Spooder Care Information
Feeding Information
How often should I feed my spood?
Sub-adult and Adult spoods: I feed mine whenever they look hungry based on their abdomen size. This can range anywhere from once a week to once every few months for adults
instar 6-8: I feed them every other day, but you can do every 2-3 days depending on what you believe is best. There are many different opinions but I believe mine are happiest being fed every other day. This allows them to grow healthy and have consistent molts.
instar 5 and lower: feed every other day. Spoods this young are on fruit flies, so feed them each around 4-6 fruit flies every other day.
There is a feeding guide you may refer to at the bottom of this page. Please remember, this is all up to you how often you want to feed your older spoods, but i6 and younger should always be fed every other day.
feeding chart
What if my spood is not eating?
Keep in mind here that all spoods are different. It may be as simple as them being a picky eater or they might be sick, in the process of molting, or simply not in the mood to eat. Before jumping to the conclusion that something is wrong with them, I would recommend trying different food options. Similar to other animal species, these cuties also have food preferences. You can try using mealworms, crickets, waxworms, spikes, blue bottle flies, and more. If you have tried different food options and this does not work, it is possible something may be wrong with your spood and there is not much you can do here. You can attempt offering sugar water to perk them up, but this won't solve most issue besides dehydration and lethargy. In most cases, nothing can be done for a sick spood. They are too small to study in this way, so there is not enough information on their sicknesses and solutions. Aside from being sick or picky, they may just be entering a molt. Sometimes, the spood will not care to build a molting hammock and just do it in their regular hammock. In this case, it is hard to tell whether the spood is just molting or if something was wrong. If this happens to you, my advice is to just leave them be if they are not coming out of their hammock at all, even if they did not build a molt hammock. I know it is very hard to do because we can easily worry about our little pets, but ultimately, the spood knows exactly what it is doing so it is best to try not to interfere if something seems off. They are wild animals and have instincts just as every other wild animal does.
Misting Information
How often should I mist my spood's cage and how?
I mist my spoods' cages every other day at least to keep it humid and in case they are thirsty so that is my advice.
Side note: I use sphagnum moss in all my jumper enclosures. It holds moisture well so I mist the moss A LOT every other day to keep the whole enclosure humidity up.
Molting
What does molting look like?
In the molting stage, the spood will build a very thick hammock and will likely not come out until they are done with their molt. However, I have had some come out for water when I mist their enclosures or just come out briefly for some sun. As mentioned above, some do not care to build a molt hammock and just molt in their regular everyday hammock. If you see them staying in their hammock for days and hardly moving, just leave them be. In any instance, you should never purposefully disturb a molting spood as they are very delicate during this time.
What do I do during molting?
If your spood is molting, stop feeding. No live animals should be in the enclosure while the spood is molting to avoid harm. You should continue misting the enclosure every day to ensure it is humid so their molt will go smoothly and they will not have a mismolt (explained further down). Also, as mentioned in the previous section, sometimes they get thirsty and come out for quick drinks. Other than this, just try your best not to disturb the spood while it's molting.
How long is the molting process?
For spoods instar 5 and up, the molting process can take anywhere from a few days to a few weeks. It really just depends on the spood. As of now, however, I have not seen any molts go longer than 3 weeks.
What do I do after the spood completes its molt?
After your spood finishes molting, wait a few more days to allow it's new exoskeleton to harden before attempting to feed and continue misting as normal.
How many times will a spood molt in its lifetime?
Spoods will molt up to 10-11 times before becoming an adult
Mismolts
Please read. This is very important information for first time owners. Mismolts are unfortunately very common and are caused by a variety of things. Humidity is one of the main issues. Please please please mist everyday for your spood especially during molting. Mismolts can be external or internal.
External mismolts can appear in multiple ways as well. The whole molt might still be stuck to your spood or a piece of it might be. Observe your spood if you think they might be having a mismolt for at least an hour before intervening to make sure that they actually need help. Intervention should be a last resort as it usually leads to loss of limbs or death in severe cases. If intervention becomes necessary, take a q-tip and wet it with warm water and gently rub at the molt where it is still connected to the spood. Continue until it comes off (do not worry too much if a few legs come off, they can grow back with future molts). Once you successfully remove the molt, gently place the spood back in its enclosure. Death can still occur after successful removal of molts, so all you can do is hope for the best.
Internal Mismolts of course are not visible. It is very likely that your spood had an internal mismolt if your spood passes away soon after their molt. A warning sign could be extreme lethargy and the spood might not move much at all, but keep in mind that spoods are usually lethargic after molting so it is hard to tell, which is why the first and only warning sign will usually be death. There is also another instance where the spood will act normal and eat consistently, but their abdomens will not get any bigger and will even progressively get smaller. There is no solution here, your spood will unfortunately inevitably die from starvation.
Handling a Spood
What do I do if my spood does not want to be handled?
I have multiple videos on my page covering my own handling techniques. Head over to my profile and under my story highlights will be one labeled "Spooder Ed." This is where you will collectively find all my educational videos. Just click through until you find what you are looking for.
If the techniques do not work for you, a little nudge never hurts. Place your hand in front of your spood and gently tap their booty to get them to move forward onto your hand. Please note that it is a lot less stressful for the spood if you let them do it on their own time (the first technique) but this one is fine too! Many people will tell me "I do not want to force my spood to be held" and here is what I have to say to that, I am going to be blunt. If you might have this mentality, you will never get to hold your spood. We have to remember at the end of the day that these are arachnids, and though they may be very intelligent compared to other arachnids, they do not think as sophisticatedly as we want to believe. They naturally DO NOT want to be near us and they view us as predators. We have to use a technique called "Flooding" which is also commonly used for birds who have the similar instincts. We must pretty much force them (in gentle ways of course) to be held to get them to accept it. If you prefer to just look at the spood, that is fine too! they are so fun to watch and observe.
Maturity
How do I tell if my spood is mature?
Mature male spoods will have comma shaped endings at the bottom of their pedipalps. Mature female spoods will have epigynums, which are black holes on the bottom of their abdomens.
Here are some pictures you may refer to
Breeding Information
If you plan on breeding your spoods in the future, definitely read this section
Step one: Most breeders recommend feeding the female first so her fangs are occupied, but I only do this if one of my females exhibits aggression. I start by taking both of them out and putting them on the same FLAT surface.
Step two: Do not rush them or push them towards each other. Just be patient and let them find their way to each other. If the male is interested he will begin to dance and if she is interested, she will submit. Separate at any signs of aggression. This means that they are uninterested and will not mate. Do not give up on breeding though, just try again another time or just try another pairing! Patience is key!!
Step three: just let them do their thing. When they are done, they will part ways.
Sling Care
Check out this page on sling care. It basically covers everything with pictures!
https://spoodville.com/care-%26-life-cycle<br>