My T stays skinny

Neoza

Arachnobaron
Joined
Jul 4, 2014
Messages
306
Hey everyone! I have a G.pulchripes male (5 inch). He molted about 4 weeks ago and ofcourse its normal that his abdomen became skinny after a molt but usually after a month his abdomen becomes again 'fat'(not really fat but normal sized). But now its still very skinny and i gave him a lot of food and also varied. I know he is a male and that males are skinnier but he isnt mature so.. I know there is nothing big to worry about but i just wonder if its normal?
 

tarantulagirl10

Arachnobaron
Joined
Oct 15, 2010
Messages
537
It's only been 4 weeks since his molt, and it will take longer than that to fatten him up. I have had my adult female G pulchripes not even want to eat for 3 weeks after a molt. Just offer him food once a week and keep his water dish full. :) If you could post a picture of him that would be very helpful. You are SURE he isn't mature right?
 

edgeofthefreak

Arachno-titled!
Old Timer
Joined
Apr 2, 2012
Messages
496
I agree with tarantulagirl10. You did say varied diet, and I'd go with most exciting food. My spiders go after crickets like kitties to a laser pointer. They are a bit tougher to remove if they're unwanted, but IMO they're a great after molt meal. Once I have them feeding, I switch to superworms for bulking them up.
 

Neoza

Arachnobaron
Joined
Jul 4, 2014
Messages
306
When he doesnt eat its normal that he stays skinny but he eats very good. And yes i know for sure he isnt mature, maybe almost but he has no hooks and ive never see him make a sperm web. I give him crickets and mealworms. Usually i dont give him worms. But after a molt i give him 2-3 mealworms (after a week) and he gets fatter really soon and he is ok. But this time i already gave him 6 mealworms and some crickets (spread over 4 weeks) and he stays skinny. (Sorry for my english :p) image.jpg he isnt that skinny but when i compare his abdomen from now and from before the molt its a huge difference!! His abdomen now is smaller then his carapace. But before the abdomen was bigger then the carapace.
 
Last edited:

skippydude

Arachnobaron
Joined
Feb 3, 2013
Messages
487
If the abdomen was bigger than the carapace, he was probably obese. The T in this picture looks like it has a nice healthy weight, especially for a male.
 

Neoza

Arachnobaron
Joined
Jul 4, 2014
Messages
306
Maybe he is just getting mature and will more and more look like a mature male though :) my other tarantula (dead) was a female, this is my first male so im not used to skinnier and legier T's :) thanks for reply!!
 

cold blood

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Jan 19, 2014
Messages
13,223
I also tend to feed mine superworms for a nice big post-molt meal, they do tend to fatten them up, especially as they get closer to molting. Post-molt is really the only time I feed the worms, though.

Your t looks like he's got about perfect weight going on. You are probably just used to him being reeaally heavy:). Also as they get larger, it takes more meals to get them to a fatter abdomen, and these t's tend to put a lot of growth per molt.

I have a 4" that molted about 6 weeks ago (1" size increase). Its been fed 15 meals during that time, about half were small crickets, the rest were decent size, and its just now starting to get its weight back on now. It takes a lot to even notice her gain. I recall feeding her a superworm at 3", and after it finished it looked noticeably fatter. Same meal goes unnoticed now.


I feed mine fairly often because it ALWAYS wants to eat, but I back way off once it reaches a certain size. Its had 2 good meals in the past week and just a few minutes ago I went to right its dish and fill it. I grabbed the dish with a tweezers and instantly it hit the tweezers...all over them. As it backed off I lifted the tweezers and she was back on them, and out of the enclosure in an instant. Been a while since I needed a catch cup...lol. She was very cooperative in returning home, I love this species and how fast they actually can be...and they seem to like to show it fairly often (poor prey).
 

Neoza

Arachnobaron
Joined
Jul 4, 2014
Messages
306
I also tend to feed mine superworms for a nice big post-molt meal, they do tend to fatten them up, especially as they get closer to molting. Post-molt is really the only time I feed the worms, though.

Your t looks like he's got about perfect weight going on. You are probably just used to him being reeaally heavy:). Also as they get larger, it takes more meals to get them to a fatter abdomen, and these t's tend to put a lot of growth per molt.

I have a 4" that molted about 6 weeks ago (1" size increase). Its been fed 15 meals during that time, about half were small crickets, the rest were decent size, and its just now starting to get its weight back on now. It takes a lot to even notice her gain. I recall feeding her a superworm at 3", and after it finished it looked noticeably fatter. Same meal goes unnoticed now.


I feed mine fairly often because it ALWAYS wants to eat, but I back way off once it reaches a certain size. Its had 2 good meals in the past week and just a few minutes ago I went to right its dish and fill it. I grabbed the dish with a tweezers and instantly it hit the tweezers...all over them. As it backed off I lifted the tweezers and she was back on them, and out of the enclosure in an instant. Been a while since I needed a catch cup...lol. She was very cooperative in returning home, I love this species and how fast they actually can be...and they seem to like to show it fairly often (poor prey).
yes indeed they grow fast! I just have to wait a little longer begore he gets fatter :) and yes this species is very interesting! Mine is super docile but sometimes he can be moody :) thanks for reply!
 
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