Discussion on Feeding after Rehouse

EulersK

Arachnonomicon
Staff member
Joined
Feb 22, 2013
Messages
3,292
I'm looking forward to this discussion!

So here's the deal. I've always followed the caveat that one should not feed a tarantula directly after rehousing. Opinions vary, but the general consensus seems to be waiting about a week after a rehoused before feeding. Well, after my last expo, I decided that it was a great time to run an experiment.

I walked away with 8 spiders, and I fed 7 of them mere hours after the rehouse (one was clearly in early premolt). The results? Every single one of them ate without hesitation. Several weren't even what you'd call skinny. So, not only did they eat, but I also found that they all settled in much quicker than what has been typical for me in the past. The C. fimbriatus already made web tubes by morning, the A. seemanni started burrowing, the P. striata webbed everything, and so on. The only exception to that statement is my H. gigas, who has yet to begin burrowing for some reason.

So tell me, what are your thoughts on this? Certainly no harm can come from a T eating directly after a rehouse, so at the end of the day this point might be moot. However, it's an interesting tidbit of husbandry. How long do you wait before feeding? Why? What do you say to the anecdotal experiment I ran?
 

louise f

Arachnoangel
Joined
Jul 8, 2012
Messages
936
I think it is nonsense that you have to wait with feeding after rehouse. The first thing i do when getting new spiders is feeding them the very same day, works just fine.:)
Never had issues with that.
 

Flexzone

Arachnodemon
Joined
Mar 1, 2015
Messages
721
I've never really got why some people choose to wait ex. a week after a rehouse to feed, If it doesn't eat it doesn't eat simple as that and if it so chooses to then great. Specimen's that I acquire of any size I try and feed the same day and haven't had a problem since.
 
Last edited:

chanda

Arachnoking
Old Timer
Joined
Jun 27, 2010
Messages
2,229
The only time I wait to feed is during obvious premolt and immediately after a molt.

I sometimes bring my tarantulas with me for classroom demonstrations. While I don't rehouse them, I do take out large items (like hides and water dishes) that could shift during transport - and, of course, I move the entire cage. When I am teaching summer school, they are going to be in the new location for a couple of weeks, but sometimes I just bring them for 1-day demonstrations. The kids get a big kick out of watching them take down a roach or a cricket, so I'll offer food the same day that I've transported them and never had a problem.

I have also fed newly acquired spiders the same day that I brought them home and put them in their new enclosures. Sometimes they eat right away. Other times they prefer to wait until after dark. Either way, the cricket is rarely still there in the morning.
 

Poec54

Arachnoemperor
Joined
Mar 26, 2013
Messages
4,745
In most cases, a hungry spider is going to eat. I've maintained the tarantulas for a dealer/importer and a pet store: taking them out of a dirty cup & into a clean 16 oz deli cup with a fresh wet cottonball, along with a few crickets, and almost all would grab the crickets in seconds. That's a lot of disruption, and it didn't phase most of them.

A high strung or defensive species may take a few days to settle in, maybe even a week or two in some cases, but the norm is that they'll eat during the first 24 hours.
 

EulersK

Arachnonomicon
Staff member
Joined
Feb 22, 2013
Messages
3,292
Well, since we're all agreeing here, I'm going to go ahead and play devil's advocate.

There's definitely something to say about a spider settling in before feeding it. @Poec54 brought up a good point about a high strung or defensive species. While the spider might be fine to eat, it's the keeper that may want to refrain from feeding. A spider has no idea where its safe place is yet, so opening the enclosure to do something as disruptive as feeding is asking for a spider to bolt out of the cage. That's even more true given how much it has been poked and prodded within the last 24 hours.

This might work in the opposite way, though. As @chanda pointed out, his/her spiders ate after being transported and having their hide ripped away from them. That happening likely creates a (relatively) aggressive/defensive spider, resulting in a great feeding response.
 

Venom1080

Arachnoemperor
Joined
Sep 24, 2015
Messages
4,611
i find that slings are more likely to eat after a rehouse. my adults usually take a few days to a week to start feeding again.
 

chanda

Arachnoking
Old Timer
Joined
Jun 27, 2010
Messages
2,229
Well, since we're all agreeing here, I'm going to go ahead and play devil's advocate.

There's definitely something to say about a spider settling in before feeding it. @Poec54 brought up a good point about a high strung or defensive species. While the spider might be fine to eat, it's the keeper that may want to refrain from feeding. A spider has no idea where its safe place is yet, so opening the enclosure to do something as disruptive as feeding is asking for a spider to bolt out of the cage. That's even more true given how much it has been poked and prodded within the last 24 hours.

This might work in the opposite way, though. As @chanda pointed out, his/her spiders ate after being transported and having their hide ripped away from them. That happening likely creates a (relatively) aggressive/defensive spider, resulting in a great feeding response.
Actually, it doesn't necessarily make the spiders more aggressive/defensive. I just plan ahead by not feeding them for a few days or a week before a scheduled demonstration so they'll be ready to eat. The only one that I've noticed taking exception to being transported is the T. stirmi. She stridulates when I pick up the cage to move it - but once the cage is back on solid ground (or table) again, she settles in pretty quickly.
 

Quicksilver

Arachnopeon
Joined
Apr 19, 2015
Messages
1
Ran a similar experiment with two A. purpurea and two C. Cyanopubenscens Rehoused on the same day and fed one and not the other. I usually wait a few days before feeding after rehousing. Both t's that were fed had significant more webbing than the ones not fed. The two not fed didn't start really webbing until I dropped some food in a couple of days later.
 

gypsy cola

Arachnoknight
Joined
Jan 16, 2014
Messages
192
It really depends for me.

The biggest factor is whether or not I actually have any feeders on hand.

I don't do it for slings because I don't want to clean mold for a drumstick but, if I were to advise someone else I would tell them to do whatever they want.

Adults, depends on my mood. I can be a merciful god...
 

darkness975

Latrodectus
Arachnosupporter +
Joined
Aug 31, 2012
Messages
5,610
I feed mine within a couple of hours of transporting them to places where I do occasional demonstrations for kids and such.
 

Vanessa

Grammostola Groupie
Joined
Mar 12, 2016
Messages
2,423
I have no problem feeding them if they are the easy going type. I recently rehoused two juvenile female C. cyaneopubescens and they were bolting all over the bathtub and gave me a hell of a time. Once they were in the new enclosures, I wasn't fooling with them anymore. I didn't need them bolting all over again when I had such a tough time getting them in there to begin with. I let them settle down for a couple of days and, when I saw that they started webbing around a bit, I fed them. They were as calm as could be. I really don't think that would have been the case directly after rehousing them.
So, I think it is up to the individual person and individual spider. I don't see how feeding or not right after a rehouse affects the spider too much, but it could affect you.
 

Andy00

Arachnoknight
Joined
Feb 4, 2016
Messages
153
I got a versicolor sling and a vagans sling. The versicolor ate a cricket an hour after rehousing and took 3 days to make a web and settle in. I tried to feed the vagans but it was stressed and didn't move. I left a crushed mealworm for it but it never got it, instead it made a big burrow just a few hours after housing and then a day later I fed it and it ate.
 

Blackout14

Arachnoknight
Joined
May 12, 2016
Messages
203
I always feed the same day as a rehouse. I think this myth carried over from the reptile world...you don't want to feed a snake immediatly after a rehouse or some lizards cause if they aren't settled and comfortable they can regurgitate the meal wich not only smells horrible can cause added stress. A lot of things carry over from that world like heat lamps are needed and heat mats and the like unfurtunatly. With ts in my experience including the 2 more I just picked up came home rehoused and we're eating roaches within 10 minutes no issues
 

viper69

ArachnoGod
Old Timer
Joined
Dec 8, 2006
Messages
17,851
Every sling I received in shipping ate the very day I fed it. Every sling I picked up at a show, ate that day as well. Those are all rehouses.

I feed the very day they arrive.
 

Sergic

Arachnosquire
Joined
Jun 5, 2015
Messages
77
I actually rehoused my P. irminia the last time while it was eating a cricket. I'm not sure if it helped or my irminia is just a mellow spider, but I was able to gently nudge it into its new enclosure and it walked in slowly with no attempts at teleporting. When it got into the new enclosure, it finished eating the cricket and started constructing a tube web and dirt curtain that night.
 

Travis21v4

Arachnopeon
Joined
Nov 2, 2015
Messages
11
I'm looking forward to this discussion!

So here's the deal. I've always followed the caveat that one should not feed a tarantula directly after rehousing. Opinions vary, but the general consensus seems to be waiting about a week after a rehoused before feeding. Well, after my last expo, I decided that it was a great time to run an experiment.

I walked away with 8 spiders, and I fed 7 of them mere hours after the rehouse (one was clearly in early premolt). The results? Every single one of them ate without hesitation. Several weren't even what you'd call skinny. So, not only did they eat, but I also found that they all settled in much quicker than what has been typical for me in the past. The C. fimbriatus already made web tubes by morning, the A. seemanni started burrowing, the P. striata webbed everything, and so on. The only exception to that statement is my H. gigas, who has yet to begin burrowing for some reason.

So tell me, what are your thoughts on this? Certainly no harm can come from a T eating directly after a rehouse, so at the end of the day this point might be moot. However, it's an interesting tidbit of husbandry. How long do you wait before feeding? Why? What do you say to the anecdotal experiment I ran?
I do the same thing. I feed as soon as i get them home and into their enclosure. Havent had a issue and they seem to settle in twice as fast or almost instantly. I got a darlingi from the same exact expo as you. Rehoused and then fed, woke
Up to a completely webbed up enclosure. Did the same to everyone else, concepcion ate and than had a drink. I dont see a problem with not waiting, but i have seen a positive with feeding instantly after a rehouse.
 

Sky`Scorcher

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
Joined
Apr 3, 2008
Messages
225
I've fed mine hours after rehousing. Especially those that have been in transit. If they don't eat, I attempt feeding again in a few hours. If they're really teeny tiny, same thing. I just spray water droplets on the sides before I put them in their new homes.

I've found that if you just leave them be in a dark corner, they're gonna have ample time to get comfy and be in the 'I'm hungry I wanna eat' mode :hungry: That's how I see it. I don't feed them immediately after rehousing because then they're in the 'ew don't touch me I don't know what's going on' mode. :anxious:

But after reading the replies, I'm gonna try feeding the newcomers the instant they get rehoused. I don't wanna try it on my current ones because I don't wanna wreck their homes nor are they actually due for a rehouse. :D
 

BossRoss

Arachnosquire
Joined
Sep 18, 2014
Messages
74
A lot of fair and experienced comments here.

I think the general rule of thumb of waiting to feed after a rehouse is to ensure to give the T ample time to settle in and set up a good hide. Some people might just throw in half a dozen or so crickets into a small deli cup after rehousing their new sling and wake up in the morning to find nothing but crickets in a deli cup...

As often as possible I will feed a newly rehoused T in the evening of the day I rehoused. Taking life cycle, molt cycle and how the T reacted to the rehouse(@EulersK & @Poec54 made points about defensive/skittish Ts) into account.
 

GG80

Arachnoknight
Joined
Nov 26, 2013
Messages
268
When I know a rehouse is on the cards I'll wait for the T to molt first. Then I wait a few days, even up to a week depending on size before food is offered. I will then offer two meals in a few days to make sure the T is well fed before the rehouse. Maybe it's just coincidence but I have always found a rehouse to be smoother if the T is not hungry. So for me, a rehouse takes place a day or two after a feed so I have never had the need to feed directly after it.
However, I do still continue the normal feeding schedule after a rehouse, ie. 3-4 days for slings, 4-5 days for juvies and 5-7 days for sub-adults and adults.
 
Top