fat abdomen healthy?

golda

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hey guys was just wondering.. ive been feeding my Boehmei a whole lot these past few weeks that he/she begun to bloat. is there such a thing as an obese tarantula? is it healthy considering she will molt faster if she eats heavy? suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

*bloat meaning really really really fat....* {D
 

kitty_b

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they can get obese.

they can molt faster as a result of "power feeding," but it may shorten their lifespan.

they usually will eat more than they would need... they're opportunistic gluttons. :D
 

golda

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they can get obese.

they can molt faster as a result of "power feeding," but it may shorten their lifespan.

they usually will eat more than they would need... they're opportunistic gluttons. :D
but its not really bad now is it? :confused: i want them to get big fast. and yeah they are gluttons. :D
 

kitty_b

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honestly, i don't think their health is a good trade off for faster growth.

being too "fat" can also risk abdominal ruptures (both during and between molts).

if you want bigger tarantulas and don't have the patience to let 'em grow naturally, buy them bigger. :)
 

golda

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honestly, i don't think their health is a good trade off for faster growth.

being too "fat" can also risk abdominal ruptures (both during and between molts).

if you want bigger tarantulas and don't have the patience to let 'em grow naturally, buy them bigger. :)
i guess your right.. i sorta get impatient watchin them grow. its really slow. but for their health i guess its time to put em on a diet. :)
 

green_bottle_04

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i guess your right.. i sorta get impatient watchin them grow. its really slow. but for their health i guess its time to put em on a diet. :)

good idea! if you do get impatient...get a fast grwoing T. GBB's grow like a weed! so do A. Geniculata's. Genic's can go from 1" to 4" in a year without power feeding.
 

golda

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good idea! if you do get impatient...get a fast grwoing T. GBB's grow like a weed! so do A. Geniculata's. Genic's can go from 1" to 4" in a year without power feeding.
really? i happen to have an A.Geniculata{D ... lets say 1 cricket per day diet? is that good enough? :?
 

Windchaser

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:eek: its only 2cm. i guess a crick per day is way too much. :?
This is too much for any size tarantula. With few exceptions, a diet of 6 to eight appropriately sized crickets (or equivalent) is more than adequate. Some of the larger species will require a little more. For small slings at times the prey is large enough that you can feed less simply because of the amount of food they are getting in one meal.
 

Ando55

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really? i happen to have an A.Geniculata{D ... lets say 1 cricket per day diet? is that good enough? :?
Way too much! feed every week as everyone said, I feed my Ts once a week, the only thing all Ts should have on hand frequently is water, bottle cap for 1.5+inches and droplets for smaller Ts. Other than that, best wishes with yours!:D
 

cacoseraph

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truly, there is no "correct" way to feed

basically you need to feed inside of a range of grams per week that is appropriate to your spider's size, species, and conditions. for a 2cm dls genic i would say something like .3-.5 gram a week would be cool. that would be something like 1 2-3 week old cricket, i guess. those are very approximate values, but hopefully you can see what i mean with the following expounding

if you love to watch your bugs feed you *could* feed them every day... but you would need to feed very small crickets compared to "normal". at 2cm legspan you would need to feed it something like pinheads (freshly hatched crickets) if you wanted to feed it every day. for someone like me (with something like 400-500 individually caged predators) that would be HORRIBLE. i go the opposite approach and feed larger sized prekilled (or head smashed, at least) items.... but only feed once a month or so.

either way, at the end of the month or year, both styles will result in roughly the same food intake for the spider.

now... is there health benefits to one way or the other... probably. do i know which one is better... nope, not at all =P
 

Mina

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Everyone feeds differently. I feed once a week, and usually my big females get two crickets, juvies get more depending on size and type, and slings get one sized to them, cricket a week.
 

dirk14

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for slings i feed em for a week straight till the abdomen gets quite big and dnt feed em till the next molt...
for juvies 2inches or so i give one large cricket a week
for adult females 2 crix a week only.

i stop feedingwhen the abdomen looks big enough...
 

guitarlust

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Dec 14, 2005
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my slings just ate and the abdomens are quite big now. should i expect that the slings may molt soon because of that one feeding or does it depend on the growth of the sling? normally, i just feed once a week or there about.
 
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