How long can a b. smithi go without food?

RickysReptiles

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I feed my b. smithi weekly. She refused food this week for the first time since she molted. I think she may be molting again.... Anyhow, I don't want to keep wasting crickets, so I was planning to take a week or 2 off before I try to feed her again. Is that ok? She is pretty plump at the moment, so I'm not too worried - but also not too sure.
 

cold blood

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I feed my b. smithi weekly. She refused food this week for the first time since she molted. I think she may be molting again.... Anyhow, I don't want to keep wasting crickets, so I was planning to take a week or 2 off before I try to feed her again. Is that ok? She is pretty plump at the moment, so I'm not too worried - but also not too sure.
How big is it?? Almost always critical info to add to a post.

Waiting 2 weeks is just fine as long as its not a tiny little sling. A healthy adult could go a year, 2 weeks is nothing.
 

RickysReptiles

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How big is it?? Almost always critical info to add to a post.

Waiting 2 weeks is just fine as long as its not a tiny little sling. A healthy adult could go a year, 2 weeks is nothing.
She is just shy of 5 years old. I haven't measured her, but she is > 4"
 
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Sam_Peanuts

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At that size, there's no problem waiting a month or two, my tiny sling fasted for longer than that before molting.
 

lalberts9310

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At that size, as long as the abdomen is fat you don't have anything to worry about, just make sure it has access to water
 

RickysReptiles

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Thanks everyone. Yes, she is fairly plump as she has eating 2 crickets a week without fail for several months straight.
 

Storm76

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Adult B. smithi female ~5" went off food for nearly 4 months...then molted...hungry as usual afterwards. It's a good idea to not keep feeding them in too short of a cycle. If you want to see them eat each time, at that size every other week will be fine.
 

RickysReptiles

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Adult B. smithi female ~5" went off food for nearly 4 months...then molted...hungry as usual afterwards. It's a good idea to not keep feeding them in too short of a cycle. If you want to see them eat each time, at that size every other week will be fine.
1 cricket every other week is enough?
 

Sam_Peanuts

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1 cricket every other week is enough?
It's plenty, they have very low food requirement.

The worst thing that will happen is that they may grow a bit slower if you don't feed them enough. You'd have to stop feeding it for well over a year if she's plump to starve her to death.
 

Storm76

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1 cricket every other week is enough?
Tarantulas in general have a very slow metabolism. While many including myself opt to get slings molt frequently by providing an "all you can eat" menu sometimes, with adults you don't want to do that. Not only can an overfed T have trouble molting, but you're also depriving yourself of getting to see them hunt prey offered.

My adults (including my currently ~5"+ B. smithi girl) get 1-2 feeders every other week only. Sometimes every 3rd week even and they're doing just fine. You'll have to rethink when it comes to T's, they are very cheap to keep since they have low food requirements really.
 

Cavedweller

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How big is it?? Almost always critical info to add to a post.

Waiting 2 weeks is just fine as long as its not a tiny little sling. A healthy adult could go a year, 2 weeks is nothing.
I'm no expert, but in my experience long waits aren't a big deal for lil slings either. One of my .75" G. pulchra sings got really fat so I decided to hold off on further feeding until it slimmed down a bit. 7 months later it wasn't any thinner. :biggrin:

I agree with lalberts9310. I just go by abdomen size to decide if my Ts (mostly slings) are ready to be fed or not.
 

cold blood

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I'm no expert, but in my experience long waits aren't a big deal for lil slings either. One of my .75" G. pulchra sings got really fat so I decided to hold off on further feeding until it slimmed down a bit. 7 months later it wasn't any thinner.
Sure when they're plump, but prior to that and especially after a molt, they'll need food on a more regular basis.
 

RickysReptiles

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This is all great news. My boa only eats every 3 weeks, so I'm not a stranger to waiting between feeds. When I first started keeping my T I was told that she needed to eat weekly. Clearly, that was wrong. I'll cut down to a more sporadic feeding where some months she'll get none and other months where she'll get 5 or 6 crickets. She's been a great eater with me, so in this case I'm 99.9% sure a molt is on the horizon.
 

Cavedweller

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Sure when they're plump, but prior to that and especially after a molt, they'll need food on a more regular basis.
Oh yeah, when they're all skinny and sad lookin after a molt you gotta fatten em back up.

This is all great news. My boa only eats every 3 weeks, so I'm not a stranger to waiting between feeds. When I first started keeping my T I was told that she needed to eat weekly. Clearly, that was wrong. I'll cut down to a more sporadic feeding where some months she'll get none and other months where she'll get 5 or 6 crickets. She's been a great eater with me, so in this case I'm 99.9% sure a molt is on the horizon.
You don't have to do anything fancy like that. Just every week or two is fine if she'll accept food that often. Good luck with her molt!
 

Angel Minkov

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My L1 P. metallica sling went on for nearly 3 months without food and it was post-molt I think. Got it skinny and I don't think the seller had fed it beforehand. Nothing to worry about if your smithi doesnt want to eat for some time.
 

viper69

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I feed my b. smithi weekly. She refused food this week for the first time since she molted. I think she may be molting again.... Anyhow, I don't want to keep wasting crickets, so I was planning to take a week or 2 off before I try to feed her again. Is that ok? She is pretty plump at the moment, so I'm not too worried - but also not too sure.
I had a Brachy not eat for over a year. Believe it was 16 months
 
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