Size Matters

Rookie

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
Joined
Aug 16, 2002
Messages
283
Hey everyone,
For those of you who are starting out in this hobby like myself, and happen to have started out with s'lings, like myself, heed your elders! I was stuck for a cricket this morning, finding that one had died overnight, I was down to a single choice for feeding. He seemed a little large for my recently moulted G.Pulchra, but I figured it should be alright. When I put the cricket inside I realized the insect and arachnid were practically the same size. The cardinal rule, however, is to never feed an invert something unless it is at least half its size. However, at this point nature had already taken its course, and I had to let things be. You can see my panic-riddled message to get a description of everything, and perhaps I was just over-reacting. However, my T received a lot of kicks from the powerful hind legs of a full-grown crick, and he easily could've losed a pedipalp, or worse. As a matter of fact, it's possible he has, since the feeding is still going on as I type. I have yet to get a chance to see if any damage has been done. It has been a very stressful situation for me in any case. So, half the body size, take my word for it. If you're short of crix, it's okay, Tarantulas can survive without food much longer than we probably think.
Cheers,
Paul
 

Mojo Jojo

Arachnoking
Old Timer
Joined
Nov 3, 2002
Messages
2,122
In your same situation, I think I still would have fed the t the cricket. However, I probably would have taken the hind legs off.

Big Dragonfly
 

Tranz

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Sep 18, 2002
Messages
320
Originally posted by Rookie
However, my T received a lot of kicks from the powerful hind legs of a full-grown crick, and he easily could've losed a pedipalp, or worse. As a matter of fact, it's possible he has, since the feeding is still going on as I type. I have yet to get a chance to see if any damage has been done. It has been a very stressful situation for me in any case. So, half the body size, take my word for it. If you're short of crix, it's okay, Tarantulas can survive without food much longer than we probably think.
Cheers,
Paul

Rookie, the "G." in G. Pulchra stands for Graziano.
 

mebebraz

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Sep 27, 2002
Messages
551
you could also put the cricket in the fridge for a few minutes, that slows them down too.
 
Top