M. balfouri skittish and non predatory? Or bad housing?

[Sharno]

I received this sling M. balfouri about one month ago and it had JUST molted, so I know it's not fasting. I have never seen it actually eat a cricket. I'll post a picture of the housing, and you can see the challenge between the webbing and the corkbark/fake fauna, hiding crickets may be hard to find, but I have seen a couple of carcasses that are a challenge also to get out because the container (thanks dollar store) is curved in some areas. There just might be too many areas for crickets to hide, but it also seems that any slight movement or sound makes the T really crouch deep into its tunnel rather than investigate and even when I've seen a cricket in nearby areas it's never shown interest.

It could very well be eating when I am not aware but I also think there may be some hidden carcasses. I'm thinking of re-doing the enclosure and trying something that will make it easier to get the dead/uneaten prey out. It's a shame because I thought the size of this container was great, but the curved corners are tricky. I also might just have too much stuff in there.

Does anyone have experience with M. balfouri being bad eaters, skittish? 3+ weeks seems a bit long for a newly molted sling to go without interest in food, maybe?

thanks all.

 

[cmcghee358]

In a case like this, I usually mush a cricket head. Ensure the legs still react/twitch. Then I will try to roll it down the tube/web/hole and plop right in front of the spider. Walk away for 20 minutes, check back.

 

[rockhopper]

I'd venture a guess that it is eating when you are not around. I'm not a big believer in the theory that you have to make it easy for the tarantula to find food. The tarantula will go hunt the food down if it gets hungry. I have quite a few that do not like to eat with an audience and some that could care less if you are standing there watching it. Personalities I guess.

 

[meghanbe]

Funny, I also got an M. balfouri sling last month that molted within a week or two of me getting it. I have never seen it eat. I probably have at least one roach and four mealworms wandering its enclosure right now. Whenever I've dropped in food, even right in front of it, it runs and hides. I figure all I can do is offer food on occasion and hope for the best. It's not like I can force it to go after prey.

There's nothing like a $100+ sling that refuses to eat, huh? Lol

 

[Thistles]

Of my 3 M. balfouri, the 2 big ones (3 and 4") eat very well. The 3rd is still a sling, and he's psycho. He zooms around his cup whenever I pick it up, and seems generally much too hyper to bother eating when I have the lid open. I just drop the cricket in and leave him to it, and it's always gone by the next day. I'm hoping he outgrows this nuttiness, but he is doing alright. The cup is small enough that there's nowhere for a cricket to hide from me. I'm sure he's eating them. Your enclosure is much bigger than mine is for a similarly sized sling, but I wouldn't worry about it. Just let him be a goofy spider and he'll eat what and when he wants.

Oh, also, some are kind of picky. I have an adult Poecilotheria miranda who refuses roaches since her last molt. She used to eat them just fine. Now she will only take crickets. Silly girl, but I guess she's the one who has to eat it =P. Try different food items, maybe?

 

[Sharno]

Funny, I also got an M. balfouri sling last month that molted within a week or two of me getting it. I have never seen it eat. I probably have at least one roach and four mealworms wandering its enclosure right now. Whenever I've dropped in food, even right in front of it, it runs and hides. I figure all I can do is offer food on occasion and hope for the best. It's not like I can force it to go after prey.

There's nothing like a $100+ sling that refuses to eat, huh? Lol

If you got yours from Petcenter USA they may be siblings. All the others(different species) I got from Paul are great eaters and are thriving, this little one just seems to be a bit shy. Maybe it's eating when I am not looking, but every time I peek around with a flashlight I seem to find another cricket carcass, and my poor layout makes it hard to get in there with tweezers and get them all out. I hate to disrupt the whole container and rehouse it but if it is going to continue to refuse food I don't want to have to dig around the tight quarters with tweezers in nooks and crannies to find the bodies.

Is a minimalist set up with M. balfouri ok - Just a small container with a single hide? If I rehouse this weekend I don't want to have to do it again obviously!

And meghanbe keep me posted if your little guy eats!

 

[Thistles]

My skittish little one is from Paul. The container I have him in is about 3" diameter with just a little substrate and 2 live oak leaves for cover. They burrow, so you really need hardly any furniture. Your setup is MUCH bigger and busier than mine for your sling's sibling.

 

[Sharno]

My skittish little one is from Paul. The container I have him in is about 3" diameter with just a little substrate and 2 live oak leaves for cover. They burrow, so you really need hardly any furniture. Your setup is MUCH bigger and busier than mine for your sling's sibling.

I have moved mine to a smaller and more sparse container and also made the substrate much drier but added a bottle cap for water after reading in a few places that this breed may do better in drier conditions. I'll try feeding in 4-5 days after it has time to adjust and let you all know if I notice any change. It hasn't started to burrow yet. If any of the sac mates eat, please let me know

 

[pokemepokey]

I have a balfouri from Paul as well and she is skittish but she also will stare me straight in the face and threat display as well, she's quite the terror! But as for eating I leave crickets in her larger deli cup and leave her to it, the crickets are never there the next morning and she's actually quite good about leaving the bolus out of her burrow if there is one, so I'm certain she's eating.

 

[Sharno]

I have a balfouri from Paul as well and she is skittish but she also will stare me straight in the face and threat display as well, she's quite the terror! But as for eating I leave crickets in her larger deli cup and leave her to it, the crickets are never there the next morning and she's actually quite good about leaving the bolus out of her burrow if there is one, so I'm certain she's eating.

Glad to hear of another update from one of Paul's! Please keep posting!

An update on mine -- tried feeding again today in the more sparse container after several days of quiet. This time the T was skittish again, half chasing the cricket with threat postures all over the place. I went back ten minutes later and the T has burrowed now face down with just its butt sticking up from the substrate (previously it had not made any type of burrow yet, was just remaining on top of the substrate). I'll remove the cricket tomorrow morning if it's still there. Weird stuff! If it had not just molted before I got it I would think that's it. Maybe a whole batch were molting and this one was not and it was impossible to tell.

 

[Sharno]

Update: The T is now out from the temporary burrow it had been in face-down, and the cricket is now there, face down, dead, totally uneaten. The T is sitting in the middle of the cage now, not hiding. Not quite sure what that is about. I've seen Ts kill crickets and not eat them right away, so I'll see if the body is still there tomorrow. Bizarro!

 

[pokemepokey]

I have an idothele mira that will kill her crickets, pile them up, then go eat them once shes collected all of them. Shes quite the odd duck. Maybe your balfouri is doing something similar?

 

[Sharno]

I have an idothele mira that will kill her crickets, pile them up, then go eat them once shes collected all of them. Shes quite the odd duck. Maybe your balfouri is doing something similar?

Success!!

I checked in again, and the little bugger actually has a cricket in its fangs, making threat poses all over the place. It's dark in the room so I used a flashlight, and it actually did a threat pose AT the light. So for those that also have the skittish/non eating M. balfouris in this thread, what's worked so far for me was changing to a dry substrate and not watching it eat. Seriously it just doesn't even like a human in the room, threat poses everywhere. Little guy, big attitude. Just glad it's eating! Thanks everyone!

 

[meghanbe]

When I checked on my M. balfouri yesterday, it was dragging what looked like bolus out of its burrow (I'm not positive, honestly...it seemed strangely...shiny). I'm hopeful that means mine has had a meal as well!

 

[pokemepokey]

Success!!

I checked in again, and the little bugger actually has a cricket in its fangs, making threat poses all over the place. It's dark in the room so I used a flashlight, and it actually did a threat pose AT the light. So for those that also have the skittish/non eating M. balfouris in this thread, what's worked so far for me was changing to a dry substrate and not watching it eat. Seriously it just doesn't even like a human in the room, threat poses everywhere. Little guy, big attitude. Just glad it's eating! Thanks everyone!

Mine threat postures at me alllllllllll the time she is quite the little turd! She's turned around and came back out of her burrow entrance to face me and threat posture at me instead of retreating to her burrow. I have mine in my closet so it's nice and dark in there for her to eat and I leave her be to eat so maybe that had to do with my success with her feeding. I'm glad to hear yours is feeding. It's neat hearing from people with possible sibling to mine!

 

[meghanbe]

I should probably mention that my sling is not from Paul.

 

[meghanbe]

Wanted to follow up...I just checked in on my T's and witnessed the M. balfouri eating a mealworm that has been in its enclosure for weeks. This is the first time I've witnessed it eating. That doesn't mean it hasn't eaten before, but it definitely means that it's a shy eater!

 

[Sharno]

I wanted to follow up on this thread. I did witness my skittish M. balfouri actually eating another cricket - success! It still does not seem nearly as aggressive (toward food) as my other Ts and makes threat postures and/or hides when it even gets wind of a presence near the container, but at least the little guy is eating!

 

[Sharno]

M. balfouri - still the problem child

I posted previously about this little (non) beast but can't find the thread. Maybe it's just not a voracious eater, or maybe the way this cage is set up isn't conducive to allowing it to capture prey. You can see in the picture that the T has made its burrow against cork bark with little room between the bark and the corner of the cage. The cricket (you can see one in the cage at the top of the cork bark) prey usually opt to NOT go toward the crevice, or down the inside of the cork bark. This cricket has been in there for a day already, but never moved toward where the T is. The first time I got lucky, and had a cricket that walked through and really squeezed itself into the corner to get right where the T was waiting.

If I attempt to drop a t down toward the tunnel, any disturbance, *ANY* near this T causes it to hide. It's very skittish. So I assume nature will take over, and when it's hungry enough to eat, it will "figure it out." But it's such a change from my other Ts who are extremely aggressive. In addition, I see it "out" more, like in this photo, which leads me to believe it's waiting for prey, but I don't think any cricket is going down into that crevice, and it's not coming out. Do I rehouse?

PS: Edit to add - the pic makes the t's butt look huge. Trust me, it's a normal sized t

 

[pokemepokey]

I know balfouris web extensively and also burrow just the same. Maybe try an enclosure that is deeper and longer than it is tall? But I'm not seeing anything overly wrong with your set up. Ive only seen my balfouri actually eat a cricket three times in 3 months but the other times I didn't witness it I checked later that night/next morning and the bolus would be at the opening of her burrow. So I know she ate. From what I think I see in your picture yours looks healthy her abdomen looks big, maybe she's in premolt? I know my Metallica took fooooorrrrreeeevvvvvveeeerrr to molt maybe the balfouri is similar in pre-molt to actual molt length? I hope some of this helped or at least eased your mind hahaha