If your tarantula is not eating, it’s a normal reaction for you as a pet owner, to get worried. There are many various reasons why tarantulas stop eating. In this post, you will find out different reasons why a tarantula is not eating, how long tarantulas go without food or water, what to expect and what you can do about it.
Main reasons why a tarantula is not eating are stress, molting, low temperatures, shipping process, dehydration, winter or mating season, overfeeding. Some tarantulas might also be picky eaters and ignore specific feeders.
Reason 1: Winter season or low temperatures in a room
One of the most common reasons why a tarantula can stop eating is winter season, or cold weather. In general, it means that a tarantula will slow down and eat less or nothing during colder months.
However, in captivity, most owners keep their tarantulas at similar temperatures throughout the year. Or, at least in warm conditions, as they heat their house in winter. If you keep your home warm, then your tarantula should be feeding normally.
Make sure your house is not too cold. Tarantulas that are cold will become sluggish and slow down with movement and feeding. In general, most tarantulas are comfortable at around 75-80 F (23.8-26.6 C). But some drops to upper 60s (20-21 C) and less are fine, if your tarantula can warm up the next day. Make sure to check enclosure temperatures with thermometers (with probes). A handheld thermometer like this might also be a useful tool to check temperatures in different spots of the tank.
Tarantulas can survive drops to low 60s (15.5 C) for short periods of time. But any temperature drops like this will make your tarantula stop eating. Some owners even keep their tarantulas at higher temperature ranges so that they eat more, grow faster, reach sexual maturity sooner, and lay more eggs. But having said that, there is a possibility that this can lead to a shortened lifespan.
You can read more about optimal temperatures and lights for your tarantula here (new tab).
Reason 2: Not eating because of molt
Molting is very serious for tarantulas – they shed their old exoskeleton and become very vulnerable during and for some time after this process. Their new exoskeleton becomes exposed to air and slowly hardens. Sometimes during a molt, a tarantula can even break its legs.
Adult female tarantulas molt around once a year to once in two years, while spiderlings – 12-15 times a year, and juveniles – 5-7 times a year on average. Adult males molt much less than females as they reach sexual maturity sooner.
Tarantulas are likely to stop eating before, during and after their molt. Some tarantulas even stop eating days or weeks (some even months) before the actual molt and weeks after. Signs of upcoming molt include darkening skin (due to fluid buildup between old and new skin), swollen abdomen. Some tarantulas spin a a molting mat that they use for molting.
Tarantula that is molting and not eating will be fine. Adult tarantulas can go weeks and even months (some years) without food. Spiderlings and juveniles can go weeks to months without food, depending on their size. They are hardy and can go long periods of time without eating.
During tarantula molt, make sure to provide enough water. There should always be a water dish in the tank. Most tarantulas get very thirsty after their molt and will drink a lot.
Reason 3: Tarantula not eating after being shipped
If you have recently got your new tarantula and it was shipped to you, then it could be a reason why it is not eating. The thing is, some tarantula sellers don’t feed their tarantulas for some time to avoid them entering molt before or during a shipping process. Because tarantulas are so fragile during their molt, they try to minimize the risk of injury and death.
If your tarantula has a shriveled abdomen when you get it – it can be due to dehydration and not necessarily hunger. Always start with offering water to a newly acquired tarantula and don’t feed it for a few days.
The thing is, being shipped or transported from one place into another is already extremely stressful for a tarantula. Allow your tarantula to acclimatize for the first 5-7 days before you feed it.
Reason 4: Wild caught tarantula
Another reason why a new tarantula is not eating is because it is wild caught. That’s because wild caught tarantulas have to go through a long shipping process from their native countries. Some tarantulas become very dehydrated during the shipping. Some are already sick and starved when they are collected.
Some new owners of wild caught tarantulas try to feed them, but they just can’t eat food anymore. This is very sad and unfortunate, and many tarantulas die not making a recovery even with proper setups and conditions.
As mentioned in the previous point, start with offering water and a calm, stress-free environment. After 5-7 days, you can try to offer some food to your tarantula.
Reason 5: Picky eater
Some tarantulas can be picky eaters and won’t like to eat specific foods. In general, you can feed tarantulas same types of feeders over long periods of time (crickets, for example, and not fatty worms).
But some tarantulas will reject one type of feeders, while other tarantulas will take it gladly. It all depends on your tarantula. It’s also more exciting for you, the owner, to offer a variety of feeds that you can get or farm yourself.
If you are offering something new to your tarantula and it’s not taking it, maybe it’s time for a change. Try to offer different types of feeders, and see what your tarantula prefers. You can offer mealworms, superworms (Morio worms), Phoenix (Calci worms) and many other feeders for a change.
You can check out this feeding list and chart for ideas here (new tab).
Reason 6: Tarantula not eating due to prey sizes
Some tarantulas will ignore their food if you offer feeder insects that are too small. As your tarantula grows, you should also increase the size of the feeders. Also, it can be less stressful for a tarantula and more convenient to offer a larger prey item, rather than a few smaller ones. This can make feeding easier.
Having said that, prey items that are too large can stress your tarantula. That’s especially true if your tarantula has to fight to overpower it. As a general rule, don’t offer any prey items that are larger than your tarantula’s abdomen. Based on this, you might offer smaller or larger prey items depending on your tarantula to induce feeding.
In this post you can find a chart for feeder items that you can offer your tarantula.
Reason 7: Your tarantula is not eating because it’s stressed
There can be different reasons why your tarantula is stressed. But stress will lead to poor feeding, decreased activity and poor health as a result. Sources of stress can be:
- Too much light in the room (it is too bright), and tarantulas prefer darker environments, and some tarantulas might not eat with you there if it’s too bright either
- Dehydration due to shipping or lack of water
- Very low or high humidity (some don’t like high humidity, such as Chilean rose tarantulas. Don’t keep humidity high in the whole tank, let the substrate dry a bit) – read about optimal humidity levels here in a new tab
- Low or high temperatures in the tank
- Prey item too powerful and stressing tarantula out
- Parasitic infection or external mites in the tank and on the body
Reason 8: Change needed – move your tarantula’s tank to a different room
You can try to move your tarantula to a different room, as this change might stimulate hunger in your tarantula. Make sure the room you are moving it to is warm enough for your tarantula and is not too bright either.
Reason 9: Tarantula not eating due to presence of a cage mate
Do you keep your tarantula alone or with another tarantula in the same cage? Please note that you must never keep tarantulas together, as they are territorial and cannibalistic. Tarantulas will fight, and can even eat each other!
So, make sure you only house one tarantula in a cage. Don’t divide a large cage into multiple parts for a few tarantulas, either. This is all very risky and can result in injuries, stress and even death of your tarantula. Tarantulas also climb and dig, and one day can make their way into other parts of the tank.
Even mating tarantulas should not be left together in the same cage. After mating, female often goes back to her retreat and a male goes to another corner of the tank. But sometimes, a female attacks a male tarantula. If you want your tarantulas to mate a few times, it’s a better idea to introduce a male to a female (in her tank) for mating.
Reason 10: Tarantula not eating because of overfeeding
If you have recently got your tarantula as it has arrived slim and shriveled, your instinct might have been to feed it lots of food, because a poor thing has been starving.
First of all, as mentioned above, if your tarantula has arrived slim and possibly with a delay – it doesn’t need food straight away. Tarantulas are hardy, and go without food longer than without water. So, when you get your tarantula, don’t feed it for a week – offer it water as soon as possible.
But overfeeding can also become a reason why your tarantula is not eating. Tarantulas have an instinct to eat more and save prey for their next meal in case they don’t find anything the next time. If you start overfeeding your new tarantula, it will eat a lot in the beginning. With time, it will gain weight, and become obese. And finally, it will stop eating because it has been overfed for so long.
That’s why you should start feeding slowly, and not offer all the crickets and worms in the world. Make a feeding schedule, and your tarantula will slowly gain weight if it has arrived slim. Only spiderlings need to be fed every week – older a tarantula is, less often it needs food.
You can find a feeding schedule chart in this post (new tab).
Reason 11: Your tarantula is not eating because it doesn’t want to
Sometimes tarantulas go on a fast without any apparent reason. Most adult tarantulas are great eaters, but can also go on prolonged fasts (months and some even more than 1-2 years) without any apparent reason. If your tarantula doesn’t look sick, is not behaving strangely and doesn’t seem to be losing weight, then it might be your tarantula is on a fast.
Reason 12: Tarantula is not eating because of sickness
Unfortunately, a sick tarantula is not likely to eat. Under normal conditions, various intestinal parasites that live in a tarantula’s gut don’t cause it any issues. However, in a sick tarantula, they might cause weight loss and general wasting of the body.
Mites can also become a problem. Inspect your tarantula from time to time. If you can see any mites (whitish in color), make sure to get them off your tarantula. Also, you would need to empty the whole cage, disinfect it, change the substrate and wash all the accessories.
Other possible problems include ants and various flies that can invade your tarantula’s cage. Ants, especially, can bite, sting and stress out your tarantula in a serious way. You can use various baits to get rid of infestations of ants, flies etc. However, never use any pest killing sprays in your tarantula’s cage or even room – this can be deadly to your tarantula.
Reason 13: You are offering dead prey items
Tarantulas in the wild hide in their retreats and wait for a prey to pass. When detecting some vibrations in the webs that they made, they strike. It is natural for tarantulas to hunt at live prey.
While some tarantulas eat dead crickets and other prey items, not all will do. Usually, spiderlings and generally younger tarantulas take dead prey items readily. Some adults only prefer live food, while others will take both live and dead prey. Experiment with your tarantula to see what it prefers. Sometimes, offering freshly killed and gutted crickets to tarantulas can induce a feeding response.
Reason 14: Your tarantula is getting older
As mentioned above, older tarantulas generally need to eat less often than younger spiderlings. If you have been feeding your spiderlings a few times a week, you need to gradually move to once in two weeks and even once a month. Of course, this will depend on species, but make sure to review your tarantula’s feeding schedule as it gets older.
Reason 15: Male is not eating after reaching sexual maturity
If you have a male tarantula that has just reached maturity, it might get an urge to get out and look for a female. Male tarantulas reach sexual maturity at around 1-3 years of age. If your tarantula has recently molted and is now trying to escape the cage, then it could be it.
In the wild, males start traveling long distances in a search for a female after reaching sexual maturity and entering their ultimate adult molt. There’s nothing to worry about, as it’s natural.
How long can a tarantula go without food?
Spiderlings can go a few weeks to months without food. Older tarantulas and adults can go from a few months to some even more than a year or two (such as Chilean rose tarantulas) without food!
However, voluntary fasting for prolonged periods of time and negligence are different things. If an owner was negligent and didn’t feed a tarantula for months and months, it will be stressed on top of losing weight.
How long can a tarantula go without water?
While a tarantula can go weeks and even months without water, it depends on their living conditions, their origin (from arid or tropical places), and whether it’s eating. Most tarantulas get their source of water from food they eat, drops of water in the cage, humidity in the tank etc.
Having an access to water at all times is important, and tarantulas come and drink when they are thirsty. But if your tarantula is older, has been originally hydrated and is eating during this period, then it can go much longer without water. Some tarantulas drink more before or after molting.
If your tarantula won’t eat, review its living conditions and whether anything has changed recently. Watch your tarantula’s behavior – is it normal? If everything looks normal, then try to offer feeders, with 1-2 week breaks, to see if your tarantula is ready to eat. If anything looks wrong, seek vet assistance.
Thank you for reading this article. If you would like to learn more about pet tarantula care, please see this page.