Food size

[WingedDefeat]

Could anybody give me some advice as to around how big my T's should get before I start feeding them midsize crickets? All my t's are an inch or less from first toe to fourth opposite toe. I'm worried that they won't even bother trying to eat the crickets if they're too big, or worse, get injured when trying to capture them!

 

[BlkCat]

In "Tarantulas and other Arachnids" by Samuel D. Marshall.
It says"A good rule of thumb to follow in offering food to a tarantula is that the body length of prey be less than half the body length of the tarantual"

 

[USMuscle9403]

Different spiders (even within the same species) will take different sized prey items. My G. aureostriata will take things as big as her, and I have had this happen with alot of species. Conversely, some will only accept very tiny prey. BlkCat gave some good general advice though. You can also try offering dead prey.

 

[becca81]

You can also pull off the jumping legs of the cricket to make it easier to catch.

 

[usumbaraboy]

with mine i have a pink toe and a chaco and they both can eat live prey and they are both under a inch and i think it depends on the t and the size. if its 1/4 of a inch then dont feed it but if it is bigger then a inch then feed it live. but only if it accepts it

 

[shogun804]

when any of my slings reach they 3/4 inch mark they get fairly decent sized crix almost the size of the T's body but just a little bit smaller...Tarantulas are very old and great predators they are superb hunters....if the cricket is smaller than the T's body(not legspan) or aboutthe same size it will have no poblem takin it down...again these are all based on my own observations and this is how i feed all my T's and it has worked fantastic.