MISSING G. ROSEA

[travisw9879]

I havent seen my grammastola rosea sling for over 2 months and its inclosue looks relatively undisturbed from when Ive last seen the T. Im starting to assume the worst. Any advice?

 

[DustyD]

I am not sure how long is too long for them to hold up in their hides, but it is fairly common for them to do so. Check out the Grammostola section of these forums. Others have had the same issues. Here is what Konstantin said ( although it was a grammostola that was hidden for a much shorter time). Konstantin wrote this:


"Often when introduced to new enclosures tarantulas feel unsecure and will seek tight spaces.This is especially true if introduced to oversised enclosure. .It will take time for your spider to settle in. Bigger the spider longer it ttakes.Just be patient and keep full waterdish in the enclosure it will come out when its ready.
Regards Konstantin"

Another person mentionned molting as a possible reason.

My G. Pulchripes has hidden most of the 10 days i have had her. G. Pulchra, hid straight away after i got her about 4 days ago. Both are about 1.5 inches. I try to put food in once a week. So far no takers.

 

[travisw9879]

I am not sure how long is too long for them to hold up in their hides, but it is fairly common for them to do so. Check out the Grammostola section of these forums. Others have had the same issues. Here is what Konstantin said ( although it was a grammostola that was hidden for a much shorter time). Konstantin wrote this:


"Often when introduced to new enclosures tarantulas feel unsecure and will seek tight spaces.This is especially true if introduced to oversised enclosure. .It will take time for your spider to settle in. Bigger the spider longer it ttakes.Just be patient and keep full waterdish in the enclosure it will come out when its ready.
Regards Konstantin"

Another person mentionned molting as a possible reason.

My G. Pulchripes has hidden most of the 10 days i have had her. G. Pulchra, hid straight away after i got her about 4 days ago. Both are about 1.5 inches. I try to put food in once a week. So far no takers.

I have kept the enclosures humidity relatively dry and only watered the water dish i have in it. The T is about 3” in legspan and all the food i have put in has been refused or not eaten. I have the T in my old exoterra mini enclosure not sure if that is considered too big for its size i just figured give it a nice enclosure because i really liked the T. But im not sure how long is too long either and im trying really hard not to dig it up.

 

[DustyD]

Yes I am sure it is very tempting. I will let others with more experience suggest your next course of action. Hang in there, this is a very helpful group, just not sure when people get on.

 

[ilovebrachys]

Hi
Have you any picture of your enclosure?
It's not unusual for tarantulas to stay buried for any amount of time so don't assume the worst -
How big is the sling? They often Bury themselves and seal themselves off when in premoult

 

[travisw9879]

Yes I am sure it is very tempting. I will let others with more experience suggest your next course of action. Hang in there, this is a very helpful group, just not sure when people get on.

Thank you for all the help

 

[travisw9879]

Hi
Have you any picture of your enclosure?
It's not unusual for tarantulas to stay buried for any amount of time so don't assume the worst -
How big is the sling? They often Bury themselves and seal themselves off when in premoult

Ive attached pitctures of the exoterra enclosure the (grammstola rosea enclosure) also disregard my crazy OBT

 

[travisw9879]

Also here is a 2 month video of the grammstola rosea this is the last time that i have seen it

 

[Oursapoil]

Hi,
Except for some of my arboreal Ts hidden in tubes, I usually want to do a visual check on my Ts once a month if I have not been lucky to see them, if the preys offered are not being eaten and if a molt is not appearing in the enclosure. Most of my terrestrial Ts are set with a piece of cork bark and I usually start to dig underneath it before rehousing the T. In 9 out of 10 cases, the T will continue digging where I started and make a home there. After a month without seeing the T, especially if she barricades the entrance with a mix of dirt and web, I use a paint brush to gently lift the cork bark just enough to take a quick pic and ensure the T is good.

 

[DustyD]

I may try that, although it has only been two weeks for me on one T and almost a week on the second. It looks like on the two weeker T (G. pulchripes) that only one side of the entrance is blocked off. I have not checked, but the other side may be open or blocked further in.

I put crickets in on Friday night overnight and the first one did not eat any. In the case of the G. pulchra i got last week, one cricket, .5 inch one, went into the hide and did not come out. Not sure if eaten, dead or moved in with the T.

 

[Oursapoil]

I may try that, although it has only been two weeks for me on one T and almost a week on the second. It looks like on the two weeker T (G. pulchripes) that only one side of the entrance is blocked off. I have not checked, but the other side may be open or blocked further in.

I put crickets in on Friday night overnight and the first one did not eat any. In the case of the G. pulchra i got last week, one cricket, .5 inch one, went into the hide and did not come out. Not sure if eaten, dead or moved in with the T.

I would not bother them if it has been less than a full month since the last time you spot them. They often bunker down to molt

 

[Lentulus]

The Aphonopelma in my avatar has been in that little spot for 5ish months. Giant black spot on the butt not visible in the pic since I got em. I’ve just been letting it be because I have other younger specimens that have closed and opened up their burrows at will. Im lucky that I can keep an eye on it.

Unfortunately, even Tom Moran gives inconsistent advice on this topic. He’s got an article where he talks about getting worried, diggin up a T, seeing the T was fine, and realizing how much stress he caused it. Recommends not doing anything unless 6 months or so. In seper video, he talks about potentially saving the life of a T he had to dig up much sooner than six months.

It’s an area that doesn’t seem to have a ”right” answer.

 

[DustyD]

I would not bother them if it has been less than a full month since the last time you spot them. They often bunker down to molt

Yeah,I did not make it clear, but I will wait at least a month before even considering a forced entry.

 

[Oursapoil]

Yeah,I did not make it clear, but I will wait at least a month before even considering a forced entry.

I would say a sneak pic instead of a forced entry

 

[Gizalba]

Yeah as more time passes it seems hard to balance the risks of disturbing versus the risks of leaving them. My one inch davus pentaloris sling vanished for 2 months from the day I got him and I couldn't see any changes in the enclosure to suggest movement so I feared the worst. Then one day he appeared again fine and had moulted a few times

However I had another sling who vanished and was indeed dead when I finally dug her up after 5 months; the mould from the decaying body was probably a clue to that, so with others that vanish I am reassured if there is no mould.

I have kept the enclosures humidity relatively dry and only watered the water dish i have in it. The T is about 3” in legspan and all the food i have put in has been refused or not eaten. I have the T in my old exoterra mini enclosure not sure if that is considered too big for its size i just figured give it a nice enclosure because i really liked the T. But im not sure how long is too long either and im trying really hard not to dig it up.

I may be wrong here but I did think that slings need more moisture/dampening of the substrate in order to not dry out, even if their species like rather dry conditions as adults? As well as the water dish I do dampen one corner of the enclosure (opposite to where the hide is to avoid flooding it) of all slings when it dries out. However I may worry about this too much/over-water so please correct if if I am wrong. Just wondered if that would be helpful to give the sling a bit of moisture even if it doesn't want to come up to the water dish.

 

[travisw9879]

Yeah as more time passes it seems hard to balance the risks of disturbing versus the risks of leaving them. My one inch davus pentaloris sling vanished for 2 months from the day I got him and I couldn't see any changes in the enclosure to suggest movement so I feared the worst. Then one day he appeared again fine and had moulted a few times

However I had another sling who vanished and was indeed dead when I finally dug her up after 5 months; the mould from the decaying body was probably a clue to that, so with others that vanish I am reassured if there is no mould.




I may be wrong here but I did think that slings need more moisture/dampening of the substrate in order to not dry out, even if their species like rather dry conditions as adults? As well as the water dish I do dampen one corner of the enclosure (opposite to where the hide is to avoid flooding it) of all slings when it dries out. However I may worry about this too much/over-water so please correct if if I am wrong. Just wondered if that would be helpful to give the sling a bit of moisture even if it doesn't want to come up to the water dish.

For grammastola rosea its like sleeping in a wet bed not so good for them

 

[travisw9879]

After further inspection of the enclosure ive come to find underneath the bark is no burrow at all. No idea where the T is or where it went unfortunately. And im hesitant about rifiling through all of the substrate to attempt to possibly find it. Im starting to lose all hope

 

[travisw9879]

I have also read through another persons post on G. Rosea’s and they had sort of the same issue as me, where the tarantula fasted for over 6 months. Though they never specified if they could ever see the T or not so i just assume that they could. Could my tarantula possibly be going through the same phase in its life, but just from the saftey of its burrow? Im asking this on here because that post was 7 years old.

 

[MBullock]

the general rule is, dont disturb it unless it smells of rot. a rotting tarantula will smell like spoiled shrimp or fish

 

[travisw9879]

the general rule is, dont disturb it unless it smells of rot. a rotting tarantula will smell like spoiled shrimp or fish

Regardless of size?