# Overweight tarantula?



## Zanyamarie (Oct 1, 2014)

Just wondering what a 'fat' tarantula looks like. I don't want to over-feed mine, and i must admit, she does have that booty   
She eats every week, and I know that's a lot for a Rosie, but she wanders quite often and that's her way of telling me she's hungry. If she is too big, how does one do a tarantula diet? Thanks~



Side question:
She has quite a few cricket legs attached(and under) to the web she's been building up to eat on, should i take the web out?
Another side question: how big of a tank does a Mexican red rump tarantula need? I've seen mixed answers.


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## Fyrwulf (Oct 1, 2014)

My understanding is that tarantulas can go months, even years, without eating. I also believe, IIRC, that once a week is too often to feed a mature specimen. She certainly looks obese to my eyes, but I will defer to somebody who has kept them if they disagree. That said, if her movements are slower and more creaky than what you're used to seeing, I would suggest that's a sure sign of obesity.


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## DrJ (Oct 1, 2014)

In an odd way, it is reassuring to see someone concerned with an obese T when we see several "I think my T is anorexic" threads per week.  

How many crickets do you feed every week?  Though, it may not be a bad idea to go ahead and skimp down to feeding every other week.

Reactions: Like 2


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## Akai (Oct 1, 2014)

once your tarantula reaches adult size you can slow down their feeding.  i only feed adults every other week or twice a month.  fat tarantulas simply do not exist in the wild unless you have a gravid female.  most wild Ts if you were to observe them look rather decrepit looking...male and female.  this is perfectly OK.  they are opportunistic hunters so a meal is whatever happens their way.  this could take days, weeks...even months.  mother nature designed them perfectly to adapt to this.  additionally you'd like to think they are top of the food chain but they have many enemies that hunt them from birds to all manner of 4 legged critters and a fat tarantula is least likely to survive a get away in these encounters.  i would also like to point out that a G. rosea/poteri can go months without food.  i had a female go 11 months once.  this is perfectly fine.  tarantulas have very slow metabolism and Roseas quite possibly have the slowest metabolism of them all.  they come from the Atacama Desert in Chile which is one of the most harshest and most inhospitable places on Earth.  it is in fact the driest non-polar desert in the world.  there are some areas of this desert that have not seen rain in over 100 years.   mother nature adapted roseas to live in these conditions in the form of fasting.  they are programmed to fast.  everybody who owns one has or will experience this in their keeping.  there is an indepth stickie thread in the "Tarantula questions & discussions" forum on the care of your Rosea.  you should give it a read.  it can prove very useful in the husbandry of your girl.  tarantulas are predators.  they are programmed to eat.  they do not regulate what they eat or how often they eat.  raising them in captivity...you are in charge.  additionally your adult tarantula wil live longer if you slow down their feeding.  there are also health problems that could arise from molting to injury or even death due to a fall.  their abdomen would literally burst.  slow down her feeding to twice a month with maybe 2-4 crickets in that time.  i'd personally go with 1 juicy fat cricket every other week.  i hope this helps and good luck!

Reactions: Like 3


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## pyro fiend (Oct 1, 2014)

to me that looks a little fat. but thats just me. i personally feed mine once a week as i _*hope*_ to breed mine, so im breeding like im expecting a sack  however mine like adult male dubia. it gets verried sizer per week. some weeks its XL nymph. others med nymph then a large nymph and once a month gets a male.   but i will bump her back down to once ev two weeks personally but i like a plump-ish T but again verrying the meal. but once too fat every 2.5-3 weeks wont be too bad on some slow growers =]


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## jigalojey (Oct 1, 2014)

You can't overfeed a tarantula but it isn't good keeping them super fat due to risks of injury, I have seen posts of peoples tarantulas abdomen literally cutting in half because they got spooked when they opened the tank lid and ran over a rock and cut the abdomen in half because they were extremely fat.


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## Drache (Oct 1, 2014)

Thanks for this thread.  It was my next question - whether tarantulas overeat.  Now I know to adjust my feeding.  I've been known to overfeed, and while I myself can't keep the weight on, my critters sure do, leading to stern talks by my vet.  I have been in recovery for animal overfeeding for years, but being newish to tarantulas, I may still need some guidance with that.  I have a feeling mine ought to go on a longish fast.  So what does a perfect tarantula look like?  I've been scrolling through so many pics, I think I have a sense, but like AKAI says - anything kept in captivity is usually way plumper than most of what one would find in nature.  So is that healthy, or would really healthy be somewhere in between?


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## jigalojey (Oct 1, 2014)

Something like that give or take, I don't actually have any photos recently of my T's but I like to keep them plump, more plump than the one in my photo, new worlds are generally a lot fatter though.
View attachment 130384

Reactions: Like 1


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## Zanyamarie (Oct 1, 2014)

Well darn- I thought she looked good haha! I guess it's because I keep a lot more mammals than tarantulas. I was feeding her that amount because normally she is a rock and won't move, but her way of telling me she's hungry is to wander around until I throw a cricket in. Maybe she's just spoiled. And honestly, I'm not even sure she's a she. I got her from my Petco as my first T almost a year ago. She hasn't molted in my care so I just call her a she for now. Hopefully we will get a molt soon and I can sex her for sure. I will definitely cut down on the feedings and feed her in 2 weeks from now. Then we can get back on schedule. I thank you for all your help. 

Just to clarify how often should I feed my B. Vagans sling? I have heard twice a week for slings.


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## jigalojey (Oct 1, 2014)

Looks like a she to me, G.Roseas take AGES to molt like years so don't expect anything anytime soon, don't worry about her being that fat, Roseas have a bad habit of going into the extreme fasting periods and it's not uncommon to hear of a Rosie fasting for a year or more. The reason she probably smashes crickets has to do with the area she comes from, a dry barren wasteland, just like Australia! Where she came from she can't allow the opportunity of food to slip away, she needs everything she can to stay alive which is why every cricket will be taken until she goes into fasting. I power feed my slings because slings are garbage bins when it comes to food, I don't have a set ritual for how many crickets I feed my slings a week but it would probably be between 2-4 a week if I had to make a guess.

Reactions: Like 1


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## Akai (Oct 1, 2014)

Zanyamarie said:


> Just to clarify how often should I feed my B. Vagans sling? I have heard twice a week for slings.


i like to feed slings as much as they can eat so twice a week is good depending on the prey item.  the idea is to accelerate them past the sling stage since this is the most delicate stage of their lives.  they will either eat or the won't but feeding them will hasten the frequency between molts.  it is a good idea to record the date of their molts as this is a good telling to the age and growth on its way to adulthood.  some people even record their molts in the "Who molted today" thread here in the "Tarantula chat" forum.  i.e. today for example your Vagans could have molted from 2nd instar to 3i.   a year from today your Vagans could be "x" amount in size.  there are other factors such as temps and sex that are also factors but i leave that to you to research here on AB.  lol  i will add that B. vagans are the fastest growers in the Brachypelma genus.  i had a 1/4 sling turn into a mature male just shy of 26 months.


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## Jujubug (Jun 4, 2021)

I can die happy now knowing spiders can get fat


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## sasker (Jun 4, 2021)

You resurrected a thread from 2014. Please use old threads only for reference, unless you really have something important to add. It is also possible to start a new thread. The reason is that some information can be outdated and should not be perpetuated. In this case, the idea that you can't overfeed tarantulas. One certainly can.

Thanks!


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