for more than a day or two. Also mold is a very bad thing to be left in an enclosure, be in the lookout for this in the future.
 

boina

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If it really was in a wet and moldy enclosure than chances are it hasn't been eating because it was slowly dying, as Venom said. Dead crickets in a wet enclosure are a breeding ground for all kinds of bacteria that may all kill an arid tarantulas. Tarantulas take a while to die... Rehousing it to a hopefully dry enclosure was a good move, but it will still need a while to overcome any illness it might have contracted.
 

Charlottesweb17

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Jan 31, 2017
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She seems to be ok so far. I figured rehousing her would help.
Obviously I figured she was not happy in there. Am just letting her adjust and I have a dehumidifier on in my house right now so should dry out her new subturate pretty quickly and the subturate is just dampened it's not soaked obviously like it was the last time.
She has pleanty of water to hydrate with.
 

Charlottesweb17

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Jan 31, 2017
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Why was it in a such a poor cage to begin with???

Yeah, it may have just been slowly dying. It should stop now.

Try different feeders if you can as well.

Pics would help as well.
It didn't start out that way and water was probably spilling out of its dish too often. I take offence that I would intentionally hurt one of my Ts. I bought a couple of hornworms to try will give her half a small one see if she eats it. Letting her get adjusted she seems to be doing fine. Also it's soon time for her to molt again although with not eating not sure that will happen just trying to get her healthy.
 

Venom1080

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It didn't start out that way and water was probably spilling out of its dish too often. I take offence that I would intentionally hurt one of my Ts. I bought a couple of hornworms to try will give her half a small one see if she eats it. Letting her get adjusted she seems to be doing fine. Also it's soon time for her to molt again although with not eating not sure that will happen just trying to get her healthy.
K.

I'd just let her adjust then feed whatever.
 

efmp1987

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Aug 16, 2017
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Is your GBB enclosure as dry and as arid-looking as this? If not, then make sure it is as dry and as arid-looking as this.

GBB.jpg
 

EulersK

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To all people parroting the bone-dry conditions that GBB's thrive in - please take into account where a person lives.

C. cyaneopubescens would absolutely die in that environment where I live. In fact, I had an adult female die on me because of this advice when I was a newbie. This species can survive on bone dry substrate for most people, but they do enjoy a touch of humidity. The area around the water dish in my specimens' enclosures never dries out completely, and I make it "rain" in there about once per month. It is during that time that they display their hunting behaviors.

Just because a species can survive in a type of setup doesn't mean it will thrive. Learning that fine line is what separates keepers.

@Charlottesweb17
Despite what I said above, your old enclosure sounds much too humid. They enjoy a bit of humidity, not a swamp. It doesn't need to be on the extreme ends of "Saharan Desert" or "Everglades Swamplands". Very few species are so cut-and-dry.
 

efmp1987

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To all people parroting the bone-dry conditions that GBB's thrive in - please take into account where a person lives.

C. cyaneopubescens would absolutely die in that environment where I live. In fact, I had an adult female die on me because of this advice when I was a newbie. This species can survive on bone dry substrate for most people, but they do enjoy a touch of humidity. The area around the water dish in my specimens' enclosures never dries out completely, and I make it "rain" in there about once per month. It is during that time that they display their hunting behaviors.

Just because a species can survive in a type of setup doesn't mean it will thrive. Learning that fine line is what separates keepers.

@Charlottesweb17
Despite what I said above, your old enclosure sounds much too humid. They enjoy a bit of humidity, not a swamp. It doesn't need to be on the extreme ends of "Saharan Desert" or "Everglades Swamplands". Very few species are so cut-and-dry.
But of course, bone dry doesn't have to mean perpetually dry. Even in the Gobi it rains. My versicolor is housed in an enclosure with bone-dry substrate, but I moisten the sub once a month. Too much dry air circulating is detrimental to the mucosal lining of the organs responsible for respiration and can cause desiccation in spiderlings.
 

Trenor

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But of course, bone dry doesn't have to mean perpetually dry. Even in the Gobi it rains. My versicolor is housed in an enclosure with bone-dry substrate, but I moisten the sub once a month. Too much dry air circulating is detrimental to the mucosal lining of the organs responsible for respiration and can cause desiccation in spiderlings.
But that's exactly what "bone" dry substrate means: to keep it on completely dry substrate. What you're describing you actually do (I do this with most of my Ts too) is moistening the substrate and letting it dry out in between. When people hear bone dry and try to mimic what it actually means it can cause issues. Which is what @EulersK was getting at.

Overall, it's important to have enough ventilation for the added amount of moisture so it doesn't build up and become stuffy. If I add more vents to my enclosure or the air in my room is dryer than normal then I can add a lot more moisture than someone who put fewer vents in their enclosure or runs a humidifier in their home.

A lot of times turned over water dishes or webbing wicking out the water can cause enclosures to get too wet. If I have one like that I'll stop filling the water dish and let things dry up before cleaning/filling it up again. Otherwise, it can get swampy pretty quick. Which is what likely happened to the OP.
 

efmp1987

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But that's exactly what "bone" dry substrate means: to keep it on completely dry substrate. What you're describing you actually do (I do this with most of my Ts too) is moistening the substrate and letting it dry out in between. When people hear bone dry and try to mimic what it actually means it can cause issues. Which is what @EulersK was getting at.

Overall, it's important to have enough ventilation for the added amount of moisture so it doesn't build up and become stuffy. If I add more vents to my enclosure or the air in my room is dryer than normal then I can add a lot more moisture than someone who put fewer vents in their enclosure or runs a humidifier in their home.

A lot of times turned over water dishes or webbing wicking out the water can cause enclosures to get too wet. If I have one like that I'll stop filling the water dish and let things dry up before cleaning/filling it up again. Otherwise, it can get swampy pretty quick. Which is what likely happened to the OP.
I think the fault lies with the fact that "bone-dry" has been reduced to a jargon exclusive of arachnophilliacs to describe a substrata that is neither damp nor moist nor wet. People dont use the word "dry" as damp is in a sense, dry as well.

Anyway, back to topic, how long can Ts go without drinking? If the sub never dries out due to frequent spilling, will removing the water dish for a week or 2 make Ts really thirsty?
 

EulersK

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But that's exactly what "bone" dry substrate means: to keep it on completely dry substrate.
Very well put in your post. When I say "bone-dry", I mean that they get a water dish and nothing else. Water will never touch their substrate from my hand. If they turn over a water dish, then I allow it to dry out completely before even refilling the water dish. They are kept as dry as a sun-bleached skull on the Saharan Desert.

Out of what I've kept, here are the only species that are actually kept bone-dry:
-P. murinus
-B. emilia
-G. rosea/porteri
-P. scrofa

Notable species that are not kept bone-dry:
-B. albopilosum
-C. cyaneopubescens
-B. boehmei

Please note: Again, I live in an extremely dry desert. My mileage will differ from yours. "Bone dry" to me means >10% humidity... perpetually. Only the hardiest of species survive and thrive in this type of climate.
 

Ellenantula

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My moisture is sometimes temporary -- dampening webbing in lieu of refilling water bowl (sometimes I get tired of punching hole in webbing to reach her water bowl and just dampen webbing instead). Honestly, short of digging through webbing, I can't reach mine's substrate. But I do like to offer her a drink, should she want it. She probably receives 99% of hydration through prey.
 

EulersK

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Anyway, back to topic, how long can Ts go without drinking?
A very long time. Funny/sad story - I bought a G. rosea off of Craigslist. The owner thought that "bone-dry" means no water... at all. Period. It hadn't had water in over a year by the time I got her because the owner thought she was a tree, apparently. Granted, she took a nice long drink at the first sign of water. But they can survive for quite some time without water... but note that there are differences between species.
 

efmp1987

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A very long time. Funny/sad story - I bought a G. rosea off of Craigslist. The owner thought that "bone-dry" means no water... at all. Period. It hadn't had water in over a year by the time I got her because the owner thought she was a tree, apparently. Granted, she took a nice long drink at the first sign of water. But they can survive for quite some time without water... but note that there are differences between species.
Im glad my idea of bone-dry is not one to cause detrimental effects lol :happy::happy:

Im very sorry for the rosea but glad he / she is in good hands now :) Im removing the water dish from one of my enclosures - It has never seen the joy of dryness and is always moist since day 1.
 

boina

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Very well put in your post. When I say "bone-dry", I mean that they get a water dish and nothing else. Water will never touch their substrate from my hand. If they turn over a water dish, then I allow it to dry out completely before even refilling the water dish. They are kept as dry as a sun-bleached skull on the Saharan Desert.

Out of what I've kept, here are the only species that are actually kept bone-dry:
-P. murinus
-B. emilia
-G. rosea/porteri
-P. scrofa

Notable species that are not kept bone-dry:
-B. albopilosum
-C. cyaneopubescens
-B. boehmei

Please note: Again, I live in an extremely dry desert. My mileage will differ from yours. "Bone dry" to me means >10% humidity... perpetually. Only the hardiest of species survive and thrive in this type of climate.
Just a different example: I keep a lot of species 'bone dry', meaning water never touches the substrate, including LP, GBB and at the moment even some adult Pamphos. I can afford to do so, because ambient humidity is so high around here, rarely below 70% and never below 60%. At the moment it's over 80% and I can't even get my clothes dry :sour:. In this environment even moisture loving species don't need any extra water in the substrate.

On the other hand, because of the high humidity I'm paranoid about enough ventilation for everyone...
 

Venom1080

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A very long time. Funny/sad story - I bought a G. rosea off of Craigslist. The owner thought that "bone-dry" means no water... at all. Period. It hadn't had water in over a year by the time I got her because the owner thought she was a tree, apparently. Granted, she took a nice long drink at the first sign of water. But they can survive for quite some time without water... but note that there are differences between species.
They get water from food as well.
 
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