A. Hentzi sling not eating

[Felixaad17]

Hey, y’all!
I’ve had my A. Hentzi sling for about two weeks, and he hasn’t eaten the entire time. He’s my first T, so I’m pretty eagle eyed with him. He seems fine otherwise - he’s taken to his premise burrow and comes out at night to explore his enclosure. I leave him small cricket legs to eat but he hasn’t gone for them (at least not when I’ve been watching, and they don’t seem to move positions). I’ve also tried live flightless fruit flies, but he just seems afraid of them. Is this normal? If not, any tips are appreciated. He’s such a sweet little fella.
Also want to add that since I’ve had him, he’s had a pretty sizable black spot on his butt. I’ve heard that before molting, their abdomen often darkens, and I’m wondering if he’s just in premolt?
Thank you, again!!

 

[Konstantin]

Do you have any pics of setup and the little fella?

 

[BrokenRay]

More than likely pre-molt. It is normal for new world tarantulas to go over a month without eating when in pre-molt like mine do. Tarantulas sometimes will go up to a year without eating depending on the species.

When first getting into this hobby it is hard for humans to wrap their heads around on the feeding habits of tarantulas. Believe me it will become normal to you eventually.

 

[m0lsx]

Personally I have never worked out how to tell if a tiny sling is eating, simply because something that small will eat so little.

My feeding regime for slings is. I feed deheaded mealworms. Leave them in for 24 hours, remove them & then the next evening start all over again. I currently have 13 slings small enough to need mealworms plus 2 small scorpions. So a tub of mealworms does not ever get used, even the way I feed.

I have some 1cm (sub half inch) slings for over 6 months. A johnnicashii & H chilensis & it seems to be a system that works for me. But as I said, I have no idea which slings eat & which do not. I just make sure they have fresh food available 3 days a week.

Tonight I popped a couple of deheaded mealworm beetles into a couple of slings enclosures, for some variety.

 

[octanejunkie]

Tarantulas eat when they are hungry. They can go a long time between feeding. Just make sure it has constant access to clean water.

Post a pic, it will help

 

[Felixaad17]

Here is a picture of his enclosure! I keep the bottom half of the substrate wet and keep the top dry (other than the area with moss that I mist when it gets dry so he can get water)

 

[Felixaad17]

Here is a picture of his enclosure! I keep the bottom half of the substrate wet and keep the top dry (other than the area with moss that I mist when it gets dry so he can get water)

 

[Adrinium]

A hentzi are notoriously slow growers, so it'll be just fine

 

[timc]

How big is the spider compared to that cricket you have in there? If it’s much smaller it might be scavenging and you don’t even notice. Either way, as others have said, slow growing species, propensity to fast. Still an awesome tarantula though. I lived in Oklahoma for a while and it was super cool to see a male out wandering every so often.