spider not eating

[ekram26]

hi!!! its been 2 weeks now that my T is not eating....i'm worried now....what could be the case? anyone here know why? :?

 

[Leviticus]

How old is your tarantula? Most likely it is getting ready to molt. Is it moving? What kind of tarantula and what size is it? When was its last molt.

 

[Jon3800]

hi!!! its been 2 weeks now that my T is not eating....i'm worried now....what could be the case? anyone here know why? :?

For us to help you out more..you might want to give us more information on the T specifically because I have trouble helping you with this little info. Need like the following:

1) what species is it and what sex is it (presuming its adult, or you know how to sex it)
2) what are you currently feeding it?
3) what's the enclosure/tank setup you are using (size of it, substrate used)
4) what's your temperature/humidity in the tank
5) Like Leviticus said, what's it doing. does it move a lot? does it stay in 1 place?

I'm just go on a limb probably and assume you own the typical petstore G.rosea (rose hair). If you DO own this species...there's a couple of things you have to understand with this species.

I do a lot of mythbuster videos on my youtube channel, so I do a lot of research on T behaviors and extrapolating caresheets on Ts and what you need to know about them. Now with most Ts, a sign of not eating USUALLY indicates pre-molt behavior. With G.rosea (again assuming that IS the T in question), it's not always the case. G.rosea are infamous for fasting (not eating). This can last days, weeks and even several months. They will eat then stop for no reason and pick up eating again. It's very typical given it's very slow growth nature.

hope it helps
jon

 

[shanebp]

Tarantulas have incredibly slow metabolisms and can go days, weeks, months and sometimes over a year without eating. I wouldn't worry over two weeks.

 

[Jon3800]

Tarantulas have incredibly slow metabolisms and can go days, weeks, months and sometimes over a year without eating. I wouldn't worry over two weeks.

Very True, but it will usually depend on the species he has. If it's a G.rosea, I would not be surprised

---------- Post added 01-22-2011 at 12:44 AM ---------- Previous post was 01-21-2011 at 11:13 PM ----------

Tarantulas have incredibly slow metabolisms and can go days, weeks, months and sometimes over a year without eating. I wouldn't worry over two weeks.

Very True, but it will usually depend on the species he has. If it's a G.rosea, I would not be surprised

 

[ekram26]

specs

i posted a couple of pictures and its still young it molted once a week after i got it and i feed it with crickets and its inside a 5 gallon tank with a constant temperature of about 68-70 F or at least thats what the thermometer says...during the first month i had it i was feeding it with 2 week old crickets and it was doing good and then the last two weeks it just won't eat 'em.....its always hiding inside the sort of shelter that it has in the tank....he never leaves the shelter ever so its kind of hard for me to see what its doing but i look at it from time to time by lifting the shelter, its not doing anything out of the usual though....i'm just worried that its starving itself to death.....maybe it got annoyed of me cause i keep on disturbing him by looking at how its doing? would that be the case? i honestly don't have any idea what the sex is yet cause its still small and i don't know how to tell yet.....pet store have it labelled as a cross between a parahybana and dificillis.....

 

[Jon3800]

i posted a couple of pictures and its still young it molted once a week after i got it and i feed it with crickets and its inside a 5 gallon tank with a constant temperature of about 68-70 F or at least thats what the thermometer says...during the first month i had it i was feeding it with 2 week old crickets and it was doing good and then the last two weeks it just won't eat 'em.....its always hiding inside the sort of shelter that it has in the tank....he never leaves the shelter ever so its kind of hard for me to see what its doing but i look at it from time to time by lifting the shelter, its not doing anything out of the usual though....i'm just worried that its starving itself to death.....maybe it got annoyed of me cause i keep on disturbing him by looking at how its doing? would that be the case? i honestly don't have any idea what the sex is yet cause its still small and i don't know how to tell yet.....pet store have it labelled as a cross between a parahybana and dificillis.....

It's very odd that a Lasiodora species would just not eat all of a sudden. They're fast growers. Like I mentioned before, Ts that don't eat are usually in premolt... but since yours molted last month it shouldn't need to molt again this early. All my parahybana, klugi and difficilis attack viciously at anything, even if I disturb them. To me it may yours looks like the difficilis, but I would lean against buying cross-breeds again since they're impossible to get eggsacs from, if you're planning to breed in the future.

Sexing should be easy. If you have the molt still, soak it in water/soap mix and spread open the abdomen area gently. Now look at the inside of the abdomen area and note the white appendages that are its booklungs. If you see a flap between the 2 pairs of booklungs, its female. No flap means its male.

This would my guess on why yours won't eat.

1) It's possibly not eating because you maybe are keeping it a little bit too cold...68-70F is a lil chilly for most Brazilian species. I keep mine at least in the upper 70s, low 80s... (my T room is 82F in the day 76F at night). Room temperature is more than fine. I mainly warm up my bedroom/T room with a small heater and it's fine for them. Ts are cold-blooded animals like lizards, so in cooler conditions, they don't move, molt as often or eat as much.

2) Secondly, I am usually a stickler for this most of time, but it could be the size enclosure which can also be a factor. One thing I do know about them, after keeping Ts ever since I was 12 now 28, is that they don't like extra space. Sometimes they get overwhelmed by it due to their poor field of vision. They rather prefer small spaces and they usually hide to make them feel secure. From the pics it looks to be 1.5-2'' specimen, but personally I think a 5 gallon tank is a bit too much for one this size. I normally use deli containers with moist substrate and an small arched piece of wood or bark for its hiding place. I usually keep them in there when they're about 3 inches and move them to Kritter keepers. Ts do get annoyed from too much disturbing but it shouldn't make them not eat.

So I would try moving your T in a smaller tank, and increase the temps and see how that goes.

Jon

 

[ekram26]

i think so too

i thought about buying another heat pad and maybe placing it outside the tank but i'm afraid i might toast it or it maybe to hot for him.....the coldness situation is kind of my second guess.....during this time of the year, yeah, it gets really cold here....i'm also considering putting it in a smaller container...but doing my research before it said that a 5 - 10 gallon tank is ok but maybe its for a already grown T...thanks for the advice......now i can somewhat breathe easily.......and i don't think i'll be breeding my T for now but maybe in the distant future......

 

[Anansis]

Jon has given you some pretty good advice.

I'm curious about how many crickets you were feeding and how often. Do you remove the crickets that aren't eaten?

Which petstore did you buy your T at?

Ollie

 

[Jon3800]

i thought about buying another heat pad and maybe placing it outside the tank but i'm afraid i might toast it or it maybe to hot for him.....the coldness situation is kind of my second guess.....during this time of the year, yeah, it gets really cold here....i'm also considering putting it in a smaller container...but doing my research before it said that a 5 - 10 gallon tank is ok but maybe its for a already grown T...thanks for the advice......now i can somewhat breathe easily.......and i don't think i'll be breeding my T for now but maybe in the distant future......

5-10 gallon is good for a near full grown T. Since that is a Lasiodora...that is nowhere near full grown LOL. Be prepared...They grow 9-10'' in legspan and will be as chunky built as a Theraphosa stirmi if it's female. My biggest LP of my 5 is a 6'' penultimate male, my difficilis is 4.5'', and my klugi is around the same size of yours, they still got a lot of growing left.

Ya, so monitor its growth and send us a picture when it starts to show some of the colors, since I have some lasiodora I might be able to tell which one

 

[ekram26]

Jon has given you some pretty good advice.

I'm curious about how many crickets you were feeding and how often. Do you remove the crickets that aren't eaten?

Which petstore did you buy your T at?

Ollie

when it was eating right i was feeding it about 3 crickets one day then 1 the next day and that went for 2 weeks and all of a sudden it stopped eating......today i placed one cricket inside his "bunker" hoping it will take it.....oh and by the way i noticed that all around the opening of his "bunker" he webbed it which i find unlikely and makes me wonder.......and i bought it in "just reptiles" pet store.........do you know of the place?

 

[Anansis]

Thats a lot of crickets. In two weeks I would have fed it 2 crickets, one per week. That might be one reason it stopped eating.
Just Reptiles selling hybrids. Why doesn't that surprise me?

 

[Jon3800]

when it was eating right i was feeding it about 3 crickets one day then 1 the next day and that went for 2 weeks and all of a sudden it stopped eating......today i placed one cricket inside his "bunker" hoping it will take it.....oh and by the way i noticed that all around the opening of his "bunker" he webbed it which i find unlikely and makes me wonder.......and i bought it in "just reptiles" pet store.........do you know of the place?

Hmm...Maybe that's you're problem right there. I agree with Anansis, that is way too much crickets you're giving it. Not even my adults ever see that many in 1 day. I feed mine 2 crickets once every 2 weeks, and that is fine. You don't need to feed a T that much in 1 day. As mentioned above, Ts have really slow metabolisms and they take a very long time to digest their prey.

You have to be extremely careful feeding your T like this. It's a term we like to call powerfeeding. I personally only recommend it when you're prepping a freshly molted female to mate so she doesn't pose a danger to the male. It has its perks of making the T grow abnormally faster (since its molting more often) but they come with several consequences with a slightly shorter lifespan and leads to obesity. Lasiodora species are one few Ts that can be overfed. Since abdomens increase threefold, ruptures can happen more frequently. So now it could very well be due for another molt, but at least your T isn't like mine and has its limits.

 

[ekram26]

Hmm...Maybe that's you're problem right there. I agree with Anansis, that is way too much crickets you're giving it. Not even my adults ever see that many in 1 day. I feed mine 2 crickets once every 2 weeks, and that is fine. You don't need to feed a T that much in 1 day. As mentioned above, Ts have really slow metabolisms and they take a very long time to digest their prey.

You have to be extremely careful feeding your T like this. It's a term we like to call powerfeeding. I personally only recommend it when you're prepping a freshly molted female to mate so she doesn't pose a danger to the male. It has its perks of making the T grow abnormally faster (since its molting more often) but they come with several consequences with a slightly shorter lifespan and leads to obesity. Lasiodora species are one few Ts that can be overfed. Since abdomens increase threefold, ruptures can happen more frequently. So now it could very well be due for another molt, but at least your T isn't like mine and has its limits.

so that means i overfed it but it won't die would it? i hope not..... thanks for the advice....it did not eat the cricket i put in this morning......

 

[ekram26]

it molted

i checked the other day, i placed a cricket inside for three days and then i checked if he ate it and i was surprised to see an exoskeleton on the side!!! it turns out that its premolting that's why its not eating........i was relieved!!! woooooot!!!!

 

[Fran]

2) Secondly, I am usually a stickler for this most of time, but it could be the size enclosure which can also be a factor. One thing I do know about them, after keeping Ts ever since I was 12 now 28, is that they don't like extra space. Sometimes they get overwhelmed by it due to their poor field of vision. They rather prefer small spaces and they usually hide to make them feel secure. From the pics it looks to be 1.5-2'' specimen, but personally I think a 5 gallon tank is a bit too much for one this size. I normally use deli containers with moist substrate and an small arched piece of wood or bark for its hiding place. I usually keep them in there when they're about 3 inches and move them to Kritter keepers. Ts do get annoyed from too much disturbing but it shouldn't make them not eat.

Jon

That is simply a personal preference, not a fact.

Tarantulas live in the wild. Once we have understood that point, theres not much else to say.

As long as the T has a burrow to retreat and feel safe, the tank can be as big as your space/prefference/money can buy.
Actually, for larger T's, its is highly recomended larger tanks.

Put a Theraphosa or a Pampho on a small (5G) tank and they will climb and pace restless trying to escape till you will go insane. ESPECIALLY WC individuals.

Brachypelma,Aphonopelma,Grammostola...Thats one thing. The giant of the rainforest are another totally different.

---------- Post added at 09:31 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:24 PM ----------

They grow 9-10'' in legspan and will be as chunky built as a Theraphosa stirmi if it's female.

Not quite. Rarelly you can see a Lasiodora with a near 2" wide carpace, but you will see many more Theraphosa at those meassurments.

The legs are quite thicker on Theraphosa, body lenght is stockier and longer in general.