The most common keeper anxiety: your spider has stopped eating and you don’t know why. In most cases, the explanation is straightforward — but confirming it requires a methodical approach.
🔍 Step 1: Check the Abdomen
Before doing anything else, look at your spider’s abdomen. A round, plump abdomen means your spider is not hungry. Spiders don’t eat on a fixed schedule — they eat until satiated and then stop until they need energy again. Many keeper concerns about “not eating” resolve completely once they realise the spider simply isn’t hungry yet.
A healthy adult spider with a full abdomen can comfortably go 2–3 weeks without eating. If your spider has refused food for 2 weeks but has a plump abdomen, no other symptoms, and is active during daylight hours, it is almost certainly fine.
🔄 Step 2: Check for Pre-Molt
Food refusal is the first and most reliable sign of pre-molt. If your spider has also: sealed itself into its hammock, become lethargic, or has a darkening abdomen — it’s almost certainly in pre-molt. Remove all live prey immediately and leave the enclosure completely undisturbed.
🌡️ Step 3: Check the Environment
If the abdomen is shrunken or the spider is lethargic outside of pre-molt, check:
- Temperature: is it within the correct range? Too cold significantly reduces appetite
- Humidity: is one area of the enclosure misted? A dehydrated spider will not feed
- Prey size: is the prey item appropriately sized? Oversized prey is often ignored
- Prey type: has the spider eaten this type of feeder before? Novel prey may be rejected initially
Unlike a full, round abdomen where food refusal is usually benign, a shrunken abdomen combined with food refusal is a genuine concern. Ensure hydration first — mist one wall — then try the smallest available prey item within 24 hours.