Feeding Tarantulas

[MarkEustace]

Hi,

I just introduced myself as a new member and included the text below but thought I would add my comments here too just in case members don't generally read the 'Introduce Yourself' thread.

I currently have two spiders - a big fat female salmon pink who is appropriately known as J-Lo and a beautiful Gooty Ornamental that has yet to declare its gender. The Gooty rarely molts and doesn't eat very much which I assume is the reason for so few molts.

My biggest concerns about keeping these lovely creatures is feeding them. I have just read a lively thread from a couple of years ago that is all about a mealworm eating a tarantula. I came across this thread because J-Lo often seems scared of the mario worms I feed her. Reading the thread alerted me to a couple of things that I did not know regarding the dangers of leaving the worm in the spider's tank if it's not eaten straight away. I will certainly ensure that doesn't happen again now that I know the danger (I have only fed crickets to my spiders in the past hence my ignorance).

One or two of the comments said that you should only feed spiders when they want to eat and I am very interested to learn of the behaviour that alerts you to the spider's state i.e. wants to eat/does not want to eat.

I always thought that you could feed spiders once or even twice a week but the comments suggested that spiders often fast for months and I would really appreciate it if someone could tell me how to spot a fasting spider.

Another issue I am curious about is to do with feeding J-Lo crickets. They always seem too small to me. She will eat them but it feels like I'm underfeeding her if I only feed her one cricket a week. Do you think I'd be ok to go back to crickets for such a big spider?

Any comments or advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks,

Mark.

 

[tewebag]

Another issue I am curious about is to do with feeding J-Lo crickets. They always seem too small to me. She will eat them but it feels like I'm underfeeding her if I only feed her one cricket a week. Do you think I'd be ok to go back to crickets for such a big spider?

Simple answer to that is offer a couple crickets each time. You do not give a measurable size so offer anywhere from two to four, whatever it wants to grab at a time.

I always thought that you could feed spiders once or even twice a week but the comments suggested that spiders often fast for months and I would really appreciate it if someone could tell me how to spot a fasting spider.

Some get fed every few days, some get fed once a month, it all depends on several factors including the size and what T it is, etc. Some will eat more than others and as long as yours is not super skinny you are doing fine.

Reading the thread alerted me to a couple of things that I did not know regarding the dangers of leaving the worm in the spider's tank if it's not eaten straight away. I will certainly ensure that doesan't happen again now that I know the danger (I have only fed crickets to my spiders in the past hence my ignorance).

Do not let the crickets fool you, they are murderous creatures as well. Basic rule is to remove anything uneaten within 24 hours. I normally do not even give them that long, if it's still there in a couple hours I remove it.

 

[TownesVanZandt]

My biggest concerns about keeping these lovely creatures is feeding them. I have just read a lively thread from a couple of years ago that is all about a mealworm eating a tarantula. I came across this thread because J-Lo often seems scared of the mario worms I feed her. Reading the thread alerted me to a couple of things that I did not know regarding the dangers of leaving the worm in the spider's tank if it's not eaten straight away. I will certainly ensure that doesn't happen again now that I know the danger (I have only fed crickets to my spiders in the past hence my ignorance).

Crush the head of the mealworms and it won´t be a problem.

 

[starnaito]

I only use worms for my tarantulas who will always reliably eat (i.e. A. geniculata). I was feeding crickets, but they are a pain in the butt. They smell horrible, die off in large quantities before you can feed them off, and are downright mean to Ts that are more reluctant to eat. If you can find dubia or B. lateralis roaches, they are a much better choice. Big name pet stores generally don't sell them, but you may be able to find them in privately owned stores or reptile expos. Never thought I'd let roaches into my home, but dubias won me over! The only downside is they can hide well, so you might want to crush their heads before putting them in a T enclosure (they still wiggle around for quite a while afterward), especially for Ts that could possibly be fasting and might not eat.

Crush the head of the mealworms and it won´t be a problem.

Make sure you crush it thoroughly! I've seen worms with partially crushed heads come back to life and burrow under the substrate. :/

 

[spookyvibes]

Reading the thread alerted me to a couple of things that I did not know regarding the dangers of leaving the worm in the spider's tank if it's not eaten straight away.

This isn't a problem if you crush the heads, avoid leaving prey items in while the tarantula is molting/about to molt, and/or remember to remove uneaten prey items if they're still there after 24 hours.

I have only fed crickets to my spiders in the past hence my ignorance

Crickets can eat/kill your tarantula as well. Just make sure to avoid leaving prey items in for more than 24 hours.

One or two of the comments said that you should only feed spiders when they want to eat and I am very interested to learn of the behaviour that alerts you to the spider's state i.e. wants to eat/does not want to eat.

Wants to eat: Sometimes they'll stick their feet out of their burrow/web tunnel.
Doesn't want to eat: Will avoid food item or show a lack of interest in food item.

I always thought that you could feed spiders once or even twice a week but the comments suggested that spiders often fast for months and I would really appreciate it if someone could tell me how to spot a fasting spider.

Fasting spider: Usually fat, won't eat.

Do you think I'd be ok to go back to crickets for such a big spider?

Totally up to you.

The Gooty rarely molts and doesn't eat very much which I assume is the reason for so few molts.

Do you have it in the right setup? I mean I've heard that P. metallica aren't very good eaters compared to other Poecilotheria spp. and that they're slower growing (someone correct me if I'm wrong), but it doesn't hurt to make sure that your husbandry isn't the issue.

 

[The Grym Reaper]

One or two of the comments said that you should only feed spiders when they want to eat and I am very interested to learn of the behaviour that alerts you to the spider's state i.e. wants to eat/does not want to eat.

A hunting posture is the only thing I can think of, this is when they spread themselves out and feel for any movement, arboreals will usually face the ground (some examples below).

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Otherwise I just assume they're always hungry until they refuse a meal (a tarantula that isn't hungry may ignore/threaten/slap away/kill and dump/flee from a feeder).

I feed on set schedules (small juveniles get fed once a week and subadults once a fortnight for example) so it's not something I've given a lot of thought to tbh.

Another issue I am curious about is to do with feeding J-Lo crickets. They always seem too small to me.

How big is she? I used to feed my 6" girl 3-4 red runners (cricket-sized cockroaches) or a superworm once a fortnight.

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Crickets can eat/kill your tarantula as well.

The same can be said for pretty much any feeder, if it will cannibalise then it's capable of eating your tarantula.

 

[MarkEustace]

Thanks for all your comments - I really appreciate them. I'll take your views on board. I did try crushing the heads of mealworms at one stage but I'm strangely squeamish about doing this. It is ridiculous, I know particularly because I used to enjoy (was fascinated not sadistic) watching my boa feeding on live rats. I'll have a look for roaches to see if I can find some for sale online.

I will also look at my setup for my Gooty. At the moment it has a favourite corner of the tank which I have made a little more private for it as well as having a couple of ornaments in the tank and a water dish.

The salmon pink is quite big - about the size of an adult hand - and the gooty is a fair bit smaller, although the legs when pointing backwards and forwards make it almost the same length.

Thanks again for taking the time to give me your opinions. I'm very glad I asked for your help.

Mark.

 

[tewebag]

I'll have a look for roaches to see if I can find some for sale online.

Your best bet even with only a few T's is to start your own colony, saves you a lot of money in the end. The downside to starting the colony is a larger upfront cost as you need the adults and then you just wait.

Blaptica dubia you want to give several months to get established before feeding off. Upside is a larger sized roach adult, super easy to care for, almost no scent, if they do escape there is little chance of them surviving where you are at and they are kind of cute.
Downside is that they like to play dead and do not always get a good feeding response and they like to burrow so some you have to crush the head a little.


Blatta lateralis is the other very common one. Upside being a fast agile roach that gives a good response time, under the right conditions they explode in numbers and easy to care for.

Downside is that they do have a weird scent to them, (I personally do not like it at all) kind of a bad cheese smell. If they do happen to escape, they are a lot harder than the dubias and are likely to survive and reproduce in your area/home.


Both roaches are easy to keep as neither can climb smooth plastic. Dubias do require a lot of air flow so it takes a little bit of time to make those.

 

[Nightstalker47]

Adults really don't need to eat that often...overfeeding would be a much more likely occurrence for large specimens that are on longer molt cycles.

In other words, don't worry about underfeeding, keep an eye on the abdomen size and use that as a reference...once she starts getting fat you can slow down considerably.

 

[The Grym Reaper]

If they do happen to escape, they are a lot harder than the dubias and are likely to survive and reproduce in your area/home.

Not that likely, last year we had a mild summer and my colony completely stopped producing oothecae, I've had them on heat mats ever since. Escapees will live but they need temps in the high 70's - low 80's to breed.

 

[Teal]

Not that likely, last year we had a mild summer and my colony completely stopped producing oothecae, I've had them on heat mats ever since. Escapees will live but they need temps in the high 70's - low 80's to breed.

Posts like this always confuse me.

ALL of my roaches are room temperature (and rather more cold than most people keep their rooms at), and they ALL reproduce just fine... including B. dubia and S. lateralis (which I am assuming is what yall are calling "red runners??")...

 

[The Grym Reaper]

Posts like this always confuse me.

ALL of my roaches are room temperature (and rather more cold than most people keep their rooms at), and they ALL reproduce just fine... including B. dubia and S. lateralis (which I am assuming is what yall are calling "red runners??")...

Odd, my entire colony absolutely refuses to breed if kept below 25°C so I'm not worried about infestation if they escape tbh.

 

[Greasylake]

My colony of dubias slowed down their reproductions significantly last winter and about half of them died, despite being kept around 70 degrees. I'm thinking about setting up some heating for them since the colony finally got back on its legs after the summer.

 

[boina]

ALL of my roaches are room temperature (and rather more cold than most people keep their rooms at), and they ALL reproduce just fine... including B. dubia and S. lateralis (which I am assuming is what yall are calling "red runners??")...

Odd, my entire colony absolutely refuses to breed if kept below 25°C so I'm not worried about infestation if they escape tbh.

I'm just as confused. I've read time and again that S. lats (red runners) will reproduce just fine at room temps but mine are like Gryms, the refused to reproduce or even grow properly in Winter at around 70F and only started reproducing once the temps reached 75F...

I'm a bit annoyed with my colony at the moment for that reason, because I've a few old adults that are dying off of old age atm and plenty of babies and small juveniles, but no subadults to replace the breeders .

 

[Teal]

I'm just as confused. I've read time and again that S. lats (red runners) will reproduce just fine at room temps but mine are like Gryms, the refused to reproduce or even grow properly in Winter at around 70F and only started reproducing once the temps reached 75F...

I'm a bit annoyed with my colony at the moment for that reason, because I've a few old adults that are dying off of old age atm and plenty of babies and small juveniles, but no subadults to replace the breeders .

So strange! I wonder if where they come from could possibly make a difference? Mine are descended from a group of wild caughts.