How Long Without Eating?

[Neil Martin]

My L.Para is about 6" legspan and last year was always very voracious and active but also somewhat aggressive.

However, since around Xmas, it stays under it's hide all day, has become very nervous if your shadow passes across it, darting for cover and has only eaten 2 small crickets in 4 months.

Is this a normal turn of events once they get to a certain size or could something be wrong with it?

I can't do anything but offer food every couple of weeks and maintain temperature and humidity/water levels, but was just curious as to why the change?

[Peter Lacey]

You haven't said how long you've had it so its worth asking the usual questions. When did it last moult? How much were you feeding before Xmas? what temperature are you keeping it at? are you using lights on the enclosure? how moist is the substrate? Does it look different and any chance of a pic?

[Tom Forman]

Hi Neil,

I hope Peter can help with this one. It doesn't sound quite right to me but I can't give any advice on this I'm afraid.

They do change their behaviour quite considerably between moults sometimes but yours sounds a bit more serious than that...

Can you give us a bit more details about the feeding. What have you tried to feed so far and what happens when you do feed, does it just ignore the food?

How much were you feeding before x-mas? Powerfeeding will invariably cause your spider to fast for several months afterwards.

I hope it isn't anything too serious.

[Colin D Wilson]

First thing that crossed my mind is if it moulted around Xmas it matured into a male, if it hasn't moulted then thats blown that idea.
From experience para's seem to change "personallity" each moult right up untill maturity, mine have showed extremes from hiding away for months on end and eating at night when quiet to sitting in the open quite brazen and feeding as and when offered.

[Naython J]

my guess is thats its a mm and that its had its last moult i remember mine becoming very similar to this one except it never ever used his hide even when he was younger but he went off his food and rarely moved unless he had to, previous to this he was very active always trying to escape succeeded manytimes to be far lol clever buggers!!

my best advice would be do as you are doing keep clean fresh water all the time and maybe every 3 weeks try a decent sized locust or cricket but remove it after 24hrs if it aint gone.

if its not a mm then my suggestion would be place a large peice of wet tissue in one corner of the tank and keep the room dark for about 48hrs hopefully he will perk up with that!

keep us updated please

[Neil Martin]

Thanks all,

The tank is exactly the same as it has been for around 2 years (Para been in it for 10 months and a Smithi before that), always plenty of water and around 22 degC and 60-70%.

I have only ever fed it on medium sized crickets.

I don't think it has had it's last male moult (around Sep/Oct) as I cannot see any spurs yet and it is very quiet now (my Smithi just ran around the tank like crazy afterwards), perhaps the next one will be it?

I caught it out in the open this morning but it crept back under its' hide - looks perfectly OK, can't see any mites etc etc. I think it goes to the water bowl at night as there is quite a bit of white scum on the surface every day?

I will try to feed again this weekend and see what happens - thanks again.

[Clinton Hogben]

My L.Para is about 6" legspan and last year was always very voracious and active but also somewhat aggressive.

However, since around Xmas, it stays under it's hide all day, has become very nervous if your shadow passes across it, darting for cover and has only eaten 2 small crickets in 4 months.

Is this a normal turn of events once they get to a certain size or could something be wrong with it?

Hi Neil
My L para is about 7.5 inches and seems to change personality at every moult she has gone through the diet stage the pig out stage the run away from crickets stage the arboreal stage and now she is flicking hair at everything in sight stage
so dont worry to much as long as you have the basics of heat and a clean water supply he/she will probably grow out of it at the next moult. It is unusual though for them to refuse food for months on end unless you overfed him/her before xmas how big is the abdomen in relation to the carapace

[Neil Martin]

Clinton, I would say 20-30% bigger maximum, certainly not swollen looking, in fact fairly normal?

[Louise~Nichols]

Clinton, I would say 20-30% bigger maximum, certainly not swollen looking, in fact fairly normal?

Hi Neil,
Generally your spiders abdomen should be no larger than 1.5 times carapace width, with the ideal dimension being that the abdomen is no wider than the carapace (unless it's a gravid female, lol). Spiders in the wild are noticeably a lot less *full* looking than their captive counterparts, so unless your spidey looks shrivelled/wrinkled on the abdomen I'd not worry. I've had 4 month fasts before....these usually preceded the spider moulting into a male, although I do have some bloody-minded females too!
Just make sure it has fresh water to drink and offer food on a weekly basis, I'm sure it'll start to feed as soon as it feels ready.

[Neil Martin]

OK, I started this thread back in Mid-April when my L.Para had only eaten 2 small crickets in 4 months - but today it has molted (almost a year) - at last!!

It hasn't eaten at all since the first post, so that is pretty much a 6 month fast - incredible creatures?

It is still a little scrunched up at the moment, but from the 1 extended leg at the back, I can tell it is now quite large in terms of legspan - at least 8-9" I would estimate?

I can't see any Tibial Spurs so not sure if it is a Male yet, but I have a query - since the last moult the T has been a dark brown colour with the pinkish hairs, but now it is jet black and has twice as many hairs, especially on its' legs - is this normal as they mature?

Anyway, glad to be able to post positively as I thought the thing was fasting to death!

[Neil Martin]

You can see the colour change here?

[James Box]

the few adults i've seen of this gorgeous species are just like your picture, black with loads of hairs that almost look like they glow against the black.

6 months sounds a long time for a para, since they have such a reputation for eating.
however, now that it's moulted, in a week or so it should hopefully be caning the food again!

i hope yours is a female for longevity, but having said that, i had the pleasure of meeting Mary Walter's Noel, and he was one of the most docile spiders i've seen. a real treasure, and a productive father! granted, he won't live long, but he's been a joy just the same. maybe yours will be like that too.

[Neil Martin]

James, unfortunately I have seen a rather obvious Tibial Spur on "his" front right leg this morning, which is dissapointing as he looks fantastic and is a full 9" legspan - I was hoping to be able to keep it for a while?

What is the general lifespan of the L.Para following male maturity - is it around 12 months as with other T's?

If he goes into the "frantic marching mode" I will probably look to give him to someone who wants to breed off him.

[James Box]

i'm afraid i don't know about their lifespan as mature males. Mary posts on here and it's worth asking her how long she's had Noel. i think it's longer than a year, but couldn't say for sure.
he is a legend and if your fella is like that, you'll have a great time with him anyway.
good luck breeding him (or loaning)...they are far too prolific though lol!

[Clinton Hogben]

My L.Para is about 6" legspan and last year was always very voracious and active but also somewhat aggressive.

However, since around Xmas, it stays under it's hide all day, has become very nervous if your shadow passes across it, darting for cover and has only eaten 2 small crickets in 4 months.

Is this a normal turn of events once they get to a certain size or could something be wrong with it?

I can't do anything but offer food every couple of weeks and maintain temperature and humidity/water levels, but was just curious as to why the change?

Hi Mate
6 months is a long time but they can go longer in the wild
Have you tried a change of food my L para will go off foods at different times she usually eats standard brown crickets but hates black ones she will eat locust only occasionally and loves a bit of raw steak left overnight
so perhaps she is fed up with the crickets you could try something else instead
but like i said in my earlier post they change personality between moults