Pink-Toe has only eaten once.

[Songbirdsingz]

Hey guys. I'm new here and new to the hobby. I originally was terrified of arachnids. I joined an entomology group about a year ago and eventually worked my way up to not having any fear at all. I decided to get a tarantula. I got a female Pink-Toe about 2 weeks ago. I got her a nice vertical tank with fake plants, a log, and a nice water dish and everything. Anyway, I have had her for two weeks. She refused food for the first few days (crickets), and the crickets ended up dying before she would even attempt to eat. The next day I tried mealworms. She finally devoured a mealworm. (I made sure to crush it's head so it wouldn't burrow) but since then she has not eaten again. In two weeks she has only eaten one medium sized mealworm. Should I be worried or could she have entered pre-molt or something? She probably has a little longer than 2" legspan. I'm sorry if this is a newbie question. I'm just super new and this seems like a really awesome community!

 

[Whiplash Girlchild]

I would not worry about it too much. Tarantulas sometimes go a long time without eating.

Check the abdomen. Does it have a darkened or black spot? if so she could be in premolt.
In that case, supply her with fresh water and just let her be. She will probably not eat until after she has molted.

 

[moricollins]

Welcome.
Nothing you've said sounds crazily out of the ordinary.
Can you post pictures of the setup? (So we can help you get the Tarantula set up the best you can)

 

[Songbirdsingz]

Welcome.
Nothing you've said sounds crazily out of the ordinary.
Can you post pictures of the setup? (So we can help you get the Tarantula set up the best you can)

Any tips and advice is greatly appreciated!

 

[moricollins]

Is the tank front opening or top opening?

You'll want to have the plants up around the top of the enclosure, the Tarantula will make its web "nest" up there.

Turn the log thing so that is vertical instead of horizontal. Your Avicularia will not want to be around the bottom of the tank.

 

[Craig73]

My Avic slings only eat one meal about every two weeks. Once their abdomens start to fill out from the food (which is basically one meal right now) I watch to make sure it looks proportionate to the T...not too plump and not too skinny. My longest between feeding has been three weeks when one refused food. I suspected premolt (which was correct) but the physical signs of darkening abdomen weren’t apparent until two days before the molt in my guys case.

 

[cold blood]

The set up is not appropriate. That ground hide is useless and serves no use in an avic enclosure. You need a large piece of wood (or multiple) thats positioned vertically. The top parts of this wood should be surrounded and in contact with the plants.

The t has no security right now.

If im seeing correctly, it also appears to only have top ventilation....such enclosures cant provide the air movement Avics require, and without this, they become veritable death traps.

 

[MBArachnids]

Any tips and advice is greatly appreciated!

You need to make some serious changes as cold blood has indicated, my nephew got an Avic and despite all my warnings about ventilation his T died after a few months.

Also is no one going to talk about the cricket?

and the crickets ended up dying before she would even attempt to eat.

You should never, ever leave crickets in a T enclosure up to the point where the crickets literally die....If you drop a meal and your T has not eaten it by the next morning take it out.

 

[Craig73]

Also is no one going to talk about the cricket?

Nope, we were gonna leave that alone and let it be like crickets on that topic.

 

[Chebe6886]

You’re spider is not cozy at all rn. It’s not in the mood to party bc it has the wrong surroundings

 

[Songbirdsingz]

Nope, we were gonna leave that alone and let it be like crickets on that topic.

What? There's no crickets in the tank.

 

[Songbirdsingz]

You need to make some serious changes as cold blood has indicated, my nephew got an Avic and despite all my warnings about ventilation his T died after a few months.

Also is no one going to talk about the cricket?


You should never, ever leave crickets in a T enclosure up to the point where the crickets literally die....If you drop a meal and your T has not eaten it by the next morning take it out.

That is not what I meant. I meant all the crickets in my cricket container died. I don't leave them in the tank.

What? There's no crickets in the tank.

You guys misunderstood me. I didn't mean the crickets died IN her enclosure. They died in their box they came in before she would ever eat any.

 

[Craig73]

This is a little more elaborate but illustrates giving the T more height and shelter points.

I designed this one for an A. Minatrix since it seems to be more on the shy side and not expecting to force it to be on display when it would rather be reclusive.

This can be replicated with plastic plants etc. Doesn’t need to be crazy like mine, all the stuff near the ground was more for my visual appeal. The cork tube and plant shelter up top was all for him.

 

[Songbirdsingz]

The set up is not appropriate. That ground hide is useless and serves no use in an avic enclosure. You need a large piece of wood (or multiple) thats positioned vertically. The top parts of this wood should be surrounded and in contact with the plants.

The t has no security right now.

If im seeing correctly, it also appears to only have top ventilation....such enclosures cant provide the air movement Avics require, and without this, they become veritable death traps.

I am working on the ventilation! Just trying to figure out the best way to do it. Been watching Tarantula Collective on YouTube for ideas. Thanks for the advice! I will add vertical logs and remove the hide! Thank you.

This is a little more elaborate but illustrates giving the T more height and shelter points.

I designed this one for an A. Minatrix since it seems to be more on the shy side and not expecting to force it to be on display when it would rather be reclusive.

This can be replicated with plastic plants etc. Doesn’t need to be crazy like mine, all the stuff near the ground was more for my visual appeal. The cork tube and plant shelter up top was all for him.
View attachment 355264

Awesome! I'm gonna save this pic and try something like this

 

[Craig73]

Awesome! I'm gonna save this pic and try something like this

Just want to be clear that I’m not suggesting a bioactive setup with live plants. It took me well over a month for the set it up and monitor all the conditions needed to keep my T thriving before I even considered putting him into it. The substraight is pretty dry and I’ve developed methods to only water the plant roots every week or two.

The main takeaway is focus on height and shelter points that provide anchor points to encourage webbing. And the most important of anything is the cross ventilation.

This is a great forum, so continue to ask questions along the way and continue to read as much as you can about your species. YouTube is entertaining and visually appealing, but it also comes with a ton of misinformation.

 

[Craig73]

Also, just FYI, I use cork bark and drift wood in my setups. Others may have some other materials they use.

 

[MBArachnids]

You guys misunderstood me. I didn't mean the crickets died IN her enclosure. They died in their box they came in before she would ever eat any.

We need to discuss your cricket care as well then

 

[Songbirdsingz]

We need to discuss your cricket care as well then

Pet store gave them to me for free. I don't raise them lol. She seems to like mealworms better anyway.

 

[Songbirdsingz]

Just want to be clear that I’m not suggesting a bioactive setup with live plants. It took me well over a month for the set it up and monitor all the conditions needed to keep my T thriving before I even considered putting him into it. The substraight is pretty dry and I’ve developed methods to only water the plant roots every week or two.

The main takeaway is focus on height and shelter points that provide anchor points to encourage webbing. And the most important of anything is the cross ventilation.

This is a great forum, so continue to ask questions along the way and continue to read as much as you can about your species. YouTube is entertaining and visually appealing, but it also comes with a ton of misinformation.

Thanks so much for the advice. I know I'm still a noob but that's why I made an account here! To learn my mistakes and fix them!

 

[MBArachnids]

Pet store gave them to me for free. I don't raise them lol. She seems to like mealworms better anyway.

I hear you but you could keep crickets much longer if you take the time to treat them right. Also if the crickets are happy your T's will eat better. If your crickets are dying and you feed them to your T just before they die I would question the nutritional value of said crickets. Because why else would your crickets die, it would appear they are dying of hunger, yes?