A question that probably has an obvious answer, but I'm asking anyway.

Nlev

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Doubtful, tarantulas are carnivores. Even if they did, it probably would be very bad for them. I would worry about the honey causing their mouthparts to stick.
 

Matt Man

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The viscosity could clog their fang holes and potentially starve them.
 
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Jonathan6303

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Some jumping spiders seem to process honey but definitely do not try on theraphosidae
 

Matt Man

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and "do they like it?" is anthropomorphic. We have no idea what they like since they can't really tell us. They may hate crickets, but they are hungry
 

kadupul

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Isn't it a fairly common practice to give sugar to Ts that are doing poorly? Honey is basically just sugar, so as long as it's been watered down a bit, I would think it'd be fine. Why are so many opposed to it so strongly?

Here's a snippet I found on giving spiders nectar (honey is desiccated nectar).

Yes, these are true spiders and not tarantulas, but it does show that there are spiders that'll drink it and even prioritize it, so I don't think that it's too far out to think that tarantulas can appreciate sugar as well. I probably wouldn't experiment with it myself, but it is a good question. :)
 

Nebs Tarantulas

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and "do they like it?" is anthropomorphic. We have no idea what they like since they can't really tell us. They may hate crickets, but they are hungry
Actually my A. Chalcodes speaks fluent German so...

Why the hell are you asking this???
There are some things in the world that we never know :)

We need more people like you

Isn't it a fairly common practice to give sugar to Ts that are doing poorly? Honey is basically just sugar, so as long as it's been watered down a bit, I would think it'd be fine. Why are so many opposed to it so strongly?

Here's a snippet I found on giving spiders nectar (honey is desiccated nectar).

Yes, these are true spiders and not tarantulas, but it does show that there are spiders that'll drink it and even prioritize it, so I don't think that it's too far out to think that tarantulas can appreciate sugar as well. I probably wouldn't experiment with it myself, but it is a good question. :)
Thank you for actually being open minded, and thats a pretty interesting read
 

kadupul

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@arthurliuyz

Maybe it's not as common as I had thought, but people do give sugar to spiders other than ones within salticidae. Whether or not this is good for them, I'm not sure, but I appreciate those who try to innovate. That's how we ended with Ts as pets in the first place! :D
 

viper69

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Isn't it a fairly common practice to give sugar to Ts that are doing poorly
Maybe in an alternative reality of bong smoke and acid

If you have T-specific peer reviewed literature let’s all read


Maybe it's not as common as I had thought, but people do give sugar to spiders other than ones within salticidae. Whether or not this is good for them, I'm not sure, but I appreciate those who try to innovate. That's how we ended with Ts as pets in the first place
Except that’s not how we ended up with Ts as pets. No one took them and thought we should feed them sugar! They were fed insect, natural prey items.
And your use of the word innovate here is woefully wrong and inaccurate.

In your context of sugar the operative word is EXPERIMENT. So go experiment 🤮🤮🤮
 
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arthurliuyz

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@arthurliuyz

Maybe it's not as common as I had thought, but people do give sugar to spiders other than ones within salticidae. Whether or not this is good for them, I'm not sure, but I appreciate those who try to innovate. That's how we ended with Ts as pets in the first place! :D
Interesting. Thanks for sharing! I will have to do some research.
 

kadupul

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@viper69
This is not an article on feeding them sugar, it's about the contents of T's hemolymph.


T blood contains glucose and glucose is a type of sugar. When animals are lacking in nutrients in their diet, they will seek out sources of those nutrients. Like when dogs start eating dirt and poop, so I believe it's possible that it could be beneficial on occasion. I'm not suggesting OP should risk their spider, but I do think it would be an interesting experiment in another setting. I do not own any Ts, so I don't really take note of things like whether or not they specifically should not have sugar.

When I wrote "isn't it a common practice?" I was genuinely asking, not being snarky, but I now see that I had gotten it mixed up with the jumpers.

Husbandry is always changing and especially for not so mainstream critters so I like to keep an open mind to new ideas.
 

JonnyTorch

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I get all of these ideas of new innovations, new studies of the amount of glucose in their blood etc, but do we really see tarantulas in the wild climbing up to hives and eating their honey, or sucking up nectar from flowers, or eating wild fruits? I think if we did then this could remotely be entertainable but at the moment a trace amount of glucose could be from the sugars ingested from their prey items because roaches, crickets and insects do eat fruit and sugars. Maybe they do need minute sugars that come from prey items, but as far as them actually eating honey or sugars as a food source itself etc, I won't be practicing that or advising to do so, but I do encourage the learning and research of new scientific studies.
 
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