Are Tarantulas scavengers?

jeryst

Arachnopeon
Joined
Mar 10, 2010
Messages
32
I always thought that T's strictly ate live food. But a couple months ago, I got a very tiny sling (Thankyou Fran), and I dont have access to any pinhead crickets, SO I tore the leg off of a small cricket, and moved it around in front of the sling. It was scared of it, and just ran away any time it got close.

Thinking that I would try again later, I just left the leg laying in the center of the container, away from the slings burrow. When I came back a few hours later, I was surprised to find the sling sitting on top of the leg, and eating. It also dragged it around to various points in the container.

The sling has now molted a couple of times, and is probably one quarter to one half inch in size, but it still refuses anything that moves. It also still runs away from a cricket leg, but will eat it later if I put one in the container.

So is this some kind of weird behavior, or is this normal for a sling? I've always had larger T's, and they have never shown the slightest interest in anything that was not moving, so this is all new to me.
 

jbm150

Arachnoprince
Old Timer
Joined
Mar 18, 2009
Messages
1,650
I was curious about the same thing. I posted this thread a while back with some of my questions/observations:
http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/showthread.php?t=200542

Beyond my subadult murinus, I haven't tried it again with any of my non-sling Ts (I forgot about it). I may try it with my LP later and see what happens. I think its all a matter of them actually coming across the food and probably how fresh it is....
 

Bill S

Arachnoprince
Old Timer
Joined
Oct 2, 2006
Messages
1,418
I always thought that T's strictly ate live food.
Scavenging has been documented in a wide range of arachnids, and not just in juveniles. And scavenged food does not have to be "dead" food - wild adult arachnids have been observed eating non-mobile prey items such as frog eggs too.
 

Najakeeper

Arachnoprince
Joined
Dec 10, 2010
Messages
1,050
When my large P.antinous eats a pregnant Dubia roach, the egg sack drops down. After she is done with the roach, she always picks up and eats the sack.
 
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