Tarantula Web Doors: Not coming out after weeks of completed molt

Hi there! I am new to tarantula owning and have found that there is not that much information online about tarantula caring as I would like there to be.
So my questions is, does anybody else's tarantula make web doors on their hiding spots? Mine did so when she first moved in; I assumed it was because she was still adjusting. After about a week or so she broke them off and started laying out on the substrate and a rock that I placed. Molting time came around and she "locked" herself back in her cave. I removed her exoskeleton from the cave after she was done without disturbing her (I wanted to find out the gender. It's a girl!) It's been about 3 weeks now... and she still hasn't come out. She looks healthy but she won't eat.
Does anybody know what to do?

Species? Size?

I had a 1/4" Grammostola pulchripes seal itself in it's burrow to molt FOR TWO MONTHS. Came out one day twice as big. Next molt it only stayed hidden for a month.

There are many different circumstances to take into consideration, if the T is having a paticularly large growth spurt (like poec's did) then it may hide longer beforehand and then recover longer afterwards.

We will need the species and size to give a better verdict, however keep in mind that Ts have instincts, it is not going to starve itself, it will get food when it is ready. Make sure water is always readily available and keep trying to feed once every 5-7 days, eventually the T will go for it. Pics of the spider would be helpful too, but do not disturb it to get them

She's a chilean rose T. As for the size I am not sure because I never know how people measure them (diagonally or vertically). Diagonally I'd say her leg span is about 4-4.5 inches.
I dropped a couple crickets a few days ago and it seems like they're gone... her web door has a large enough hole now for her to crawl through

rbell said:

She's a chilean rose T. As for the size I am not sure because I never know how people measure them (diagonally or vertically). Diagonally I'd say her leg span is about 4-4.5 inches.
I dropped a couple crickets a few days ago and it seems like they're gone... her web door has a large enough hole now for her to crawl through

Click to expand...

My B vagans lived in a In burrow for 1 year , when it collapsed she never rebuilt it. She didn't really seal herself in though, except when she molted.

Here's a picture of her when I first got her. After her molt though she became much more darker and her carapace is red

Well I wouldn't worry about her not eating straight away, G.rosea are tough as nails and can survive years without feeding so 3 weeks is no biggie, try again next week and use different types of food to see if you can trigger a feeding respone like, crics, roaches and Mealworms or maybe even lay a pinkie mouse on her burrow and wait for her to eat it since she freshly molted.

In the US, size is measured by diagonal legspan. I think in other countries they measure by head + body length.

Here's a page by our very own Stan Shultz on Rosie weirdness. She can easily take months without food, don't worry about her. Just keep in mind the #1 worst thing you can do in this scenario is dig up your tarantula, as this poses significant safety risks to your pet.

My adult female Aphonopelma turned her water bowl upside down and used it as a lid to her burrow. She's been in there for about 4 months.

If you start to miss your tarantula, you could always get a couple more to keep you company till your rosie comes out...

You've no need to be concerned, as others have said for a T that size 3 weeks is nothing, it might be in premoult or it may have eaten those crickets. Just keep providing water and keeping an eye on it next time you feed to see if it actually eats or not, but roseas can easily go months sometimes over a year without eating and be fine =)

The species has a low requirement for food, there's never a reason to feed more than one prey item at a time. Literally feed it a cricket every 10 days or so, and even at that pace, she will still get fat and go on long fasting episodes, which they are known for. The absolutely will not starve to death, don't worry for a second when it refuses food.

When she webs herself in, wait till she emerges to offer food. 3 weeks isn't even considered fasting yet for this species (G. porteri btw), 3-6 month fasts are normal and they regularly fast extensively in winter. Just make sure to keep the enclosure as dry as possible, they hate moisture.

As for "what to do", the answer is simple....nothing...do absolutely nothing...patience is required, you want regular activity, get 10-20 more.:wink: