Goliath bird eater molted and has not eaten for almost a month. Any good feed back on what to do?

[Nickb1296]

I have a mature female Goliath bird eater. She molted about a month ago and I had to assist her on getting her moly off. She had lost a leg in the process before I even assisted her. Then lost another and has a wonky leg as well.

Now like I said it’s been over a month and she will not eat. She is moving around and drinking bowl after bowl of water though.

Any suggestions on what is going on with her?

 

[McSP1D8R]

Hmm she dosent look in great shape, have you checked the moulted exuvium for the presence of the esophagus lining and pumping stomach? Failure to shed those can lead to feeding issues post moult. How about her chelicerae and fangs, did they come off ok?

 

[Devin B]

I don't think there is much you can do other than keep trying to feed it.

 

[Lokee85]

I hate to say it (I feel like it's all I've been able to tell people lately) but there's really not much you can do but wait and watch. Keep her water full (as it sounds like you already are) and continue to offer food on a regular basis. And keep us updated on her condition, if you wouldn't mind. I hope all is well and she's just taking the extra time to recover since she had so much trouble with her molt.

 

[boina]

One month of waiting period after a molt is pretty usual for a large adult tarantula. My G. iheringi took 6 weeks until she started feeding again after her last molt. That said, are you sure the substrate is moist enough? It looks a bit dry in the pic, but looks can be deceiving.

 

[Nightstalker47]

I have a mature female Goliath bird eater. She molted about a month ago and I had to assist her on getting her moly off. She had lost a leg in the process before I even assisted her. Then lost another and has a wonky leg as well.

Now like I said it’s been over a month and she will not eat. She is moving around and drinking bowl after bowl of water though.

Any suggestions on what is going on with her?

Keep her water bowl full and moisten down the sub, enclosure looks way too dry for her. Post some pictures of your entire setup if you can, doesn't look good.

 

[Rittdk01]

I'll bet she didn't molt right because it was too dry in there. Keep her in the proper enclosure and keep it moist. That said, my mature female took a month to eat post molt.

 

[Nickb1296]

One month of waiting period after a molt is pretty usual for a large adult tarantula. My G. iheringi took 6 weeks until she started feeding again after her last molt. That said, are you sure the substrate is moist enough? It looks a bit dry in the pic, but looks can be deceiving.

Oh it’s definately moist. Been spraying it about twice a day sometimes three.

 

[Nickb1296]

Hmm she dosent look in great shape, have you checked the moulted exuvium for the presence of the esophagus lining and pumping stomach? Failure to shed those can lead to feeding issues post moult. How about her chelicerae and fangs, did they come off ok?

Thank you for your feed back. I have collected all of her molt. Like I said had complications but only with the legs, which she surprisingly is moving around fine with.

 

[Nightstalker47]

Oh it’s definately moist. Been spraying it about twice a day sometimes three.

Don't ever mist...pour water directly into the substrate. The sub will stay moist far longer this way, as the water seeps down to the bottom.

If you care about your spider, post pics of the entire enclosure, some changes need to be made. You can start by removing the rock and pinecones.

 

[Nickb1296]

Don't ever mist...pour water directly into the substrate. The sub will stay moist far longer this way, as the water seeps down to the bottom.

If you care about your spider, post pics of the entire enclosure, some changes need to be made. You can start by removing the rock and pinecones.

Thank you for your input. I will post the pictures now.

 

[Nickb1296]

I have a mature female Goliath bird eater. She molted about a month ago and I had to assist her on getting her moly off. She had lost a leg in the process before I even assisted her. Then lost another and has a wonky leg as well.

Now like I said it’s been over a month and she will not eat. She is moving around and drinking bowl after bowl of water though.

Any suggestions on what is going on with her?

I added a picture of her enclosure.

 

[Rittdk01]

Terrible enclosure for a theraphosa. That's an enclosure for an arboreal tarantula. There is also screen at the top that let's all humidity right out. You can't even put enough dirt in there for burrowing and if it climbs and falls on those rocks it won't be good.

You need to get a Rubbermaid tub that's correctly sized for your tarantula. Drill holes around the side and some on the lid. Put enough substrate in for her to burrow and keep it moist. Also, ditch the rocks and crap. The tub will hold in moisture and she won't be at risk of falling on those rocks.

 

[boina]

The problem with misting is that the water stays on the surface and evaporates pretty soon. The substrate itself stays basically dry underneath, as you can see in your pictures. Now, I bet you've read about Theraphosa needing 'humidity'. That's actually highly misleading. Humidity in the air is pretty inconsequential. What they do need is moist substrate. Moist substrate creates a small area of very high humidity directly on the surface. This area is very important because it keeps the book lungs on the underside from dehydrating and they are the most sensitive part. It also keeps the rest of the spider from dehydrating since it always sits on the surface in the area of high humidity.

If you keep the substrate constantly moist you should also have good ventilation. I do not believe in restricting ventilation to keep 'humidity' in, since a humid, warm, and stuffy enclosure is a breeding ground for all kinds of bacteria. Constantly moist substrate gives you all the humidity you need in the place where it is needed.

Other than that I agree with what @Rittdk01 just said: Theraphosa should have enough substrate to burrow but much more importantly because of its size and bulk this is the genus most at risk from a fall. They can climb but do it rather poorly and when they fall there is a high risk that the abdomen will rupture and that spells certain death. The enclosure should therefore never offer more than 1.5 times the leg span in vertical space.

 

[Nightstalker47]

I added a picture of her enclosure.

Oh boy. That setup couldn't look any worse...your doing it all wrong.

Rehouse her asap, and do some research on your spider before acquiring it next time. Absolutely shameful keeping her like that.

 

[Arachnoclown]

Drill some holes in a pop bottle cap and make it rain....

 

[Moakmeister]

View attachment 262671 Drill some holes in a pop bottle cap and make it rain....

Heyyyy, that's pretty good!

 

[Nickb1296]

Terrible enclosure for a theraphosa. That's an enclosure for an arboreal tarantula. There is also screen at the top that let's all humidity right out. You can't even put enough dirt in there for burrowing and if it climbs and falls on those rocks it won't be good.

You need to get a Rubbermaid tub that's correctly sized for your tarantula. Drill holes around the side and some on the lid. Put enough substrate in for her to burrow and keep it moist. Also, ditch the rocks and crap. The tub will hold in moisture and she won't be at risk of falling on those rocks.

Thank you so much for the feed back. I will definitely fix the enclosure.

 

[Nickb1296]

Oh boy. That setup couldn't look any worse...your doing it all wrong.

Rehouse her asap, and do some research on your spider before acquiring it next time. Absolutely shameful keeping her like that.

Thank you for the feed back, I am currently fixing it now.

 

[Lokee85]

Thank you for your input. I will post the pictures now.

Did you acquire her at a pet store that convinced you that you needed the most expensive enclosure and all the bells and whistles?? I ask because this is a very common occurrence and most of the time, the care instructions they give are just as incorrect as all the stuff they say you need.

For the safety of your spider, you need to rehoused her ASAP into an enclosure with no more than 1.5× her leg span. As others have said, this species is especially at risk for a ruptured abdomen from a fall, and even if she fell off that branch you have in there, it would be bad. The ONLY way that enclosure could mayne be made more appropriate is to turn it on it's back, replace the mesh top with acrylic (they sell sheets of acrylic cheap at places like Lowe's), and fill it up with substrate. Even then, however, it wouldn't be ideal and would take A LOT of sub to fill.

Your best bet would be to rehoused her in a smaller enclosure. A 10 gallon aquarium with an acrylic lid (again, materials at Lowe's and the like) would work well along with Rubbermaid- type boxes. Personally, visibility is important for me (I like my spiders on display!), so I don't really like the Rubbermaid boxes, but they work really well, especially in situations where you may need an inexpensive new enclosure in a hurry.

All you need is appropriate size enclosure, enough substrate, a hide, and a water dish. You can also add decorative plants and stuff like that if you want.

Please keep us posted on your spider and ask as many questions as possible so we can help.