Fat spiders

[Roosterbomb]

Has anyone put their spiders on a diet before? My p Scrofa and my chalcodes appear to be way to fat. I give crickets most of the time but every 3rd or 4th feeding I'll switch it up . Does anyone even concerned themselves with this and any fat T questions you think I might have.

 

[horanjp]

Overfed tarantulas can get bloated, heavy opisthosoma that drag and create problems. Not to mention the increased danger of fall-related injury. Feed less often and in smaller amounts when you feel the need to do so. And you probably don't need to worry so much about fat slings, only larger juvies and adults.

 

[Roosterbomb]

Does mine appear to be too fat.

 

[mmfh]

I gave my 3" A. sp. new river rust rump a med. cricket every month. Very shortly it started to look like a blimp. I got worried and now I haven't fed it for 4 months and it never shrinks. It does have water available.

 

[KcFerry]

Does mine appear to be too fat.

My spiders get a lot fatter than that! If I notice any of my T's getting obese, I'll cut the feedings down to once a month until they molt. Your P. scrofa looks fine to me.

 

[The Spider Faery]

As T owner, part of the care is to adjust the feeding schedule according to the size of their abdomen. After a large meal, they may not need to eat for a month, for example, instead of every couple of weeks.

The P. scrofa in the pic doesn't look too fat, though. It looks quite healthy.

 

[14pokies]

P.scrofa is now Euathlus scrofa... And I'm pretty sure that's not scrofa.. Looks like E.sp red.... I'm not sure though because of the prominent mirror patch on opithstoma..

 

[Roosterbomb]

I'm not up on name changes but I'm almost positive it's a Scrofa. I can say for sure it's not euthelus sp red.

 

[auskie]

I have a couple fat slings.

 

[cold blood]

My spiders get a lot fatter than that! If I notice any of my T's getting obese, I'll cut the feedings down to once a month until they molt. Your P. scrofa looks fine to me.

Agreed. When mine start to get fat I put more time between their feedings and even reduce the size of the prey offered. At some point you're just waiting for the new exo to form so that the t can molt, I really don't know how much good continued feedings will accomplish at a certain point and eventually I will stop offering and just wait. Keeping track of molting and feeding schedules really helps to determine when to slow down and even when to just stop and wait. I frequently stop feeing before the t's stop feeding voluntarily, but because I can get an idea of the schedule, the t's usually molt within 10 days of my halt in feeding.


And yes, I have seen t's much, much fatter than yours op!! Its fat, but not grotesquely fat.

 

[GG80]

I used to feed my L.p and A. genic slings every 4 days but they were getting very fat so I didn't feed them for 10 days until they slimmed down a bit. Now I have reduced the food size and only feed them every 6 days and all is going well.
When I started in this hobby I was always worrying about the Ts being hungry but I have learned that they can easily go extended periods of time without a meal.

I wouldn't be too concerned with the size of your T but I would probably feed it smaller food items or less often for a while and see how it goes.

 

[mmfh]

For some reason photobucket is not cooperating with me or I would post a pic. Your spider looks fat but not obese. My spider looks like a medium sized latex glove on Shaquille O'Neals' hands!

 

[scott99]

just don't feed it.

 

[pyro fiend]

personally i dont mind for slings.. the fatter they are that just means the sooner they will molt..some people seem to be seeing fat instead of premolt like auski, his T's are in premolt, i can see it very destinctivly.. they arnt fat. they are going to molt within the next week or two [5bucks says im right if your temps ~70+].. op im not sure on yours its older, but according to the patches it very much could be too but doesnt look fat period..

once a T in my colection hits 3" they get weekly feedings.. a T knows when to stop eating if YOU know its nature.. IE a genic may eat every day of the week till youv made it so fat they drag their abd, theyl even eat 12hrs befor a molt, trust me mines done it.. but a less fiesty eater like a brachy and grammy WILL stop eating when they are going to molt i just dropped food in to my pulchripes gal whos only refused 2 meals with me.. can you guess when those where? nearing molts..

but so long as you feed the T appropriately i think your fine. iv fed my T's every 2-3 days as small slings[1/4"-1"], then 4 days as slings[1"-2"] some of the fiestier quick growers at 2.5 still get it every 4 days, eventually every week for my bigger eaters [Nhadu, Lasiodora, Chromatopelma, and Acanthoscurria] and every two weeks for my slower growers [grammies are the only slow ones i have currently] iv had my genic sence she was 1.5" and she is now pushing 5 never have i had her drag her belly, i feel this is because i know my T and their nature and appetite/metabolism

 

[LythSalicaria]

I'll feed my slings as much as they'll take, then once they hit the two inch mark I'll slow down to once a week or once every 4 days depending on the species and the individual's appetite. Re: Putting Ts on diets - I actually had to do this with my GBB recently. Pretty firmly convinced that little beast would eat until it burst if I allowed it to.