My new T!
- Thread starter Korben
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Nice. But one thing - the hide should be open on the back end to allow it to burrow.
The bottom of the hide is cut out, should I change the position?
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Normal. Your T knows what it's doing.
Ok thanks
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No, as long as it is open on the bottom that's fine.
Minty
@londontarantulas
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Congratulations.
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1 large cricket a week, or 2 smaller ones, or 1 medium dubia roach.
Ok thanks, is it possible to over feed?
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Yes. I just rescued a B. vagans adult on craigslist that had been overfed by its previous owner and has a HUGE abdomen. This causes an unusual amount of strain on the pedicel, the part of the body that connects the abdomen to the cephalothorax, and also puts them at an increased risk for a ruptured abdomen in the event of a fall. Dragging injuries can occur more often with huge abdomens as well.
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Damn that’s awful, thanks anyway
BarksandFarts
Arachnopeon
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What is a dragging injury? I have a genic Sling with a massive abdomen and its eating well into premolt...... wondering if thats gna be a problem
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Abrasions on the underside of the abdomen, caused by dragging it over the substrate when it gets so big that it can't easily be lifted up.
Andrea82
Arachnoemperor
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With slings, the danger isn't as big as with juvie or adult spiders. Slings just eat and grow fat and molt. Especially A.geniculata will eat right up to the molt
aphono
Arachnobaron
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- Mar 11, 2017
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Very broad generalization, it's common for new tarantulas to seemingly be ravenous creatures at first. And then they may suddenly taper off, especially with very slow growing species. My adult A. chalcodes was a "ravenous beast, devouring everything in her path!" for the first few months after getting her March 2017. Since then, she's been fasting for months on end. That was a lesson learned for me.
I'm not sure what all the factors are other than excitement over a new pet leading to overfeeding(exactly what I was guilty of with above example). I was told by one seller they keep their available tarantulas fed on the lower end of schedule basically for safety reasons- to keep the abdomens from getting too large and more prone to injury. Especially for shipping. Perhaps that is partly why new tarantulas seem to have such great feeding responses.
You're good with feeding small slings with as much as they will eat, to encourage growth and with their small size the risks are comparatively lower. It's a good idea to stick with a schedule for juveniles and especially adults though, even if they seem to be starving at feeding time. As long as the abdomen is plump, they're not starving despite how they behave at feeding time.
One more reason for not feeding so often with juveniles/adults, it's to avoid possible lengthy fasts. Their metabolism is so slow they can easily eat to their fill very early on and hold off for rest of their molt cycle. With adults that can be months, or even up to a year for certain species- G. rosea being a famous example.
I'm not sure what all the factors are other than excitement over a new pet leading to overfeeding(exactly what I was guilty of with above example). I was told by one seller they keep their available tarantulas fed on the lower end of schedule basically for safety reasons- to keep the abdomens from getting too large and more prone to injury. Especially for shipping. Perhaps that is partly why new tarantulas seem to have such great feeding responses.
You're good with feeding small slings with as much as they will eat, to encourage growth and with their small size the risks are comparatively lower. It's a good idea to stick with a schedule for juveniles and especially adults though, even if they seem to be starving at feeding time. As long as the abdomen is plump, they're not starving despite how they behave at feeding time.
One more reason for not feeding so often with juveniles/adults, it's to avoid possible lengthy fasts. Their metabolism is so slow they can easily eat to their fill very early on and hold off for rest of their molt cycle. With adults that can be months, or even up to a year for certain species- G. rosea being a famous example.
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They can take a few days to settle in. Climbing the wall when placed in a new enclosure is normal behavior.
Andrea82
Arachnoemperor
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Is the substrate too wet maybe?