Feeding...how much? how often? Expert feedback, please!!!!

[AntlerAlchemist]

Thanks! LOTR is my favorite movie/book so all of my T's are named from those characters. I'm new too and learning soooo much!!! Thanks everyone!

Speaking of which, I forgot to mention that my A. chalcodes is named Shelob

 

[frodogecko]

@KezyGLA @Venom1080 @CEC @cold blood

In the future, put an @ in front of our name. None of those people got tagged (well, now they have been), I just happened to check into this thread.

I think @The Grym Reaper pretty much hit the nail on the head, but remember, a lot of what you're going to hear is opinions based on experience. Myself, I don't use an app or an actual feeding schedule. Slings get fed daily if my schedule allows - basically, it's never not feeding day for them. Juveniles get fed about every other week until their abdomen is just a tad larger than their carapace, and then feeding goes down to about once per month. Adults are the same story as juveniles, but when the abdomen is a touch larger the carapace, feeding goes down to every six weeks or so. My arid NW terrestrial adults get fed once every two months when they reach that plumpness.

Huge note here. Feeding schedules depend on what you're feeding. Many people are looking at my schedule and are appalled that I'm starving my tarantulas... until you realize that they're eating fattened dubia. I assure you that my tarantulas are all healthily plump, and in fact this schedule has triggered fasts from some of my NW terrestrials. When I feed my adults, I'm basically feeding 4-5 large crickets in the form of one fat dubia.

Sorry about the @ symbol. This is the first forum I've ever been on. I'm socially awkward (a big nerd). I don't even do facebook. Thanks for all the knowledge!

 

[Crone Returns]

View attachment 238414

This was from the 15th of this month. She seems to have slimmed down a little since then. I fed her one super worm since the picture was taken. View attachment 238415 This is from March 27th the day I caught her. So she was pretty thin in this picture.

She looks nice and tubby to me lol. Congratulations on your care.
I wouldn't give her any fatty worms now; a cric once a week. But that's what I do. Like everybody said, each T is different. Even day to day.
They all have different moods, hunger etc. Just go with the flow.

 

[frodogecko]

Its all dependent on a lot of variables...What species? How big is the species? What temps? How big was the last meal?

You will see people say that any/all slings can eat 3 times a week, but it just isn't always true (even if it is true a lot). A 1/4" Brachy sling may not eat 3 times during an entire cycle, especially if the food is large...and lets face it, everything is large to a 1/4" Brachy. Some adults with low metabolisms might only need one large prey item a month to get plump on.

The thing to understand is how fast of a grower it is and what its molt cycle is. Understanding a particular spiders molt cycles can help determine how long it takes that species to potentially grow a new exo skeleton and shed the old....so minus a few weeks or a month (hardening time and pre-molt time...which may just be a few days for a fast growing sling) this is the time you have to fatten this particular specimen. With slings and juvies you also need to consider that times will also extend for this as they grow, although there's generally periods of many cycles where length stays consistent.

Fill it up quickly, and it just has to wait (fast) until its biology has advanced to the point where it can actually molt (long pre-molt fast). Slower feeding schedules can mean shorter fasting, and sometimes virtually no pre-molt fasting....feed at a slower pace than the t can grow a new exoskeleton and you can extend this time period significantly...but there is, for every t, a shortest possible time, and its almost always easy to fill them up before they can be ready to molt, which is why pre-molt fasts are normal.

A good general rule is that the larger the feeders (or more) you offer in one feeding, the longer you can go till the next feeding and visa versa. A person feeding one single adult roach a week is actually feeding heavier than someone feeding a medium cricket 5 days a week. So if you want to feed your ts often, feed them smaller feeders.

An adult rose hair for instance, may go 4-6 years between molts, that's a long time to fatten something that can get its fill in basically a few large meals...its no wonder they spend so much time fasting.

Some species, like P. cambridgei for instance, can molt really fast when they are young, and they eat like they're starving...but they can molt very very quickly, putting on huge growth per molt...for these a slow feeding schedule works directly against their metabolism...I think feeding a cam sling even once a week is entirely too little unless its a huge meal.

Its confusing for beginners because there is no one way that works best for every t, at every size, in every environment for every keeper....when keeping ts, there is a huge degree of variance between what successful keepers do...there's a lot of wrong ways to keep ts, but there's also a lot of right ways to do things...developing an understanding of what works for you and your collective group of ts, is all part of the fun in the learning curve with tarantulas.

It is very confusing for beginners. What's funny, I've had a G. porteri for 14 years (very healthy). So, in Oct when I decided to get 3 more T's, I figured I already knew how to keep them. Six months later I'm up to 19. I never realized how different the care could be for each species. And there's not a book or guide that has directions written out for each species.

What you said makes a lot of sense. It really should depend on the species and their growth rates. What do you think about Mike's Basic Tarantula Site? Is this a good site for information?

 

[BrockiePelma]

its not only about how many times u feed them,its also about the size of the prey,the larger the prey the lesser the number of times u you have to feed them and vice versa.In my case,i only feed my Ts adult size S.lateralis,and their size is the same as my Ts,so i only feed them twice a week and they're looking healthy.

My best guide is to look at the size between the carapace and abdomen(for juvies and adults) the abdomen should be bigger than the carapace but not more than twice the size

 

[frodogecko]

Speaking of which, I forgot to mention that my A. chalcodes is named Shelob

Shelob's a great name, but I also have the Lego minifigure for each T next to their house and the Lego version of Shelob is too big.

 

[frodogecko]

its not only about how many times u feed them,its also about the size of the prey,the larger the prey the lesser the number of times u you have to feed them and vice versa.In my case,i only feed my Ts adult size S.lateralis,and their size is the same as my Ts,so i only feed them twice a week and they're looking healthy.

My best guide is to look at the size between the carapace and abdomen(for juvies and adults) the abdomen should be bigger than the carapace but not more than twice the size

What I've noticed with most of mine is their abdomen grows larger and larger (usually at least twice the size of the carapace) and then they molt. After molting the abdomen shrinks down by about half. My juvie smithi just molted and his abdomen went down by more than half. And I have an adult A. chalcodes that must be in pre-molt right now. He hasn't eaten in 3 weeks and his abdomen is at least twice the size of his carapace. Sometimes I don't know how they can even walk with their butts so fat. My kids like to sing that song when the T's get like that "I like big butts"

 

[Andrea82]

She looks healthy and plump, so you're doing fine
Careful with handling her though, especially with such a plump spider. A small drop to the floor can cause her death.

 

[AntlerAlchemist]

She looks healthy and plump, so you're doing fine
Careful with handling her though, especially with such a plump spider. A small drop to the floor can cause her death.

Thanks, I'll try to keep her abdomen around that size or slightly smaller. I don't handle her much. I wanted a good picture for size comparison. When I did get her out it is just inches above the ground (these pictures are deceiving) Thanks for the insights. I only have one tarantula, so keeping feeders is hard :-/ I bought a tub of super worms. They will probably all be beetles by the time she is due to eat again! And I'll have to figure out a place to keep crickets outside so I don't hear them chirping. Since a dozen small cricket will mature before I finish a batch at this rate!!

 

[Andrea82]

Thanks, I'll try to keep her abdomen around that size or slightly smaller. I don't handle her much. I wanted a good picture for size comparison. When I did get her out it is just inches above the ground (these pictures are deceiving) Thanks for the insights. I only have one tarantula, so keeping feeders is hard :-/ I bought a tub of super worms. They will probably all be beetles by the time she is due to eat again! And I'll have to figure out a place to keep crickets outside so I don't hear them chirping. Since a dozen small cricket will mature before I finish a batch at this rate!!

Jusr keep the superworms together and they won't turn into beetles. Add some branflakes/oatmeal and some carrot-or apple slices, and you can keep them for like, five or six months. Does your T eat supers already at this size?? Quite the shenanigan!

 

[Brumbleberry]

Thanks, I'll try to keep her abdomen around that size or slightly smaller. I don't handle her much. I wanted a good picture for size comparison. When I did get her out it is just inches above the ground (these pictures are deceiving) Thanks for the insights. I only have one tarantula, so keeping feeders is hard :-/ I bought a tub of super worms. They will probably all be beetles by the time she is due to eat again! And I'll have to figure out a place to keep crickets outside so I don't hear them chirping. Since a dozen small cricket will mature before I finish a batch at this rate!!

I feel you on the fast growth of feeders. My brother and I have two small slings, our first T's. I bought a group of pinheads and they already seem to have grown in just a week.

 

[AntlerAlchemist]

Jusr keep the superworms together and they won't turn into beetles. Add some branflakes/oatmeal and some carrot-or apple slices, and you can keep them for like, five or six months. Does your T eat supers already at this size?? Quite the shenanigan!

Huh I didn't know that! I bought them because they don't chirp I have only fed her one worm so far. It was on the smaller side, definitely smaller than her plump abdomen! She would almost eat anything at this point :-S

 

[Andrea82]

Huh I didn't know that! I bought them because they don't chirp I have only fed her one worm so far. It was on the smaller side, definitely smaller than her plump abdomen! She would almost eat anything at this point :-S

If this is your only T, I'd only keep the supers since she eats them just fine and don't bother to deal with those pesky micro-crickets. I need them for my A.geniculata slings since I like live-feeding, vut man, those things are a pain in the behind...
If you're feeding supers, one of those a week is plenty for your little lady. Don't forget to crush/cut the heads though, if they burrow in the substrate, they WILL become beetles and can pose a threat to a molting T.

 

[GreyPsyche]

I've got a question that I think is on topic and relevant.

I've just bought mealworms and stored them in the fridge. It's been a few days but they're not moving much when I take them out to feed, also some have a slightly darker abdomen after I leave it in with the sling for a few hours. Are these dead or just dying when I put them in with the T? Are they just super lethargic from the cold? How long do they last in the fridge before dying?

 

[AntlerAlchemist]

If this is your only T, I'd only keep the supers since she eats them just fine and don't bother to deal with those pesky micro-crickets. I need them for my A.geniculata slings since I like live-feeding, vut man, those things are a pain in the behind...
If you're feeding supers, one of those a week is plenty for your little lady. Don't forget to crush/cut the heads though, if they burrow in the substrate, they WILL become beetles and can pose a threat to a molting T.

Okay I will probably crush the head just incase next time. I've never had to leave one in there for her to eat sight unseen. She usually eats it as soon as it hits the ground.

 

[The Grym Reaper]

I've got a question that I think is on topic and relevant.

I've just bought mealworms and stored them in the fridge. It's been a few days but they're not moving much when I take them out to feed, also some have a slightly darker abdomen after I leave it in with the sling for a few hours. Are these dead or just dying when I put them in with the T? Are they just super lethargic from the cold? How long do they last in the fridge before dying?

Just lethargic from the cold, if you leave them out at room temperature for a few minutes they should liven up a bit, they last months in the fridge, they'll still pupate eventually but it takes them much longer than if they were left at room temperature, dead ones turn brown then black all over.

 

[GreyPsyche]

Thanks! I'm wondering if the quick change from cold to warm humid GBB enclosure killed the one I tried to feed her. She didn't take it but she took a different mealworm this morning so oh well!

 

[Andrea82]

Thanks! I'm wondering if the quick change from cold to warm humid GBB enclosure killed the one I tried to feed her. She didn't take it but she took a different mealworm this morning so oh well!

Your GBB enclosure is humid?

 

[GreyPsyche]

Yes, not overly so but much more so than the fridge. Haha. Bare in mind that it's a sling so it's a tad humid.

 

[cold blood]

Thanks, I'll try to keep her abdomen around that size or slightly smaller.

No, that's not the way things work with ts.....the natural progression is to molt and be skinny...at their skinniest point...from there they fatten and a t will be at its fattest just prior to molting....you shouldn't be aiming at keeping any t at a certain size...let the t determine that for the most part....now with adults there definitely comes a point where no more food is required and at that point you can just await a molt....but be aware that a t should be rather plump prior to molting.

I've got a question that I think is on topic and relevant.

I've just bought mealworms and stored them in the fridge. It's been a few days but they're not moving much when I take them out to feed, also some have a slightly darker abdomen after I leave it in with the sling for a few hours. Are these dead or just dying when I put them in with the T? Are they just super lethargic from the cold? How long do they last in the fridge before dying?

Mealworms will last 6 months or more in the fridge...they go dormant...its not a big deal to keep them in the fridge.

Its also important to note that super worms must be kept at room temps or they die, they're tropical....wax worms also don't fare well in the fridge and should also be kept at room temps or just slightly lower.

Your GBB enclosure is humid?

Yeah, a humid cage will kill a GBB...they require it to be dry. Only slings under 1" should be offered a damp area...and just an area.