Avicularia sp Peru purple pre molt?

J0ttem

Arachnopeon
Joined
Mar 29, 2014
Messages
5
Hey there,

3 weeks ago I got a female Avicularia sp. Peru purple, my 2nd T. She's around 4cm/1.5" in body length.
I had to put her in a makeshift plastic bottle enclosure for the first day because the parcel service had troubles delivering her intended enclosure.
When I placed her in the bottle she immediately started drinking and webbing up.
The intended enclosure arrived next day, so I transferred her over.
I quickly snapped a pic before moving her over:


I can't provide a picture right now, but it's a 20 x 20 x 30 cm / 8” x 8” x 12” enclosure, well-ventilated, provided with dry coco fiber, water dish and a piece of bark + fake plant to climb on.

After a few hours of exploring she decided to settle between the (long vertical) leaves of a fake plant and webbed the leaves together to form a funnel web. She has remained there ever since, occasionally popping her head outside the web's entrance at night.
I tried to feed her a few times last weekend but she doesn't seem to be interested. She also closed off the entrance of her web last night, could she possibly be in premolt? Or does she simply need more time to settle in?
I did my online research on Avic premolt behavior, but it doesn't seem as obvious as most terrestials. Her abdomen seems to have somewhat of a dark spot based on the picture, that's why I was wondering.

Maybe I'm just a bit paranoid because it's my first Avic.

Cheers,
Jeroen
 
Last edited:

Storm76

Arachnoemperor
Old Timer
Joined
Jan 30, 2012
Messages
3,797
That T appears to be in premolt I'd say by above picture. She also looks to be well-fed to actually overfed somewhat, so that she's denying food anyways isn't surprising. Keep humidity on stable levels, waterdish full and otherwise leave alone.
 
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