To feed or not to feed

[Jane Mitchell]

Our L. Para went off his food about 8 weeks ago and as it's been over 6 months since his last moult so we thought that his next one was imminent (the time between his previous moults was 6 months almost to the day!) He's not quite as active as usual but still has days when he's crawling all over the tank. Will he be OK if we don't feed him until he has moulted or should we try him with a cricket? I know T's can go for ages without food but don't want to 'starve' him if it would be detrimental to his health and his next moult.

[wayne balcombe]

hi jane, just a quick point when you say "he" do you say that because it has been sexed as a male/ is a mature male or just how you refer to your spider? lol

provided it is not already a mature male i would say its displaying the characteristics of being in pre-molt, you may still attempt to feed it but if any prey items have not been eaten after 24 hours they should be removed, you can attempt to feed again a few days later.

sometimes if spiders have been over fed/fed too often they will starve themselves for a while so thats another option to cosider.