4" G. feeding help

[csshepherdgirl]

Eleven days ago, I purchased a G. rosea. I gave her plenty of time to settle in, and tried to feed her for the first time yesterday. I feed her a cricket that was too small I guess, because she struck at it but missed? It ran into her hide and she followed but it crawled out... unscathed.

I decided to crush the heads and just give her the crickets, but she just played with the bodies.

Today, I decided to try a medium to large cricket thinking the prey maybe was too small. It was still maybe only 3/4 the size of her abdomen, if that. Well, it wasn't in there ten seconds before she struck at it successfully. I checked on her later and she had eaten the head off and discarded the rest of the body. This was five hours ago now.

Her abdomen is plump and she is drinking water, so I'm not worried. I'm just lost! How long should I leave the body there to see if she returns to it???

Maybe she wasn't hungry anyway. I have no idea when the least time she ate was. This was the first time I tried feeding and the pet store had no idea.

 

[Tara Russell]

I would discard the next day if she doesn't eat the dead bodies

 

[HungryGhost]

I wouldn't sweat it, she could be in pre-molt. Put a swallow water dish in her cage in case she needs to drink. If she's not in pre-molt, she could be doing what g. rosea do. At that size they sometimes don't eat for long stretches of time. I would offer a cricket once a week and remove it after a few hours if she doesn't eat it, and try again next week.

 

[Martin Oosthuysen]

Hello
G.Rosea fast up to months at a time,try changing the prey type say cricket to Roach or super worm or could be a molt pending.

 

[Tara Russell]

Speaking of feeding should I bother my Tarantula looks like he just webbed himself in this log

 

[Martin Oosthuysen]

Speaking of feeding should I bother my Tarantula looks like he just webbed himself in this log

Hello
When saying webbing up in a log,do you mean like a nest type of situation ? If so,you could still add a prey item and see if it takes it. What I do when I'm unsure,I add a smaller item for a couple of hours if not taken I just remove it and the smaller item can't harm the T. This applies to say when I feed crickets, crickets actually bite back. I would advise against it to leave prey in for days on end,it could die cause a bacterial outbreak or mites etc.

 

[Tara Russell]

Like the front entrance is webbed alright I'll see if he is hungry every now and then

 

[Tara Russell]

Do males normally do this?

 

[Martin Oosthuysen]

Do males normally do this?

I would say its not gender dependent ,but the tarantulas choice. I have a C.Fasciatum female that webbed up her log same as my T.Ockerti as well as my T.Cupreus. I'd say depending on the individual,or species.

 

[csshepherdgirl]

She returned to the prey overnight and ate another quarter of it, so I just threw it away this AM. Weird. No signs of premolt either. My other rosea is premolt

 

[HungryGhost]

Roseas do the strangest things