do aphonopelma fast?

[Mark Shingleton]

hi guys,
i was just wandering do Aphonopelma sp. fast like g. rosea. my " new river rust rump " has not eaten in well over 6 months. i thought she was ready to moult first but now im not sure, not showing any signs of moult. she is a healthy size and drinking plenty of water the room heat is usually between 25/30 c. she seems fine so im not too worried... at the min. but she was a good eater at one point, she has destroyed her hide so now is forced to sit in the open, so will that affect her eating, maybe not feeling secure? shuld i worry?
thanx

[Craig Mackay]

Yeah, it's fairly normal for them in my experience. Infact, I've got a bunch of new river slings that I got last August that have had 1 bean weavil between them and yet still continue to moult and grow. Had 3 moults from each of them and they've grown a fair bit without food, quite remarkable really! They're just not interested in food and I've tried just about everything there is out there at the moment.

[Nicola Dolby]

Just out of curiosity, at what age do Grammostola start to fast? I have a beautiful little two year old vachoni here who has refused food for nearly a month (though drinks fine) and has shown no sign of moulting. Please help

[Talha Sadak]

well i guess the tarantula just answered your question

[Mark Shingleton]

thanx craig, that puts my mind at ease, . thought i must be doin summet wrong, she used to eat anything and everthing and all my other Aphonopelmas are good eaters, its just her, been awkward.
im not sure when grammostola start fasting, bought all mine as adults and not really eaten since i got em, sept my pulcheripes, shes another good eater.

[Nicola Dolby]

I Guess so.

[Colin D Wilson]

I've had Grammostola play the "not eating game" right from sling. In fact i had a couple or three (in the mid 90's) who didn't eat till they'd shed a few times, they grew at the same rate as the others (who ate properly - if thats a phrase you can use with these) from the same sac which was freaky really. One of the "non starters" grew to be the last female i had a successful sac from so it shows it doesn't have an effect on future events.

[Nicola Dolby]

Thanks Colin, that's brilliant. Actually I'm thinking of naming mine "Snoopy". I gave him a lovely cave to live in and he's gone in there, re-arranged it completely, excavated it into a tunnel and then gone to live on the roof!!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/58318836@N04/5925244735/in/photostream

[James Box]

they can definitely fast. nothing to worry about unless the spider starts losing weight drastically.
i had a couple paysoni that refused food and died months later, but they may've just been old as they were fully adult.
generally they'll fast for a while due to a long slow moult cycle, but will LOVE the food afterwards.