spiderdad23
New Member
- Messages
- 1
- Location
- los angeles, ca
Hey there -- I have a common tarantula sourced from the local hills near my house around los angeles, ca. It's dark brown and about the size of a small grapefruit in diameter. I've had it for about 2 years and in that entire time it has always freely roamed around it's 1'x2' terrarium enclosure and only occasionally ventured inside of a tiny "cave" structure I put in there for it. It also molted in that time (not inside the cave).
About a month ago we noticed it disappeared and burrowed itself inside the cave and has not come out. It piled dirt in the opening and I can see it spun some webbing across the tiny opening that still remained.
I've read that sometime tarantulas can do this kind of behavior when they molt, and that sometimes it can take upwards of 3 months for them to complete the process. I've also read that it's not good to feed them live crickets when they molt as the crickets might actually disturb or agitate the spider. People also say you shouldn't disturb a tarantula when it's molting. But I'm concerned, as this is the first time in two years my tarantula has displayed this kind of behavior.
Do I:
A) drop some crickets in there to see if it ventures out for a feeding or
B) just let it stay inside its cave enclosure until it re-emerges, and not feed it until it does so?
C) lift up the enclosure for a peek?
I have continued to keep its water dish full.
Help is appreciated!
About a month ago we noticed it disappeared and burrowed itself inside the cave and has not come out. It piled dirt in the opening and I can see it spun some webbing across the tiny opening that still remained.
I've read that sometime tarantulas can do this kind of behavior when they molt, and that sometimes it can take upwards of 3 months for them to complete the process. I've also read that it's not good to feed them live crickets when they molt as the crickets might actually disturb or agitate the spider. People also say you shouldn't disturb a tarantula when it's molting. But I'm concerned, as this is the first time in two years my tarantula has displayed this kind of behavior.
Do I:
A) drop some crickets in there to see if it ventures out for a feeding or
B) just let it stay inside its cave enclosure until it re-emerges, and not feed it until it does so?
C) lift up the enclosure for a peek?
I have continued to keep its water dish full.
Help is appreciated!
I dont blame you for being worried as 1 month is pretty long and you dont get to see what it does but it will come out eventually 
