Exploding spider???(over-eating)

[zwd22]

Hi,
I'm new to these things, and this is gonna sound pretty stupid, but can a tarantula eat itself to death???

I got my new G.aureo sling, and fed him/her one cricket, my gut tells me that should be no problem, but it's abdomen is sooooo swollen looking.

And just out of curiosity, tarantulas leave the exoskeletons alone when they eat right?

 

[Chilobrachys]

it wont eat if it isnt hungry

 

[marvs08]

it wont eat if it isnt hungry

X2:} Don't worry and enjoy the "fatness"...

 

[zwd22]

k thanks,
it's just that i thought that animals instinctively overeat to store food, since in the wild they won't get a steady diet. That's y us humans get fat sumtimes too right?? :razz:

 

[Chilobrachys]

ive only been in the hobby for 3 years now but in my experience if they dont take food right away i lay off for a while cause there either fasting or molting

 

[Mushroom Spore]

it's just that i thought that animals instinctively overeat to store food, since in the wild they won't get a steady diet.

This is absolutely true. You CAN feed a tarantula all it will eat all the time, but this is somewhat unnatural and there are side effects. If you type "powerfeeding" into the forum search engine, you'll get a lot of in-depth discussion on the subject.

I'll just add this, though: no creature on earth really benefits from being obese. If your T looks bloated, you may want to lay off feeding it until it looks more reasonable (it may not until it molts, they always lose some weight when they do that).

 

[Aurelia]

^I want to add to what Mushroom Spore said and say that the fatter they are, the higher a risk there is for injury from falling. It's like a balloon and if their exo is stretched too tight, it becomes weak.

 

[Protectyaaaneck]

baby got back?

 

[zwd22]

If your T looks bloated, you may want to lay off feeding it until it looks more reasonable (it may not until it molts, they always lose some weight when they do that).

well this is after i fed it 1 cricket sooo... yeah. But yeah i won't be feeding it for a while.

 

[DreadLobster]

Seriously (for real this time... ) not trying to be a douche, but read this thread:

Beginner Info - READ before posting

You can find answers to just about ANY question you're going to have any time soon. Its all well organized and has links to everything so you shouldn't even really have to search for anything, just enjoy. Good luck!

-Nick

 

[Aubrey Sidwell]

I received an A. bicegoi spiderling that was so overfed that the abdomen was almost completely translucent. The major side effect of this type of overeating is that it died before successfully molting. I kept it in a 50 dram vial filled 3/4 with substrate so it couldn't get "high" off the ground in case of a fall but it still didn't matter. I would say you can't burst a tarantulas abdomen by over feeding but I do think it's possible to give them too much. A tarantulas goal is to catch food to eat and some have a more reactive feeding response that goes beyond their actual need for food.

 

[Talkenlate04]

I think it is impossible to overfeed a tarantula.
Yes you can feed them a lot and that could cause a burst abdomen from a fall or some other freak incident but other then that a tarantula is not going to eat if it does not want to.
Not only that but if you give a big meal to a T and it gets full before that meal is done it will stop eating. To me that indicates they know what their limit is and will stop eating even if there is more food. Additionally I have seen many roaches killed then placed in the water dish untouched which shows they killed just to get the annoyance out of the way, not to eat.

 

[Taylor]

there was a post once that showed a picture of a T that had eaten too much and the insides had....... sort of .....erupted out. very disturbing. ill see if i can find. it.
Taylor

 

[marvs08]

there was a post once that showed a picture of a T that had eaten too much and the insides had....... sort of .....erupted out. very disturbing. ill see if i can find. it.
Taylor

I really doubt if it would be because of eating too much... It might be a forrid fly infestation and that their larvae was able to hatch... I have heard many cases of this...

 

[quiroga]

cant imagine a T exploding itself because of over-eating. :?

hey marvs08 do u have ppf account? im from the phils too.