Special treat for my sons AZ blond

[Codename Colorado]

Hey guys, my sons T has been devouring crickets like there is no tomorrow. A couple of days ago it put away 5 in less than 48 hours. I would like to give it something a bit bigger. Can Ts eat those hornworms thingies they sell in pet shops?

 

[mantisfan101]

No more food for that T in a while. 5 crickets in less than a week is a lot for a T with such a slow metabolism. Don’t overstuff it. These are also more slow growing so you won’t see much growth in a while. I would give it a break for at least a couple weeks before feeding it again. Also next time post in the tarantula chat/questions and discussions section.

 

[Codename Colorado]

Hey guys, my sons T has been devouring crickets like there is no tomorrow. A couple of days ago it put away 5 in less than 48 hours. I would like to give it something a bit bigger. Can Ts eat those hornworms thingies they sell in pet shops?

Note: Started this in the wrong forum yesterday, but didnt know how to move it over her, so starting it again.

 

[J.huff23]

Hi there. While I'm not familiar with horn worm, you are feeding it too much. 1-2 crickets per week is plenty

 

[Codename Colorado]

Will a T eat even if its not hungry? Serious question, this the first one we have had. she has had instances where she lets a cricket walk right under her and not done anything.

 

[FrDoc]

Generally, tarantulas are opportunistic eaters. They instinctively eat as much as presence itself because they don’t know how long it will be before the next meal. Consequently, you can easily overfeed, which can lead to problems. Some will on occasion, for whatever reason pass on a meal. One of my best esters, a GBB, left a super worm alone a few weeks ago. It’s not near a molt and that’s the only time I’ve ever seen that with that particular spider. A week later all was back to normal. So, yeah they will for whatever reason skip a meal. All this said, it also has a lot to do with the species. I have voracious eaters, and others I wonder how they can survive on so little food.

I digress, in answer to your question about horn worms. Oh, yeah! Tarantulas love them. They’re like a wiggly eclair, with a soft creamy center, tarantula comfort food.

 

[Codename Colorado]

Generally, tarantulas are opportunistic eaters. They instinctively eat as much as presence itself because they don’t know how long it will be before the next meal. Consequently, you can easily overfeed, which can lead to problems. Some will on occasion, for whatever reason pass on a meal. One of my best esters, a GBB, left a super worm alone a few weeks ago. It’s not near a molt and that’s the only time I’ve ever seen that with that particular spider. A week later all was back to normal. So, yeah they will for whatever reason skip a meal. All this said, it also has a lot to do with the species. I have voracious eaters, and others I wonder how they can survive on so little food.

I digress, in answer to your question about horn worms. Oh, yeah! Tarantulas love them. They’re like a wiggly eclair, with a soft creamy center, tarantula comfort food.

Alrighty, good to know. Ill giver her a break for a week then toss one in there.Thanks for the info!

 

[chanda]

Oh, yeah! Tarantulas love them. They’re like a wiggly eclair, with a soft creamy center, tarantula comfort food.

Can Ts eat those hornworms thingies they sell in pet shops?

A wiggly eclair with a creamy center??? Well, now I kind of want to eat a horn worm!

But seriously - while Ts do love hornworms, make sure they only feed them the ones that are sold as feeders from the pet shop!

Wild caught hornworms (even the exact same species as the ones sold in the pet shop) feed on toxic plants, and sequester those toxins in their bodies as a defense against predators, so if you go pluck a handful of hornworms off your tomato plants and chuck 'em in the tarantula's cage, you could end up killing the tarantula.

The hornworms that are sold as feeders are fed a special artificial (and non-toxic) diet to make them safe and palatable to reptiles and inverts.

 

[Codename Colorado]

A wiggly eclair with a creamy center??? Well, now I kind of want to eat a horn worm!

But seriously - while Ts do love hornworms, make sure they only feed them the ones that are sold as feeders from the pet shop!

Wild caught hornworms (even the exact same species as the ones sold in the pet shop) feed on toxic plants, and sequester those toxins in their bodies as a defense against predators, so if you go pluck a handful of hornworms off your tomato plants and chuck 'em in the tarantula's cage, you could end up killing the tarantula.

The hornworms that are sold as feeders are fed a special artificial (and non-toxic) diet to make them safe and palatable to reptiles and inverts.

Yea, the ones I'm looking at are at the Pet Smart where I get my crickets.

 

[Predacons5]

You can also feed them waxworms. They're cheaper and does the trick too.

 

[The Grym Reaper]

How big is it? Adults can go 5+ years between moults and only really need to eat like a couple of crickets a month at most or they'll just get to a point where they refuse food for months on end (the adult female I had refused food for over 8 months)

 

[Flashback]

On a related note....My A. chalcodes has only eaten crickets. This may sound strange, but is there a specific way to feed these worms?

I know worms burrow, but is there a way to prevent this? I'm guessing they should dropped as close to the T as possible?

Still want to try to offer it some variety (she's just had crickets in the 10 months I've had her, so would like to switch it up)

 

[vancwa]

Personally, I would not want to clean-up the creamy center that spews all over the place.

 

[FrDoc]

On a related note....My A. chalcodes has only eaten crickets. This may sound strange, but is there a specific way to feed these worms?

I know worms burrow, but is there a way to prevent this? I'm guessing they should dropped as close to the T as possible?

Still want to try to offer it some variety (she's just had crickets in the 10 months I've had her, so would like to switch it up)

Horn worms are not something you need to worry about burrowing. Actually, it’s almost pathetic watching them sloooowly crawl to their demise. As they approach the tarantula it’s like, “Hi, I’m a horn worm. Nice to meet.....”. Additionally, you don’t have to clean the mess, most of it is on the T, but what isn’t just soaks into the substrate.