GBB Sling Refusing Food, Shrinking Abdomen

[betademascenone]

hi friends,

am new to the hobby and created this account to ask this question and seen your advice as I’ve been seeking advice from other forums and discord and had no luck.

We purchased our GBB sling on December 3rd. Since then, he has only eaten once. However the abdomen has shrunken quite a bit and there is still no interest in eating. we have seen him drink multiple times and he has a water bowl always full in his enclosure. Here are some of the things we’ve tried and have not had any luck. Full pics of him and the enclosure to be provided too! He had a successful molt right before we purchased him.

weve tried live, pre-killed and split mealworm, crickets and super worms, offering a few times a week, leaving overnight and removing in the morning or after 24hours. We’ve downsized his enclosure as the one he was in before was quite large. I’ve started misting one side of the enclosure to ensure he’s not dehydrated and increase the humidity a bit since it is very dry where we live right now. Home temps are normal temps between 68-71, no additional heat sources in use. Any help you have to offer would be appreciated.

 

[kingshockey]

quit misting just make sure its water dish is full quit trying to force it to eat it might not be ready ready to or full still just wait a week and then try feeding it again. use prekilled fishing out refused live crickets would be a pita with that giant hide you have in the cage. good luck

 

[TheraMygale]

So, i just want to make sure: the abdomen is really shrinking? Like, significantly?

do you have photos of before and after, showing the adbomen reduction?

thats unusual. It could be an internal issue.

when it ate, did you witness and watch? If yes, did it look like it was “sucking” food? Or did it just kill, stab with fangs a few times, web it and not eat?

i stumbled upon this recently, and have been thinking about it a lot:

- ts only lose weight AFTER molting...they don't lose weight because they stop eating

now, its totaly natural for a tarantula to have smaller abdo after a molt.

however, if its eating and shrinking, drasticaly, then it has to be something else.

yours, has not really been eating. And what i understand from your post is, since its in your care, the abdomen keeps getting smaller.

it is also drinking. So yet again, a possible internal issue. Maybe last molt seemed successful on the outside, but not so much on the inside.

like mentionned above, it does not need misting. Water bowl is great, and water drops on webbing works too.

if it looks like its drinking, doesnt mean water is sucking in. Its trying thats for sure.

is it a male?

enclosure does look way to wet for a gbb.

 

[betademascenone]

Thank you so much! I will stop the misting for sure. Oddly enough though, he does tend to move into the mist when I add it? I misted shortly before sending the earlier pics and he is in the misted area now (first pic attached). As a GBB, he also hasn’t webbed AT ALL since we brought him home. Could be just still settling in after this long, but he currently doesn’t have a web to add water to, so I just mist the one small side.

When he did feed we were able to witness it. He caught a small live cricket and basically sucked off the top half and left the rest.

I added some pics from a week or so after we brought him home. He does not look significantly smaller than before, only slightly so and he did molt shortly before we purchased him. So hopefully that’s all it is. I had several people in a large Tarantula discord group tell me he was emaciated and dehydrated and that he needed an ICU Stat. of course that sent me into a bit of a panic and I think maybe I’m overthinking everything after that. We have several other Ts that we bought after him that are larger/older and seem to be thriving so far and are having no issues feeding or otherwise. Him being the smallest and most vulnerable stresses me out

I also have no idea what sex is yet! He hasn’t molted since we’ve had it and hes too small to sex externally for sure. I just default to male for him for no reason in particular.

 

[TheraMygale]

No ICU.

this is the worst you could do right now.

it might be dehydrated.

keep a corner moist, move water bowl closest to it. Put a plastic leaf on ground that allows you to pool water on it.

you dont want to stuff the enclosure with moisture.

its small but doesnt look sick. It didnt eat the entire cricket. Its mushed half of it. It might have internal issues.

as long as there is a way for it to get water, this will help. Keep leaving different kind of prekilled near it.

it doesnt look like Death Nugget hooked out or anything. This is going to be a patience thing.

if he had dehydration from previous owner, its not on you. Just keep giving adequate gbb care. And wait. There are things none of us can control even if we want to.

you did good coming here. Other people will give you their thoughts.

it looks beautiful, everything considered.

don’t panic. Its not going to help.

 

[betademascenone]

No ICU.

this is the worst you could do right now.

it might be dehydrated.

keep a corner moist, move water bowl closest to it. Put a plastic leaf on ground that allows you to pool water on it.

you dont want to stuff the enclosure with moisture.

its small but doesnt look sick. It didnt eat the entire cricket. Its mushed half of it. It might have internal issues.

as long as there is a way for it to get water, this will help. Keep leaving different kind of prekilled near it.

it doesnt look like Death Nugget hooked out or anything. This is going to be a patience thing.

if he had dehydration from previous owner, its not on you. Just keep giving adequate gbb care. And wait. There are things none of us can control even if we want to.

you did good coming here. Other people will give you their thoughts.

it looks beautiful, everything considered.

don’t panic. Its not going to help.

Thank you so much, I appreciate the straight forward advice. I will do just that and continue offering prekilled!

He was a Petco T advertised as a juvenile but he’s less than 3 inches, so much smaller than I had originally anticipated. He was not kept with his best interest in mind at all in the store. We bought him after doing a ton of research beforehand and I felt so bad for him in the setup they had there.

All things considered he’s a cool little dude. He’s always out and has no other signs of stress aside from not webbing anything yet. He was actually a surprise for my 5 year old son who had always wanted a tarantula and now he wants to start an invert collection which I’m totally down for! We have so far 5 other species and two more on the way next week. This hobby rocks and they are so cool, so thank you for the input to help us be better caretakers for them!

 

[spideyspinneret78]

The sling looks healthy from what I can see..doesn't necessarily mean that something isn't wrong though. If temperatures are low, it may be sluggish and not want to eat as much. Also, this species lives in an arid, dry environment. Adding a small water dish so it can drink when necessary might help the situation. It looks much too damp in that enclosure. Also, it's normal for them to have a small abdomen after molting.

 

[TheraMygale]

Thank you so much, I appreciate the straight forward advice. I will do just that and continue offering prekilled!

He was a Petco T advertised as a juvenile but he’s less than 3 inches, so much smaller than I had originally anticipated. He was not kept with his best interest in mind at all in the store. We bought him after doing a ton of research beforehand and I felt so bad for him in the setup they had there.

All things considered he’s a cool little dude. He’s always out and has no other signs of stress aside from not webbing anything yet. He was actually a surprise for my 5 year old son who had always wanted a tarantula and now he wants to start an invert collection which I’m totally down for! We have so far 5 other species and two more on the way next week. This hobby rocks and they are so cool, so thank you for the input to help us be better caretakers for them!

it can take a while for them to settle and web. Especialy depending on enclosure size, etc. With appropriate web anchors it will get busy in time. Unless hes urging to become a mature male.

keep doing your research. We can research hours and still miss things.

i encourage you to seek out images of wild gbb. Its one thing to read tarantula husbandry guides and so on, but wild habitat also gives us clues.

 

[betademascenone]

it can take a while for them to settle and web. Especialy depending on enclosure size, etc. With appropriate web anchors it will get busy in time. Unless hes urging to become a mature male.

keep doing your research. We can research hours and still miss things.

i encourage you to seek out images of wild gbb. Its one think to read tarantula husbandry guides and so on, but wild habitat also gives us clues.

Oh my goodness yes! That is not something I’d considered but makes perfect sense!

 

[viper69]

Having raised several GBBs this not normal IME.

Not all GBBs will web either. They are not robots.

Ts only go to water if they are not hydrated.

In the wild, they don’t seek rain, they hide. Few animal species enjoy rain.

I can’t say what’s going on. But in my limited opinion something may not be right with its health

also, they live in an extremely xeric environment in the wild!!!!!!

 

[betademascenone]

Having raised several GBBs this not normal IME.

Not all GBBs will web either. They are not robots.

Ts only go to water if they are not hydrated.

In the wild, they don’t seek rain, they hide. Few animal species enjoy rain.

I can’t say what’s going on. But in my limited opinion something may not be right with its health

also, they live in an extremely xeric environment in the wild!!!!!!

Oh well the lack of webbing thing makes me feel a bit better. I've seen pretty much everywhere that they are heavy webbers and that it was a bad sign that he wasn't.

To be clear, he has been on dry substrate with a full water dish since we brought him home. I didn't start doing the misting until recently at the advice of a different group who suggested that he was emaciated and dehydrated. I did see in a few other threads here while I was lurking that they will refuse food if dehydrated as well. Since he is drinking from the mist and the bowl, that would suggest to me that the he was dehydrated when we purchased him and we're still catching up on that. It does sound like from a few others he may have some other underlying things going on. I hope that isn't the case

 

[viper69]

Oh well the lack of webbing thing makes me feel a bit better. I've seen pretty much everywhere that they are heavy webbers and that it was a bad sign that he wasn't.

To be clear, he has been on dry substrate with a full water dish since we brought him home. I didn't start doing the misting until recently at the advice of a different group who suggested that he was emaciated and dehydrated. I did see in a few other threads here while I was lurking that they will refuse food if dehydrated as well. Since he is drinking from the mist and the bowl, that would suggest to me that the he was dehydrated when we purchased him and we're still catching up on that. It does sound like from a few others he may have some other underlying things going on. I hope that isn't the case

That group doesn’t know what they are talking about re webbing!

GBBs are voracious eaters for most of their lives, esp before adult colors.

 

[IntermittentSygnal]

My concern reading this is a possible sucking stomach issue. I have a T with this issue who is constantly seeking water, kills but cannot consume and her abdomen has shrunk. She also does not web anymore. Your T is not emaciated. Thin, as in post molt, yes. You shouldn’t be able to see a significant reduction in 3 weeks. My only semi-success has been bug soup. She is still sick, but I’ve recently seen small poop.
How do your T’s fangs look?

 

[NMTs]

Provide supplemental heat - aim for 78-82°F, keep a full water dish, wait 7-10 days, then try offering prekilled prey. I'm guessing you'll see improvement in it's appetite.

Average temp annually in their native habitat is low of 77° to high of 89°F, at 75% humidity.

Paraguana Peninsula Venezuela Climate Averages, Monthly Weather Conditions

Paraguana Peninsula, Venezuela's climate averages. Monthly weather conditions like average temps, precipitation, wind, and more. Paraguana Peninsula's yearly averages for humidity, fog, sun, and snow days.

www.weatherworld.com

Your house at 68-70° is chronically low and will have adverse effects on the health of the specimen.

 

[betademascenone]

My concern reading this is a possible sucking stomach issue. I have a T with this issue who is constantly seeking water, kills but cannot consume and her abdomen has shrunk. She also does not web anymore. Your T is not emaciated. Thin, as in post molt, yes. You shouldn’t be able to see a significant reduction in 3 weeks. My only semi-success has been bug soup. She is still sick, but I’ve recently seen small poop.
How do your T’s fangs look?

fangs appear to be normal from what I can tell. I did check to make sure they were normal since the pet store was just tossing food in and not checking for molt. I’ll try to get a good pic of them later if he lets me.

Provide supplemental heat - aim for 78-82°F, keep a full water dish, wait 7-10 days, then try offering prekilled prey. I'm guessing you'll see improvement in it's appetite.

Average temp annually in their native habitat is low of 77° to high of 89°F, at 75% humidity.

Paraguana Peninsula Venezuela Climate Averages, Monthly Weather Conditions

Paraguana Peninsula, Venezuela's climate averages. Monthly weather conditions like average temps, precipitation, wind, and more. Paraguana Peninsula's yearly averages for humidity, fog, sun, and snow days.

www.weatherworld.com

Your house at 68-70° is chronically low and will have adverse effects on the health of the specimen.

I will search in the forum here for safe ways to add supplemental heat! Thanks so much.
Fangs also look okay from what I can tell. I’ll see if I can get a picture of them at some point today. I did check those since the pet store was just throwing in food no matter what molt status was.

 

[NMTs]

I will search in the forum here for safe ways to add supplemental heat! Thanks so much.
Fangs also look okay from what I can tell. I’ll see if I can get a picture of them at some point today. I did check those since the pet store was just throwing in food no matter what molt status was.

You can see the fangs in the pic you posted earlier that has the water on the side. Looks fine to me.

Easiest way to add heat would be a small space heater, especially since you mentioned that you've got other specimens. The GBB isn't the only one that will benefit from warmer temps.

 

[Wolfram1]

i disagree with low temperatures beeing the problem, i have raised my Chromatopelma cyaneopubescens sling in temperatures as low as 18°C and unlike with some other species never noticed any change in behavior like reduced appetite

currently mine is a juvenile and feeding well at 20,5°C

this is well below anything they would experience in the wild & with no ill effects except longer times between molts

that said, there is nothing wrong with raising temperatures as mentioned



sadly my first instinct would be a sucking stomach issue, and if that is the case nothing would really help

hopefully that is not the case, if you have it you could check its last exuviae

my next best guess would be that it needs time to adjust from the rehouse and possible from your meddling when you were trying to feed it (overstimulation).

giving it a few weeks without disturbances may help in that case.

once they start webbing up properly, it can take quite a while, they will feel much more secure and that may result in it feeding again


in any case, good luck

 

[betademascenone]

Thanks so much! I hope the stomach sucking isn’t the issue.

it was chilling with its mouth in the water bowl today so hopefully pushing hydration will help. I do agree that it’s possible we just haven’t let it settle at all with the worry. My approach with all of the feedback from everyone will be to continue to encourage hydration, offer prekilled prey maybe once a week, increase ambient temps in the house to help a bit, and leave him alone

thank you all for your feedback and input. He’s my favorite little dude and I want to watch him grow and thrive. I’ll keep you all update on how he does!

 

[CharlotteTheT]

When I got my GBB August 6th she didn’t start her very heavy webbing until October 21st. My other T, an Avic, didn’t start webbing until a month after. They’ll get to it sooner or later

 

[Arachnophobphile]

I've raised my 1 inch female Chromatopelma cyaneopubescens sling to a 6 inch mature adult.

This is all I did and she is very healthy. At sling stage I had not just a waterdish but moisten one corner of the enclosure. Around sub-adult stage give or take I used dry coco fiber. I bought loose dry coco fiber in the bag think it was Eco Earth. Waterdish always full. Once maybe every third week I would/still do overflow the waterdish in the corner.

I never hydrated cocofiber bricks then try to dry out then use. Always bagged dry cocofiber straight in the enclosure.

Temps do not need to be high. Kept mine at 72/73F year round. Winter I only allowed temps to rise to 77F temporary like in 3-5 hour spikes in a day then return to 72 - 73F. All my T's are healthy with my mature males living on for 2+ years and remaining still living.

If there truly is an issue with yours then sucking stomach makes sense. Follow the member's advice.

My only suggestion is fix your setup and do not mess with it outside of maintenance and feeding.