how do i feed my H Pulchripes who is always hiding in her hide? only at night does clear the web and open the hide entrace

[becks0303]

my newish H pulchripes (bought her 2 weeks ago) has sealed her hide entrance and is quite deep in the borrow in the day, and only opens it at night where she moves closer to the entrance. attached a picture of her hide when the entrance is 'open' . as you can see she is quite deep inside, making it difficult for me to put a Dubia roach in without the Dubia roach scuttering away or burrowing . im trying to avoid the case where the Dubia just plays dead in the burrow and is' stuck' inside the hide

 

[Tarantulafeets]

You can try to create some movement outside by dripping water at the entrance to lure her out, or use a straw to make some vibrations. Or she might just not be hungry, my fossorials stick out their legs at the entrance when they are looking for food, how big was her abdomen before she started digging?

 

[emartinm28]

You can prekill the roach before putting it in, that will ensure that it can’t escape somewhere. Seeing my fossorials eat is, ime, a rare privilege when compared to other species.

edit: as said above, plump fossorials are even less likely to eat in front of you. You can feed more sparingly and encourage the T to wait for food on its own.

 

[kingshockey]

bite the head off the roach then just leave it at the burrow entrance remove the next day if uneaten

 

[becks0303]

You can try to create some movement outside by dripping water at the entrance to lure her out, or use a straw to make some vibrations. Or she might just not be hungry, my fossorials stick out their legs at the entrance when they are looking for food, how big was her abdomen before she started digging?

she is not that plump , she looked like that when i bought her and just after i rehoused her (pre her moving into the hide) . also, she is super jittery - when i open the kritter keeper top, the slight vibration makes her retreat slightly deeper into her hide - meaning its even harder to try tong feeder her (this is at night when she puts her legs nearer the entrance)

You can prekill the roach before putting it in, that will ensure that it can’t escape somewhere. Seeing my fossorials eat is, ime, a rare privilege when compared to other species.

edit: as said above, plump fossorials are even less likely to eat in front of you. You can feed more sparingly and encourage the T to wait for food on its own.

good idea - do i just cut off the head? smash the head? i have not actually managed to feed her once since i bought her, all previous attempts with crickets have failed even when the cricket walks up to her and touched her

 

[emartinm28]

good idea - do i just cut off the head? smash the head? i have not actually managed to feed her once since i bought her, all previous attempts with crickets have failed even when the cricket walks up to her and touched her

If the cricket walks up to her and touches her and she still doesn’t want it that’s a good sign that she isn’t hungry. How big is her abdomen?

edit: just saw your picture. She’s plump, definitely not gonna starve

 

[becks0303]

If the cricket walks up to her and touches her and she still doesn’t want it that’s a good sign that she isn’t hungry. How big is her abdomen?

edit: just saw your picture. She’s plump, definitely not gonna starve

ok i thought this abdomen size was considered normal lol, i guess i have been looking at too many really plump / obese pics of T's where the abdomen is almost 2x the thorax

 

[emartinm28]

ok i thought this abdomen size was considered normal lol, i guess i have been looking at too many really plump / obese pics of T's where the abdomen is almost 2x the thorax

IME old worlds don’t get as fat as new worlds before going into premolt

 

[becks0303]

thanks folks, ill just try a prekilled / squash the head of the Dubia and drop it at the entrance of the hide and see if the T picks it

 

[Poonjab]

Just drop a cricket in. It’ll be eaten in 24hrs

 

[NMTs]

She is beautiful. She'll eat eventually, probably just needs more time to settle in to her new home.

 

[8 legged]

Just drop a cricket in. It’ll be eaten in 24hrs

YES! That's how you feed spiders. I don't understand this threat!

 

[becks0303]

y

Just drop a cricket in. It’ll be eaten in 24hrs

i've only got two tarantulas, so i hate buying many feeders - in this case i have got some dubias now (given free) and no crickets. The smallest amount i can buy is one box of crickets, and i end up only feeding 5% of the box to my two Ts before the rest die or stink too much resulting in loads of wastage.

 

[Spoodfood]

Doesn’t look like a sling to me so there’s really no need to prekill. Drop prey in. If it’s still there after 24 hours, remove it and try again next week. I’m confused as to why you have an old world tarantula when you’re unsure of how to feed tarantulas, but I guess it could have been a worse old world tarantula….

You really should have researched a little more before getting her. If you would have done that it wouldn’t be quite as disappointing. But any purchase of an animal without prior research is considered impulse buying. Don’t impulse buy animals.

 

[becks0303]

Doesn’t look like a sling to me so there’s really no need to prekill. Drop prey in. If it’s still there after 24 hours, remove it and try again next week. I’m confused as to why you have an old world tarantula when you’re unsure of how to feed tarantulas, but I guess it could have been a worse old world tarantula….

You really should have researched a little more before getting her. If you would have done that it wouldn’t be quite as disappointing. But any purchase of an animal without prior research is considered impulse buying. Don’t impulse buy animals.

i know how to feed generally, i typically drop a cricket in and let them eat, and clear it after 24 hours. but this is a case of the Tarantula not being open and about (And spending time only in the hide) and thus not grabbing the prey at first sight, like how my other T does with the crickets/dubia. Hence i'm asking the question here, its a forum for questions and discussion

 

[Spoodfood]

i know how to feed generally, i typically drop a cricket in and let them eat, and clear it after 24 hours. but this is a case of the Tarantula not being up and about and grabbing it at first sight, like how my other T does. so im asking the question here - if you have constructive tips then post it else dont just leave random opinions

That isn’t a random opinion. If you don’t like being criticized for lack of knowledge on an animal in your care, you should do the research beforehand.

that being said, feeding tarantulas is the same across the board. This one is no different than Your other. It will eat when it’s hungry and stop when it’s in premolt.

For the record, discounting the fact that the entire top half of my response was constructive because you didn’t like the second half isn’t a good look.

 

[CJJon]

You have had it only two weeks. That's like 12 minutes to a T. It is still settling in. Stop monkeying with it and try again in a week or so.

 

[kingshockey]

y

i've only got two tarantulas, so i hate buying many feeders - in this case i have got some dubias now (given free) and no crickets. The smallest amount i can buy is one box of crickets, and i end up only feeding 5% of the box to my two Ts before the rest die or stink too much resulting in loads of wastage.

simplest solution to that is buy a few more tarantulas or use superworms as feeders hey live longer dont stink as bad as crickets

 

[viper69]

Carefully at night once it has settled in

 

[becks0303]

So

Carefully at night once it has settled in

So ive tried feeding her twice with smallish dubias. The first time i dropped dubia in front of her burrow ; she investigated the movements and ate the dubia after 30 seconds

6 days later, i went to feed her again. This second time of feeding not much luck. I dropped the dubia in front of her burrow and she came out to investigate it but did not eat the dubia and retreated back into her burrow after 40 or so seconds