pinkies?

[iluvspydrz]

okay i bought my first pinkie mice from the pet store where i get crix from yesterday because they were all out of large crix. i only purchased four because i wasnt sure if my adult g. rosea would eat them or not and i didnt want to waste money.
i brought them home and warmed one up and threw it to her and she munched on it for quite awhile. took her hours to eat it but i peaked at her this morning and she's fat and happy LoL
anyways, i'm sure she doesnt have the appetite to eat another one just yet i wanted to kno approx. how long you can keep pinkies in your freezer before they go "bad" and arent good for the T to eat?

 

[cacoseraph]

i don't know how long they keep, but 4 should be enough for a full grown spider to eat in like... 6 months to a year

 

[iluvspydrz]

LoL

i figured one every two or three weeks for a rosie? isnt that about the same as five crix?

 

[Mattyb]

I used to feed my big blondi a full grown mouse every week. I don't do that anymore. I suggest feeding a pinkie to any species maybe once every two or three weeks, just as like a treat or sumthing.



-Mattyb

 

[cacoseraph]

roseas are pretty low metabolism tarantulas, and don't get *that* big... so they would eat perhaps a suprisingly small amount

 

[Jaden]

Pinkies.

I've read (Somewhere can't recall right now.) that every three to four weeks is a good guide in which to feed your tarantulas pinkies.

 

[ezekeil]

i think pinkies are a great food source, they will last a long time in the freezer, i buy 10 at a time, and feed my 3" vagans 1 every 2 days, he/she prefers them over crix. Just pop them outside his lair and there gone within 5 mins! crickets will be wandering the tank until i remove them.

 

[ezekeil]

that said, i know that t's as any other pets require varied diets and he does eat average sized crickets every day so dont go thinkin that i only feed him pinkies!

 

[cacoseraph]

heh, power feeding?

 

[ezekeil]

i figured that if he eats then hes hungry!

 

[cacoseraph]

for non-mature spiders that might be true... but for mature spiders there is a very real chance you can over-feed them and they could come to harm as a result

i pretty much feed my "still-growing" bugs as much as they can eat

that's one of the reasons i think i almost like non-mature over mature

 

[DR zuum]

for non-mature spiders that might be true... but for mature spiders there is a very real chance you can over-feed them and they could come to harm as a result

Hi,i've never seen a tarantula mature or otherwise overeat,or any harm come to them from eating well.They eat when they are hungry otherwise they just leave it there.Ive heard of the large abdomen well fed T's coming to harm from falling etc.From what i've read that seems mostly like keeper error rather than T error.

Ive found nothing articles,studies, or otherwise,linking shortened lifespan,sickness or anything else along those lines to T's eating large amounts.The oldest T i have a B.smithi 17 yrs old,eats pinkys,anoles,crix and since i started a colony roaches she chows down big time and when she isnt hungry she leaves it.And shes going strong grooving.I think a lot of people apply human standards to them when it comes to eating,i've seen not one shred of evidence over the years to support that.No offense intended to anyone.

 

[cacoseraph]

that's good to know
and i mainly meant the burst-a-fat-abdomen scenario for bad things happening
actually, that's really good to know, cuz it seems me to me that keeping their metabolism chugging along would make them more resistant to um, opportunistic um, things

 

[Mattyb]

that said, i know that t's as any other pets require varied diets and he does eat average sized crickets every day so dont go thinkin that i only feed him pinkies!

Thats not true. Its not good to keep changing food for your dogs, and cats. pick a food and stick with the brand, or you dog or cat can get sick, or get cramps and such. (that is what my boss told me and he knows alot about animals) Of course a good diet for a T is a very good thing, they eat many different things in the wild.



-Mattyb

 

[David_F]

Dog food isn't just made up of one ingredient. So, really, you are feeding your dog a balanced/varied (to me, in this sense, doesn't mean changing up what brand..it means supplying a good mix of nutrients) diet even when you stay with one food. Switching from crickets to mealworms to pinkies to....whatever every once in a while is a good idea. Without knowing the exact dietary needs of tarantulas we might as well mix it up a bit for them.

 

[Mattyb]

Dog food isn't just made up of one ingredient. So, really, you are feeding your dog a balanced/varied (to me, in this sense, doesn't mean changing up what brand..it means supplying a good mix of nutrients) diet even when you stay with one food. Switching from crickets to mealworms to pinkies to....whatever every once in a while is a good idea. Without knowing the exact dietary needs of tarantulas we might as well mix it up a bit for them.

Yeah your right. :clap:



-Mattyb

 

[iluvspydrz]

well thanks for all of the advice. someone said they're b. vagans ate a pinky in five minutes? or he just grabbed it within five minutes? cause it took my five inch female rosie almost all night to eat one... :?

anyways, i need to kno an approx amount of time that you can keep pinkies frozen for, because my girlie is kinda fat and i dont think she'll need another for awhile... ;P but i have three in my freezer...

also, i read the sticky on how to really take care of your g. rosea, and it said that they really only need like five to six crix every two or three weeks.. but i usually feed her just whenever i feel like it, and she's healthy and always a good plump size... :}

 

[xelda]

If you keep them in the Ziploc freezer bags and squeeze all the air out of the bags, pinkies can last about a month with only minimal freezer burn. If you can vaccuum seal the pinkies, they can last several months. Some people say they can last 1-2 years when they're vaccuum sealed, but I think that depends on the quality of your supplier and how old the frozen mice already were when you bought them.

By the way, don't refreeze them and save them for later if they've already been thawed once.

 

[Apocalypstick]

I'm more partial to buying one pinky at a time (live) instead of freezing them over long periods. Pinkys and mice have thier nutritional value I think Tarantulas need for a good diet. I do believe a T should be at least 3 1/2 inche juvy to get a pinky (meaning less that two days old live).

But I only feed pinkies one every other month. It's a fairly large meal and not necessary as a constant food source. Even if it's a 8" adult T, which would take a mouse or 3-4 pinkies at once, it's a whopping meal.