What's wrong with my tarantula?

SpiderQueenLizzy

Arachnopeon
Joined
Aug 31, 2016
Messages
7
For some reason my juvenile tarantula has not eaten since November of 2016! I thought she was getting ready to molt but she has not. And she doesn't appear sickly, she moves around just fine. She has a water dish in her enclosure i know she uses and she is well hidden. Despite all this, she still hasn't eaten and still won't eat when i offer her food. She is a costa rican zebra blue. 20170302_234132.jpg 20170302_234149.jpg
 

WeightedAbyss75

Arachnoangel
Joined
Feb 22, 2014
Messages
921
When T's are THAT plump, many won't eat for a while. Their "I'm full and can't eat anymore" phase can last for months. Your T could probably go another 2-3 months and be perfectly healthy :D You have a great tarantula there, beautiful A. seemani. Wouldn't worry about her eating. Until her abdomen is 2-3 times smaller than the carapace, she can be just fine :D
Hope your T does eat though. Hate it when mine go on hunger strikes ;) What was your feeding schedule before she started to fast?
 

Moakmeister

Arachnodemon
Joined
Oct 6, 2016
Messages
741
Then why won't she molt?
just cause they're full doesn't mean they'll go ahead and molt. Only slings really speed up their growth when they eat a bunch. Also, are you denying that she's obese? Take a really good look at that abdomen again. She's extremely obese. She won't be eating for a long time.
 
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Chris LXXIX

ArachnoGod
Joined
Dec 25, 2014
Messages
5,845
A thing, not of course related in any way to your question (obviously food is out of question, considering how much fatty is) I personally would change the hide to a piece of cork bark, or however something less 'cumbersome'. IMO that hide is a bit long.
 

Anoplogaster

Arachnodemon
Joined
Jan 15, 2017
Messages
675
A thing, not of course related in any way to your question (obviously food is out of question, considering how much fatty is) I personally would change the hide to a piece of cork bark, or however something less 'cumbersome'. IMO that hide is a bit long.
I agree about changing the hide. More because I don't think this cup is dark enough. A hide must be dark for the spider to feel secure. That plastic lets a lot of light through.

And yes, your tarantula has plenty of nutrient stores to live off of for a while. Remember, spiders evolved to survive on very little food. It's an evolutionary adaptation. They need far less food than you would think.
 
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Trenor

Arachnoprince
Joined
Jan 28, 2016
Messages
1,896
It's just full like other have said.

It won't molt because it takes time to grow a new exo under the old one before it can. Slings only need make a small exo (cause they are small) before they can molt. This helps them grow quickly. The older it is the longer this time is for the new exo to grow. Regardless of how much you try to speed it up by feeding.

IMO the solo cup works fine (I've used the solo shot glasses cut for hides several times for my slings) but I agree it is to big for that enclosure. I'd cut some of the top off so it's about 1.5 times her body length or so.
 

Jeff23

Arachnolord
Joined
Jul 27, 2016
Messages
620
A thing, not of course related in any way to your question (obviously food is out of question, considering how much fatty is) I personally would change the hide to a piece of cork bark, or however something less 'cumbersome'. IMO that hide is a bit long.
I agree. The size of the cup versus the whole enclosure isn't a good ratio - T is always in the hide pretty much.
But this does help answer on the saying of whether the cup is half full or half empty. This one is always half full with that cutie sitting in there.
 

HybridReplicate

Spectrostatic
Joined
Jan 26, 2017
Messages
107
Is it truly possible to feed a T to this size? I've seen what I thought were some overfed Ts, but this is just comically huge, especially after fasting for three months.
 

boina

Lady of the mites
Active Member
Joined
Mar 25, 2015
Messages
2,217
Oh wow. And I thought my spiders were fat...:p. No, that one can't possibly eat any more :D
 

MetallicArachnid

Arachnosquire
Joined
Jan 22, 2016
Messages
51
That T is very fat, it will be fine without food for quite a while and 3-4 months is nothing I've had spiders fast for nearly a year before. Unless it's behavior is odd and seems sick i.e; death curl you have nothing to worry about just continue to provide water. On a side note I would use a much deeper enclosure, Aphonopelma like to burrow.
 

Trenor

Arachnoprince
Joined
Jan 28, 2016
Messages
1,896
They eat all the food they can in the wild since they don't know when they will see more. Then they hide till they need more. We give them access to a lot more food then they would ever see in the wild so they stock up and get plump like this one.

Some of mine are pretty plump too. Though lately I've been dialing back on prey size and feeding times. Most people go with crickets and a dubia the same size has a lot more meat to it. So, me feeding like everyone else plumped my Ts up rather quickly. I've since been offering food with longer periods of time between the feedings.
 

HybridReplicate

Spectrostatic
Joined
Jan 26, 2017
Messages
107
Good. Lord. o_O I suppose in spiders just as with human is best to never assume they're pregnant...
 
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Rittdk01

Arachnoknight
Joined
Oct 4, 2016
Messages
258
yep, it's a fatty. Feeding is one of my favorite times with my tarantulas, but over feeding will lead to long stretches of fasting. The girl in my avatar is by far my fattest. She still has never refused food, but she's so big I only feed her a cricket or meal worm once weekly.
 
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