E.campestratus not eating?

[John Cowell]

Hi I got my first tarantula a few weeks ago she is an E.campestratus and I have been trying to feed her black crickets but she seems to avoid them I don't know if I just have to give her more time but she is in a Exo terra small and wide terrarium any tips would be appreciated

 

[VanessaS]

If you could provide a bit more information, it would help people to determine if she is in pre-moult of if her enclosure is too big. Photos will help tremendously.
How big is she? How big is the enclosure? Can you get a photo of her as well? When they get closer to moulting, their abdomen will get black and shiny.
Also, I don't know if black crickets are something you buy, or if they are wild caught, but you should never feed wild caught prey. There is a risk of parasites, pesticides and other things that make store bought the appropriate way to go.

 

[Rmac88]

If you could provide a bit more information, it would help people to determine if she is in pre-moult of if her enclosure is too big. Photos will help tremendously.
How big is she? How big is the enclosure? Can you get a photo of her as well? When they get closer to moulting, their abdomen will get black and shiny.
Also, I don't know if black crickets are something you buy, or if they are wild caught, but you should never feed wild caught prey. There is a risk of parasites, pesticides and other things that make store bought the appropriate way to go.

^This. Also, how big are the crickets in comparison to your T? Some tarantulas may be afraid of prey if it is too large.

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[Venom2090]

exo tera really isent a great cage for terrestrial tarantulas. it has too much height and doesnt let you add much substrate. either the food is too big or shes in premolt and wants to be left alone with a water dish. id recommend a kritter keeper or a plastic tub from Walmart or meijers or something.

 

[John Cowell]

If you could provide a bit more information, it would help people to determine if she is in pre-moult of if her enclosure is too big. Photos will help tremendously.
How big is she? How big is the enclosure? Can you get a photo of her as well? When they get closer to moulting, their abdomen will get black and shiny.
Also, I don't know if black crickets are something you buy, or if they are wild caught, but you should never feed wild caught prey. There is a risk of parasites, pesticides and other things that make store bought the appropriate way to go.

Well she is about a year old and we feed her medium black crickets we bought at pet shops sorry for lack of photos I can't get a great pic of her as she is in her cave we have a bark substrate but I will change it for soil after her molt. I did think she could be molting but she is not showing any signs besides the eating.

 

[John Cowell]

Here is her terrarium

 

[VanessaS]

I would not wait to change her substrate, personally. It will only take a few minutes and that bark is very tough on them. Especially since we don't even know if she is in pre-moult at all. And if it is pine or cedar - they can both be deadly for them because of the phenols they contain.
Those enclosures are far too high for terrestrials and a fall could be fatal. And, because of the front facing doors, you cannot fill them up with substrate to prevent injury. At a year old, I'm guessing she is no bigger than 2". Am I correct? That enclosure is probably far too big for her at that size.
Is there any way that you can get a small Kritter Keeper, fill it half way with coco substrate and move her over to it?

 

[John Cowell]

I would not wait to change her substrate, personally. It will only take a few minutes and that bark is very tough on them. Especially since we don't even know if she is in pre-moult at all. And if it is pine or cedar - they can both be deadly for them because of the phenols they contain.
Those enclosures are far too high for terrestrials and a fall could be fatal. And, because of the front facing doors, you cannot fill them up with substrate to prevent injury. At a year old, I'm guessing she is no bigger than 2". Am I correct? That enclosure is probably far too big for her at that size.
Is there any way that you can get a small Kritter Keeper, fill it half way with coco substrate and move her over to it?

Ok I did think it was far too big for her but that was the smallest one available and I just took the pet shops word with it being too big I will change her enclosure asap and maybe keep the one I have for something Thanks VanessaS you've been very helpful

 

[John Cowell]

I would not wait to change her substrate, personally. It will only take a few minutes and that bark is very tough on them. Especially since we don't even know if she is in pre-moult at all. And if it is pine or cedar - they can both be deadly for them because of the phenols they contain.
Those enclosures are far too high for terrestrials and a fall could be fatal. And, because of the front facing doors, you cannot fill them up with substrate to prevent injury. At a year old, I'm guessing she is no bigger than 2". Am I correct? That enclosure is probably far too big for her at that size.
Is there any way that you can get a small Kritter Keeper, fill it half way with coco substrate and move her over to it?

Hi I made her new home I used plantation soil with topsoil at the other side I used a 7 litre fish tank and filled at about half height

 

[VanessaS]

I'm not sure about anyone else, but I normally don't use anything metal for their water dish. Do you have a plastic lid that you can switch that out with? For the bigger enclosures I use a peanut butter container lid. A lot of people use ceramic dishes too.
I hate pet shops. I have never known of a single person who has received good information from them. They're horrible. It is a combination of having no knowledge plus pushing certain products because of the higher margins they will get from them.
They push those enclosures because they're expensive and they don't want you to know that you can get a plastic shoebox type container that is perfectly fine at the dollar store.
For my terrestrials, I get the KIS containers at my Dollarama in Canada for no more than $3 for the largest size. Most of my tarantulas are in the medium sized ones that cost me $2 each. Yes, they are functional and not so much great looking, but they work just fine and give them lots of room. They are far more shallow, so they are easier to store and don't require too deep substrate to prevent falls.
I hate pet shops so much. They don't care about what happens to the animals once you leave there. And if their bad advice ends up killing your pet - they're hoping you'll just come in and buy another one.