My geniculata is defective

Olan

Arachnoangel
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Ok, so it's time to see if anyone's had this experience. I got a geniculata sling in January at an expo. It was about 1/4". It molted twice in a couple of months but didn't gain much size. It hasn't molted in like 5 months, although it has eaten several large meals. It's currently about 1/3". My apartment is kept at 75 degrees during the cooler months but goes up to 80-85 during the day during the warmer months. A male OBT that I got at the same time as the geniculata has gone from 1/3" to 3" in the same time frame. It still is very active, has made very impressive burrows and seems healthy. Has anyone had anything like this happen?
 

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netr

Arachnoknight
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Different species, different growth rates. All pretty normal. New world terrestrials are generally less active and much more slow to grow. They sometimes skip moults, etc. etc. What are you feeding it?
 

Olan

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Cricket legs and superworm pieces. Also, it is growing much slower than my B. albiceps slings. They have gone from 3/4" to 1.5" in 6 months.
 

Jeff23

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This species is not a slow grower from what I have read on other threads, etc. How often is it willing to eat? Does it turn down meals if you try to feed it every day?
 

Trenor

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They are not slow growers new world or not. My genic was 1/2 inch in February when I got it. It molted yesterday and is currently 2-2.5 inches.

Looking at you photo the substrate looks pretty wet. I keep mine on lightly moist substrate, with a water dish. I feed it about twice a week when it was small with no eating problems.

Make sure it's not near vents where it has direct airflow on it. I started out with mine on a bookcase and forgot there was a vent behind the book case. A lot of my slings burrowed and were not very active. I moved them to the new T room and they are a lot more active and are growing much better.
 
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Olan

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I guess maybe I'm not feeding it enough. I feed it a meal that is too big for it to even finish (larger than the sling is). It gets extremely fat so I wait for it to molt. A month later it has slimmed up a bit so I give it another huge meal. This has repeated with no molt for many months.
 

Olan

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There are no vents nearby. It is kept with the other slings that are growing fast. So strange.
 

14pokies

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I had two LPs that were broken like your genic.. They just wouldn't grow.. They ate fine and I kept them warm.. It just happens sometimes like runts in a mammalian litter..
 

REEFSPIDER

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I'm no expert but I will suggest you try feeding your sling less "huge meals" and increase your feeding times with smaller things like cricket legs and smaller than the spider pieces of superworm. I feed all of my slings this way, why? Because they always eat, never tend to get overly fat and all have been molting pretty regularly. It's taxing on a spider to break down a meal and get the nutrients they need from it, so by substituting smaller meals I hypothesisize they get nutrients more efficiently. Even my slower growers like G Pulchra and P muticus are molting on a regular schedule.
 

Olan

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I had two LPs that were broken like your genic.. They just wouldn't grow.. They ate fine and I kept them warm.. It just happens sometimes like runts in a mammalian litter..
What ended up happening to them?
 

EulersK

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@Trenor is spot on with environment. Let that enclosure dry out a bit - keep it mildly humid.

Concerning food, feed it way more. Get yourself large crickets or superworms, crush the heads, and leave them in there overnight. Aim for the prey to be about the same size (if not a touch larger) than the spider.
 

EulersK

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Large prey will not hurt the spider, especially with a voracious eater like your species.

 

Olan

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@Trenor is spot on with environment. Let that enclosure dry out a bit - keep it mildly humid.

Concerning food, feed it way more. Get yourself large crickets or superworms, crush the heads, and leave them in there overnight. Aim for the prey to be about the same size (if not a touch larger) than the spider.
Yeah, usually it's not that wet. I just added water.
I give it huge meals. Many times the weight of the spider
 

Nightstalker47

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I had two LPs that were broken like your genic.. They just wouldn't grow.. They ate fine and I kept them warm.. It just happens sometimes like runts in a mammalian litter..
Sometimes like you said there is a "runt" of my 8 L. Difficilis slings one has grown significantly less then the others. They all share the same type of environment and are fed the same prey, same temperatures etc... explanation could be that given spider is not sharing the same genes as the others that enable them to grow at a faster rate. I also have a pair of P. Muticus that are growing this way, one is 2 molts ahead of the other, but it's not as obvious in small groups. Don't give up, some are just slower doesn't mean anything is wrong with it.
 

14pokies

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What ended up happening to them?
I had to leave NY and head to FL to help out with sick family.. I sold my collection so I'm not sure unfortunately.. The buyer wasn't charged for those slings and was told that they were growy funky... Lol
 

Olan

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Ok, well I guess I'll keep feeding it and hoping it starts to grow. I'll see if it wants another superworm chunk tonight.
 

Tanner Dzula

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agree with everybody else, Geniculata's in general are pretty fast growers.
i have one i had gotten from a local shop back in Fed-March time and he was just over 3 inches then, and now currently is Pushing almost 6 inches leg span, nearly matching my LP who is roughly the same age!


I try not to "powerfeed" or even just feed too often. usually 1 cricket a week. since he hit 4" been giving 2 a week, or the occasional large Dubia. every 2-3 weeks ill swap for a Horned Worm though (captive raised locally, by a trusted source and with the "horn" cut/cauterized off) and this has seemed to really give him a huge boost in his growth, but without causing a overly large abdomen thats commonly seen with typical "power" feeding.

if possible, maybe search the local shops/reptile/arachnid collectors and see if that works! though if the T is still pretty little id possibly crush the jaw as well( not the whole head but just the jaw so it can't do any damage) and i wouldnt do it often, but like a monthly or Post-molt treat, and its literally like a big fat juicy balloon of food for the little guy.
 

MrTarantula

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Sep 20, 2016
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Ok, so it's time to see if anyone's had this experience. I got a geniculata sling in January at an expo. It was about 1/4". It molted twice in a couple of months but didn't gain much size. It hasn't molted in like 5 months, although it has eaten several large meals. It's currently about 1/3". My apartment is kept at 75 degrees during the cooler months but goes up to 80-85 during the day during the warmer months. A male OBT that I got at the same time as the geniculata has gone from 1/3" to 3" in the same time frame. It still is very active, has made very impressive burrows and seems healthy. Has anyone had anything like this happen?
Hows the Genic doing? I bought a 3 1/2" genic for $100 and a 1/4 genic sling for $10 as a deal with it last week at an expo and thank god they were giving away feeders so i picked up some wing less fruit flies for free and my sling has been feeding on it all week, however shes slowed down on the eating, i think shes in pre molt.
 
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