Worried about my B. Emilia

amp4ana

Arachnopeon
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Jun 24, 2010
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I have my B. Emilia and she's not eating for about a month! I kept pouring water on her water dish and what I'm really concerned about is her abdomen is getting smaller, I've already tried thong feeding and giving her pre-killed dubia but she still didn't take it. She's not making any doubtful gesture like death curl or anything. I'm just worried about her abdomen. She's not getting slower or anything else.

Thanks in advance guys!
 

Maxhoule

Arachnopeon
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Jan 30, 2011
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I think it is normal for a Brachypelma species, it's either in a long premolt or don't like the dubias.
 

amp4ana

Arachnopeon
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Jun 24, 2010
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Thanks for the reply, but I have her when she's only 2.5" and been giving her dubia and that time she's not getting tin or anything, she accepts the dubia and molted twice and turns her into 4". Is there anything to do with her enclosure? Because when she's feeding on dubia her enclosure is not that big so the space between her and the dubia is small and making her eat it? Her enclosure now is about 2 or 2.5 galons.
 

Maxhoule

Arachnopeon
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Jan 30, 2011
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You should wait and try to feed it in a week, be sure the substrate is fairly dry.
 

Mammothdog

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Jan 25, 2011
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She must be in premolt. It may take them awhile. My G. Rosea has been molting for almost 3 weeks. I hope everything goes well. :)
 

amp4ana

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She only fed twice since her last molt, its impossible for her to be into a premolt stage, she's really thin like a mature male tarantula and really need some opinion in feeding her.
 

Dr Acula

Arachnobaron
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She only fed twice since her last molt, its impossible for her to be into a premolt stage, she's really thin like a mature male tarantula and really need some opinion in feeding her.
how much did she regularly eat between molts before?
 

Hobo

( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
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She must be in premolt. It may take them awhile. My G. Rosea has been molting for almost 3 weeks. I hope everything goes well. :)
Um...
Do you mean actually molting or in premolt?
Molting shouldn't take any longer than a few hours... and if your spider has been molting for three weeks, it's surely dead or close to it.

EDIT:

Oh, and to answer the OPs concerns, she sounds ok. It doesn't sound like you need to change anything, but lets see a picture of the spider and it's enclosure. She may have eaten only twice since her molt, but how big were the food items?
Try feeding her every two weeks. She's probably just full, or in premolt, based on what you describe.
I'd start to maybe worry if she doesn't eat for a year, and only if her abdomen starts shrinking or something.
 
Last edited:

amp4ana

Arachnopeon
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Jun 24, 2010
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Just a quick reply, Her abdomen is almost the same size of the carapace or maybe smaller but thicker. If she continues doing this I'll move her to smaller enclosure to force feed her. Any opinions about that?

EDIT:
Thanks for the replies guys! keep comming.
 

kean

Arachnoknight
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i think you cannot force feed a Tarantula? :eek:

even if you place it in a cramped container with the feeder.. if she doesn't want to eat.. she will not..

that probably is an adult or sub-adult.. and the frequency of feeding really slows down during that stage..

My A. Seemani went fasting for around 10mos. without eating and finally took some food after that period.. she ate twice then molted.. and her abdomen really went small..

so not much to worry about.. just provide a water dish.. sit back, relax and everything will be fine.. leave her be and don't stress her too much by transferring her again to a smaller enclosure.. :D
 

Big_nito

TRISKELION
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Jan 18, 2010
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I have an exact same problem with one of my B. Emelia females right now. It started after she molted. After a thorough check on her, I found out that her fangs were broken. Thats the reason why I noticed that the dubias I used to feed her are still alive. So what I did, I fed her with lats... But still she would just attempt to touch it but not really eat it. But lately, I tried another approached and so far it worked. I tried to partially squash the lateralis to the point that some internal organs are exposed but still leaving the lateralis half alive... So far she is eating right now but very slow. She lost half her abdomen size since after that molt thats why I was very concerned... Try to check your Emelia's fangs. It could be the reason why she isnt eating.
 

amp4ana

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Jun 24, 2010
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@kean
Thanks for the very informative reply, so I should just wait for her to feed? because all of my T's are very greedy eaters except for my B. Emilia so I felt really strange about that. She keep climbing and I think she doesn't notice the feeder so it came to my mind to switch her to an smaller terrarium for her to stop climbing and start noticing the feeder.

@Big_nito
Thanks for the reply, she have no problems, I've checked her fangs, legs, abdomen and carapace but everything seemed to be well. Any other thought?
 

Formerphobe

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Did she do a lot of climbing before you rehoused her? It's been my experience that when a terrestrial T starts climbing, there is something it finds unsuitable about the substrate. Too damp, different texture... How much height is available to her in her new enclosure?

If the abdomen is smooth and rounded, she is most likely fine. If it looks shriveled, wrinkled or irregular, there is a problem - dehydration and/or injury.

It is perfectly okay for the abdomen to be comparable or smaller in size than the carapace. B. emelias are not supposed to have big, big, big behinds, unless gravid. A fat spider is more prone to injury than a 'mid-weight' or lean one.

Some spiders will go extended periods of time without eating. Could be pre-molt, or reasons they have chosen not to share with us... :)
 

amp4ana

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Jun 24, 2010
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Did she do a lot of climbing before you rehoused her? It's been my experience that when a terrestrial T starts climbing, there is something it finds unsuitable about the substrate. Too damp, different texture... How much height is available to her in her new enclosure?

If the abdomen is smooth and rounded, she is most likely fine. If it looks shriveled, wrinkled or irregular, there is a problem - dehydration and/or injury.

It is perfectly okay for the abdomen to be comparable or smaller in size than the carapace. B. emelias are not supposed to have big, big, big behinds, unless gravid. A fat spider is more prone to injury than a 'mid-weight' or lean one.

Some spiders will go extended periods of time without eating. Could be pre-molt, or reasons they have chosen not to share with us... :)
No she didn't do a lot of climbing, her abdomen is small but very rounded and looks pure. It's impossible for her to dehydrate because they are well-taken care of me :D She does climbing right now when I opened her enclosure to check her. Maybe its just an attitude of B. Emilia to not eat regularly? Thanks.
 

Mammothdog

Arachnopeon
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Jan 25, 2011
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Um...
Do you mean actually molting or in premolt?
Molting shouldn't take any longer than a few hours... and if your spider has been molting for three weeks, it's surely dead or close to it.
:) My bad shes in premolt still. lol. She should be molting anytime soon.
 

amp4ana

Arachnopeon
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Jun 24, 2010
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Just an update, everytime I try to give her crushed-head dubia she starts to climb on her enclosure wall. Any thoughts? :confused:
 

Formerphobe

Arachnoking
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She's eating about 4 - 5 times a week that time
She was eating 4 - 5 times each week? That's a lot.
How frequently are you offering her food now?
I'd wait at least a week or two before offering her anything else.
 

amp4ana

Arachnopeon
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She was eating 4 - 5 times each week? That's a lot.
How frequently are you offering her food now?
I'd wait at least a week or two before offering her anything else.
Since she stop eating for about a week or two, I started trying to feed her every day or two to fatten her up but theres no hope, she always refuse to feed and she always start climbing on the walls of her enclosure everytime I place a pre-killed dubia. I really want to fatten her up.
 

Formerphobe

Arachnoking
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How big is she now, and how fat do you want her to be? Do you have a picture?
 
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