Understanding the fullness/hunger level by looking at the abdomen for slings

[mozkaynak]

Hi,
I have the cutest GBB sling which is less than an inch. I usually feed it once a week with a pinhead/small cricket. I fed it about a week ago. When I check it this morning I notice that its abdomen is still big. I know that abdomen size is a good indicator of hunger/fullness for adult Ts. But I am just not sure whether it is also a good indicator for slings too.
Thanks in advance for your comments!

 

[Forcep]

I'm very new to Ts but have years of experiences on arthropods. They are very different from vertebrates; immature arthropods will keep blowing up while feeding, until a molt make them skinny and leggy again. So as long as it accept food, just keep feeding it till pre-molt.
BTW, I think you can feed a 1-inch sling more frequently, like twice a week?

 

[kellixo]

Are you using pinheads or micro crickets?


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[mozkaynak]

The last feed was bigger than a pin head cricket.

 

[Blut und ehre]

Abdomen size not only reflects food intake ??.......It also "can" reflect.......hydration....if it's gravid......if it is in pre-molt......and some females can display a larger abdomen at times!! [not an accurate way to sex a T by the way]
The goal should not to keep your ts "fat"....it is to feed them "properly". A shriveled abdomen is an indicator of a problem ....but a "fat " abdomen can be an indicator of many things.

 

[oooo35980]

The only good indicator IMO of whether they are hungry is if they eat or not.

Everyone's version of feeding a T "properly" is different. I feed twice a week and remove the prey item if they haven't taken it within an hour or so. I feel that I can then safely assume they weren't hungry.

 

[Yentlequible]

I feed my slings a bunch every other day. If they take it, then they are hungry. They get really fat, but that's not a problem with slings. They just put everything towards the next molt. And by fat, I mean that their abdomens are HUGE.

 

[MikeInNC]

It seems to vary from species to species.

My two GBB's were chow hounds from the moment I got them. A cricket a week and they were good to go.

My Euathalus sp Red is about 1/2" and only seems to eat once a month. More pinhead crickets have died on the surface while "Red" is deep in his/her burrow (which it built up against the side of the enclosure - so I can see it every day.

I'm still learning patience with that one

-Mike

 

[mozkaynak]

Abdomen size not only reflects food intake ??.......It also "can" reflect.......hydration....if it's gravid......if it is in pre-molt......and some females can display a larger abdomen at times!! [not an accurate way to sex a T by the way]
The goal should not to keep your ts "fat"....it is to feed them "properly". A shriveled abdomen is an indicator of a problem ....but a "fat " abdomen can be an indicator of many things.

Thanks. I did not know that abdomen size also reflects hydration.

 

[freedumbdclxvi]

The only good indicator IMO of whether they are hungry is if they eat or not.

Yep. This right here.

 

[Kibosh]

I have a Sling A. Minatrix, H. Gigas, A. Ezendami, and I feed them all every other day with fruit flies and pinhead crickets and they eat like horses with no problem. I also keep them warm and moist with the ultimate goal to grow them out of the delicate sling phase as fast as possible. So far so good the Baboons have cute little burrows and the Avic has heavy web everywhere and loves to creep around hunting at night. Basically happy and healthy!

 

[Keith B]

I know that abdomen size is a good indicator of hunger/fullness for adult Ts.

It's not at all, as already stated. A GBB sling can look like a loaded tick and still down a couple more crickets. And they will take much longer than the usual feeding interval to "lose that weight", so to speak. Once a week is actually on the slower side of feeding compared to the average hobbyists. Some feed twice, three times, as much as they'll take. Wouldn't worry too much about it losing weight. Fatten that sucker up. It needs to grow, wants to, and to the dismay of many, we can't keep them young forever.. cute though they may be

 

[Merfolk]

Normally keeping the abdominal volume about 150% of that of the prosoma will do.
If your T starts looking like a Smart trailling a huge camping car, better give only water for a while