Antisocial B.Smithi thats's not eating

[Dean Earley]

Hi all.

I've had my B.Smithi just under a month now and I've just dicovered 4 live crickets in her tank (I normally give her one a day).
I have removed them for now, but is this normal?
I seem to remember that not eating was a sign of an upcoming molt but can't find anything definitive now.

She's also an antisocial cow and keeps hiding in the small gap behind some bark. I assume that is not a good place to stay if shes going to molt though...

Any and all thoughts welcome.

Thanks

--
Dean Earley

http://personal.earlsoft.co.uk/gallery.php/Family/Spider/2006-08-12/DSCF0002.JPG?page=1

[Guy Tansley]

Hello Dean,

Sounds like normal B. smithi behaviour. Offering one cricket a day will simply speed up the time that the spider enters its fasting period = refusing food. For a sub/adult B. smithi I would feed around 2-3 crickets per month.
Look out for the signs of an upcoming moult that will accompany the loss of apetite (swollen appearence, spreading urticating hairs around its container and the bald spot turning black) although these signs may still be a while off.

Hope this helps.

[Dean Earley]

Oh, oops..

She is only tiny (and a year old) so I guess shes not going to eat until she molts?
I'll scare my family and put the crickets in the fridge

I can't see any obvious signs of an upcoming molt so I guess I'll just leave her for now.

Thanks

[Neil Martin]

This is lucky as I was just about to post a query along the same lines as this one.

My Smithi is around 2 years old (70mm-ish?) and had a succesful moult about 7 weeks ago. Since then and up until around a week ago, it would eat anything I put in front of it daily, locusts/crickets and at one time both together!

It dug a second entrance to it's cork bark and was extremely active and on display, not running for cover when I took the lid off the tank etc.

About a week or so ago, it started some serious excavation work, dropping the floor level under the bark by about 3 inches and blocking off it's secondary entrance. The main entrance which is up against the glass has been completely "webbed" over and now it just sits in the burrow 24/7. I know it's still alive as it keeps turning around, but it has not taken any prey during this period.

I was concerned that I had caused the problem as I had cleaned the tank just prior to this happening and had a bit of a "fight" trying to coax it into a container, the T trying to escape up and over the glass with me poking it back down with a chopstick. It seemed calm enough after and was handled without flicking or biting. I even saved some of its old "webbed" vermiculite carpet for under the cork, but it just rolled it up and threw it out!!

Is it possible that it is already settling down for another moult and if so, would that indicate that the frequency of feeding has been too high? As I only have one spider, it is difficult/a nuisance to only buy and keep a couple of crickets at a time. My local shop sells brown crickets individually, so I normally buy 10 a week, a third of which usually die and the rest go into the spider.

[Guy Tansley]

I wouldn't expect a 2 year old B. smithi to enter pre-moult after only seven weeks but it is possible, just watch for the other signs as mentioned in the previous post. Fequency of feeding is up to owner all that it means is that the more you feed, the period when the spider fasts with be reached more quickly.