Concerned about my P. metallica

[Will]

I'm a little bit concerned about my P. metallica sling and I was hoping someone with more experience could put my mind at rest. The story so far:

Nov 23rd - Acquired my new P metallica sling about 1" DLS
Nov 27th - Fed it a large cricket leg (I only had large crickets at that time)
Dec 2nd - Moulted (now about 1.25" to 1.33" DLS). Lost a leg during the process.
Dec 8th - Fed it a headless medium-sized cricket

So the sling has not fed since Dec 8th (nearly 2 weeks). Every 2 or 3 days I will offer some food. Considering all it has eaten so far is pre-killed food I have been mostly trying that, with some live crickets every now and then. I will leave the food in there for 24 hours, take it out and then wait a day or two before trying again.

It is housed in a well ventilated 32oz deli cup with 2" of soil/peat, a piece of cork bark and a couple of twigs. I also have a small water dish in there.

2 weeks seems like a long time between feeds for a sling of that size who I doubt is premoult.
Should I be worried? Is there anything I can do or am I worried for no reason?

Thanks
Will

 

[Tomoran]

Is the substrate damp or dry? I've never experienced it myself, but I've heard folks say that if kept too moist, some pokies won't eat.

If it lost a leg during its last molt, it could be going into a fast molt cycle to repair the damage. Tarantulas that are injured will often speed up the next molt to repair any issues. Just something to consider. In the meantime, I would continue to offer something every week or so to see if it's interested.

 

[~8-legz~]

As long as it has a nice sized abdomen there is nothing to worry about... just keep water available and temps in mid 70's and offer food as you have been

 

[Will]

Is the substrate damp or dry? I've never experienced it myself, but I've heard folks say that if kept too moist, some pokies won't eat.

If it lost a leg during its last molt, it could be going into a fast molt cycle to repair the damage. Tarantulas that are injured will often speed up the next molt to repair any issues. Just something to consider. In the meantime, I would continue to offer something every week or so to see if it's interested.

Yeah I've heard that about Pokies too so for that reason I try and keep the substrate fairly dry but there is always water available in a small bowl.

That's interesting about it possibly going into another moult cycle so soon, would be nice if that was the case.

 

[Will]

As long as it has a nice sized abdomen there is nothing to worry about... just keep water available and temps in mid 70's and offer food as you have been

Yeah the abdomen seems quite a nice size. Temps are 74/75 during the day and 70ish at night.

At what point is it too long for a sling to go without food?

 

[Chubbs]

Need picture [emoji14]

 

[MassExodus]

Yeah the abdomen seems quite a nice size. Temps are 74/75 during the day and 70ish at night.

At what point is it too long for a sling to go without food?

I've had slings go two weeks without touching prey. It's not that uncommon at all in my experience.

 

[micheldied]

Slings can go for a long time without food, if they were well fed before. Abdomen size is what you should look out for. It's very possible your sling is going into premolt again.

My personal experience with P. metallica hasn't been long, I've had other Pokies for much longer. However, I've found that with my two P. metallica slings, they start fasting for a molt much earlier than any other Pokie I've had. My two went over 40 days without food before actually molting, and they were 1 inch slings. I've also had to leave prekilled food because they're so skittish, and will only take much smaller live prey items. Very different from any other Poecilotheria species I've owned before.

 

[SpiderDad61]

I'm a little bit concerned about my P. metallica sling and I was hoping someone with more experience could put my mind at rest. The story so far:

Nov 23rd - Acquired my new P metallica sling about 1" DLS
Nov 27th - Fed it a large cricket leg (I only had large crickets at that time)
Dec 2nd - Moulted (now about 1.25" to 1.33" DLS). Lost a leg during the process.
Dec 8th - Fed it a headless medium-sized cricket

So the sling has not fed since Dec 8th (nearly 2 weeks). Every 2 or 3 days I will offer some food. Considering all it has eaten so far is pre-killed food I have been mostly trying that, with some live crickets every now and then. I will leave the food in there for 24 hours, take it out and then wait a day or two before trying again.

It is housed in a well ventilated 32oz deli cup with 2" of soil/peat, a piece of cork bark and a couple of twigs. I also have a small water dish in there.

2 weeks seems like a long time between feeds for a sling of that size who I doubt is premoult.
Should I be worried? Is there anything I can do or am I worried for no reason?

Thanks
Will

Loss of leg could possibly causing a quicker molting process. Also, a lost leg causes a T to "cut off" flow to that area to stop bleeding, so it could be part of it. If the abdomen isn't skinny or shriveled, just keep the water dish full, offer a pre killed cricket every couple days, and monitor it. Fyi, my P metallica loves her burrow I created, and is in it all the time, digging deeper and deeper. Urs may benefit from more substrate and a burrow

 

[Will]

Slings can go for a long time without food, if they were well fed before. Abdomen size is what you should look out for. It's very possible your sling is going into premolt again.

My personal experience with P. metallica hasn't been long, I've had other Pokies for much longer. However, I've found that with my two P. metallica slings, they start fasting for a molt much earlier than any other Pokie I've had. My two went over 40 days without food before actually molting, and they were 1 inch slings. I've also had to leave prekilled food because they're so skittish, and will only take much smaller live prey items. Very different from any other Poecilotheria species I've owned before.

40 days! Well that makes me feel much better about my 2 weeks thanks.

Abdomen size seems healthy so I'll try not to worry.

 

[Will]

Loss of leg could possibly causing a quicker molting process. Also, a lost leg causes a T to "cut off" flow to that area to stop bleeding, so it could be part of it. If the abdomen isn't skinny or shriveled, just keep the water dish full, offer a pre killed cricket every couple days, and monitor it. Fyi, my P metallica loves her burrow I created, and is in it all the time, digging deeper and deeper. Urs may benefit from more substrate and a burrow

Interesting. Just out of interest what sort of substrate have you used and how did you create a burrow?

 

[RedCapTrio]

Learning something new.

 

[SpiderDad61]

Interesting. Just out of interest what sort of substrate have you used and how did you create a burrow?

Coco fiber and potting soil, 50/50 mix. If it's a species that needs more moisture I add vermiculite.
The burrow I create for my pokies slings/juveniles is a piece of cork bark tube, about 2" long, pressed into the substrate. Mine go in there, and burrow down til they're content. They are always in there. U can see their front legs sticking out, and when feeding, I put a cricket on tweezers in front of em and they take it right off. Other times they're out of their burrow, so I'll drop food in and watch em attack.

 

[Will]

Nice. Thanks for the info man. Mine never goes near the substrate. I used peat/soil 50/50.