Feeding question from a T noob

whovian89

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I am a T noob, just got into the hobby after nursing my interest for years. It's been just about a month now. I have three (and I am not getting any more for now):

1. Lottie, female A. seemani, approx 6"
2. Rani, female B. hamorii, approx 5"
3. Ashildr, juvie G. pulchripes, suspect female, approx 3" (my first one)

I have only been feeding them large crickets. Lottie molted the very next day after I brought her home - almost two weeks ago, and I have not fed her yet. I got Rani on Wednesday and she took two large crickets today. And I feed large crickets to Ashildr too - once a week - and she also takes two at a time. I plan on feeding Lottie and Rani every two weeks and Ashildr every week until she becomes an adult.

Like I said I have only been feeding them crickets. Shall I give them different feeders for variety? Like dubias, mealworms or superworms? I have heard mealworms and superworms can injure the T's. Is that true? Also, do T's only feed on live feeders or is there such thing as pre-killed feeders for T's? I have also seen some large species (including A. seemani) feeding on mouse pinkies. But I think I read somewhere that mice have too much calcium. Please advise on feeding and help this noob out. Your suggestions will be very much appreciated. Thank you in advance.
 

Venom1080

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Calcuims a myth. No evidence in years and years.

You don't need to vary their diet but it can't hurt.

Suprrworms and mealworms are good feeders, but should have their heads crushed before being fed. They can kill molting spiders. And shouldn't be allowed to roam the terrarium.

At such Large sizes, I doubt they will take prekilled anymore.
 

whovian89

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Calcuims a myth. No evidence in years and years.

You don't need to vary their diet but it can't hurt.

Suprrworms and mealworms are good feeders, but should have their heads crushed before being fed. They can kill molting spiders. And shouldn't be allowed to roam the terrarium.

At such Large sizes, I doubt they will take prekilled anymore.
Thank you so much for educating me. So is two large crickets every two weeks or so adequate food for adult T's or too little?
 

Devin B

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I.would sugest using roaches. This is only because I find them easier to deal with than crickets.
 

whovian89

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I.would sugest using roaches. This is only because I find them easier to deal with than crickets.
I keep crickets in a small exo terra cricket pen from PetCo. Will I be able to keep roaches the same way?
 

FrDoc

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May I intrude and pose a clarifying question? Regarding crushing the heads of the meal and super worms, is that always applicable, or is that done for T's that have not attained a certain size?
 

Venom1080

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Thank you so much for educating me. So is two large crickets every two weeks or so adequate food for adult T's or too little?
Probably a little too much for the larger two. I feed large arid species one big meal a month. Sometimes less. As long as the abdomen is equal or preferably larger than the carapace, you're good.

@FrDoc I crush heads if the spider doesn't take it in the first 5 seconds or so. In the case of larger specimens, who usually don't take prekilled, l just remove the feeder and try again next week or so. Depending on if the spiders fat or skinny.
 

aphono

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No harm in trying roaches or meal/super worms if you want to give variety. Red runners don't need to be killed as they don't burrow. Dubias do burrow so it really is best to crush their head- they still kinda move after this so it may elicit prey response.. Or try dropping one close by but be ready to pick it up immediately if the tarantula doesn't pounce on it. Mealworms definitely burrow and are very fast about it.. lost one of the first ones that way and it was surprising how hard it was to find once it was buried. Won't ever feed without crushing the heads on those ever again, with the exception of placing directly on web of a heavily webbing species. But I am always ready to pick them out immediately if there's no response. Apparently the beetle form can be dangerous to molting tarantulas in particular... you definitely don't want a mealworm to escape and burrow down as they will survive just fine and come out as adults later.

I've seen comments by long time owners feeding only crickets or roaches without any apparent effect on their health or breeding. Right now I am alternating between wax worms, meal worms, dubia, crickets just because I want to spoil them and it's a bit fun watching them go after different prey. by the way, even the 3"+ will happily take up waxworms.. cool.
 

Jones0911

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You have a choice you can keep on feeding them only one kind of prey and they'll do just fine or if you want you can feed them varies types of prey and they'll do just as well.

I crush the head on most prey items except crickets/red runners. So I'm not sure if they injure Ts or just burrow/ hide.

Tarantulas are scavengers so they will eat pre killed prey also if you don't want to feed live prey.

Some people only crush the head of prey when the animal is close to molting so the prey does not have a chance to eat the molting tarantula.

You can feed baby mice if you want that's just a myth.
 

Socfroggy

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You can also feed your larger Ts less. If the abdomen is bigger than the carapace than you can reduce feedings to maybe a few times a month. I wouldn't feed any T a pinky. Larger ones such as an LP of T. stirmi are suitable to eat them but even then it's not really recommended because of the clean-up, smell and the risk of introducing bacteria and pathogens.

Your best bet for feeders are going to be Dubia roaches, they offer more protein than crickets, smell less than crickets, don't chirp at night, can't jump, live longer and don't die as readily. Cricket are also viable, just less pleasant. As mentioned above you can do superworms so long as you crush the head so it doesn't burrow/eat your T. Variety is good. I, personally, wouldn't feed anything soft-bodied though. Have you picked up a copy of The Tarantula Keeper's Guide?
 

Devin B

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I keep crickets in a small exo terra cricket pen from PetCo. Will I be able to keep roaches the same way?
I keep my roaches in a 16oz deli container right now so, im would say the cricket pen would work fine. They sell roaches right at pet co. In my experience dubias are easier to keep alive compared to crickets. Ive had mine for months. They dont smell, and they dont make noise and they dont jump away.
 

whovian89

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I keep my roaches in a 16oz deli container right now so, im would say the cricket pen would work fine. They sell roaches right at pet co. In my experience dubias are easier to keep alive compared to crickets. Ive had mine for months. They dont smell, and they dont make noise and they dont jump away.
What do you feed them and how often? I am going to try the dubias next time.
 

Devin B

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What do you feed them and how often? I am going to try the dubias next time.
I just give mine orange cricket food I had left over from when I used crickets. Luckily cockroachs can eat almost anything so you could give them carrots or grapes, eggs, dog food or whatever. With the cricket food i just always have some of tgise in their enclosure but if you use people food for them you can only have it in their enclosure for a day or two so it doesnt mold.
 

The Grym Reaper

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I plan on feeding Lottie and Rani every two weeks and Ashildr every week until she becomes an adult.
Thank you so much for educating me. So is two large crickets every two weeks or so adequate food for adult T's or too little?
I don't own A. seemanni so I'll defer to others on their feeding but I feed my 4" B. hamorii one red runner every 2 weeks and my 2.5" G. pulchripes the same frequency (I'd normally feed a juvenile of this size once a week but she fattens quickly and her moult cycles are getting long as hell, same with my B. emilia), in both cases the prey item is smaller than the Tarantula's abdomen.

I keep crickets in a small exo terra cricket pen from PetCo. Will I be able to keep roaches the same way?
Yeah, just give them egg cartons/toilet roll tubes to hide in, food and water.

What do you feed them (dubia) and how often?
I have a red runner colony but I use ground up dog biscuits mixed with fish food, I just leave a jam jar lid full of it in their enclosure and top up as needed, use bug gel for water
 

cold blood

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Shall I give them different feeders for variety?
Not necessary...crickets are just fine...they're probably the best feeder from a ts standpoint...all ts like them.

I have heard mealworms and superworms can injure the T's
So can crickets.....just about any feeder can injure or kill a molting or freshly molted t...this is why feeders should not be left roaming.
I have also seen some large species (including A. seemani) feeding on mouse pinkies
Just don't do that. Not only is it completely unnecessary, but 1. its a huge meal, which will fill your t and cause it to fast eventually...2. its cruel, you will hear it scream for a lot longer than most will be comfortable hearing and 3. its gross, feeding mammals takes a long time to consume, and they start to rot before the t is done...so it will stink to high heaven.
Thank you so much for educating me. So is two large crickets every two weeks or so adequate food for adult T's or too little?
Yes that's fine, you could only give one cricket per feeding and be fine.

I keep crickets in a small exo terra cricket pen from PetCo. Will I be able to keep roaches the same way?
Roaches are much easier to keep, but totally not worth it for someone with under like 30 ts.
Regarding crushing the heads of the meal and super worms, is that always applicable, or is that done for T's that have not attained a certain size?
Heads are crushed to prevent roaches and worms from burrowing away and emerging to kill your freshly molted t.

Your best bet for feeders are going to be Dubia roaches
Dude, he's got 3 ts....a colony is a waste, and buying roaches is considerably more expensive than other feeders...plus, not all ts will take them as readily. There's no reason not to just keep feeding crickets.

I have it in my Amazon cart. I am just trying to decide whether to get a kindle version or an actual book
Keep in mind that the book is seriously outdated, its not the tarantula bible it was once touted as.

More up to date info is available on the boards here.
 
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Rittdk01

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Oct 4, 2016
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At 3" that "suspect female" G pulchripes is a dude. I would feed them once weekly A cricket or worm. Crush the worm heads before feeding.
 

Socfroggy

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@cold blood I know some of the info on there is outdated such as Enclosures, handling and some breeding aspects but what else is inaccurate? I've found that most of the info on there matches the info I find here.
 

cold blood

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@cold blood I know some of the info on there is outdated such as Enclosures, handling and some breeding aspects but what else is inaccurate? I've found that most of the info on there matches the info I find here.
Do a search, there is more than one thread outlining it...poec54 went through it in detail in one.
 
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