Winter Fast?????

I have a 2009 female spider that is 3.4 feet long and quite girthy. Never ever had a problem with her being a picky feeder. The last time she ate was december 22nd and the meal consisted of four adult mice. She ate all four one right after the other. A few days later she went into shed. Her shed cycle has been pretty consistent as well, every two months. Always a complete piece, This time however it was a bad shed. The skin came off of her head completely,As well as the tip of her tail and around the cloaca. I believe the reason for the bad shed was very low humidity as it was around 37 percent. My question is she has not eaten since December 22nd and seems comepletly un interested in the small live rat i offer her. ive fed her a small adult rat before and she scarfed it right down no hesitation. She is quite active at night and doesnt seem sick at all, just not interested in food, i have purchased a humidifier and bumped up the humidity in her tank to about 65 percent and that helped alot with her incomplete shed however she still has more hanging on,,,,should i be concerned with her not eating and just keep trying until spring or what? the temps in her enclosure are 94to 96 on the warm side,,,and 80 to 86 on the cool side,,,,sometimes dropping to 76 as the lamp is on a dimmer. the humidity in her enclosure is between 50 and 69 percent. Anybody have any suggestions???? Thanx Chaddeus

Tis the season, just offer food weekly, she will eat when she's ready

I have two 09 females that are fasting...one is at 106 days...the other 99. I offer weekly. They will eventually come around. :gj:

Sound kinda normal, I have a 99 male that has been fasting for the last 4 weeks now and a pair of females (07 and not quite sure) that are also fasting for 3 weeks. One of the females is picky anyway and often skips here and there, the other is a tank and will eat anything. Watch the weights and keep and eye on her but it sounds fairly normal.

Your temps swing that much?
The warm end ambient temp shouldn't be that hot IMO

86-87 warm end ambient
78-80 cool end ambient
90-93 hot spot directly on the uth.

I'd try offering weanlings weekly till she decides to eat again.

She might be what I call, taking a break. I've noticed that with the juveniles and older that I power feed will take breaks every now and again. I'm not sure how much she weighs, but if she gained a lot in a short time, she could definitely be on a break. I wouldn't worry too much about her. If she's got weight on her and she was a good feeder for you before she'll eventually eat for you again. Just keep offering once a week. I highly doubt her bad shed had anything to do with her not eating since she usually sheds well and most likely doesn't have any issues from old sheds piling up.

Mine has been on a break for about a month and a half also. It frustrates me for sure! B/c he is the least picky eater ever. It has to be the season. Because all my husbandry is up to par.

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Originally Posted by Generationshell

Mine has been on a break for about a month and a half also. It frustrates me for sure! B/c he is the least picky eater ever. It has to be the season. Because all my husbandry is up to par.

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I know your pain, it is really frustrating! I have a female that takes a week off almost every three weeks exactly! A friend of mine told me to feed her twice a week when she's eating to make up for the weeks that she doesn't eat, and I'm glad he did otherwise that girl wouldn't be my largest virgin girl! She kept right up with the other girls and even got a little heavier than them. Man did she make me angry when she was taking breaks like clock work (for almost 2 years, she's a little better now)! My pastel took a 3 week break last year when I was breeding and power feeding him. My power feeding is every 4 days, so it's not like I'm out of control, they just get "full" I guess :rolleyes: