Help a newb...

lil-blu

Arachnosquire
Old Timer
Joined
Jun 25, 2007
Messages
94
so about a week ago i got a B. albopilosum and now i have a really stupid question. it is only about an inch and in the past week it's abdomen has nearly doubled in size, and is dark pinkish on the bottom and dark brown/ black on top.(i know he did not look like this when i put him in his kk.) does this mean, A) i'm feeding it too much. (two very small crickets every other day) or B) nearing a molt. (something i have NEVER had to deal with, though i thought that their abdomen darkened when nearing molt). i wish that i could get a picture but it has taken up residence in the substrate. lucky for me it is still visible sort of. i am worried that if it is about to molt the burrow that it has created for its self is just not big enough , and if it tries to molt then it will just end in disaster. any advice will be appreciated. thanks

justyne
 

cheetah13mo

Arachnoking
Old Timer
Joined
Oct 10, 2006
Messages
2,151
It's nearing a molt. Just give it a cricket every 4 or 5 days until it won't eat anymore. Don't worry about the burrow it made for itself. If it needed more room, it'll dig more out. They know a lot more about themselves than you think. Sit back and ralax and enjoy a new T in a week or so. It won't be long.
 

HaraKiri

Arachnopeon
Joined
May 4, 2007
Messages
44
Ah yes, my T molted a week ago. I was afraid it wouldn't have enough room to do so since it had chosen to molt inside it's burrow. But alas it finished without any problems and I now have a larger more colorful T. No worries, and good luck in the future with your T.
 

WARPIG

Arachnoangel
Old Timer
Joined
Jun 29, 2007
Messages
821
I received a 1/4" B. albopilosum as a freebe 5 months ago, and it took to the ground quickly. It has gone through 3 molts and I think it may have another molt in its hole now.

Your lil guy knows what he is doing, and will make the space it needs to molt. At this stage, don't be surprised if he molts very often, It seems that my lil guy is changing clothes every other week{D
 

christin

Arachnosquire
Old Timer
Joined
Jun 1, 2007
Messages
87
recently (nervously) I watched a wee little tarantula molt upright in a tiny burrow on the side if its cage....I was certain that it didn't have enough room. But like someone said before, they know what thier doing. Everything happened just as it should have :)
 

Mina

Arachnoking
Old Timer
Joined
Oct 4, 2005
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2,136
Don't worry, everything is fine. You could be feeding a bit more than the small one needs though. Cut it back to two small crickets every 5 to 7 days. Watch your baby carefully, when it no longer immediately grabs the food, you need to leave it for about an hour and then if the sling didn't eat, remove the cricket.
Sounds like your baby is getting ready to moult.
Don't worry about the tunneling, it is a B. albo thing, they do it as adults as well. I have 3 of them, and my two big females tunnel as much as the sling does.
 

lil-blu

Arachnosquire
Old Timer
Joined
Jun 25, 2007
Messages
94
thank ya'll so much for your advice, i really appreciate it. i will cut back on feeding and stop worrying:)
 

ballpython2

Arachnoprince
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Feb 28, 2007
Messages
1,670
Just as a side note, you can never over feed a tarantula. It will only eat as much as it wants to either for the rest of that day, week or month.
but you can always try again a week later from the last time you fed it.

I power feed my tarantulas so they will grow faster and hurry up to adult hood. some people don't see a reason for this unless its for breeding but Instead of using like 80+ dollars for an already adult tarantula I just pay half the price and buy a juvenile or a sling and feed them as much as they will eat before pre molt,after post molt and in between post molt and their next molt.

I actually think my OBT is a male because on the front two legs he has these things sticking out like what look to be limbs sticking out of a branch. and his paps have become more rounded. since I dont see the redness of the bulbs I dont think he is a mature male.
 

cheetah13mo

Arachnoking
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Oct 10, 2006
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2,151
Just as a side note, you can never over feed a tarantula. It will only eat as much as it wants to either for the rest of that day, week or month.
I'm goint to disagree because I have fed my T's as much as they would eat and one of my A. seemannii was so large, she could not hold up her abdomen and ended up draging her body around. At molt time, if your T is too big, it would be hard for the soft new skin to hold everything in. I read where the T died because the abdomen broke open and split, bleeding to death. T's don't know when to quit because in the wild they don't know when their next meal will come along. A good rule of thumb would be to feed the T until it's abdomen were just larger than its carapace. Take a break and let it's size come down a little and then start feeding again. If the T look gravid and it's from feeding, it's way too much and your putting your T's health at risk.
 

ballpython2

Arachnoprince
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Feb 28, 2007
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I don't have many T's (only 18 or so) so i cant argue with this too much but how often does this happen? cause I power feed ALL my Tarantulas and the ones that are juveniles/ close to adult hood or in adult hood never have this issue. so I was just wondering why that would happen and how often it happens to you and others...
 

Brian S

ArachnoGod
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Joined
May 29, 2004
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I'm goint to disagree because I have fed my T's as much as they would eat and one of my A. seemannii was so large, she could not hold up her abdomen and ended up draging her body around. At molt time, if your T is too big, it would be hard for the soft new skin to hold everything in. I read where the T died because the abdomen broke open and split, bleeding to death. T's don't know when to quit because in the wild they don't know when their next meal will come along. A good rule of thumb would be to feed the T until it's abdomen were just larger than its carapace. Take a break and let it's size come down a little and then start feeding again. If the T look gravid and it's from feeding, it's way too much and your putting your T's health at risk.
Sorry fellow Missourian but I have to disagree with that somewhat:D . I have been power feeding for years and never lost anything. The A seemani you spoke of might have taken a fall. IME when one gets fat they dont drag their abdomen any because they are in their hide and do not move. Did this seemani have a burrow to retreat to?
 

cheetah13mo

Arachnoking
Old Timer
Joined
Oct 10, 2006
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2,151
The scenereo of this happening would have to involve a T that was no where near a molt and not mature yet. This invites the type of eating that can cause problems. It's usually not happening to slings either since they molt more often and time doesn't allow for them to get out of has as easy before molt time. It's the juvies and sub adult T's you want to watch. They have more molting to do to increas size but the molting times are more spread out allowing for a lot of food intake. My seemannii I was refering to is doing fine now but at one point it's abdomen was no smaller than 2 1/2 times the size of the carapace. It had the drag it's abdomen around for the next couple of months and risk rubbing the underside of the abdomen raw. I didn't let that happen because I put the water dish next to her and left her alone. She didn't move from that spot for months and now she is smaller and able to move. They can stop most of the time. I'm just warning you to be cautious because you may run into one of your T's that forgot to stop eating for what ever reasons. Just be aware of it and don't over do it.
 

Brian S

ArachnoGod
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May 29, 2004
Messages
6,526
It's usually not happening to slings either since they molt more often and time doesn't allow for them to get out of has as easy before molt time. It's the juvies and sub adult T's you want to watch.
Ok, I can go along with that fellow Missourian :cool:
I knew we would get you lined out one day{D LOL
 
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