G. Pulchripes Fasting Q's

[scj0nes]

Hello! You might remember my thread about my little Chaco Golden Knee (G. Pulchripes) Bundy. Remember how I mentioned he loved to eat? Well, that's not the case anymore.

He's been fasting the past two weeks and I'm not sure if I should be concerned or not. I heard it's normal for fasting periods, but now he's allowing the crickets I tried to feed him yesterday co-exist with him in his burrow, and gets very defensive when I try to take them out. I don't see any signs of him being ready to molt (or at least I don't think I do), so I decided to come on here and let more experienced members hash it out with me.

Thanks in advance for any advice you can give me!

 

[LeahThomas]

My G. pulchripes sling is a weird eater too. The first time I fed it, it gently took down the cricket. Ever since then, I've never seen it eat. I leave prey in there over night once a week, and for a while she didn't eat anything for about a month and a half. Then she molted! I still don't see her take down prey very often, but when I do it's a lot more aggressive than it used to be. It can be hard to tell when they're in pre molt, since they're pretty much all dark when they're slings and don't usually have much of a bald spot at all that young. What you can look for in terms of pre molt is a pretty plump looking abdomen (usually larger than normal) and your sling will turn darker. When mine turned darker, I questioned if it really did since it happened gradually. It isn't an instant color change. I had to go back and look at old pics of her to confirm that she was indeed darker.

When my sling was in pre molt, she let crickets crawl in her burrow, over her, under her, you name it. Your T will eat when it's hungry, which sounds like it may be after a molt. I was worried too, I thought a month and a half was an awful long time for a sling to refuse food (since you're supposed to feed them more than adults) but she was fine after she molted. Good luck!

 

[scj0nes]

My G. pulchripes sling is a weird eater too. The first time I fed it, it gently took down the cricket. Ever since then, I've never seen it eat. I leave prey in there over night once a week, and for a while she didn't eat anything for about a month and a half. Then she molted! I still don't see her take down prey very often, but when I do it's a lot more aggressive than it used to be. It can be hard to tell when they're in pre molt, since they're pretty much all dark when they're slings and don't usually have much of a bald spot at all that young. What you can look for in terms of pre molt is a pretty plump looking abdomen (usually larger than normal) and your sling will turn darker. When mine turned darker, I questioned if it really did since it happened gradually. It isn't an instant color change. I had to go back and look at old pics of her to confirm that she was indeed darker.

When my sling was in pre molt, she let crickets crawl in her burrow, over her, under her, you name it. Your T will eat when it's hungry, which sounds like it may be after a molt. I was worried too, I thought a month and a half was an awful long time for a sling to refuse food (since you're supposed to feed them more than adults) but she was fine after she molted. Good luck!

Thanks! That made me feel a lot better. I have noticed my T turn a slight bit darker and get a bigger abdomen, so maybe it is in pre-molt. I hadn't really thought about it until you mentioned it just now. I guess my biggest challenge now will be to get some of the crickets out without upsetting Bundy (they've been in there over night already).

 

[HungryGhost]

During my G. pulchripes last molt she began fasting on Feb. 18th, molted on March 8th, and took her first post molt prey on March 15th (I'm really anal about keeping notes). She's about 4.25" after that molt. I would bet yours is in pre-molt. Hope this is helpful.

 

[scj0nes]

During my G. pulchripes last molt she began fasting on Feb. 18th, molted on March 8th, and took her first post molt prey on March 15th (I'm really anal about keeping notes). She's about 4.25" after that molt. I would bet yours is in pre-molt. Hope this is helpful.

Good idea with the note taking! I'll have to pick that up.

 

[HungryGhost]

Only a fellow T keeper would think that's a good idea! My wife thinks I'm a nut

 

[LeahThomas]

Psh whatever I take notes on feeding, molts, rehousing, everything! It's brilliant! I definitely recommend it to anybody serious (and even not so serious) about the hobby.

 

[HungryGhost]

Psh whatever I take notes on feeding, molts, rehousing, everything! It's brilliant! I definitely recommend it to anybody serious (and even not so serious) about the hobby.

I've loosened up a bit. When I first kept T's 10-12 years ago I took notes for every meal.

 

[LeahThomas]

I still do but I can definitely how it would get old after 10-12 years!