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I have a male Mexican red rump tarantula who's about 3 or 4 years old. Within the past couple weeks he stared getting thinner but was still active. His abdomen is now all shriveled up. I always make sure he has water but I thought maybe he wasn't eating so I put him in a smaller container with some crickets to see if he could catch them easier, but still he didn't eat. Then he started getting lethargic and has now stopped moving completely. I'm going to leave him alone in his tank for another week or two to see if maybe he might just be molting. However, I think he may be dead. Any advice???

Yes tarrantulas will completly stop eating for about 3 weeks before molting . It's best to leave them alone during that time. Some species will build a web and stay in it for the full 3 weeks.

Usualy when i see my tarrantula doing that, i give him water by spraying some on the sides of the container because i just know he won't leave his web to go drink by himself and in the wild they probably drink from the rain during that time .

The molting session itself can last a few hours. I was never lucky enough to be there when my T. is molting cuz he does it when i'm at work but i know it's not supposed to take more than a couple hours. They will usualy lay on their back to molt witch is why most people think their T. is dead .

After the molting completed , your T. will still ignore any food you give it for at least a week but you should start puting easy food like crickets after about 4-5 days and see what happens. If it still ignores the food , remove it from the container cuz it means your T. is still not ready to hunt. They realy need a week for their new skin to harden up before they hunt again .

So yeah they will stop eating for about a month total so it's important that they are well fed before they start their trance.

I don't know for sure whats going on with your T. But i'm hoping my post will answer some of your questions and help you in the futur

I wish you good luck

Krawll

Lol sorry bout my first post, i just read your post again and did notice your T is 3-4 years old lol. And you kept saying him , not her.

I'm guessing you probably know about the molting process if your T is realy 3-4 years old lol. Well if you're the one who raised it to that age. And if your T. realy is a male then chances are he's already full grown and shouldn't need to molt again.

Males don't live as long as females , they will only live for about a year after reaching maturity. So 3-4 years seems just about right for a lifespan.

I'm realy sorry mate but your T. is probably on it's way to spider's heaven.

Leaving him in there a few more days is a good idea though. Just in case he recovers from whatever illness got to him but if he realy on his way out then i'm guessing you'll find out soon enough.

My thoguht will be with your T. till you give me some feedback.

Good luck

Krawll

hey thanks for the post.

I have had him for about a year and the people at the store told me his age.
He is definately male and i am aware that unfortunately they don't live as long.

what worried me and seemed different than a shed was that his abdomen was all shrunken and he is not laying on his back but is laying upright with his legs curled up around him, which made me think probably has gone to spider heaven. i just wanted to leave him alone for a while so i wouldn't accidently dispose of him in case he was still alive.

thanks again

thanks for giving some feedback

I would've had the same reaction as you if my tarrantula seemed to be dead. Leaving it alone a little bit longer hoping for the best

At least you've kept him alive for a year witch means you did good. They can't live a full year in bad conditions and underfed so... you are in NO way to be blamed for your pet's death.

Krawll

thanks for the reply. yea i think it was just old age.
at least my rose hair is a very healthy female, so she should be around for a while.