Hey all

I bought a H.Maculata (togo starburst) from a dealer 17days ago...
Since then it has only eaten 3 crickets,
All the other slings I’ve had has eaten at least every second day. Is it common for this species to not have a good appetite?
And also are they fussy about food. The crickets I have is just a little smaller than he is, He’s about 2cm maybe smaller. I’ve tried pre killing the crickets and gave them alive but he does'nt want any of it.
The last time he ate was last week friday and as their cages are kept a bit on the drier side and their only water source is their food I'm getting concerned now

Should I just keep on trying to feed or should I maybe get smaller (pinhead) crickets

Thanks in advance
Danny

Your spider might be in pre-molt, which means he will not take a prey item no matter the size whether dead or alive.
Your spider can go without food for months, before you need to start stressing about it.

Just give your spider a chance, he will eat when he is hungry. Try again in a weeks time, with a pre-killed prey item, if he does not take then try again in another weeks time. pre-killed again, just to make sure you not adding a cricket that is alive and could injure even kill your spider.
Another tell that your spider is going to molt, your spider will close itself in it's burrow or webbing.

So signs to look out for.
Spider color goes dull, abdomen gets darker and turns blackish and just before the spider molts it turns pitch black almost purple-blue in color.
They stop eating months, weeks and days before a molt.
They also close themselves in burrows and webbing in preparation to molt.
Also happens months, weeks and days before they molt.


Smaller slings molt more frequently than larger spiders, sometimes every month.
Often when a slings/spider does not want to eat, that mean they are in the process of molting.

I would say, you are feeding your spiders to often, rather feed them once a week.