Are you a Tarantula hobbyist? If so, we invite you to join our community! Once you join you'll be able to post messages, upload pictures of your pets and enclosures and chat with other Tarantula enthusiasts. Sign up today!

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Aspen" data-source="post: 59037" data-attributes="member: 4222">Hey all! I just bought my first T (brachypelma albopilosum) about 2 weeks ago! Wooo! Spiders are as fascinating as they are terrifying and I hope to enjoy watching my T and learning all about this hobby! The problem is that I am a worry wart. I researched before I bought my T, and have been researching every day since but I still worry about my new pet. So I have some questions for anyone who knows more than I do. So here goes.~First some history~When I bought Pestilence (my T), they told me at the pet store to wait about a week before I tried to feed him. (From my research I have learned to take pet store advice with a grain of salt but that is why I am here) So I did, and when I put the first cricket in with him, it was almost like he ran away from the food and hid out on the walls of the enclosure, only returning to the substrate when I had removed the cricket. A few days ago, I noticed that the pinkish colored bald spot on his back had turned to a dark black color, and now you can't see the bald spot on him unless you look really close. It seems like he is in Pre-molt but his abdomen isn't really plump or shiny in anyway. Do tarantulas change color like that for any reason other than molting? Should I try to feed him again and if so what is the longest I should leave a cricket in the enclosure if he is in pre-molt?My second question is that I have had him in his new enclosure for a little over 2 weeks now. From my research and the helpful dude at the pet store, I have learned that albopilosum's typically like to burrow, but Prestilence has not started to burrow, no matter how much I try to start a burrow for him. The first few days he was in the enclosure, he spun webs across the piece of drift wood and spends the majority of his time next to said wood. His webs have since fallen some and he has made no attempt to refurbish them. Is he still possibly stressed out about the rehoming and just needs more time to settle in?What if he is stressed about the rehoming and in premolt? Could stress affect how well his molt goes?Thanks in advance for dealing with my obnoxious worrying. And thanks for all your help!</blockquote>

Verification