Stupid question (about feeding)

[avaent]

My 1”-1.5” g. Pulchra sling appears to be in pre-molt (abdomen swole af and shiny, hairs kicked off... sling has become all slow and ‘lazy,’). Been feeding it one small (never bigger than abdomen) dubia once a week and this is definitely the first time that he/ she/ it has ever become this plump.

Stupid question: I understand that T’s will refuse food once they are very near to a molt... but since it looks like it’s about to pop, should I skip trying to feed this week?

From what I’ve gathered this species could stay in premolt for months though- and (even though I’m making sure the water dish is full, and the lower levels of substrate in part of the enclosure are being kept more damp than usual,) T’s get a lot of their hydration from their food? I don’t want to it to be hungry and definitely not dehydrated but the abdomen just seems super stretched already...?

This is my first T and really the first molt I’ve fully experienced, (my one other T sling surprise-molted on me before I realized it was even in pre-molt, but is doing great.) so I’m a little lost when it comes to gauging the appropriate abdomen size for feeding during this, the time of my tarantula’s molting. MoUlting.

Please advise. Thank you in advance for any tips and information!


*side notes on the pictured enclosure:
-no, my red/ orange spider light is not a heat lamp. It is a small c5 ceramic bulb that puts out a tiny bit of warmth, though. Even though the room stays at “room temperature” this g. Pulchra seems to like to “bask” in the part of the enclosure nearest the light
-when I rehoused the little bugger into this setup the substrate was essentially level. It decided it was more comfortable digging a massive crater into the center of the enclosure and piling all of the dirt up on both sides to block the extra ventilation holes. I’ve unburied them multiple times but the T is stubborn and there are still a bunch of ventilation holes on the ceiling that it can’t possibly bury so.
Me 0-1 tarantula.

Every tarantula tutorial ever: You need ventilation holes, a water dish, and you don’t need a heat source!
g. Pulchra: <edit> your vent holes; this water dish is now my <edit> substrate dish, and if you need me I’ll be sitting up here in the ((extra)) warm spot.

 

[BoyFromLA]

should I skip trying to feed this week?

Till it molts.

 

[Edan bandoot]

as long as a spider is fat it doesn't need to be fed, they can survive many months without food.

 

[Poonjab]

Your g.pulchra must be a drug dealer too. All the dealers that live around me have red lights as their porch lights.

And I agree with above. Wait until after molt.

 

[Smotzer]

Agreed it doesn’t need to be fed until after it molts!

 

[Craven]

That abdomen to carapace ratio is about similar to mine before it molted (just this morning). Feeding isn't necessary. I had the same thoughts too so i teased it with a string outside its burrow to see if it still had the urge to hunt but it just ignored it so it was definitely not hungry at all. After it molts, the abdomen will shrink significantly and the carapace will almost double in size from what I've observed (results may vary between species, i think).

 

[viper69]

Use a blue LED light with the intensity of the moon at night, like reptile moon lamps. You’ll see your T better without disturbing it.

I used red at one point, life was better with blue.

 

[Smotzer]

life was better with blue.

Much easier to see with blue

 

[avaent]

Thanks, all! I’ll hold off on feeding little chonkbutt here until after it molts.

In response to the drug dealer question- I asked if it had any eighths but it just said, “no, just 8 legs...”. (Buh-dum-tssssss.....)
Told it I wouldn’t hesitate to toss the place if I thought there were any drugs, boluses or any other contraband in there... but baby T just said “drugs are bad, mmkay.”

I’d gotten the red light since I’ve heard that T’s don’t have red in their like. vision spectrum so it doesn’t disturb them, but I didn’t realize that they made fancy low-light blue lights? That’s cool. For the time being my two slings are small enough to just move under a real light whenever I need to clean up/ inspect/ etc. I like to creep on them at night instead of sleeping though so the red light is sort of for me as well. But will definitely keep “moon lights,” in mind for when the babies need bigger enclosures! Or if I end up adopting more T’s at some point. Thanks again!

 

[viper69]

Much easier to see with blue

That’s why I switched.

 

[Timc]

Till it molts.

And a while after.

 

[MrGhostMantis]

My 1”-1.5” g. Pulchra sling appears to be in pre-molt (abdomen swole af and shiny, hairs kicked off... sling has become all slow and ‘lazy,’). Been feeding it one small (never bigger than abdomen) dubia once a week and this is definitely the first time that he/ she/ it has ever become this plump.

Stupid question: I understand that T’s will refuse food once they are very near to a molt... but since it looks like it’s about to pop, should I skip trying to feed this week?

From what I’ve gathered this species could stay in premolt for months though- and (even though I’m making sure the water dish is full, and the lower levels of substrate in part of the enclosure are being kept more damp than usual,) T’s get a lot of their hydration from their food? I don’t want to it to be hungry and definitely not dehydrated but the abdomen just seems super stretched already...?

This is my first T and really the first molt I’ve fully experienced, (my one other T sling surprise-molted on me before I realized it was even in pre-molt, but is doing great.) so I’m a little lost when it comes to gauging the appropriate abdomen size for feeding during this, the time of my tarantula’s molting. MoUlting.

Please advise. Thank you in advance for any tips and information!


*side notes on the pictured enclosure:
-no, my red/ orange spider light is not a heat lamp. It is a small c5 ceramic bulb that puts out a tiny bit of warmth, though. Even though the room stays at “room temperature” this g. Pulchra seems to like to “bask” in the part of the enclosure nearest the light
-when I rehoused the little bugger into this setup the substrate was essentially level. It decided it was more comfortable digging a massive crater into the center of the enclosure and piling all of the dirt up on both sides to block the extra ventilation holes. I’ve unburied them multiple times but the T is stubborn and there are still a bunch of ventilation holes on the ceiling that it can’t possibly bury so.
Me 0-1 tarantula.

Every tarantula tutorial ever: You need ventilation holes, a water dish, and you don’t need a heat source!
g. Pulchra: <edit> your vent holes; this water dish is now my <edit> substrate dish, and if you need me I’ll be sitting up here in the ((extra)) warm spot.

No question is stupid in the hobby. Just wait until it molts!

 

[l4nsky]

I'll typically feed until food is refused, but when they start getting plump and there is a highly noticeable skewing of the abdomen to carapace ratio, I'll switch over to prekilled. I started doing this because all of my Phormingochilus sp Akcaya would eat right up to their molt date, regardless of their size.

 

[sasker]

No question is stupid in the hobby.

My math teacher used to say: "There are no stupid questions, only stupid people."

Such fond memories...