My pink toe tarantula won't eat and web

[mconnachan]

While I obviously can't stop you from handling, I would still discourage it. Especially with a young child. Tarantulas are calm and handleable until the day they're not. And should your T one day get spooked and bolt, the T could easily get flung across the room and killed by a panicked hand flinging it off. The handling could potentially be the reason it's not eating or webbing yet.

Aside from that, perhaps you could post a picture of the actual enclosure? It might not be set up in a way that enables it to web. It sounds like you have a top opening enclosure, so the roof of the enclosure is already off limits for it, so you'd ideally need to have lots of foliage as close to the top as possible without touching it to encourage webbing that won't get destroyed with routine maintenance.



I originally thought that might be the case too, but you can just barely but clearly see the pink tips on the pedipalps, indicating that it's not mature (or at least not a mature male)

They are the bulbous pedipalps, are we talking about the same spider in post #16 - if so, to the best of my knowledge it is a MM.

 

[Krysta]

He’s webbing a lot he’s made his home with lots of webs he even made a bed that’s what he did when he molted he just hasn’t ate but he also had a molt two weeks so that’s probably the case I have a critter cage with the dirt that you buy from the pet store i forget what it’s called but I see a lot of people posting what I have at the bottom they like to climb so I got him a plant he does climb on and has webbed lol ... he has a log where he can hide also just like what others post so I do folllow everything and read a lot I knew he was a boy because when he had my I looked at the molted skin and seen he was a boy! But some people are saying he looks like a male or an mature male?

 

[PidderPeets]

They are the bulbous pedipalps, are we talking about the same spider in post #16 - if so, to the best of my knowledge it is a MM.

Yeah, we're talking about the same spider. I think the angle is just tricking your eyes. Female and immature male Avics have big puffy tipped pedipalps much like their front feet, so it could appear bulbous. Additionally, once a male matures, he loses the pink on his pedipalps, so it would just be solid black from above. I'm almost positive I'm seeing pink at the very tip of the palps.

For example, here's a picture of my molt confirmed female A. avic. From the angle, I could see someone mistaking her palps as being bulbous MM palps:


But there's an easy way to solve this. @Krysta, in addition to the enclosure pics, could you please also get a clear picture of the pedipalps so we can either confirm or deny it being a mature male? If it's mature, that would also explain the behavior.

 

[PidderPeets]

He’s webbing a lot he’s made his home with lots of webs he even made a bed that’s what he did when he molted he just hasn’t ate but he also had a molt two weeks so that’s probably the case I have a critter cage with the dirt that you buy from the pet store i forget what it’s called but I see a lot of people posting what I have at the bottom they like to climb so I got him a plant he does climb on and has webbed lol ... he has a log where he can hide also just like what others post so I do folllow everything and read a lot I knew he was a boy because when he had my I looked at the molted skin and seen he was a boy! But some people are saying he looks like a male or an mature male?

If he's webbing but just hasn't eaten yet, it's likely nothing to worry about. Two weeks really isn't a long time for a spider to go without food. Like I said, my girl didn't eat for a month after molting. You could try changing up the prey items you're offering if you're concerned though. My girl won't eat superworms or crickets, but likes most roaches. She particularly loves hissers. Sometimes they're just picky about their food.

 

[Krysta]

I was thinking maybe different food because he has webbed a lot so I’m taking he wants to eat and made webs for his prey lol but at the pet store he was eating adult crickets I’ll take pictures for you also

 

[PidderPeets]

I was thinking maybe different food because he has webbed a lot so I’m taking he wants to eat and made webs for his prey lol but at the pet store he was eating adult crickets I’ll take pictures for you also

Sometimes they go through mood changes and become a bit picker with food after a molt. Mine exclusively ate crickets for her previous owner, but since molting, she usually won't touch them

 

[Krysta]

And if he is an Mature Male I would love for him to mate I wouldn’t want him to be alone.. I’m just waiting on my income tax so I can buy an bigger enclosure I mean he seems content he’s webbing and drinking fine he was in a much smaller critter cage when I bought him a month ago and he was webbed than to so maybe he’s happy for now with smaller enclosures

 

[Krysta]

Here’s Charlotte lol my five year old named him

 

[Krysta]

My daughter is obsessed with my pink toe and she’s great she even has an spider beanie baby named creeper she said this is Charlottes mommy here is our photo shoot

 

[Krysta]

I don’t handle him a lot this is when I was fixing his enclosure he climbs to the top to say hello he’s super nice

 

[mconnachan]

I originally thought that might be the case too, but you can just barely but clearly see the pink tips on the pedipalps, indicating that it's not mature (or at least not a mature male)[/QUOTE]

I'm counting the appendages there should be 4 if immature, from what I can see there are three, but the picture may be misleading - a better shot of the palps would confirm or reject my opinion.

 

[PidderPeets]

Here’s Charlotte lol my five year old named him

He’s definitely not a mature male. He still very distinctively has his pink tipped pedipalps. So no need to send him off on a date just yet.

That enclosure itself actually isn't a bad size for him. I personally would flip it on it's side so it's taller though. They prefer more vertical space than horizontal space. It's not necessary though. But the setup looks like you followed pet store or care sheet advice to a T (no pun intended). Unfortunately, most care sheets and pet stores offer the worst possible advice you can receive (especially for Avics). Those sheets are made not by people who actually care for and raise them (hobbyists), but by sellers just relaying extremely outdated information or just trying to keep them alive long enough to sell (dealers). An Avic spending extended periods of time near the ground means there's room (and a need) for improvement.

First, get rid of the sponge in the water bowl. It just harbors bacteria and makes it almost impossible for the T to actually drink. A plain water bowl is perfectly safe. Your T will not drown.

If that substrate is moist, you can let it dry out. They don't need specific humidity numbers, and trying to obtain specific numbers usually results in restricted ventilation and a dead tarantula. Humidity is an incorrect term for tarantulas in general, and not what's actually needed.

If you keep that enclosure set up horizontally, that half log would be better off propped up against one of the walls so that it reaches near the top of the enclosure. Otherwise, the hide is useless for an arboreal species like an Avic.

He would also still be better off with more plants, preferably taller ones. Then he can web up a storm.

My Avic enclosure is a Kritter Keeper set up vertically, but I'll look for some pictures I have of it for reference. I'll just need a bit to search through my pictures

Edit: found the pics. Here's around when I first got her.


Here’s a pic from last month. As you can see, she's quite the interior decorator

 

[mconnachan]

He’s definitely not a mature male. He still very distinctively has his pink tipped pedipalps. So no need to send him off on a date just yet.

Post #29, 1st picture clearly shows that it is not a MM - the angle is misleading, so no not time for him to "hook-up" with any ladies yet....

 

[PidderPeets]

I originally thought that might be the case too, but you can just barely but clearly see the pink tips on the pedipalps, indicating that it's not mature (or at least not a mature male)

I'm counting the appendages there should be 4 if immature, from what I can see there are three, but the picture may be misleading - a better shot of the palps would confirm or reject my opinion.[/QUOTE]

If you look on the two most recent photos posted of the T, you can very clearly make out the pink tipped pedipalps. Mature male Avics lose the pink tips. He's definitely not mature. This photo isn't the best because the light reflecting off the emboli make the palps look tipped with light toes, but once you see that it's just a reflection, it becomes clear that the MM palps don't have pink toes like the legs (and palps of females and immature males) do.

 

[PidderPeets]

Post #29, 1st picture clearly shows that it is not a MM - the angle is misleading, so no not time for him to "hook-up" with any ladies yet....

I posted my comment before seeing your response. My bad, carry on

 

[mconnachan]

I posted my comment before seeing your response. My bad, carry on

No worries, your picture clearly shows bulbous pedipalps - my bad!

 

[PidderPeets]

No worries, your picture clearly shows bulbous pedipalps - my bad!

It's all good. Everything's a learning experience

 

[Krysta]

Okay thank you yes I was thinking of putting the kritter keeper long ways I’ll get rid of his sponge... should I keep some dirt in there ??

 

[Krysta]

Thank pidderpets.. I will rearrange his tank and do what you did and he likes his log to sit on I just feel bad knocking down his webbing/decoration lol

 

[Ungoliant]

should I keep some dirt in there ??

I keep a small amount of substrate in my Avic enclosures. Try to keep the ground level free of clutter, as it just provides places for feeder insects to hide. (A healthy, happy Avic won't spend much time on the ground.)

You want lots of foliage near the top of the enclosure to serve as cover and anchor points for webbing.