H. gigas not eating

[AmandaPanda]

I got my H.gigas sling 5 or 6 mths ago and it(not sure about the gender) has been a voracious eater. But since 2 mths ago it has suddenly gone off feed. I put turkistan roaches, crickets and mealworms in the enclosure. I've seen it try to hunt but for some reason the prey always managed to escape and it would chase the prey around but never catch it successfully. Now its abdomen is smaller than its head and hasn't molted at all for 3 mths while my Singapore blue sling that I bought together with it has molted many times and doubled in size. My h.gigas sling's size still remains the same 2" . I tried giving it pre-killed prey and it ate everytime but I don't wanna do this cuz I hv a hard time killing the insects

 

[Chris LXXIX]

Well, first I say post a pic of the whole set up/spider, if you can, because this always help.

Now, without viewing anything, I say nothing to worry. Maybe he/she's not hungry (had a H.gigas that remained without eating for months).

Important... they are hardcore burrowers (and IMO one of the most "shy" Theraphosidae ever) so viewing those out in the open too much isn't a good signal. Yours burrowed? If so, to throw too much preys inside the burrow isn't good (especially if not hungry, let alone during the pre molt time). There is moist substrate? They need a more humid environment for thrive (unlike a lot of other baboons) since they are from Western Africa... now your profile say Malaysia so I wouldn't exagerate with humidity, but still they need that.

 

[Venom1080]

It may be a problem with the enclosure. Post pics of it please.

They like deep moist sub to burrow through.

 

[Dreadz]

Yeah I agree, we need a picture of the setup. It coiuld be to big for it to find the feeders. Make sure you have enough substrate for it too. If it ate prekilled then try it again.

 

[AmandaPanda]

this is the enclosure

 

[The Grym Reaper]

Co-sign what everyone else has said already.

They are hardcore burrowers, I have a sling that's a bit over an inch (maybe, it's never fully out of its burrow so can't tell precisely) and it has burrowed all the way to the bottom of this enclosure, the red line tracks where it goes as far as I can tell, there's a 4.5" layer of tamped down topsoil/peat in there.



You need to keep the sub moist as this species is from West Africa, dehydrated Ts will become sluggish and often refuse food, I made a hole in the corner that goes to the bottom (green line on the right of the first image) and I pipette water down it to moisten the substrate at the bottom.

You said it will take pre-killed but don't want to do this as you have a hard time killing the feeders, what exactly is the problem with doing this? I'm pretty heavy-handed when hooking roaches out of their bin as they're fast (and I'm no Mr Miyagi on a chopstick hype) so I sometimes end up maiming/killing them by accident (it's not a big deal, they still get eaten), I used to find pre-killing feeders a bit icky but you quickly get used to it, I had a fair few slings that were shy eaters and wouldn't take live prey for a while.

 

[AmandaPanda]

I guess it's something like a conscience? I never killed a bug on purpose in my life if I accidentally stepped on one I would feel extremely guilty cuz I felt like a murderer and I'll silently apologise to it

 

[Venom1080]

It's quicker than letting the spider have at it.

How deep is the substrate though? I have multiple Hysterocrates slings and they all use every bit of sub.

 

[AmandaPanda]

The substrate is 4" deep