Hasn't eaten in months

Snake_Eyes

Arachnoknight
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I have a approx. 4 year old female P. murinus that hasn't eaten in months although her abdomen is still plenty large. She also no longer uses her hide and just kind of hangs out in the open. :?
 

IdahoBiteyThing

Arachnobaron
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molt or male?

Are you sure it's female? Maybe a pic. When was the last molt? More info please.
 

fartkowski

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It is very common for T's go go long periods of time without eating.
My adult P. murinus has gone a few months without eating.
As long as the abdomen is a good size, everything should be ok.
It is also very possible it's in pre molt.
 

Mushroom Spore

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Is there a question here? Tarantulas that aren't losing weight are fine even if they don't eat for a year.
 

Moltar

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Yep, the spider changes but the question/topic is the same:D
The answer doesn't change much either.

Probably premolt; the best way to find out is to wait and see. If it molts then it was in premolt. If it eats it wasn't in premolt. Or maybe it's male and no longer interested in food.

Then there's the .5% chance that something else is going on...
 

z32upgrader

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The answer doesn't change much either.

Probably premolt; the best way to find out is to wait and see. If it molts then it was in premolt. If it eats it wasn't in premolt. Or maybe it's male and no longer interested in food.

Then there's the .5% chance that something else is going on...
Hmm. My T doesn't meet any of these criteria. She's definitely a she and not in premolt. Her skin is just as pink as it was a year ago when she began refusing food. I don't know her age as she is wild-caught and her abdomen IS shrinking. Will a T refuse food as they near the end? She's fully grown and quite old and beat-up looking. I've had her for over two years and she's never molted in my care. This is exactly how she looks today. Crickets will wander near her and even under her and she lifts her legs to get out of the cricket's way...
DSCF4873.jpg
 
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lancej

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Hmm. My T doesn't meet any of these criteria. She's definitely a she and not in premolt. Her skin is just as pink as it was a year ago when she began refusing food. I don't know her age as she is wild-caught and her abdomen IS shrinking. Will a T refuse food as they near the end? She's fully grown and quite old and beat-up looking. I've had her for over two years and she's never molted in my care. This is exactly how she looks today. Crickets will wander near her and even under her and she lifts her legs to get out of the cricket's way...
View attachment 120312
Does she have a hide, and if so, what is it? Does she have regular access to water? Is there a constant draft blowing in her cage? She looks like she is stressed, possibly a little dehydrated.
 

z32upgrader

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Does she have a hide, and if so, what is it? Does she have regular access to water? Is there a constant draft blowing in her cage? She looks like she is stressed, possibly a little dehydrated.
She does have a hide, a half-dug burrow which she sometimes crawls in, full water dish at all times (I see her drink fairly often), and no air currents whatsoever. She is extremely calm and docile, very slow moving but still grooms regularly. On the rare occasion that I handle her, she barely moves even with gentle encouragement. A real pet rock. She might just be an old timer, she certainly acts like it. I'll admit her hide is a bit small. She's never expanded it even though there's plenty of substrate for her to do so. Maybe I'll buy a half-log hide and fill in the "burrow". Hopefully that will help. Any other suggestions are welcomed. Thanks.
Here she is a year ago. Notice the nice plump abdomen
DSC00173.jpg
 
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Hobo

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Sometimes they will just fast for seemingly no reason, not necessarily premolt. A year without eating is not unheard of either.
Make sure she has access to water, and wait and see. Still try to feed her every month or so.

Also, five year old thread. :)
 

GForce14063

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I had a B. smithi go a year without eating just keep fresh clean water and she should be fine as long as her abdomen is fairly plump don't worry.
 

z32upgrader

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She's gone

Sorry to bring up such a sad topic but
My little sweetheart died today. :cry:
I found her in a death curl in her hide and transferred her to an ICU where she just sorta writhed slowly before her movements all but ceased. I was watching her for about 20 minutes when some hemolymph started seeping out from under her carapace and I had enough. I put her in the freezer to end her suffering. I'm really going to miss her.
This really sucks. I'm totally gutted right now.
 

tarantulagirl10

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Sorry to bring up such a sad topic but
My little sweetheart died today. :cry:
I found her in a death curl in her hide and transferred her to an ICU where she just sorta writhed slowly before her movements all but ceased. I was watching her for about 20 minutes when some hemolymph started seeping out from under her carapace and I had enough. I put her in the freezer to end her suffering. I'm really going to miss her.
This really sucks. I'm totally gutted right now.
I'm sorry for your loss. :( She may have been a very old girl, and maybe it was just her time.
 

Tomoran

Arachnoknight
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Sorry to bring up such a sad topic but
My little sweetheart died today. :cry:
I found her in a death curl in her hide and transferred her to an ICU where she just sorta writhed slowly before her movements all but ceased. I was watching her for about 20 minutes when some hemolymph started seeping out from under her carapace and I had enough. I put her in the freezer to end her suffering. I'm really going to miss her.
This really sucks. I'm totally gutted right now.
Very sorry for your loss. :(
 

awiec

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Sorry to bring up such a sad topic but
My little sweetheart died today. :cry:
I found her in a death curl in her hide and transferred her to an ICU where she just sorta writhed slowly before her movements all but ceased. I was watching her for about 20 minutes when some hemolymph started seeping out from under her carapace and I had enough. I put her in the freezer to end her suffering. I'm really going to miss her.
This really sucks. I'm totally gutted right now.
Well if she is still in the freezer perhaps you can find someone/a tutorial on how to preserve her via resin. This is why I moved out of true spiders to T's, I was constantly sick of having to deal with them dying so fast. Of course it will probably hurt more when mine die because I'll have them for so long.
 
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