HELP, P. Metallica not eating / acting weird

[vipersss]

I’ve had a P. Metallica for around a year now, he’s always been a really good eater, he never eats after molting which is pretty normal, it usually only takes him abt 2 days or so after molting to start eating again,

He’d been kept in a small-ish enclosure for awhile but with his recent molt he’d seemed so much larger that i decided it was time to move him into his larger enclosure that id been saving for when he was bigger, im starting to wish that i fed him before moving him into his new enclosure, he’s been in his new enclosure for over a week now and he still won’t eat, which is especially concerning me since anytime he molts his abdomen is drastically smaller than it was right before he molted, which isnt out of the ordinary but just the fact that he hasn’t eaten since molting so his abdomen is still very small is really concerning me,

aside from the small abdomen he had been still acting completely normally though, he wasn’t eating since that recent molt but he was still acting normal, until today, he’s been acting off today, when i checked on him a few hours ago he was resting on the ground which is a completely new behavior for him, i nudged his butt to check if he was okay and he perked right up and went up onto the wall of the enclosure, so i left him be, i just checked on him again a few minutes ago and he was up at the top of his enclosure but 2 of his legs were sort of dangling and he seemed very tired?? When he sensed my vibrations he immediately tucked the legs back in, but I can’t help but be worried sick abt him,

what’s my best course of action with this?? I’ve tried feeding him by grabbing a cricket with my tweezers and seeing if he’ll take it from the tweezers (that was how he always used to take them), but he won’t, so i dropped the cricket in the enclosure and left it for a couple days and he still hadn’t eaten it, i tried again the same thing but with a different cricket and had no luck, there are currently 2 crickets in his enclosure that he hasn’t eaten,

maybe the new enclosure is too stressful and foreign for him to be comfortable enough to eat in it??.. Maybe the fact that theres no webbing yet in his new enclosures makes it so that he can’t sense the vibrations as food??.. should i attempt to put him back in his old smaller enclosure to see if he’ll eat from there?

 

[Kada]

Doesn't sound like much to worry about. I usually wait a week ish to feed after a molt. Let everything harden up. Many spiders like to stretch out a bit in their new skin. Leg thing might just be that.

Small butts after shedding is normal. Mature males not eating much or at all is also normal. Spiders that are moved have had their entire world torn up and switched around. It's normal for some not eat right away after that type of stress.

Take pics of the new enclosure. And the spider.

But overall, the more you mess with him, the more stress and nothing good comes fromthere stress. Keep water available, don't disturb him much, keep him out of high traffic areas of the house and just be patient

 

[Brewser]

P. mettallica is still adapting to His new environment.
Keep some water available.
Try not to disturb.
Best Wishes,

 

[Dementeddoll]

Also you keep mentioning he, I’m assuming you sexed this T in particular. If so then has he fully matured yet? I mean if he has then that’s normal male behavior. A lot of times they just refuse to eat. Eventually until well you know.

 

[Mustafa67]

I’ve had a P. Metallica for around a year now, he’s always been a really good eater, he never eats after molting which is pretty normal, it usually only takes him abt 2 days or so after molting to start eating again,

He’d been kept in a small-ish enclosure for awhile but with his recent molt he’d seemed so much larger that i decided it was time to move him into his larger enclosure that id been saving for when he was bigger, im starting to wish that i fed him before moving him into his new enclosure, he’s been in his new enclosure for over a week now and he still won’t eat, which is especially concerning me since anytime he molts his abdomen is drastically smaller than it was right before he molted, which isnt out of the ordinary but just the fact that he hasn’t eaten since molting so his abdomen is still very small is really concerning me,

aside from the small abdomen he had been still acting completely normally though, he wasn’t eating since that recent molt but he was still acting normal, until today, he’s been acting off today, when i checked on him a few hours ago he was resting on the ground which is a completely new behavior for him, i nudged his butt to check if he was okay and he perked right up and went up onto the wall of the enclosure, so i left him be, i just checked on him again a few minutes ago and he was up at the top of his enclosure but 2 of his legs were sort of dangling and he seemed very tired?? When he sensed my vibrations he immediately tucked the legs back in, but I can’t help but be worried sick abt him,

what’s my best course of action with this?? I’ve tried feeding him by grabbing a cricket with my tweezers and seeing if he’ll take it from the tweezers (that was how he always used to take them), but he won’t, so i dropped the cricket in the enclosure and left it for a couple days and he still hadn’t eaten it, i tried again the same thing but with a different cricket and had no luck, there are currently 2 crickets in his enclosure that he hasn’t eaten,

maybe the new enclosure is too stressful and foreign for him to be comfortable enough to eat in it??.. Maybe the fact that theres no webbing yet in his new enclosures makes it so that he can’t sense the vibrations as food??.. should i attempt to put him back in his old smaller enclosure to see if he’ll eat from there?

WAIT

 

[viper69]

what’s my best course of action with this?? I’ve tried feeding him by grabbing a cricket with my tweezers and seeing if he’ll take it from the tweezers (that was how he always used to take them

Where did you learn this illogical idea???????!

 

[darkness975]

2 days is too soon to feed post molt.

 

[vipersss]

2 days is too soon to feed post molt.

Noted, I’d usually just offer to him as soon as he’d accept them which was within 2-3 days

 

[vipersss]

Where did you learn this illogical idea???????!

The tweezer feeding?.. idea stemmed from essentially worrying about what would happen if id dropped a cricket in and he decided not to eat it, worrying about it nibbling on him if it became hungry, or about what would happen if it ended up dying in a hard to reach place, such as behind his wood, which would require me somewhat disassembling the enclosure to remove it so that it doesn't mold, Now although i suppose ive never actually seen a cricket nibbling on a tarantula, i have seen it happen with captive mantis, and especially considering he was in a smaller enclosure before i didnt want to trap him in close corridors with it if he wasn’t eating it and also couldnt really get away from it, and plus he always took them just fine from the tweezers with no issues so it was just an easy stress free way to do it, I intend on tweezer feeding much less now that he’s in a larger enclosure

 

[vipersss]

Doesn't sound like much to worry about. I usually wait a week ish to feed after a molt. Let everything harden up. Many spiders like to stretch out a bit in their new skin. Leg thing might just be that.

Small butts after shedding is normal. Mature males not eating much or at all is also normal. Spiders that are moved have had their entire world torn up and switched around. It's normal for some not eat right away after that type of stress.

Take pics of the new enclosure. And the spider.

But overall, the more you mess with him, the more stress and nothing good comes fromthere stress. Keep water available, don't disturb him much, keep him out of high traffic areas of the house and just be patient

here’s the pics, the up close shot of him is from 4 days ago since he isnt very well spread out right now

 

[darkness975]

They know how to hunt. Be sure to use crickets or something that won't burrow.

That is a rather large enclosure. It needs a little more decor in the upper areas (not the lower so crickets can't hide).

Also, spritz water now and then for drinking as they won't always figure out a surface level dish.

 

[vipersss]

They know how to hunt. Be sure to use crickets or something that won't burrow.

That is a rather large enclosure. It needs a little more decor in the upper areas (not thr lower so crickets can't hide).

Also, spritz water now and then for drinking as they won't always figure out a surface level dish.

I’ve only ever fed him crickets, + i do plan on adding a bit more decor, and yea probably in the upper areas is a good idea, Also, i have seen him drinking from his dish (rarely like 2-3 times ever), But i do still spray water in there occasionally with a spray bottle, My only issue with the spraying is that im still not 100% sure how often to do it, ive tried doing extensive research on it but get so many contradictory opinions from people, some people say to only spray once a week, others say to spray every day, and some say not to spray at all, Ive basically stuck with spraying the enclosure once every 3-4 days or so

 

[viper69]

The tweezer feeding?.. idea stemmed from essentially worrying about what would happen if id dropped a cricket in and he decided not to eat it, worrying about it nibbling on him if it became hungry, or about what would happen if it ended up dying in a hard to reach place, such as behind his wood, which would require me somewhat disassembling the enclosure to remove it so that it doesn't mold, Now although i suppose ive never actually seen a cricket nibbling on a tarantula, i have seen it happen with captive mantis, and especially considering he was in a smaller enclosure before i didnt want to trap him in close corridors with it if he wasn’t eating it and also couldnt really get away from it, and plus he always took them just fine from the tweezers with no issues so it was just an easy stress free way to do it, I intend on tweezer feeding much less now that he’s in a larger enclosure

If you feed an appropriately sized prey item you have nothing to worry about

 

[darkness975]

I’ve only ever fed him crickets, + i do plan on adding a bit more decor, and yea probably in the upper areas is a good idea, Also, i have seen him drinking from his dish (rarely like 2-3 times ever), But i do still spray water in there occasionally with a spray bottle, My only issue with the spraying is that im still not 100% sure how often to do it, ive tried doing extensive research on it but get so many contradictory opinions from people, some people say to only spray once a week, others say to spray every day, and some say not to spray at all, Ive basically stuck with spraying the enclosure once every 3-4 days or so

A few spritzers in the corner every other week or so should be okay. If he does use the dish then that is fantastic. Another idea is to hot glue a second dish higher up.