koshermartian
Arachnopeon
- Joined
- Apr 24, 2024
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Greetings!
I am a new user to this board, so if I posted this to the wrong subforum, please forgive me.
I have a T. albopilosum (curly hair) female approximately 5 years old. I've had her for approximately 10 months. In that time, she has not molted. After upgrading her enclosure to provide for deeper substrate, my spider dug deep and has remained underground. Until now, she has taken a cricket once or twice week. Since March 26th, however, she has completely ignored the crickets being offered.
She's still alive so far as I can tell, but her burrow's design makes it difficult. She does not go anywhere near the "top"/"entrance" of her volcano. Instead, there's a 1 inch gap in the substrate that allows me to just barely see a few legs. In the week since the attached photos were taken, she has largely filled in the gap. She moves from time to time, but it is difficult for me to determine what - if anything - she is doing without disturbing the delicate dwelling she has dug for herself.
She won't even visit her water dish, so I have started misting the entrance and exit to her little volcano in the hopes she gets some moisture. I'm really not sure what else to do, and it's possible I'm doing more harm than good, but 4 weeks and several crickets have passed and I'm very concerned.
Does this sound like premolting behavior (hiding, rejecting crickets) or could this be an indication of something more seriousness? Am I correct in feeling it would be foolhardy and unduly harmful to disturb her earthen mound? Or should I try to extract her to learn more?
I am a new user to this board, so if I posted this to the wrong subforum, please forgive me.
I have a T. albopilosum (curly hair) female approximately 5 years old. I've had her for approximately 10 months. In that time, she has not molted. After upgrading her enclosure to provide for deeper substrate, my spider dug deep and has remained underground. Until now, she has taken a cricket once or twice week. Since March 26th, however, she has completely ignored the crickets being offered.
She's still alive so far as I can tell, but her burrow's design makes it difficult. She does not go anywhere near the "top"/"entrance" of her volcano. Instead, there's a 1 inch gap in the substrate that allows me to just barely see a few legs. In the week since the attached photos were taken, she has largely filled in the gap. She moves from time to time, but it is difficult for me to determine what - if anything - she is doing without disturbing the delicate dwelling she has dug for herself.
She won't even visit her water dish, so I have started misting the entrance and exit to her little volcano in the hopes she gets some moisture. I'm really not sure what else to do, and it's possible I'm doing more harm than good, but 4 weeks and several crickets have passed and I'm very concerned.
Does this sound like premolting behavior (hiding, rejecting crickets) or could this be an indication of something more seriousness? Am I correct in feeling it would be foolhardy and unduly harmful to disturb her earthen mound? Or should I try to extract her to learn more?
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