Im worried about my goliath bird eating tarantula

[poptarts]

I recently got a goliath bird eater and hes a juvinial. Hes ate a total of 8 times and its been almost 4 months since the last feeding. He dosent appear skiny, has a round abdomen, and prety much looks the same as the day i got him. I thought at first he was gana molt, but its been 3 months and nothings happened. Ive never had a T take that long. What has me worried is that hes been pacing his tank lately and hides in the top corner. Ive never had a T this young before and any advice or re-assurance will be appriciated.
Also his tank is a 50L and 12H. I keep the humidity between 80º - 85º, and the temp between 80º - 90º.

 

[Sana]

Okay series of questions.

How big is your tarantula and do you know the scientific name for the species that you have? It’s a lot easier to help when we have that information.

Can you post pictures of the tarantula and the enclosure? A visual makes us all that much more helpful.

Does your tarantula have access to water?

Probably more questions to come but that’s a start to what we need.

 

[Poec54]

I'm assuming T stirmi. They require moist substrate, cross ventilation, and a mostly solid top (to preserve a microclimate). If the substrate is dry and you have a screen lid, there's the problem. The air in houses is much too dry for them. The waterbowl should be clean and full at all times, and no tarantula fouls a waterbowl in a more disgusting manner than Theraphosa (a putrid mix of feces and boluses, and it gets worse as they grow).

If the numbers you gave for cage size are inches, that's way too big of a cage for a juvenile, which could also be part of the problem.

 

[poptarts]

Okay series of questions.

How big is your tarantula and do you know the scientific name for the species that you have? It’s a lot easier to help when we have that information.

Can you post pictures of the tarantula and the enclosure? A visual makes us all that much more helpful.

Does your tarantula have access to water?

Probably more questions to come but that’s a start to what we need.

Try Therphosa blondi, and yes he has access to water. One side of the tank is kept moist at all times. Hes at the bottom corner in the pic but lately hes been staying in the top back corner.

 

[poptarts]

I recently got a goliath bird eater and hes a juvinial. Hes ate a total of 8 times and its been almost 4 months since the last feeding. He dosent appear skiny, has a round abdomen, and prety much looks the same as the day i got him. I thought at first he was gana molt, but its been 3 months and nothings happened. Ive never had a T take that long. What has me worried is that hes been pacing his tank lately and hides in the top corner. Ive never had a T this young before and any advice or re-assurance will be appriciated.
Also his tank is a 50L and 12H. I keep the humidity between 80º - 85º, and the temp between 80º - 90º.

Hes a theraphosa blondi
He does have access to water
His leg spans about 3 inches. I dont handle my Ts, so not positive.

 

[miss moxie]

Uh whoa. That is HUGE. Sure it'll fit them when they're older-- if they don't fall and rupture their abdomen before that. Which, if he keeps climbing the walls then a fall could very well happen.

Also not nearly enough substrate, and he doesn't have any room at all to walk around on the ground because it's covered in those knick knacks. Which are cute, sure, but...overkill.

 

[Socfroggy]

The enclosure you have is rather large. Ideally, for a terrestrial T, you want something that's 3 times their diagonal leg span in length and twice in height and width. Then you want to make sure there is there DLS in distance between the lid and the substrate. How are you maintaining humidity? From the pics, the enclosure looks rather dry

 

[poptarts]

The enclosure you have is rather large. Ideally, for a terrestrial T, you want something that's 3 times their diagonal leg span in length and twice in height and width. Then you want to make sure there is there DLS in distance between the lid and the substrate. How are you maintaining humidity? From the pics, the enclosure looks rather dry

Petsmart employees had me put plastic wrap on top to keep most of the humidity in. Half the tank is dry the other half is moist. Ive kept the humidity at 85º.

 

[Socfroggy]

Petsmart employees had me put plastic wrap on top to keep most of the humidity in. Half the tank is dry the other half is moist. Ive kept the humidity at 85º.

Humidity numbers are a bit unrealistic, you wont find an ideal number to keep their humidity. I have never kept this species so I'll let someone with experience chime in. You say that they advised you to keep plastic wrap on the top which leads me to believe that there is a screen on the lid. My concern here is that if the T were to climb to the lid, the 'feet' would get stuck, this isn't uncommon for terrestrial T's and owners are advised to install and/or replace the screen with a sheet of Plexiglas/acrylic with air holes. The concern is that the T would get stuck and it could loose a leg and rupture its abdomen from the fall (which is usually fatal). Always be wary of pet store advice as they don't always know what's best for the animal.

 

[Poec54]

Uh whoa. That is HUGE. Sure it'll fit them when they're older-- if they don't fall and rupture their abdomen before that. Which, if he keeps climbing the walls then a fall could very well happen.

Also not nearly enough substrate, and he doesn't have any room at all to walk around on the ground because it's covered in those knick knacks. Which are cute, sure, but...overkill.

Not a good set up, needs way more substrate, all of which should be moist, no need for any dry section. The sides are way too tall, and the spider could easily be killed from a fall. Too much junk in there for the spider to get tangled up in. Too cluttered.

Come here for advise on tarantulas, pet stores are not the place for that. They pay low wages, have high turnover, and can't possibly train their employees to be knowledgeable about the vast array of products and animals they carry.

Do you have other pics? From that one it doesn't look like a Theraphosa.

 

[boina]

Yeah, from that pic you posted it really doesn't look like a Theraphosa at all... Do you have a better pic of the spider? From that pic my guess would be Lasiodora...

Humidity numbers are useless, what you need is moisture in the substrate. It's the book lungs that need the moisture and they are directly above the substrate - usually. If that really is a Theraphosa you need to keep all the substrate moist. If it isn't you need to find out what it is first...

 

[ediblepain]

I'm not great at IDing, but that looks like an LP.

 

[darkness975]

@poptarts That is not a suitable Enclosure for your Spider.

I agree with others above; it appears to be a Lasiodora parahybana not a Theraphosa spp.

 

[MetalMan2004]

And Petsmart strikes again.... the above is some pretty good starting information. Get closer spider pics and hopefully someone here can fully confirm the species. Good luck!

 

[cold blood]

Yeah, looks like you may have been swindled as it does not look like a Theraposa at all....which means its gonna end up a solid 4 inches smaller than you expected (and be worth about $25). Not to mention the care won't be remotely the same.

Enclosure isn't good, its way way way way too big, too many things to climb and too far of a distance for them to fall from when they do climb. If its a Lasiodora, then it doesn't require damp substrate and keeping it like a Theraposa would not be advised.


IME about 1% of people buying a T. blondi, get a T. blondi....but at least most of them get stirmi.

 

[Rittdk01]

If it's theraphosa then you need deeper substrate to hold more moisture. My girl is in a large Rubbermaid tote with a very deep burrow. I would much rather have her in a tank like you've got, but they just aren't practical for this sp. A Rubbermaid tub with ventilation holes on the sides and top works great. I cut the top out and put a piece of acrylic so I can see through the top perfectly. I would post a few more pictures of the spider for better identification. Good luck, Buddy.

 

[Poec54]

If it's a parahybana, they're typically a 7-8" spider. There's no shortage of claims that they nearly rival the size of Theraphosa, but I've yet to see a pic to that effect so I'm highly skeptical. I had a adult female LP that maxed out at 7", which is a big spider, but there's a number of species that hit that.

As Cold Blood said, almost all of the 'blondi' sold in the US are stirmi, because stirmi have been coming in as w/c for the past few years; some come in gravid and lay eggs in captivity, that's where many of the slings come from. Blondi is being bred in small numbers in Europe and costs significantly more. You're unlikely to see a large one for sale at anything resembling a reasonable price. Even slings are pricey. Most importers know nothing about taxonomy and use the name 'blondi' for any suspected Theraphosa, it's all the same to them: it's just a big brown spider that makes them itch. Highly unlikely an importer has w/c adult blondi or apophysis. And as we have seen, what's being sold as blondi may not even be a Theraphosa. Buyer beware.

 

[sasker]

IME about 1% of people buying a T. blondi, get a T. blondi....but at least most of them get stirmi.

And the chance of getting a T. blondi from Petco is even smaller.

@poptarts : Just curious, how much did you pay for your tarantula? I would ask for a refund if you paid anything close to what a T. blondi normally costs.

 

[EDED]

whatever it is, the temp is too high,,,jungle floor and inside the burrow isnt 90 deg F

if that was real t blondi or any theraphosa who prefer cooler temp would have died awhile ago.

its okay if yours isn't t blondi. if you really want a Theraphosa try stirmi, pretty cheap from bulk reptile sellers and gets bigger supposedly

 

[BobBarley]

Doesn't look like a Theraphosa or a Lasiodora to me. Not sure what it is.

Ditto to basically everything said above, care is off. Pet store employees don't usually know much/anything about the exotics they sell, because none of them are trained (even in basic care) and such.