Eating problems

[Simon Batten]

I have another question about my Avicularia avicularia since she shed 3 weeks ago she has eaten once that I know of 10 days after her shed, I moved her to a more suitable tank I put her in a tub whilst I swapped her with another T and gave her a cricket which she eat, since being put in the new tank she hasnt spun a web and her abdomen is still small I put some crickets in the tank but havnt seen her go to the floor to eat, im just looking for some advice or reassurance please

[Martin Airs (Camberwell)]

Hi simon,

As you may allready know a T will take a little time to make its self at home in a new tank, I think 3 weeks is a little long tho, or did you rehouse her after she ate, which would mean she's been in the new tank just under 2 weeks??

also how big/old is she, I'v found that older/bigger T's take longer to settle in than smaller ones. I have an A.metallica that just sat around for over a week before he finaly made a web but he was quite small, so maybe a couple of weeks is normal for a larger one.

also another thought I just had, was that maybe she doesn't feel safe enough to settle with crickets in with her.

sorry I couldn't reasure you very much, but I expect given a little time she will make herself right at home in there, does she have a dark corner she can goto??

[Simon Batten]

yeh I rehoused her after she ate so she has been in the new tank 2 weeks she may have come to the floor and eaten but I cant tell because of the tank shes in I keep a towel over the top of the tank which is in a corner so its quite dark all the time and the humidity and heat is ok, im not sure about her age she has shedded once since I had her and i would say she is near to fully grown so a couple of years old

[sarah Smith]

Simon did you make sure she had some of her old webbing moved into the new tank with her? avics are notroius for not doing well if they are moved without at least some of their old webbing and can take a month or more to settle into a new tank if they dont have this. In severe cases they have been known to be so stressed they end up with sudden unexplained avic death syndrome. When rehomming an avic of any age it is always best to reduce this risk by either transfering all of their old home into their new one or at least transfering as much of their old webbing as possible with them. Having crickets in with her when she has only been in there for 2 weeks is also risky as she needs time to feel safe and secure before she will feed and web etc. If I were you I would take out the crickets and leave her in the dark for now and dont disturb her at all. If it is at all possible and you have some left I would also put into her new home some stuff with her webbing on it or some of her webbing. Good luck with her and I hope her rehoming goes well.

[Simon Batten]

thanks sarah I didnt realise that I suppose i should of though really but since I have had her she has never really built a web except her shedding web I should of put some of that in do you think if I just leave her for a while she will be alright without food but if shes that hungry wouldnt she come to thwe ground to hunt??

[sarah Smith]

Mmmm going to be a hard one to call with her behaving like that, maybe the log or wood or what have you she used the most in her new home will help her settle as there will be trace amounts of webbing on that for her. She is likely to be hungry but to stressed to hunt and eat at first which is why I said to take the food out for a good two or three more weeks. Avics tend to be tempremetal at the best of times and after a rehome or moult they seem to be worse.

[Simon Batten]

right she still hadnt eaten until today, when in my tank its hard to explain but theres a narrow gap between the tank and some perspex I put in i didnt think it would be a problem but I needed to take out a dead cricket and change her water so when I took the lid off she came out on to the outside of the glass so i quickly grabbed a cricket tub and she walked into it I thought while shes in here I might as well try and feed her she went straight for the cricket and is now eating her second one so she must of been hungry im a bit annoyed that I disturbed her and she still hasnt webbed but it couldnt be helped do you think though I should leave her in the cricket tub and feed her for a few days or just let her back into her tank because her abdomen is still looking quite shrunken and this is the first time she has eaten since shedding 7 weeks ago is this normal??

[Neil Richardson]

Perhaps she couldn't find the crickets on the floor... You could try her on locusts, as they will climb up her bark, so she will notice them easier.

I'd put her back into her tank for the time being, if she refuses to eat at a later date, try feeding her in the tub again.

[Simon Batten]

I left her in the tub for the last six days theres some vermiculite and greenery in there with her and it is big enough for her without it being cruel and she has eaten every day for the last 6, she pounced on the crickets as soon as I dropped them in so she must of been hungry also she has made a little web in the tub somthing she hasnt yet done after weeks in her tank im at a bit of a loss with whats the best thing to do because I dont want to put her through unnecessary stress