# Feeding tarantula spiderlings aside from mealworms



## Adam603 (Feb 5, 2012)

Hello, i was wondering what can i feed my tarantula spiderling, 1cm body, Golden Red Rump, aside from mealworms, because the mealworms grew and there arent any small ones left. and the shop i get them from are out of mealworms. 

Thanks in advance.


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## Ultum4Spiderz (Feb 5, 2012)

pinhead crickets , baby roaches

Reactions: Agree 2


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## Chicken Farmer (Feb 5, 2012)

you can cut the meal worm in half, or do that to a cricket.

Reactions: Agree 2 | Helpful 1


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## Quazgar (Feb 5, 2012)

Chicken Farmer said:


> you can cut the meal worm in half, or do that to a cricket.


+1

I'm not a huge fan of mealworms, personally, and don't want to grow my own roaches, so crickets are my only option. For my tiny slings, I'll just kill a small cricket and leave it in there. Sometimes they'll eat it all, but often they don't (with very tiny slings, the crickets are often bigger than the slings) so you just have to make sure to take it out before it starts molding.

Reactions: Like 1


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## Adam603 (Feb 6, 2012)

Thanks. last question, how long after a molt do i feed a tarantula spiderling?


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## killy (Feb 6, 2012)

Flightless fruitflies are the way to go.  I fed them to my Rosie and my A genic when they were 1/4 inch slings and they thrived.  Check out your local pet store.  As for when to feed the sling after a molt, give it a day or 2 or 3 - the thing is, as long as you provide the chow, the sling will decide when he wants to chow down. (Some say a week, and I found that to be true for my slings as they got bigger, but the little tykes don't need quite as long - but as I say, they'll know when the time is right ...)


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## Frostbite (Feb 6, 2012)

Ultum4Spiderz said:


> pinhead crickets , baby roaches


This is right on. Flightless fruit flies also work well.  My LPS (not a PETCO) gets great crickets in several sizes including pinheads. When I have ever been in a spot where I can't get pinheads or baby dubias, I amputate a leg from a larger cricket and give it to the sling.  Kind of like giving a kid a turkey drumstick at Thanksgiving..... I rarely use mealworms as they are great at escaping the feed dish and living comfortable lives in the substrate.

Reactions: Like 1


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## Scourge (Feb 6, 2012)

I'm not sure if many people have raised tarantula spiderlings only on fruit flies, but a few keepers of 'true' spiders have noticed when raising tiny slings on fruit flies that they have a lot of losses. Some have speculated that fruit flies don't have enough (or the right) nutrition for raising spiders.


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## killy (Feb 6, 2012)

Scourge said:


> ... a few keepers of 'true' spiders have noticed when raising tiny slings on fruit flies that they have a lot of losses. Some have speculated that fruit flies don't have enough (or the right) nutrition for raising spiders.


"Speculators" haven't tried raising their slings on fruit flies (if they had, there wouldn't be anything to "speculate" about).  I'm 2 for 2 (that's a 100 percent success rate) on fruit flies for tiny slings (and it is tarantulas we're talking about here).  I switched to baby crickets when the slings got to about 3/4".  

Mealworms work too.  And I didn't have to do any of that "cutting in half" stuff. Here's a shot of my 1/2" A. genic after he took down a mealworm about twice his size ...


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## smoothie4l (Feb 6, 2012)

You could try pre-killing a large meal if you can't find anything small enough.


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## Jared781 (Feb 6, 2012)

Ultum4Spiderz said:


> pinhead crickets , baby roaches


+1
all they really need to eat.. either that or Flightless Fruit flies, and both of these feeders
are fairly easy to obtain.. Pin heads can get away easily, so i dump a few on my feeding table
and trap them under a bottle cap with holes (the best item to use for that are the lids that the vials have
that hold the specimens when you order from a place like TarCan), then when its time to feed lift up a cap
and feed it to the T.. this works great for me because then you aren't fumbling around (literally) and its a quick feed!
i either do that or simply just store them in the vials..

what does everybody else do for a quick feeding?


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## Scourge (Feb 6, 2012)

It's great that you have had success using fruit flies Killy, but not everyone has had the same experience. Here's a couple of examples:

http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/sho...-to-raise-survival-rate&highlight=fruit+flies
http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/sho...Ancylometes-spec./page2&highlight=fruit+flies
http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/sho...cytodes-spec.-Tanzania)&highlight=fruit+flies

Like I said, these are all threads about keeping 'trues', but it is mentioned that the same problems may well extend into other families.


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## killy (Feb 7, 2012)

Okay, let me clear up some possible misunderstandings here.  Scourge, thank you for those threads, which were fascinating (I don't delve into the "true spider" world very often) - but I think you're "mixing your forums" (apples-to-oranges, as the saying goes).  

First, I'm not suggesting, as many on your "true spiders" threads seem to be, that tarantulas should be "raised" on fruit flies - the fruit flies are tiny substitutes for pinheads when pinheads aren't available, and only until the sub-.5" slings get big enough to handle something bigger and meatier - and I would say 2, maybe 3 molts, so 6-8 weeks max.  Furthermore, it's tarantulas we're talking about here, hardy ones at that - I referred to a "vagans" earlier, but I think we're talking about an albiceps in this case - either way, Brachypelmas are ridiculously easy to take care of, unlike the "true spiders" you refer to, which, from what I've read, are downright difficult to raise.  

I think it's unfair to discredit FFF as a food source for husky tarantula slings just because they don't go down well with a fragile spider species in the Amazon.  I don't think tarantulas have the same issues that the Phoneutrias have - at least it sure doesn't seem that way from the threads you linked.  I can only go by my own experiences and observations, but I'll repeat: my A genic and my rosie started out on flightless fruit flies, graduated to baby crickets, then bigger crickets and mealworms, and now adult crickets. They're big and strong and thriving, and I'll stand by my claim that I found flightless fruit flies furnished first-rate fodder for my fine furry fledglings.  I rest my case.  :wink:


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## Fairygothmother (Feb 9, 2021)

Adam603 said:


> Thanks. last question, how long after a molt do i feed a tarantula spiderling?


4 to 5 days after a molt my curly hair tarantula had its first meal today after molting last Friday


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## Matt Man (Feb 9, 2021)

for spiderlings wait at least 3 days, if you can see their fangs, wait til black. Pinhead Lateralis, Crickets or Fruitflies. I haven't cut up a mealworm, but if I have slings smaller than my food supply I will pre kill the smallest roach / cricket I have and leave by their burrow


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## Ungoliant (Feb 11, 2021)

Fairygothmother said:


> 4 to 5 days after a molt my curly hair tarantula had its first meal today after molting last Friday


After nine years, that sling is grown.

Reactions: Funny 2


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