12/15/2022
This is Fig
She hasn't eaten since she molted weeks ago and she made me a nervous wreck. It's normal for them to not eat immediately after a molt as their exoskeleton has to harden, but this was much longer than a normal post molt strike. She lost a leg in this molt, which for spiders isn't super uncommon but can sometimes mean more than just losing a leg. A mismolt can elude to internal problems for the jumping spider, something you can't see.. or fix. I've been trying to just leave her be. She's been seemingly lethargic, wouldn't go back to her hammock, and just sat.. weird. I've been desperate to get her to eat something as her abdomen has slowly gotten smaller and smaller, but I gave her water and I watched her drink the droplets every day. I've tried every feeder I have, from crickets to mealworms to two types of fruit flies with no interest from her.
Today she finally ate a I bought waxworms today and dug through the container for the tiniest one I could find since she's a bit shy with large prey. It took a few minutes of me staying as still as possible while I watched her inch towards the worm, this being the first time she's even shown interest in food in weeks. I held my breath and cheered her on in my head, and she snagged it!!
I'm not sure if it was losing the leg that has made her nervous to try to catch good, or if something internal is wrong. Either way Fig is a strong lil 7 legged lady and I hope you guys can cheer her on with me!
