Feeder size rule of thumb.

jmhendric

Arachnosquire
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Jan 17, 2006
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I was wondering if there is a rule of thumb on what size feeders to give your T's.
Like on beardies it's no larger then the distance between the lizard's eyes. I just fed my 3" versi a pretty good sized dubia roach bout 1" without crushing the head. The T attacked like lightning but took he/she quite some effort was about 15 minutes till the roach was dead. I was worried the T would be injured during this gladly everything is ok now but was worried fangs may have been broken:eek: But sure was fun to watch the action never get tired of watchin them feed{D
 

Sheazy

Arachnoknight
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Apr 19, 2007
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I have seen several sources say not to feed them anything larger than their carapace is wide...but tons of videos on the web show how many people stick to it...lol.

I wouldn't think a 1" roach would be oversize for a 3" versi...
 

Moltar

ArachnoGod
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I was wondering if there is a rule of thumb on what size feeders to give your T's.
I'll give you a rule: Try not to feed your thumb to one of your T's. lol

Seriously though, I think since slings are less experienced at catching food i'm a little more careful with them. I pre-kill for slings up to about 1" depending on the nature of the species. Also when feeding live prey i keep it smaller than their body. I don't really take legspan into account. That's just what i do, other's experiences may vary.
 
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jmhendric

Arachnosquire
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Jan 17, 2006
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Thanx guys I'll keep em smaller than the body the one I feed was about the same size as the T. The T has it from the butt end of the roach I just checked and they are both on the ground now and the half eaten roach is still live while the T continues to munch it{D
 

cacoseraph

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if you prekill you can feed a freakin cow to your tarantula.

i prekill or mangle pretty much everythign i feed out. sure, i might be raising up generations of sissybugs... but is safer, i think.


for entertainment i feed baby bugs grossly oversized prey. you have to watch carefully as this is a good way to get injured pets (though this has never happened to me personally). i have seen small slings take down prey that doubled their mass. very impressive.
 

Sheazy

Arachnoknight
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if you prekill you can feed a freakin cow to your tarantula.

i prekill or mangle pretty much everythign i feed out. sure, i might be raising up generations of sissybugs... but is safer, i think.

/\ Lmao...sissybugs...that's funny. {D
 

Talkenlate04

ArachnoGod
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Feb 13, 2006
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if you prekill you can feed a freakin cow to your tarantula.
That is the truth! As long as you pinch the head or stun it in a manner that protects your T from being harmed you can feed much bigger then you'd think. I pinch the heads of my roaches before feeding and will offer very large prey to smaller Ts. Saves me from feeding more then I have to. Cuts my work in more then 1/2 actually.
 

Moltar

ArachnoGod
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Yeah... plus it's really fun watching these enthusiastic little slings viciously attacking something that's already 95% dead. It's not unlike watching a kitten play with a toy mouse. Except for the fangs and the venom...
 

bluetubegroove

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Jun 29, 2007
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I think the " saftey first " way. I plan on cultivating crickets but for now I have a small critter keeper and seven of the little -Bleep out said curseword.- If they didn't chirp so much i'd have a tank full by now. >< I feed the feeders with organic vege's and fruits, as well with well filtered water. ( I'm big on the " You are what you eat " thing, same goes for my T. ) The crickets are about the size of it's abdomen, live of course. No reason to kill something when I can watch my sweet little darling get vicious. {D
 

spid142

Arachnobaron
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Apr 9, 2006
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sling food size

I think also that slings, needing to learn prey capture, and being a little clumsy at it at first, should get smaller prey than is usually given to juvies. So I give small slings crix about a third or half the Ts butt length. As they get better at prey capture, I go one almost butt length.
 
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