How soon can I offer food to tarantula after molt?

[LRM]

Crickets can and will go after your spiders, scorpions, centipedes etc after they have molted because they are so soft and vulnerable. I know this from first hand experience and if you visit arachnoboards.com you can see pictures of the carnage a single cricket can do. Crickets can be downright nasty so you don't want to leave them in the tank if you even suspect a molt is coming.

Sounds to me like you have a rose hair, am I correct? If so I wouldn't worry at all. Even if you don't, old tarantulas can go premolt and refuse food up to 5months before molting. They won't even think about feeding after that until they have hardened again and that can be weeks. Just make sure it has water, it at the right temps has the appropriate humidity and leave it alone. Also, it needs a place to hide if it is an arboreal, (corckbark tubes work great) or at least 6"-12" of substrate to dig its own retreat in if its a terrestrial. Otherwise it is going to stress out. A happy tarantula is one that has a snug, tight fitting retreat.

Best advice, and this comes from me keeping over 400 tarantulas and breeding 3 species for the past 6 years, make sure their home is right and leave them alone. Most of the time they are a pet hole. Thats what makes them happy.

 

[gigas12]

Hi,good advice LRM!

 

[katschamne]

LRM I was going to say make sure it has water. In fact that is the most important. That and the fact it may take a week or longer for the fangs to harden. When they first molt the fangs are white. You may safely feed once the fangs turn black. The larger the tarantula the longer it takes to harden.

I also have see what a cricket can do to a tarantula and even other reptiles when they are left in the cage if the animal doesn't eat it. When we feed, we recheck the cages the next day and remove any uneaten crickets.

Best advice, and this comes from me keeping over 400 tarantulas and breeding 3 species for the past 6 years, make sure their home is right and leave them alone. Most of the time they are a pet hole. That's what makes them happy.

And I thought my husband was bad. We stopped counting at 150 and that number was reached sometime last year. We also have 9 different species of scorpions (although I don't the exact number of the scorpions ) and this has been in a little over 3 years

 

[lujor]

Yup. Rose Hair. No white fangs tho- lighter than usual but still maroon-brown. Hidey-holle and water always available. Pretty high humidity (no problem with molt)- tarantula is in same room as my fish tanks. They are resiliant things. Marvels of evolution, really. Thanks for the tips.

 

[LRM]

Yup. Rose Hair. No white fangs tho- lighter than usual but still maroon-brown. Hidey-holle and water always available. Pretty high humidity (no problem with molt)- tarantula is in same room as my fish tanks. They are resiliant things. Marvels of evolution, really. Thanks for the tips.

Rosies are notorious for behaving strangely. They don't need much humidity though, in fact they are an arid land species.

 

[lujor]

Rosies are notorious for behaving strangely. They don't need much humidity though, in fact they are an arid land species.

Humidity does help with the molt tho doesnt it?

 

[katschamne]

Humidity helps right before they molt and after water to hydrate is needed. LRM is right that they come from a very arid climate and if you ever had the substrate really moist you will have them climbing walls and sitting on top of hides until it drys out. It's like they don't want their toes wet.

Our male just recently passed on. He has been a mature male for the past two years and he went to molt and didn't make it though it. *****RIP Fluffy*****

 

[chloe]

I tried telling her she looks good with a few curves, but she's in a mood

she prob thinks your trying to call her fat lol

 

[katschamne]

Yup. Rose Hair. No white fangs tho- lighter than usual but still maroon-brown. Hidey-holle and water always available. Pretty high humidity (no problem with molt)- tarantula is in same room as my fish tanks. They are resiliant things. Marvels of evolution, really. Thanks for the tips.

I forgot if her fangs are maroon-brown, wait on feeding her for another week. She will be fine then offer her food.