Is something wrong with my A. Avicularia?

[cutieshelbers]

So to preface, I got my a. avicularia on 9/23 of this year and it ate for the first time that night. Since then it has been refusing food, which led me to think it was going to molt. It still hasn’t molted and is still refusing food. I have it in a 12x12x12 exoterra (the spider is still pretty small). I did research before getting the spider and knew cross ventilation was important but I couldn’t find any enclosures that had any. So I started out keeping humidity up while I was expecting it to molt, but now it’s been 2 months with no molt and still no eating. I stopped misting the enclosure because I kept seeing arguments online about keeping a high humidity or keeping it dry. I’m so confused on what to do. Obviously this is my first T. The first day it ate a cricket and I’ve been trying to get it to eat small Dubia roaches. Also I’ve noticed that it hasn’t webbed at all even though I have a bunch of fake plants up high for it. When I first got it, it wasn’t very active - again making me think it was going to molt- but now it’s very active at night and even sometimes during the day. Let me know if you have any idea on what’s going on and if I need to do something different.

 

[Arachnoclown]

Naturally they're more active at night. They can go long periods without eating, this is normal. How big is your pinktoe?
Exoterra's have excellent ventilation as long as you use the screen top and not acrylic. I never mist my Avicularia. They are completely dry. I even keep some Avicularia without substrate at all. All they need is a dish for drinking. If you get too much humidity the spider will shut down and die however. They call this s.a.d.s. sudden Avicularia death syndrome. I just call if poor husbandry. Dry out your enclosure. As for webbing, when new to a enclosure they will sometimes go until a few hours before they molt to web anything up.
Shoot us some pictures of your spider and enclosure.

 

[Arachnoclown]

8x8x12 exoterra bo e dry substrate. 14 year old female Avicularia avicularia

 

[Arachnoclown]

No substrate, just water dish. A smidgen of moss for the roaches

 

[Arachnoclown]

12x12x12 exoterra with pinktoes, all dry with not much substrate.

 

[cutieshelbers]

This is the enclosure I have now. Like I said, I got her at the end of September. I haven’t switched the enclosure around at all since early October- I added more plants and vines since it wasn’t webbing and I figured it needed more places to attach a web to. But as you can see, absolutely no webbing anywhere. I havent misted in there for a while so it’s dried out by now. Without misting, and By only having a waterdish in there the humidity level stays at about 45%.

 

[cutieshelbers]

Also, here is the spider. It is about 2cm across from leg to leg

 

[WolfSpider]

Clown gave excellent advice. He really is the experience expert. The only thing I can possibly add is that a 12x12x12 exo is too big for your little guy. A large amic box make make your baby more secure.

 

[Arachnoclown]

Humidity requirements are rubbish. The so call standard requirement for pinktoes is generalized for the regions annual measurement. Is this measurement at ground level??? Probably. Avicularia live many meters up in the tree tops where there's a breeze and way less humidity. This is where new hobbiest mess up. Trying to mimic ground level season average Humidity I a tiny enclosure. Forget about humidity all together is the best advice anyone can give you for 95% of the tarantulas in the hobby. If you get one of the other 5% you'll probably be a seasoned pro by then and I won't be a problem.

 

[cutieshelbers]

Clown gave excellent advice. He really is the experience expert. The only thing I can possibly add is that a 12x12x12 exo is too big for your little guy. A large amic box make make your baby more secure.

I have been thinking about doing that actually. I’ll have to look into places I can get a smaller enclosure. Do you think it would stress it out by moving it into a new area now? I only ask because I don’t know if it is going to molt or if it’s just being dramatic and going off food. Would it still be best to transfer it into a smaller area while it’s off food?

 

[cutieshelbers]

Humidity requirements are rubbish. The so call standard requirement for pinktoes is generalized for the regions annual measurement. Is this measurement at ground level??? Probably. Avicularia live many meters up in the tree tops where there's a breeze and way less humidity. This is where new hobbiest mess up. Trying to mimic ground level season average Humidity I a tiny enclosure. Forget about humidity all together is the best advice anyone can give you for 95% of the tarantulas in the hobby. If you get one of the other 5% you'll probably be a seasoned pro by then and I won't be a problem.

Your comment has been very helpful. I always see so many conflicting comments on humidity but I definitely won’t be adding any more humidity to the enclosure.

 

[WolfSpider]

Your comment has been very helpful. I always see so many conflicting comments on humidity but I definitely won’t be adding any more humidity to the enclosure.

I have been thinking about doing that actually. I’ll have to look into places I can get a smaller enclosure. Do you think it would stress it out by moving it into a new area now? I only ask because I don’t know if it is going to molt or if it’s just being dramatic and going off food. Would it still be best to transfer it into a smaller area while it’s off food?

Move it when YOU feel comfortable. As long as it is not actively molting, it should be fine.

 

[cutieshelbers]

Move it when YOU feel comfortable. As long as it is not actively molting, it should be fine.

Do you have an idea on how long it can go without food before I should get worried? I’ve done a lot of research and people say they can go without eating for a while but I would feed better knowing if and when I should start to worry. I offer it food once a week- maybe twice if I see it being active

 

[octanejunkie]

Here are two different size avics in 32oz deli cups that you can get from any market, Smart and Final, etc.

The larger one is in an inverted cup per Tom Moran's "diy avic housing" video. The other one regular with good ventilation. I just watered today, usually only water once a week or every other week

Spiders are opportunists, they eat when food wanders into their path. Here's an article I wrote about feeding. Smaller spaces make it easier for them to sense and aquire prey items, FYI

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[paperwitchs]

So to preface, I got my a. avicularia on 9/23 of this year and it ate for the first time that night. Since then it has been refusing food, which led me to think it was going to molt. It still hasn’t molted and is still refusing food. I have it in a 12x12x12 exoterra (the spider is still pretty small). I did research before getting the spider and knew cross ventilation was important but I couldn’t find any enclosures that had any. So I started out keeping humidity up while I was expecting it to molt, but now it’s been 2 months with no molt and still no eating. I stopped misting the enclosure because I kept seeing arguments online about keeping a high humidity or keeping it dry. I’m so confused on what to do. Obviously this is my first T. The first day it ate a cricket and I’ve been trying to get it to eat small Dubia roaches. Also I’ve noticed that it hasn’t webbed at all even though I have a bunch of fake plants up high for it. When I first got it, it wasn’t very active - again making me think it was going to molt- but now it’s very active at night and even sometimes during the day. Let me know if you have any idea on what’s going on and if I need to do something different.

So far it sounds like it’s just a new T, and is settling in. Can you post pictures of your set up?

How much did you feed it that first day?