Posted: Wed Aug 19, 2009 6:57 pm Post subject: Should i be worried ?
Hey scabies.
My real question would be : How long can a Tarrantula survive without eating at all??
The reason why i ask is because my T. has been refusing food for over a month now . So far he's molted twice since i bought him and he never took more than 3 weeks from the time he stops eating to the time he molts and then he normaly stays in his web for one more week to allow his new skin to harden up before he starts eating again so i was used to not feeding him for a month total .
This time is different though. He stoped eating more than a month ago and he hasn't molted yet. He doesn't look sick or weak or anything and he does move once in a while , just eighter changing position or repairing broken threads on his web but he is losing a bit in abdomen size and i wouldn't want him to simply let himself die .
I would be curious to know what was the longest ''Molting process'' that you guys have ever witnessed from any of your Ts.
Mine is Avicularia avicularia , or Pink toed tarrantula if you preffer Even though i'm sure you all know that , i'm still gonna add that he's Arboreal and the only time he builds a web is 3 weeks before a molt and then abandons the web once he's ready to eat again. One last thing i could say is that i'm 100 % positive that he's not mature yet.
Any advice or personnal opinions or similar experiences would help put my mind at ease
I've had adult Avics go about 2 months without eating and was in premolt for what seemed like months.
I wouldnt get worried yet, just make sure it has water to drink.. _________________ “Look down at me and you see a fool;
look up at me and you see a god;
look straight at me and you see yourself.”
I've got a rose hair thats eaten maybe 4 times in the last two years. She's had it pretty rough, she's been forcing molts every few months to repair damaged limbs and only eats like once between molts. _________________ "Paranoia driving me insane; Paranoia ripping through my brain; Paranoia making me believe; Paranoia, that somebody's after me!"
Like has been said, I wouldn't worry. As long as it has water & the abdomen stays looking full/plump, it should be okay. I have 2 bigger slow growing species that haven't eaten in about a year. _________________
thanks for those replies. I do spray some water on his web once in a while because he has never exited his web eversince he made it. Normaly he has the usual water dish at the bottom of the container but he built his web on top . When i mist the water he doesn't have any reaction. I haven't seen him drink from it but i guess i'll just keep doing it .
About a week after i started this thread i asked the Pet Store guy if he had any idea what could cause my T. to be so slow this time . The answer i got from him was that it was probably caused by a lack of humidity.
After talking to him, i started spraying water in the tank everyday but even after two weeks there was no molts and that was bringing the premolt process up to 2 months. I then realised that it was probably not warm enough in the house so i turned the heat on and as soon as the T. felt the heat coming from one side of it's container , he moved to that side and stood there ( Still inside his web). I also kept spraying water everyday.
And tonight as i woke up, i go check up on him and i had a brand new T. ::lol::.
Needless to say that the next time i see a Premolt web i'll turn the heat on right away if it's not on already.
He took 9 weeks to molt this time and he normaly takes only 2 or 3.
Now i guess i'll give him another week to harden up and i'll give him the biggest and juiciest cricket i can find :-)
I'll send pictures of him once he's out of the web cuz right now there is no way i could get a clear shot.
avics need higher RH and temp than something like a G. rosea, for sure
what temps are you talking about? _________________
Quote:
There may be people who like centipedes. I have seen people handling tarantulas and scorpions, but never a centipede handler. I would regard such a person with deep suspicion...Now what sort of man or woman or monster would stroke a centipede on its underbelly "And here is my big good centipede." If such a man exists, I say kill him without more ado. He is a traitor to the human race.
Normaly in the summer , i don't turn the heat on at all but at this time of year, it can get pretty cold outside at night. Well not cold for me but i'm guessing it was too cold for my little friend.
I never used any special heating devices for my tarrantula's tank. The heat base for my house is realy close to the T's tank so when i turn it on, my T. is always the first one to feel it :-)
I usualy never put the heat any higher than 20 degrees celcius even during winter. This time i made an exception and put it at 25 Degrees Celcius to make sure it wouldn't turn off by itself so that my T. could have a permanent heat source.
I could definatly tell that he was happy to feel that heat. If he could talk i'm sure he would've said something like ( It's about freaking time !!!!! ) ::lol::.
Anyways , he had always seemed fine with house temperature but i guess he does need a little extra heat during molting.
Remember with the heat up to make sure it has a constant water source. _________________ “Look down at me and you see a fool;
look up at me and you see a god;
look straight at me and you see yourself.”
Remember with the heat up to make sure it has a constant water source.
He does have a water dish at the bottom of his container but he barely ever goes to it. Other than that, i do spray water to keep the substrate not too dry and i make sure some of the water goes to the sides of the container cuz i've seen him lick the water from the sides a few times.
Other than that he drinks cricket juice everytime he eats :-)
So far , thats been keeping him alive for almost 2 years and he seems to be in good shape.
Still good to know that extra heat requires extra water though.
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Even though i'm sure you all know that , i'm still gonna add that he's Arboreal and the only time he builds a web is 3 weeks before a molt and then abandons the web once he's ready to eat again. One last thing i could say is that i'm 100 % positive that he's not mature yet.
