help 🙏 my jumping spider Wednesday tummy is swollen & red.

[spideyygirl]

i’ve researched lots, & it’s either saying she’s ready for a molt or overfeeding.
i brought her as an adult & my other j.spider just molted so i know the signs.

she’s just slow & curves her tummy to the side
if it’s over feeding i’ve skipped a meal probably a week now. will it go down or is it going to rupture if i feed her again? i know she’s hungry because she’s giving me hints.

 

[SpookySpooder]

Please put her on a diet.

I don't know at what frequency you feed, but you shouldn't be feeding her daily and she shouldn't be that voluptuous!

I feed my jumpers twice a week, and even that is making them a bit too plump.

Other than being super plush, I don't see anything wrong with her.

 

[spideyygirl]

oh i don’t feed her everyday!! no way haha
i feed them 1-2 a week

how long can i go not feeding her?

 

[spideyygirl]

oh yay thankyou! i’ve been so stressed. i just don’t know how long to not feed her

 

[SpookySpooder]

They can easily go a few weeks without eating if they have water.

You don't need to continually skip meals, just feed her smaller prey less frequently and she should return to normal size very quickly.

She won't rupture, she knows when to stop eating, too bad that's not until she's morbidly obese!

BTW, being an obese spider isn't much of a health problem until it comes to molting. Complications can arise from being too fat, IE getting stuck and dying in her exoskeleton.

Not a major concern at her current size, but definitely dial her back just a teensy bit.

 

[BoyFromLA]

Jumboing spider!

 

[spideyygirl]

They can easily go a few weeks without eating if they have water.

You don't need to continually skip meals, just feed her smaller prey less frequently and she should return to normal size very quickly.

She won't rupture, she knows when to stop eating, too bad that's not until she's morbidly obese!

BTW, being an obese spider isn't much of a health problem until it comes to molting. Complications can arise from being too fat, IE getting stuck and dying in her exoskeleton.

Not a major concern at her current size, but definitely dial her back just a teensy bit.

okay that does make sense considering my male went a few weeks without food before molting.

ohh thankgosh thankyou so much i was so stressed. haha yes unfortunately i didn’t even realise obesity in spiders. lucky i know now so thankyou.

okay i’ll definitely dial back, so i can put a tiny cricket in there for here currently because as you said she won’t eat what she can’t?

i appreciate the help a lot thankyou

 

[spideyygirl]

Jumboing spider!

is that a good or bad thing!

 

[SpookySpooder]

okay that does make sense considering my male went a few weeks without food before molting.

ohh thankgosh thankyou so much i was so stressed. haha yes unfortunately i didn’t even realise obesity in spiders. lucky i know now so thankyou.

okay i’ll definitely dial back, so i can put a tiny cricket in there for here currently because as you said she won’t eat what she can’t?

i appreciate the help a lot thankyou

Jumboing spider is both cute and humorous!

You could... but that's like placing a cupcake in front of someone that was just told they need to go on a diet.

She will eat until she cannot eat anymore... which is the point of morbid obesity. You want to prevent that, as it can have adverse health affects.

Glad you can stop stressing now. I'm gonna go back to stressing about my spider!

 

[Ultum4Spiderz]

That jumbo jumper said get these crickets into my belly! I think you can feed it once every 2 weeks if it eats anymore at all.

 

[Wolfram1]

since no one explained it, the abdomen is basically a balloon filled with major organs like the heart, etc. at the same time though it is the only flexible part of the exoskeleton and any exess energy they store as fat in the abdomen, which then expands

thus you can feed your spider based on the abdomen, if it is fat and "swollen" it has stored large amounts of energy to live off of and only really needs some moisture and maybe the occasional meal for trace elements and restoring what little energy it used, no need to feed it to "quell hunger"

once fattened up some spiders are perfectly happy to sit in their web, closed off from the world, to wait for their next molt, months may go by before this happens and they are just fine

after a while you will get a feel for it

 

[Smotzer]

@Wolfram1 Hit the nail on the head for you!!

how long can i go not feeding her?

Once spiders have stored up enough nutrient for ecdysis (molting), looking plump (as your is), they do not need any more nutrients or big meals, just access to water until its time to molt, when that will be expended and they will be slim. If you bought her as an adult she's likely wild caught though and its not uncommon to get a gravid female.

 

[spideyygirl]

Jumboing spider is both cute and humorous!

You could... but that's like placing a cupcake in front of someone that was just told they need to go on a diet.

She will eat until she cannot eat anymore... which is the point of morbid obesity. You want to prevent that, as it can have adverse health affects.

Glad you can stop stressing now. I'm gonna go back to stressing about my spider!

oh yay well that’s definitely her

okay very good point i’ll wait another week before i give her something

thankyou so much guys! google didn’t have this help or information at all hehe

 

[spideyygirl]

ho

since no one explained it, the abdomen is basically a balloon filled with major organs like the heart, etc. at the same time though it is the only flexible part of the exoskeleton and any exess energy they store as fat in the abdomen, which then expands

thus you can feed your spider based on the abdomen, if it is fat and "swollen" it has stored large amounts of energy to live off of and only really needs some moisture and maybe the occasional meal for trace elements and restoring what little energy it used, no need to feed it to "quell hunger"

once fattened up some spiders are perfectly happy to sit in their web, closed off from the world, to wait for their next molt, months may go by before this happens and they are just fine

after a while you will get a feel for it

holy crap.. that is so interesting! i wish i had your knowledge.
thankyou so much i love learning about this but there is only so much on the internet