Grammastola pulchripes behaviour

[KnuckleSheehan]

Hello my name is bryan
I am a beginner in the field, ive onlt ever two species. P. Irminia and G. Pulchripes.

I currently have a female golden knee which i have had for roughly 5 years. She has only molted about 4-5 times in this period and she is approximately 4-5 inches when extended.

I am having trouble because its seems like she has been in a pre molt stage for a significant amount of time, alomost 2 years. In this time i have tried her with multiple tyoes of feed (mealworms, crickets, beetles/larvae. She has refused/ avoiding all attempts at feeding in this time. I have observed her drinking water and she does not display signs of discolouration or reduced abdomen size. In the last 3-4 months she has webbed herself into a log structure but does not appear to have molted yet.

Im concerned and looking for advice about whether this is a very serious issue for this particular species and i would love some advice from those more experienced please and thank you . Much appreciated


Im aware G..pulchripes is regarded as a good starter species with a good feeding habit and no major special habitat requirements(light exposure/humidity/soil type)

Any advice would be greatly appreciated thank you very much

 

[Liquifin]

It sounds like normal behavior to me, especially for older specimens. If you're that worried, I would post pictures to see what you're seeing.

 

[KnuckleSheehan]

It sounds like normal behavior to me, especially for older specimens. If you're that worried, I would post pictures to see what you're seeing.

Thank you sir will do, i was just worried about the amount of time she has not eaten. Will post pictures of my setup.

 

[8 legged]

In older animals, a gentle moistening of part of the soil substrate can help to stimulate moulting. But please do not flood the terrarium!

 

[viper69]

Normal I own an AF and she's fine. Eats better than yours but not voracious like other species.

 

[Smotzer]

What your going through is absolutely within the range of normal behavior, it’s shocking when you go through it yourself I know but they truly can go very very long periods of time (to us ) fasting if they have already stored up enough nutrients to molt. With older individuals and slower metabolic rates this can seem prolonged but don’t worry it’s okay and the fact it’s drinking is a great sign all is well!

 

[Pedipalpable]

Purely out of curiosity, has her abdomen shrunk in size at all during the two years she has not eaten anything? I’ve read elsewhere on here that a tarantula’s abdomen will generally only shrink when they molt or go a very long time without eating.