I'm really unsure

[Emilia Sage]

I really don't know what to do. This is my first T - B. Albo. He's been like this for the past two weeks. He won't feed, just won't move at all. I'm really worried about him. Please someone give me some advice on what to do.

 

[Icculus]

Is it under the water dish?​

 

[WJHolby]

Hard to tell from the picture, but is he trying to burrow under that water dish? I'm fairly new around here but I can offer a few suggestions. If any of the pros will chime in too, I would be grateful.

1) B. albos (Brachypelma in general) prefer it pretty dry. That substrate appears to be pretty damp, which can stress him out quite a bit.

2) The substrate is not deep enough. Brachys will burrow... albos less than some (like vagans) but they still will do so for security if they are stressed or need a safe place to molt. You should probably have at least 4-6" of substrate for a t that size.

3) Is there a hide in the tank? If not he may be looking for shelter under that dish... and can't get any deeper (see #2)

4) The inactivity and poor feeding could be partially due to premolt as well. Do you know the last molt date?

From what I can see the abdomen looks pretty plump and the color isn't too bad, so he could just be really stressed out. Try improving the tank conditions to make it more comfortable for the spider. There are tons of great threads and helpful enthusiasts who can offer up the best ways to house him.

 

[Emilia Sage]

Is it under the water dish?​

Yes, he's under the dish. He's preferred that over his hide he's got.

 

[Emilia Sage]

Hard to tell from the picture, but is he trying to burrow under that water dish? I'm fairly new around here but I can offer a few suggestions. If any of the pros will chime in too, I would be grateful.

1) B. albos (Brachypelma in general) prefer it pretty dry. That substrate appears to be pretty damp, which can stress him out quite a bit.

2) The substrate is not deep enough. Brachys will burrow... albos less than some (like vagans) but they still will do so for security if they are stressed or need a safe place to molt. You should probably have at least 4-6" of substrate for a t that size.

3) Is there a hide in the tank? If not he may be looking for shelter under that dish... and can't get any deeper (see #2)

4) The inactivity and poor feeding could be partially due to premolt as well. Do you know the last molt date?

From what I can see the abdomen looks pretty plump and the color isn't too bad, so he could just be really stressed out. Try improving the tank conditions to make it more comfortable for the spider. There are tons of great threads and helpful enthusiasts who can offer up the best ways to house him.

Yeah he's under the dish. He's been there for quite some time though. I think he's in pre molt so I didn't wanna disturb him with some fiddling around. His last premolt was at the end of January time.

If he is in premolt, should I put some sub in there now. Or hold off in case I disturb him.

 

[TownesVanZandt]

Yeah he's under the dish. He's been there for quite some time though. I think he's in pre molt so I didn't wanna disturb him with some fiddling around. His last premolt was at the end of January time.

If he is in premolt, should I put some sub in there now. Or hold off in case I disturb him.

If it moulted in January, it shouldn´t be in premoult again now.

 

[Emilia Sage]

If it moulted in January, it shouldn´t be in premoult again now.

Sorry no, it was the begunning to the middle. We got him a week after he molted at the end of January. Is he just stressed? I'm honestly stuck with what to do. We moved whilst we had him and I'm wondering if it's that now.

 

[WJHolby]

Still seems way soon for another molt in a t that size. I don't think it would hurt to try re-housing with more ideal conditions and see if things improve. Do you see any evidence of injury or parasites on the t? Has there been any fall/trauma?

Another reason for the deeper substrate would be to mitigate the risk of injury in case of a fall; it minimizes the distance and provides more "cushion." That's a pretty long fall from the top of the tank for a terrestrial t. Perhaps he went "exploring" the top of the tank and dropped? There's really no way to confirm this unless you see visible fluid leaking from the abdomen. However, with a fall injury, there may be no visible signs as well.
I wouldn't worry too much about that at this point though.

I would try rehousing with deeper, dryer substrate, make sure your temps are good, and make sure the enclosure is in a dimly lit, quiet area to allow him to get re-acclimated.

 

[Venom1080]

Substrate should be much deeper and the tank lid should not be screen

 

[Venom1080]

Double post

 

[TownesVanZandt]

Sorry no, it was the begunning to the middle. We got him a week after he molted at the end of January. Is he just stressed? I'm honestly stuck with what to do. We moved whilst we had him and I'm wondering if it's that now.

It might be easier for us to give you some advice on what to do if you provide us with a photo of the whole enclosure.

 

[Walker253]

I'll take a stab at this. Maybe I'm right,maybe I'm wrong. I think the focus of the discussion is not in the right place. A couple things, one, the T is sitting basically in a pocket. It's a resting point. I don't know if this is your only T, but they get a good spot and they use it. Have you checked at night? You might find that it is moving around. But honestly, two weeks is nothing. You may have the greatest hide you could come up with and your tarantula may never use it. Get a several more tarantulas and this will become the norm. Even the best eaters stop. They do things that don't make any sense to us, but in their world...

 

[Andrea82]

B.albopilosum actually enjoys some moisture now and then. The spider being under the waterdish could be an indication it needs more moisture in there.
I'd remove the spider, add double amount of substrate, replace the screen lid for an acrylic one with holes in it, put back hide and waterdish and add spider again. Make sure there is no more distance between the top of the substrate and the lid than 2 times the diagonal legspan of the spider. This will reduce the chance of the spider falling and injuring itself. Leave it alone for a couple of days and try to feed after that. How is the temperature in there? The lower the temps, the more inactive the spider will be.

 

[Emilia Sage]

I'll take a stab at this. Maybe I'm right,maybe I'm wrong. I think the focus of the discussion is not in the right place. A couple things, one, the T is sitting basically in a pocket. It's a resting point. I don't know if this is your only T, but they get a good spot and they use it. Have you checked at night? You might find that it is moving around. But honestly, two weeks is nothing. You may have the greatest hide you could come up with and your tarantula may never use it. Get a several more tarantulas and this will become the norm. Even the best eaters stop. They do things that don't make any sense to us, but in their world...

Thank you, this has put me at ease. I'm really just trying to give him the best care but haven't found any other sources of help. I'm obviously new to keeping Ts but thought that it would be okay where he was. He clearly wasn't. He's more active now I have tried a couple of other ways to help and he seems absolutely fine now. Thank you for your help

 

[Emilia Sage]

Hey guys, thank you for your help the other day.

Just a quick update: He was in moult so it's a good job I didn't stab around. Although I'm trying to determine the sex for definite from the moult. Pretty new to it, but the abdomen has shrivelled up so I can't see anything at all. Any other advice?

Thanks

 

[Sarkhan42]

Hey guys, thank you for your help the other day.

Just a quick update: He was in moult so it's a good job I didn't stab around. Although I'm trying to determine the sex for definite from the moult. Pretty new to it, but the abdomen has shrivelled up so I can't see anything at all. Any other advice?

Thanks

Try dunking the molt in a cup of water with a drop of dish soap in it- softens it right up and makes it easy to work with, the shriveled abdomen should open up no problem.

 

[Emilia Sage]

Try dunking the molt in a cup of water with a drop of dish soap in it- softens it right up and makes it easy to work with, the shriveled abdomen should open up no problem.

Brilliant, glad there's a way to sort it out. I'll give it a try Thank you.