T. vagans sealed himself off again/not eating over a month after molting

[0viWan]

Guess the real question here is if there is cause for concern when a freshly moulted T isn't feeding right away. Had a T moult recently (~3.5'' DLS) but stay in their burrow for quite some time afterwards (as far as I could tell). No waiting at burrow entrance or similar "hunting" behaviour. After 5 weeks I dropped in a cricket and the T didn't even seem interested, which struck me as odd. The cricket walked about the burrow unscathed. The T took the cricket at some point during the night though ^^

Looks like there is no immediate urgency to get a T feeding as fast as possible after a moult.

 

[wishiwasntafraidofspiders]

Guess the real question here is if there is cause for concern when a freshly moulted T isn't feeding right away. Had a T moult recently (~3.5'' DLS) but stay in their burrow for quite some time afterwards (as far as I could tell). No waiting at burrow entrance or similar "hunting" behaviour. After 5 weeks I dropped in a cricket and the T didn't even seem interested, which struck me as odd. The cricket walked about the burrow unscathed. The T took the cricket at some point during the night though ^^

Looks like there is no immediate urgency to get a T feeding as fast as possible after a moult.

Yes, I should have made that more clear. And thanks, that's encouraging! So far he hasn't been interested in pre-killed prey, but I'll just keep trying. I was worried about unnecessarily disturbing him, but maybe just a cricket next time will be more to his liking. He sealed himself off pretty good, so I don't think the cricket would be able to get to him if he doesn't come out.

 

[TheraMygale]

I had a P murinus, who after a molt, had not eaten in a month. My prekill wasnt working, but its web tunnel was blocked and i kept the prekill out.

after asking a trusted friend, i decided to act. I opened up the web, and put the prekill way down next to where it was. It ate.

i have to say: i could see the tarantula. So by opening up the web, i had full view of where my brush was going.

 

[wishiwasntafraidofspiders]

I had a P murinus, who after a molt, had not eaten in a month. My prekill wasnt working, but its web tunnel was blocked and i kept the prekill out.

after asking a trusted friend, i decided to act. I opened up the web, and put the prekill way down next to where it was. It ate.

i have to say: i could see the tarantula. So by opening up the web, i had full view of where my brush was going.

Now that you said one month (and Bob had molted almost two months ago already) I figured I'd try having a look as well. He unfortunately didn't make it. He must have been dead for a while, too. He was completely covered in mold, and lots of springtails.

I have no idea what could have caused this. I guess the vagans is supposed to be a fairly hardy species, and I don't think there was a husbandry issue so significant that it would have killed the spider. At least I hope not! Maybe something did go wrong with the molt, even though he looked fine when he came out of his burrow. In any case, I'm super bummed out because he was kind of my favorite, even though I got him only relatively recently.

But thanks so much for your help! It's sad, but maybe it just wasn't meant to have a better ending.

 

[Glorfindel]

sorry to read the bad news about Bob T. vagans, he was a handsome dude.
r.i.p. Bob,
it's a learning process, keep learning and keep trying our best.

 

[TheraMygale]

Sorry to hear it passed. I think its the sad side of some learning moments. You did good to check up on it.

its only theories at this point, so its best not to linger on what went wrong.