I got a problem with my Tarantula.

[Marios Mizo]

I got my T about 1 month right now and she only ate once, 5 days after I got her.

I got her on 13 January.

Then she pumped the entrance of her hide with substrate and silk.

After some days i wanted to see if she is ok and i opened her entrance, then she closed it again :P

Since then she is always in her hide and closed entrance and i am afraid that it's not good for her cause she is not eating and she is young!

Here's a pic:



What can i do?

[D Browne]

What is it? a chile rose?

To be honest it sounds like typical molting behaviour, Its amazing just how long they can go without food, i think there is reports of them going upto 2 years without food, and several months is not uncommon, i have a brachy that hasnt eaten at all since i got it about 3 months ago.

She'l know what she is doing, just leave her to it, and she'l be fine.

[Phil Rea]

She looks fine. Rounded abdomen and in good health. Just make sure she has ready access to water. Don't worry about her not eating.

If she webs up the entrance to her burrow, she obviously doesn't want to be disturbed. Sounds like she could well be going to moult, so the least disturbance the better

[D Browne]

Yeah mine goes into its burrow for days at a time with no signs. I also read another guy said that his burrows itself away for a month or two at a time without molting, is just there thing i think.

Beautiful tarantulas though.

[Marios Mizo]

It's a lovely Cyclosternum Fasciatum

I thought she was going for molt too, and that's why i left her alone for a week, but then i wanted to see if she's alive :P

And, when she wants, she will come out by her self? And how should I know she's hungry so I put in a cricket?

[Aaron Annal]

Hi
A few of my T's refuse food for mths without molting and also web themselves in to there hide i jus tend to leave em be add a cricket every so often and remove if uneaten after a day or so and keep water dish topped up until they reappear hope it helps
Aaron

[D Browne]

She'l probably come out when she is hungry. If you see her walking around then throw one in then, or you could try throwing in a cricket once a week and leave it in over night and see if she takes it, but if not take it out. She'l last months without food, but water is the most important thing for her to have access to, and water not that bug gel rubbish

good luck mate

[wayne balcombe]

Marios,

This is normal behaviour for spiders when they are going to moult, you should leave the spider alone and let nature take its course.

You can put in a cricket but i think you will find it will not be eaten at the moment, I would wait untill the spider comes out and starts hunting again.

Bare in mind that spiders are very fragile when they are freshly molted so wait at least 4 days after the moult before introducing food.

P.S very nice looking spider you have, i love the way they look as slings and juvies.

[Marios Mizo]

Yeah I only use water, but the problem is that my dish is realy small and it evaporates all the time. I think I must find a new, bigger dish.

Also, the dish is on the opposite side of her hide which is the cold side.

I have 2 hides one on warm and one on cold one, she is in the warm one now.

Is there a problem that the dish is far from her?

Thank you very much Wayne. I'll take care to know if she's on molt or not.

Humidity should be around 75% right?

[vincent winyard]

hi marios. as for your water dish problem you might find a jam jar lid with a small peble in the middle will do the trick thats what i used for my t's when they were young hope this helps. o and dont use lids that have had spicey contents as you cant get rid of the smell.

[darrell hetzel]

my A. avicularia is doing the same thing right now. she will greedily eat twice a week and then stopped. she is an adult and molted about two months ago. it happens often enough with all my ts. as long as the water is full, and the abdomen isnt shrunken, she will be fine. a few of my slings do it and then dont molt for a long time. its frustrating! i get my hopes up for the beautiful new colors, then nothing.

[Dan Kennard]

If anything, the spider looks a bit on the over fed side. It could survive on those reserves for a significant amount of time, so you have nothing to worry about.

For future reference, if a spider has sealed itself in, then it's done it for a reason, and you should just leave it alone completely.

The spider knows best.

[william sutherland]

she will more than likely be moulting i would leave her be throw in a cricket/locust once a week remove if uneaten & make sure her water is clean

[william sutherland]

just passing on what iv read new to t,s myself i got a juvanile grammostola rosea female off santa & alredy searching for my next t iv got a bday on yhe 19th maybe treat myself thinking of an aboreal any recomendations.