My pink toe eating it’s web

J

JustSpades

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My new pink toe still very small and young is eating its web I believe. Using its front legs to scoop it in its fangs. What does this mean?
 
Ghost56

Ghost56

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It's just tearing the web down and balling it up like they do a bolus. It'll dispose of it somewhere so nothing to worry about. Grab us some pics of the enclosure though if you can.
 
EulersK

EulersK

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As a side, it's physically impossible for a tarantula to eat web. They can only eat liquids, they have nothing resembling a jaw or even a mouth for that matter. It's more of a straw that leads directly into their stomach. In fact, they've got filters in that "straw" that remove any solid matter.
 
dangerforceidle

dangerforceidle

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EulersK said:
As a side, it's physically impossible for a tarantula to eat web. They can only eat liquids, they have nothing resembling a jaw or even a mouth for that matter. It's more of a straw that leads directly into their stomach. In fact, they've got filters in that "straw" that remove any solid matter.
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But they have secretions that digest biological matter, correct? Silk is just protein chains, it can be digested. I don't think it forms strands similar to keratin, which is difficult to break down.

Anecdotally, I have observed true spiders eating their web. And it makes sense that they'd be able to eat it because producing it, like venom, is expensive. I'm not sure Araneomorphs and Mygalomorphs are different in this particular manner, but it's possible that tarantulas don't eat their silk. It just feels like a stretch to say it's impossible.
 
EulersK

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dangerforceidle said:
But they have secretions that digest biological matter, correct? Silk is just protein chains, it can be digested. I don't think it forms strands similar to keratin, which is difficult to break down.

Anecdotally, I have observed true spiders eating their web. And it makes sense that they'd be able to eat it because producing it, like venom, is expensive. I'm not sure Araneomorphs and Mygalomorphs are different in this particular manner, but it's possible that tarantulas don't eat their silk. It just feels like a stretch to say it's impossible.
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True spiders have powerful digestive properties in their venom, that's true. But tarantulas aren't quite as... well, evolved. Their venom doesn't even hold a candle to true spider venom. Theraphosidae venom is largely capsaicin (with digestive enzymes, yes). Capsaicin is purely there to cause pain - shock in prey, defense against predators.

Tarantulas have the pure brute strength to subdue and tear apart their prey, which is known as mastication. They don't need the digestive enzymes that true spiders need because they have the strength to physically tear apart their prey. In fact, that's one of the defining characteristics of Theraphosidae - chelicerae, basically little "teeth" below their fangs.
 
dangerforceidle

dangerforceidle

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EulersK said:
True spiders have powerful digestive properties in their venom, that's true. But tarantulas aren't quite as... well, evolved. Their venom doesn't even hold a candle to true spider venom. Theraphosidae venom is largely capsaicin (with digestive enzymes, yes). Capsaicin is purely there to cause pain - shock in prey, defense against predators.
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They have proteins in their venom that bind to the same receptors as capsaicin, the venom doesn't contain any capsaicin itself.

EulersK said:
Tarantulas have the pure brute strength to subdue and tear apart their prey, which is known as mastication. They don't need the digestive enzymes that true spiders need because they have the strength to physically tear apart their prey. In fact, that's one of the defining characteristics of Theraphosidae - chelicerae, basically little "teeth" below their fangs.
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But none of this is evidence that they cannot digest silk.

Digestive enzymes are excreted from the mouth rather than via the fangs, and are needed regardless of being able to masticate using their chelicerae. This part of your post also seems to contradict a sentence of your previous post where you say they have nothing resembling jaws (which are used, in part, for mastication), and that they only consume liquids via their sucking stomach. No matter how much you mash up an invert, you're going to have solids that need to be digested.
 
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JustSpades

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Thanks for all the replies and help :) I’m new to having a T and mine still so small so I get confused a good amount :)
 
darkness975

darkness975

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JustSpades said:
Thanks for all the replies and help :) I’m new to having a T and mine still so small so I get confused a good amount :)
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Please do Post images of the spider and enclosure though in the event that there are things that need to be corrected in its environment.
 
EulersK

EulersK

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Kendricks said:
HEY! Hey now... hey! :eek:
They are just... a little different, okay?
They are every bit as great and evolved as other spiders!!

Please, no more evolutionshaming!
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Tarantulas are the Model T to the true spider's Ferrari.
 
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