Odd behanviour

[Chris R. Jones (Sirunus)]

Hi,

Wow, it's been a while since I was here!

Anyway my Tarantulas have me really worried. The fact that my Mexican Red Knee has been refusing food for months is a cause for concern. I thought she was in pre-molt after unsuccessful attempts to getting her to eat. I tried feeding her again a couple of months later, and she devoured the cricket. But after just one cricket, she started fasting again. I have no idea now if she is hungry or not. She still has a relatively robust abdomen and has plenty of drinking water, but she just sits there and does nothing. She only moves to change her position. I hope she's okay. Should I try feeding her again? It's been about 9 months since her last molt and I think she's due for another; the bald spot on her abdomen looks like it has darkened.

And my Chile Rose Tarantula is just... weird. She made a burrow in the back of the tank. A few weeks ago, she started refusing food as well, and has gone inside her burrow and has sealed up all entrances and exits, and I haven't seen her for weeks. There's evidence that she's come up out to drink, and she's opened and resealed the entrance a few times, but other than that, I haven't seen her.

I'm pretty worried about them. Is this the famine season for them or something? I just hope my T's are okay.

Any help will be appreciated.

Thanks,

~Chris

[manganr]

Sounds like perfactly normal T behaviour to me! My Smithi has fasted for over six months and then eaten anything that was given to her right up to the week before her molt. Spders are just plain odd. If you're looking for regular behaviour patterns then you have the wrong pet!

[Mike Shaw]

I would say they are both going to moult. Quite a few of my species seal themselves up before they're moult sometimes for a good few weeks. G, rosea are renound for fasting aswell. Just make sure they have fresh water all the time and keep an eye on them.

Cheers Mike

[Neil Richardson]

My G.Rosea fasted for 5 months just because it didn't like roaches... eventually it got hungry and took one, and hasn't looked back since.

[Chris R. Jones (Sirunus)]

Sorry for the bump, but I thought it's better than starting a new thread.

Thanks for the replies everyone. I was starting to worry if it was normal fasting for that long.

My Chile Rose has come out! She went to have a drink after misting her cage and changing the water in her dish. Still I don't know whether they're hungry or not.

Should I buy a new batch of cricket for them, or do you think they're on the verge of their next moult? My family can't stand the crickets, especially the black noisy ones. I usually feed my T's these because they last about a month when fully matured and are big a meaty. I tried Brown Silent Crickets, but they were all dead within two weeks. But at least my family dosen't complain about them.

Thanks,

~Chris

[manganr]

I feed my T's locusts. You may find a simple change of diet makes a difference. My A Seemanni wouldn't touch any crickets but at the first sight of a locust she ate straight away.

[Kristine]

My G. Rosea went almost 12 months without eating before she had her last Moult. I have read that it is quite common for them to go through periods where they just don't eat. After her moult she started eating voraciously but has started to refuse food again. I worry about this cause that means in the past year and a half she has eaten about 20 locusts.

She has fresh water and I mist her tank daily.... I don't know if it's just her age. I got her at 6 years old which would make her 9 this year...(in that 3 years she has moulted once although she had just moulted before I bought her). Is that old for a G. Rosea?

Krissie

[Chris R. Jones (Sirunus)]

Thanks for all the help, everyone. Both spiders are eating again, and voraciously. I put crickets in the fridge for 15-20 minutes before feeding time to slow them down; both me and the spiders have trouble catching them!

Kristine: I don't think that your G. Rosea is anywhere near old. I heard that G. Rosea females can exceed 20 years of age.

manganr: I'll try feeding them locusts again sometime.

I have no idea how old my G. Rosea is though. She was apparently wild caught, and not captive bred like my B. Smithi. She is in good health, unlike the bigger G. Rosea I bought which got injured in shipping and died. I didn't think I was ready for rearing slings because I was told they have a high mortality rate; something like only 1 in 3 make it to adulthood.

~Chris

[mary walters]

I have a rosea that was 8 when I got her as a rescue, her owner died, that makes her 14 at least now she is a fiesty thing for a rosea though. I don't think that is old for a spider though.