Can Feeding Too Soon After a Molt Cause Harm?

[Lover of 8 legs]

I have read that most recommend that we should wait about a week before feeding after a molt. Will a T simply not eat if fed too soon or could they cause injury e.g broken fangs? Does the time vary with the age of the T i.e. will a sling recover more quickly than a juvi or adult?

 

[BLS Blondi]

The bigger the T, the longer it will take for them to harden. I have seen T. blondi go six weeks before eating again. Slings may eat two days after, but it all depends on size and species. Usually juvies need 7-10 days. Adults 2 weeks.

 

[Henry Kane]

Yes, feeding too soon can cause harm. Worse case, it could break it's fangs.

If your T is healthy, there is absolutely no harm in playing it safe and waiting until you're completely sure. Best bet is to feed only when the fangs have turned completely black again.

G.

 

[Lover of 8 legs]

Thanks for the quick reply? That was my fear but when they have gone so long without feeding in pre-molt, it's so tempting to feed soon after a molt.

 

[jw73]

Adults can eat even 7-10 days after molt but you can wait 2-3 weeks before safe feeding.

 

[Henry Kane]

Adults can eat even 7-10 days after molt but you can wait 2-3 weeks before safe feeding.

Their fangs can probably tolerate the crix no problem but my concern (from experience) would be an overzealous T dive bombing the prey and damaging the fangs on substrate/decorations/rocks etc.. I had that happen to a 5" P. nigricolor. Both fangs were lost after the first post molt feeding. I was able to sustain her for some time but she never did make it to the next molt.

G.

 

[rospin]

now i am worried..i just got my 2cm versi last sunday & the importer didn't tell me it had just molted (last friday), well being in transit the past few days (i live in the philippines & it was shipped from the US), i fed it a chopped meal worm & the versi sling ate it all up, sans the skin...

would that be ok? i dont know if the fangs are broken, but from the looks of it, the fangs (are like half black half light brown)...will try to take a photo

 

[M.F.Bagaturov]

It is known that adults of some species can die if feeding soon after the molt.
There is some evidences which strange deaths can be explain only by this reason.
The one species which is known for this is Theraphosa blondi.

 

[rospin]

i dont know, but looks to me as if he cracked his fangs...is that possible?

 

[Henry Kane]

It is known that adults of some species can die if feeding soon after the molt.
There is some evidences which strange deaths can be explain only by this reason.
The one species which is known for this is Theraphosa blondi.

That certainly stands to reason considering that they shed their stomach lining as well. I'm sure they need time to recover inside as well as outside.

G.

 

[Henry Kane]

i dont know, but looks to me as if he cracked his fangs...is that possible?

It's kind of hard to tell feom those pictures, Rospin. Have you fed it since then and if so, did it consume the prey?

G.

 

[asher8282]

ive got a couple of questions...
if a T does feed too quickly post molt, and loses 1. -one of its fangs and/or 2. -the whole chelicera, (only one, the other we will assume is perfectly normal) is there any chance of it being regenerated over the course of several molts?? id like very definite answers to both (1. & 2.) seperately, please.. and thank you..
also, (not that it has to do with feeding, but) if the spinnerets got damaged somehow.. could that cause problems?

 

[M.F.Bagaturov]

Hello!
Sorry for cross-posting but this is maybe answers all Your questions:
http://www.the-t-store.co.uk/forum/index.php?showtopic=7495

 

[rospin]

well it finished the half meal worm last sunday, so haven't tried feeding it again..i figure it's kinda full from that meal...he sucked the worm dry...

will be trying to feed him again tom...

 

[Code Monkey]

My take is that, with the rare exception like Gary experienced, the only thing that happens from feeding a T before they are fully hardened is you get uneaten prey. It's one of those things, like moulting in the first place, that the owner doesn't actually need to put any thought into, the T will handle things just fine on its own, refusing to eat until after it's ready. I've never once seen an adult take prey until multiple days have passed after its moult; and since I'm also the guy who never removes the cockroaches when a T moults, it's not uncommon for them to have a fresh meal waiting on them 5 minutes after they get back on their feet after a moult. Had they been possessed by some self-destructive instinct, they would have fed much sooner than they did. I'd go so far as to say, that although I respect Gary's skills and take on things very much, that he's attributing the broken fangs incorrectly to being fed too soon after a moult and that the fangs failed for an entirely different reason.

Personally, I don't put much thought into it. I generally don't feed until the week following a moult, but that's just because the Ts aren't going to eat, not because I'm concerned about them breaking fangs. This is a case where you've got to ask yourself where in the hundreds of millions of years that Ts and their ancestors were moulting and grabbing prey was there somebody artificially keeping any wandering insects or small mammals away from them? Any T too dumb to try and use its fangs before they were hard enough failed the trade off game of life and removed itself from the gene pool.

 

[rospin]

so basically, it will eat when it is ready to eat?

and in my case, since the versi ate, it meant its fangs were already fine, because IF the fangs weren't hardened enough the versi sling wouldn't have eaten..

well that makes me feel loads better

 

[Code Monkey]

so basically, it will eat when it is ready to eat?

That is certainly my version of things

It doesn't hurt to withhold food for a week or so post-moult, I just don't think it makes much difference either.

There are a number of things that are commonly recommended because they are certainly the safest path to take - e.g. have substrate within 1 LS of the cage top, don't feed until you're sure the fangs are dark brown to black with no red, don't feed prey bigger than 1/2 the T's body size, and so on, but these are merely the most conservative approach. Ts can (almost always ) make controlled drops in a cage of a couple of inches without damage, in my experience they won't eat before the fangs are completely hardened anyhow, and the size prey a T can handle is dependent upon the individual T and what is the prey. The safest guideline is still just a guideline, you won't go wrong following it, you just might not actually be accomplishing all the much by sticking to it either.

 

[pinkfoot]

This is a case where you've got to ask yourself where in the hundreds of millions of years that Ts and their ancestors were moulting and grabbing prey was there somebody artificially keeping any wandering insects or small mammals away from them? Any T too dumb to try and use its fangs before they were hard enough failed the trade off game of life and removed itself from the gene pool.

Quite true. However, if the T in question was about to be singled out by the T version of the Grim Reaper, your intervention might make all the difference...

 

[Code Monkey]

Quite true. However, if the T in question was about to be singled out by the T version of the Grim Reaper, your intervention might make all the difference...

Even on the off chance this is the case, I'm not opposed to my spiders dying because of natural defects, and this would qualify. Not really looking to do my part to create the equivalents of hip displaysia and congenital deafness in the T world.

There's a fine line between being responsible keepers, of aiding their survival, and instead becoming people who keep them alive for no other purpose than seeing they're alive.

 

[bananaman]

Code Monkey beat me to it... tarantulas arent stupid... its not like they dont encounter prey in the wild after molting... they will eat if they are ready, otherwise, the cricket will be spared... people overly worry about these petty issues IMO, they arent babies...