My striped knee.

[Raw2273]

I got my striped knee a bigger cage, I just felt the one that I bought them in was way too small pretty much him and the water dish took up the whole little cage lol. Ever since I've noticed and not moving around a lot like he used to,and now he stays hidden in his hide most of the time which is fine then I noticed he started putting light web on the entrance and throughout his hide which for me I'm like what is he doing that for, I start thinking maybe he's getting ready to molt making it comfortable in there for him I don't know then I looked up signs of pre molt which showed not a lot of activity, he is starting to get a bald spot on his bottom and his bottom looks plump and then it also looks and underneath of him like bare skin if that makes sense. so it showing a lot of signs of pre molt but he's eating like a champion eats two to three crickets every other day doesn't show signs like not eating or not wanting to eat, it drinking just fine,so I'm curious on what everyone thinks. Is he getting ready to molt or am I just too excited to see it molt....lol

 

[SupremeBananus]

You should give him more substrate, A. Seemanni likes to burrow. He could be going into premolt, some individuals still eat in premolt. I wouldn’t be feeding him 2-3 crickets every other day though, that’s way too much. At that size it’s best to go for weekly or bi-weekly feedings.

 

[Stemmy101]

Please do more research before getting an animal. You need way more substrate in that enclosure, especially if by "striped knee" you mean A. seemani which is an obligate burrower and needs plenty of substrate to dig and make itself comfortable. Feeding 2-3 crickets every other day is waaaayy too much and if you keep that up you'll end up with either a T that won't eat, or a seriously obese one. Usually a good rule of thumb is feeding a small meal once a week or depending on the size of prey once every two weeks. Premolt is irrelevant, my guess is it's probably webbing bc it feels insecure and can't effectively make a burrow. I suggest you look up more care info in the search bar, do not go to Google or YouTube there's too much misinformation that will kill your T.
EDIT: Another concern for lack of sufficient substrate is that if your T climbs (which is really common) there's a possibility that it could fall and with a greater distance to the bottom could injure/and or kill it.

 

[Raw2273]

You should give him more substrate, A. Seemanni likes to burrow. He could be going into premolt, some individuals still eat in premolt. I wouldn’t be feeding him 2-3 crickets every other day though, that’s way too much. At that size it’s best to go for weekly or bi-weekly feedings.

Thanks I was feeding it 4 a week but this last week it's been a couple everyother day trying to see if he take them kinda like another sign for molting so it routine is 4 crikets a week and 1 pinky mouse a month but after I feed him the pinky it's like a week and a half I feed him the crickets...not sure if that's good a buddy of mine said it be good protein for it and to watch and make sure he is not molt when feeding him pinkys tho. Am new at this substrate is dirt correct? It got about 2 q/2 of soil/dirt in there but it does seem like it is making like a trench groving it they way it wants thanks if you have anymore advice I would love to hear it.

Please do more research before getting an animal. You need way more substrate in that enclosure, especially if by "striped knee" you mean A. seemani which is an obligate burrower and needs plenty of substrate to dig and make itself comfortable. Feeding 2-3 crickets every other day is waaaayy too much and if you keep that up you'll end up with either a T that won't eat, or a seriously obese one. Usually a good rule of thumb is feeding a small meal once a week or depending on the size of prey once every two weeks. Premolt is irrelevant, my guess is it's probably webbing bc it feels insecure and can't effectively make a burrow. I suggest you look up more care info in the search bar, do not go to Google or YouTube there's too much misinformation that will kill your T.
EDIT: Another concern for lack of sufficient substrate is that if your T climbs (which is really common) there's a possibility that it could fall and with a greater distance to the bottom could injure/and or kill it.

Thank you so much and I appreciate the advice all my knowledge is from Google and you tube and that's what I was worried about the other day was I could feel there was something not right if that make since and I will add more substrates. I've only seen him try climbing once but I will definitely add more I thought 2 1/2 inch would be suitable but I notice that even in video there.alot.of substrate and like 5 inch's to the roof of the cage.when I bought it it's was in a small cage with very little substrate so I didn't think you needed alot but what your saying make since again thank you

 

[SupremeBananus]

Thanks I was feeding it 4 a week but this last week it's been a couple everyother day trying to see if he take them kinda like another sign for molting so it routine is 4 crikets a week and 1 pinky mouse a month but after I feed him the pinky it's like a week and a half I feed him the crickets...not sure if that's good a buddy of mine said it be good protein for it and to watch and make sure he is not molt when feeding him pinkys tho. Am new at this substrate is dirt correct? It got about 2 q/2 of soil/dirt in there but it does seem like it is making like a trench groving it they way it wants thanks if you have anymore advice I would love to hear it.

Thats a lot of food for a spider, the pinky is totally unnecessary and doesn’t really offer benefits for them. Definitely space your feedings out, you don’t want your tarantula to be overweight. It increases the risk of them injuring their abdomen. And yes substrate is dirt. Consider checking out Tom Moran on YouTube, he has videos on this species and others.

 

[Stemmy101]

Thanks I was feeding it 4 a week but this last week it's been a couple everyother day trying to see if he take them kinda like another sign for molting so it routine is 4 crikets a week and 1 pinky mouse a month but after I feed him the pinky it's like a week and a half I feed him the crickets...not sure if that's good a buddy of mine said it be good protein for it and to watch and make sure he is not molt when feeding him pinkys tho.

4 a week is still to much IMO. They don't need to eat that much. There is absolutely no need to feed it every other day. And absolutely NO need to feed pinky mice, in fact I actually highly don't recommend it, especially if it's live (which is even worse). Cut your feedings down to once every two weeks and I would only feed one or two crickets at a time at that rate.
I would fill the enclosure about halfway or a little more than halfway with substrate.

 

[Raw2273]

Thats a lot of food for a spider, the pinky is totally unnecessary and doesn’t really offer benefits for them. Definitely space your feedings out, you don’t want your tarantula to be overweight. It increases the risk of them injuring their abdomen. And yes substrate is dirt. Consider checking out Tom Moran on YouTube, he has videos on this species and others.

Thank you very much I will definitely space out the feeding and cut the pinks out.

4 a week is still to much IMO. They don't need to eat that much. There is absolutely no need to feed it every other day. And absolutely NO need to feed pinky mice, in fact I actually highly don't recommend it, especially if it's live (which is even worse). Cut your feedings down to once every two weeks and I would only feed one or two crickets at a time at that rate.
I would fill the enclosure about halfway or a little more than halfway with substrate.

Thank you

 

[cold blood]

You have a moisture dependent fossorial. It needs deep sub and the sub, at least the bottom layers should be kept damp.

 

[pongdict]

Yup definitely too much feeding. Huge abdomen + fall from that height = ruptured abdomen = dead T. And add more substrate. Good rule of thumb is the distance from the top of lid to your substrate should be no more than 1.5x the the DLS (diagonal leg span) of your T. In your case I would add even more, as mentioned above A seemanis love to burrow.

 

[viper69]

Please do more research before getting an animal. You need way more substrate in that enclosure, especially if by "striped knee" you mean A. seemani which is an obligate burrower and needs plenty of substrate to dig and make itself comfortable. Feeding 2-3 crickets every other day is waaaayy too much and if you keep that up you'll end up with either a T that won't eat, or a seriously obese one. Usually a good rule of thumb is feeding a small meal once a week or depending on the size of prey once every two weeks. Premolt is irrelevant, my guess is it's probably webbing bc it feels insecure and can't effectively make a burrow. I suggest you look up more care info in the search bar, do not go to Google or YouTube there's too much misinformation that will kill your T.
EDIT: Another concern for lack of sufficient substrate is that if your T climbs (which is really common) there's a possibility that it could fall and with a greater distance to the bottom could injure/and or kill it.

Solid advice- hope you stay around here a long time. I’ve been watching your posts since you arrived. Keep up the excellent advice.

 

[Smotzer]

@Raw2273 Have you corrected the substrate level issue to provide deep moist substrate and also safe distance between substrate and lid?

 

[Stemmy101]

Solid advice- hope you stay around here a long time.

Thank you so much, I appreciate it. Definitely put a smile on my face to hear that

 

[viper69]

Thank you so much, I appreciate it. Definitely put a smile on my face to hear that

I call it like I see it, always honest from me. I am happy that it put a smile on your face. Most people your age on here do not contribute with meaningful information as you do, even some many years older are not as consistent as you have been in my observations. Keep it up!