Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i have an 07 female spider around 3 months old or so. has been eating 2 small hoppers a week, one monday and one thursday, but today it refused its hopper. all temps are good. im fairly new to bps so im not sure if i should take it to the vet for a check up or just wait till thursday and try again.

any help would be greatly appreciated

Offer her something bigger. After the first meal or two balls are perfectly capable of eating adult mice without a problem.

And just to humor us, what's your setup like? "perfect" is a pretty variable term. Humdity, temps on both sides, what do you keep her in, etc.

Sometimes balls just go off feed, especially if they're stressed. Maybe she's been handled too much lately, maybe you had a party that week, maybe there's more foot traffic through the part of the house she's in, maybe the moon is in the wrong alignment with jupiter and mars. Leave her alone and don't handle her at all until she starts eating again, maybe that'll do the trick.

Good luck!

~jenny
-----
"The python has, and I fib no fibs,
318 pairs of ribs.
In stating this I place reliance
On a seance with one who died for science
This figure is sworn to and attested,
He counted them while being digested."
~Ogden Nash

jenny.thegreenes.org

"If you're happy and you know it,
Bomb Iraq!
If you cannot find Osama,
Bomb Iraq!
If the terrorists are frisky,
Pakistan is looking shifty,
North Korea is too risky,
Bomb Iraq!

Is she in shed? Often balls along with most snakes go off feed during shed.

I agree with Jenny feed her something bigger. My hatchlings get a hopper to start them off and with in a month i normally have them on crawler rats.

Also i beleve someone else mentioned shedding.. How long have you had her for? Have you had an AC on in the room, even if her heat sorce is still consistent the ambient temp can change. Has she shed for you before, babies normally shed often as they grow at a quicker pace when they are younger.

Kim
N.A.R.C

warm sides 93-94 ambient temp is 77-78. humidity is 55%. substrate is paper towels. hide box on warm and cool sides. in a 32qt storage bin. is there any way to tell if shes going into shed other than the eyes

she shed the night i brought her home. picked her up on 6/3/07 she shed that night. but hasnt shed since. im kinda new to bps so im not sure how often they shed and stuff

She could be going into another shed, but I doubt it since she's been getting small prey items. Your warm side might be a bit too warm, 90 is on the high side, a lot of folks keep the warm side closer to 85.

~jenny
-----
"The python has, and I fib no fibs,
318 pairs of ribs.
In stating this I place reliance
On a seance with one who died for science
This figure is sworn to and attested,
He counted them while being digested."
~Ogden Nash

jenny.thegreenes.org

"If you're happy and you know it,
Bomb Iraq!
If you cannot find Osama,
Bomb Iraq!
If the terrorists are frisky,
Pakistan is looking shifty,
North Korea is too risky,
Bomb Iraq!

ok thanks a bunch, will cool down the hot to around 86-87 and try bigger food