# Green Bottle Blue not feeding



## jamesmikosz (Jul 21, 2009)

i recently got a chromatopelma cyaneopubescens for my 21st birthday which was the 1st of november but since ive had it, it hasnt fed. it shed its skin last saturday and its abdomen is noticably smaller. its really worrying me. what can i do? im pretty new to keeping spiders so im sorry if i sound stupid


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## Dr3d (Jul 31, 2010)

jamesmikosz said:


> i recently got a chromatopelma cyaneopubescens for my 21st birthday which was the 1st of november but since ive had it, it hasnt fed. it shed its skin last saturday and its abdomen is noticably smaller. its really worrying me. what can i do? im pretty new to keeping spiders so im sorry if i sound stupid


firstly relax, spids can go a fair while without eating.... Gbb's like it dry but make sure you spray a corner every now an again, this way it can get the fluids it needs.... if it molted out last week, it will probably start eating very soon  

How big its it?
can you link an image so i can see its set up


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## kevhutch (Feb 18, 2010)

Dr3d said:


> firstly relax, spids can go a fair while without eating.... Gbb's like it dry but make sure you spray a corner every now an again, this way it can get the fluids it needs.... if it molted out last week, it will probably start eating very soon
> 
> How big its it?
> can you link an image so i can see its set up


as above, you need to wait until the fangs go black before feeding again

dont panic, as soon as it starts eating again it will make up for lost time

cheers Kev: victory:


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## jamesmikosz (Jul 21, 2009)

its leg span is only 3/4 inch. its still a sling its in a circular tub with coir substrate


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## Poxicator (Nov 14, 2007)

Considering its just a sling (and this goes for all slings) you need to keep it a little bit more moist than the adults, because the wax moisture retention is not developed within slings. So, keep it in a small tub, certainly no larger than a cricket tub with some substrate and elevated sticks for it to attach its webbing to. Temps of 75+F.
Slings should take food 3 days after moulting but with adults you should wait for at least a week. Its important not to disturb them during this timeframe.
GBBs are great eaters so a lack of appetite usually suggests a moult or somethings not right. Place a cricket in the enclosure which is smaller than the abdomen and feed again about 3 days later. They'll also take buffallo worms (mini-mealworms) or maggots.
As Dr3d suggests, a pic might help us see something not quite right.


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## jamesmikosz (Jul 21, 2009)

i would load one up but for some reason it wont let me. the only thing that appears wrong is the small abdomen otherwise its really healthy and moves like lightening


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## Graham (Jan 27, 2007)

I had more luck feeding my small GBBs with Bean Weevils, Fruit Flies, and Houseflies, even small crix can be a bit feisty for them I found, especially blacks.


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## vivalabam (Aug 8, 2010)

Mines a monster, it's only tiny and took on a live small cricket the other day, ate all of it, so greedy. :lol2:


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## Dr3d (Jul 31, 2010)

vivalabam said:


> *Mines a monster, it's only tiny* and took on a live small cricket the other day, ate all of it, so greedy. :lol2:


 
LoLOLoL so which one is it  They do tend to finish a meal ya know


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## vivalabam (Aug 8, 2010)

It's both! It's a tiny monster! :lol2:


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## jamesmikosz (Jul 21, 2009)

HAHA!! i got it feeding! fruit flies were the answer! =]


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## sage999 (Sep 21, 2008)

Great news. I'm sure that once its feeding regularly it'll then move on to bigger prey. : victory:


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## jamesmikosz (Jul 21, 2009)

Victory is right my friend haha! talk about a weight of your mind =]


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## samhack (Jan 11, 2009)

As its on topic here, does anyone know at what point in a tarantulas development is the exoskeleton able to retain water so it can be kept in dryer quarters?


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## jamesmikosz (Jul 21, 2009)

personally i think its when the animal becomes an adult, because the juveniles need more humidity so that they can shed they skin more easily. once adult they dont need as much humidity. thats my theory anyway i could be wrong though


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## Hedgewitch (Feb 12, 2008)

I've actually been keeping my GBB sling dry since I got it, when it was little it got the lightest mist every day (to simulate morning mists in it's natural habitat), but the subby was kept dry.

Also, their abdomens are always small after a moult mate, they use the volume of fluid held in the abdomen to pump up and fill their legs etc. when they moult.

Fruit flies may be working, but I'd drop in a cricket with it's head crushed... I feed most of my slings dead prey or bean weevils.


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## spicewwfc (Aug 26, 2009)

Hedgewitch said:


> I've actually been keeping my GBB sling dry since I got it, when it was little it got the lightest mist every day (to simulate morning mists in it's natural habitat), but the subby was kept dry.
> 
> Also, their abdomens are always small after a moult mate, they use the volume of fluid held in the abdomen to pump up and fill their legs etc. when they moult.
> 
> Fruit flies may be working, but I'd drop in a cricket with it's head crushed... I feed most of my slings dead prey or bean weevils.


^^this^^

I never spray my GBB, I used to spray the sides very lightly once every few days when she was tiny, but now she even has a major freak when I fill her water bowl up, these spiders really hate water.

GBB's are as hard as nails, if its hungry it will eat, and they can take on prey much bigger than you think.
As Toby says fruit flys have virtually no nutritional value, just crush the head of a small/medium cricket and chuck it in, I guarentee it will be gone by morning, tarantulas have no problems with eating pre killed prey.

Congrats on getting such a beautiful spider, GBB's are great.


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## jamesmikosz (Jul 21, 2009)

funny you should say that coz i fed mine a cricket last nite, (without crushing its head). it wolfed it down. now i got it too feed its greedy as hell. thank you! they are gorgeous spiders one of my faves =]


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