Can tarantulas eat meat(meat meant for human consumption)

[Pana Lemontzis]

Just out of curiousity asking. Would beef,chicken or pork be able to be eaten by a tarantula(assuming it is raw) and would it cause any danger to it? I would think of the three that chicken would be the safest. What do you guys think?

 

[viper69]

Insects are best

 

[jbooth]

Raw, and organic, maybe, they eat birds and mice, but I wouldn't trust a pet with anything they are currently giving to people.

 

[darkness975]

Just out of curiousity asking. Would beef,chicken or pork be able to be eaten by a tarantula(assuming it is raw) and would it cause any danger to it? I would think of the three that chicken would be the safest. What do you guys think?

Technically they might be able to stomach that, but far from guaranteed.

They are designed to consume invertebrate prey.

 

[Rigor Mortis]

You could but why in the world would you do that when insect feeders are miles cheaper than meat??

 

[Ultum4Spiderz]

Just out of curiousity asking. Would beef,chicken or pork be able to be eaten by a tarantula(assuming it is raw) and would it cause any danger to it? I would think of the three that chicken would be the safest. What do you guys think?

Just get pet store mice if you want to feed them meat . I just don’t like the nasty clean up, I’ve heard of people feeding them peices of meat but that’s just too costly they aren’t a dog ..
Waste of dough $$$.
Watch John3800 on YouTube if you want feeder ideas. He’s from Canada also.

 

[spideyspinneret78]

I'm sure they COULD eat it, but why? Maybe in an emergency situation where supply chains are shut down and feeders aren't available. But feeder insects are a much better option.

 

[Pedipalpable]

I don't see why you would want to feed them raw meat. Captive bred feeder insects are a fraction of the cost and guarunteed to be safe for a T to consume. Raw meat, on the other hand, is not guarunteed to be safe for Ts. Just read the title of your thread; "meant for human consumption." Meaning it is meant to be eaten by humans, and nobody can say for sure if it safe for tarantulas or not. Heck, some people question whether the meat we eat is even really safe for us, but that's a whole other matter.
Then there is the matter of raw meat rotting very quickly, which attracts undesirable visitors and fosters the growth of bacteria. Not to mention it produces very foul odors as well.
And finally, I do not believe I have ever read any convincing evidence that feeding raw meat to tarantulas has any notable benefits.
So in short, just stick to insects.

 

[Introvertebrate]

Some folks may not want to deal with feeders. It does increase your workload somewhat. My Ts take care of themselves. It's the feeder colonies that can be a bit time consuming.

 

[aprilmayjunebugs]

There's a thread about this somewhere, by a well respected member here if I remember correctly, who has done this.

 

[The Snark]

They don't 'eat' anything. They vomit digestive fluids into the prey and drink the results.

 

[Ultum4Spiderz]

Stick to insects as feeders that’s a natural food chain , grow raise breed your own feeders . It’s a kind of question lol ???
feed your dog meat not your ts . Look at those canines !

 

[BoyFromLA]

It can, but it does not necessarily mean it should.

 

[TheHound]

Probably, but I doubt it's optimal.

Like dogs are not obligate carnivores (unlike cats) and can technically be vegetarians, but it's not what's best for them.

 

[Introvertebrate]

13 replies, all of which are essentially just speculation (including my own). Apparently no one has any conclusive proof one way or the other.

 

[jbooth]

It's hearsay of course, but Tom Moran said someone told him they were feeding one hot dogs. I'll call it proof though, that's just too stupid to make up.

 

[Introvertebrate]

It's hearsay of course, but Tom Moran said someone told him they were feeding one hot dogs. I'll call it proof though, that's just too stupid to make up.

Proof of what? How's that T doing?

 

[TheHound]

13 replies, all of which are essentially just speculation (including my own). Apparently no one has any conclusive proof one way or the other.

Of course not, given there is no proper scientific research done into this. In the absence of that, it's entirely reasonable to think that it's far better to feed a tarantula food that it eats in the wild and which it has evolved to eat.

 

[Introvertebrate]

Of course not, given there is no proper scientific research done into this. In the absence of that, it's entirely reasonable to think that it's far better to feed a tarantula food that it eats in the wild and which it has evolved to eat.

.........and yet I've read reports suggesting that certain invertebrates do far better on artificial diets than on what they eat in the wild and have evolved to eat. How does that fit into your view of the world?

 

[sparticus]

and yet I've read reports suggesting that certain invertebrates do far better on artificial diets than on what they eat in the wild and which they have evolved to eat. How does that fit into your view of the world?

You gonna share sources on these reports you've seen so the rest of us can evaluate the validity of the claims? Or maybe an example? I keep an open mind but I'm hard pressed to believe that deviating far off from the natural diet is in an animals best interest in most cases.