Cripes! T's drive me nuts.

[marisa]

Maude my Bolivian Pink tarantula hasn't been eating much for 6 months. In 5-6 months she has probably had MAYBE half a dozen crickets. Before this she happily would eat 20 crickets a week. Easy, and still be looking for more. I figured for the first two months...o.k. o.k. she is going to molt just relax and let her do her thing.

But this has gone on for 6 months now (crappy appetite) but today I went into the room and saw that she is *FINALLY* molting. She is halfway done now.

Let's hope next week when I feed her, she has regained her MONSTER appetite like she used to have!

Marisa
P.S. I will try and get some post molt pics if I can! She has a gorgeous red on her! I can't wait to see it when she comes out fully.

[Tim and Julie B]

Haha patience Marisa. :D But aren't you glad you were right and she was just molting? My Fireleg just did and ........ WOW! TB

[Emily-Fisher]

20 CRICKETS A WEEK?!?! That's horrible!! (No offence... but it is REALLY too much!!!!!)

I know hat you know this already but I might as well tell you anyways... make sure not to touch or feed her for the first 4 days!!!

When you do feed her though, if she's adult, I suggest that you give her a p/k pinkie mouse instead of crickets to fatten her up. It's a good thing to do after a tarantula molts. It fattens 'em up real quick.

A while ago, my juvi red knee molted and she practically GLOWED!! There's a picture of her in my gallery that I took a little while after she molted. Sooo gorgeous!

[marisa]

Actually I do not feel its too much at all.

I have asked quite a few people at tarantulas.com and all of them said if she is not "fat" (as in bursting stomach lol!) and she is growing still, then there is no problem at all. All my crickets are fully gutloaded and normally she molts every few months. She gets five small crickets every other day when she is eating normally. Works out to about 20, give or take a few.

She also prefers ONLY one day old pinkies so its ridiculous to feed her nothing but those as even with pinkies, she eats them only every so often.

When she reaches adult size obviously feeding will be far less but this tarantula has much growing to do yet. I also do not feed my T's until a full week after molting. Both are large species and I haven't had a problem with the feeding schedual or waiting a week to feed them.

Marisa

[inuleki]

at least you can get her to eat that ofte... i have a g. rosea that didn't eat ANYTHING for 6 months....

but what is the scientific name of your T? is it the "Vitalus" (actually Pamphobetus) sp. platyomma?

[marisa]

Hi no she is Acanthoscurria chacoana. :D

She actually only *used* to eat that often. Like I mentioned, she has had maybe half a dozen crickets these past 5-6 months. Not sure why and she didn't molt during this time (longest stretch yet between her molts) but she has just completed a molt now. I am sure her old appetite will return!

Marisa

[inuleki]

congrats! i'd like to see a pic of her sometime