Hyster gigas doesn't put on weight?

[squamata99]

I recently recieved a hyster gigas with a small abdomen. I wanted to plump her up a bit so I feed her often. She feeds great - about 11 adult lobster roaches - and 3 big crickets in about a week. My male who has only eaten about 3-4 lobster roaches since his last molt has a bigger abdomen than she does. Does she have a parasite, if so what will happen - can she make it if fed well? Or is a big worm going to bust out of her?

 

[Talkenlate04]

Dear god 11 lobster roaches and 3 crickets a week?

I have to ask what your idea of small abdomen is. Post a picture and I am sure all of us will let you know if its something to worry about.

 

[green_bottle_04]

my gods man! 11 roaches and 3 crix in a week?! im VERY suprised the spider even ate that much!!!! i agree post a pic. my h. gigas eats 2 crix twice a week and her abdomen looks great. do you know if yours was WC or CB?

 

[Hedorah99]

Are you letting them burrow. They are obligate burrowers. The fact that you can see them this readily means they may be stressed out.

 

[squamata99]

I wasn't told if she was WC, but I'm pretty sure of it. She has parts of her legs blackened where "hair" has been rubbed off - stress I imagine-. But what really confuses me is that she eats great - never refuses or gets scared from moving prey- they way a stressed T might behave. Like I said, my mature male has a bigger filled out abdomen - with only 3 lobsters. - for a male his abdomen is perfect- like a plump jelly bean size. - He only ate 3 lobsters for the whole month. They are both the same size - and yes she is a female. I saw pics of T's that had big wormlike - parasites bust through abdomens in the T Keepers Guide. I know sometimes a T will get pretty stuffed and take a nice healthy dump - and then their abdomens shrink considerably. Maybe she took a nice dump that I haven't noticed.

 

[beetleman]

wow! ive got the same "problem" if it is a problem,i have a female,when i got her she was alittle smaller(WC) now she's about 4" she eats 4 cricks aweek,very deep moist substrate, she looks awesome but her abdomen doesn't look real big ,it's not shriveled or anything like that,i'm thinking that's how they are built,i could be wrong though,her abdomen looks preportioned with the rest of her body,to me she looks very healthy,i'm yours is alright also,but yeah they need to burrow alot,i only see mine at night.

 

[tarangela2]

don't want to feed too much either you may want to cut back a bit
a fat over fed T can injure themselves more easily and tends to have a shorter life span

 

[squamata99]

Ok enough with the feeding concerns. I have my own proven methods of feeding. When my T's shed - and begin to feed - I feed them well the first week or so - then I cut back to 1 nice size meal close to every 2 weeks. Unless it looks like they are a little too overweight - then feeding is even longer in-between.

My point was that how can this T not gain weight with what she's eaten so far. And yet she eat's so well for being WC. Today she looks a little better upon returning home from work though.

 

[Snipes]

I swear that some have fast metabolisms and some have slow ones. My adult female A. versicolor gets a big roach every feeding time and she never puts on weights, it just stays the same. Both my G. pulchras are fatties with a roach half the size of their prosoma ever other feeding period. :?

 

[jr47]

i have had one for about 3 years. had the same concerns for a while so i got to really watching her and cause she eats constant if i let her. she would grow some in girth but her abdomen seemed to get longer more than bigger around. mine seldom comes out for a real good look but i can see her through the glass in her burrow.