Tarantula: second moult

[Chris R. Jones (Sirunus)]

My Tarantula looks like she is approaching her second moult since I had bought her. She is refusing any food I give her, and her last moult was three months ago. Thanks for helping me in the thread "Colossal Crickets" those of you that did reply, but unfortunately, those crickets have been made obsolete. What do you think I should do with them?

Thanks in advance,

~Chris

[Guy Tansley]

What size is your spider? Is a 3 month moult turn-around likely for your spider at this size? There's a chance it may resume feeding.

As for the crickets, you could try breeding them otherwise either let them live out their lives naturally or simply place them in the fridge then the freezer - depends on how attached you are to them.

[Chris R. Jones (Sirunus)]

My spider is a juvenile Brachypelma Smithi, with a legspan of 9-10cm. I can't say I'm in love with the crickets with their constant chirping, messy habits, frequent escape attempts and their monstrous appetites, but I don't want to hurt them or for them to get hurt.

[Adam Garthwaite]

My crickets are good as gold. Hardly getting any chirping and they don't try to escape at all! I can safely open the box to get one for feeding :>
But yes, they do smell.
I hear stir fried crickets are quite tasty...

[Stuart Mitchell (stooka)]

my crickets are constantly chirping away all night,sometimes keeping me awake.the escapees i think fair play to them so put em out in garden.dont know how theyre getting out but not many do.and yeasterday im sure 1 bit me.

[Chris R. Jones (Sirunus)]

and yeasterday im sure 1 bit me.

I remember once when I was handling a cricket, I felt a pinching and saw a cricket nibbling my skin! Mine escape by managing to push the trap doors open on the cricket keeper (they're adult black field crickets). I blue tacked the trap doors and have had no escapees since.

[Guy Tansley]

Have you considered 'silent' crickets (not actually silent but quieter on the whole) or maybe even lobster roaches as an alternative food source?

[Chris R. Jones (Sirunus)]

Have you considered 'silent' crickets (not actually silent but quieter on the whole) or maybe even lobster roaches as an alternative food source?

Nope. Are the brown crickets just as nutritious? I tried feeding my spider again, but still no cigar.

[Guy Tansley]

Can't say as I've never ate them

Brown crickets are smaller and harder to keep confined IME, escaping more easily and able to survive longer under normal house conditions.

[Chris R. Jones (Sirunus)]

Black Crickets are noisy and are strong (they push the trap doors on the Kricket Keeper open and escape). But I give them to my spider because they are meaty. Should I try feeding her juvenile locusts instead? Just they're harder to keep alive for like a month. My spider has been refusing food for two weeks now. Do you think she is in pre-moult? Some spiders I've heard moult like a month after their last moult, even some of the slow growing ones.

PS: I caught a cricket "swimming" in my spider's water dish. I thought it had drowned, so I opened the cage to get it, then it panicked and "swam to shore" and jumped out!

[Guy Tansley]

If you want to try locusts, it's recommended that you use them within the first few days as they should be kept at very high temperatutes to prevent them getting gut infections that quickly destroy a culture and may prive harmful to your spider.