fuzzies/pinkies--too much in t diet causes deformities?

[krystal]

just a quick observation--during my a. geniculata's last moult, he lost a fang. i figured it was a freak occurrance, and figured everything would be okay since the other fang was intact.

is it possible that i have o.d'ed my t on pinkie/fuzzy food, and that led to the deformed fang? my a. geni's main meals have been fuzzies, mainly because the crickets from the petstore i go to do not carry "large" crickets and my a. geni ignores them when offered. recently, a new petstore moved into the area that sells larger crickets. should i cricket-feed more often than the mouse feed?

 

[MrDeranged]

Hey Krystal,

While part of a tarantulas diet in the wild may include vertebrate prey, the majority of it is still invertebrate based. It's possible that by feeding only pinkies, there may be something lacking in your T's diet that caused the deformity. It's also possible that it's a random occurence. Personally I feed a diet of mainly crickets, with pinky mice thrown in after a molt to help the T fatten back up... I would try increasing the invertebrate content of your T's diet. You may want to try superworms if you can't find large enough crickets...

Scott

 

[Lycanthrope]

pinkies cause deformities?

wow i hope not, ive been planning on switching my goliath to a diet of mainly pinkies. id be interested in knowing if they cause deformities also

 

[Lycanthrope]

i ve had problems with superworms, my T's wont eat from forceps, and if not grabbed immediatly, the worm digs underground. is there a good solution to this?

 

[MrDeranged]

Put them in a dish that they can't get out of.

Scott

 

[krystal]

i've had that problem, too. some folks recommend keeping them in a shallow dish with dry oatmeal, but i find that my tarantulas don't really like standing over a bowl of dry oatmeal fishing for superworms. but my t's are weird--my b. boehmei likes eating fish.

 

[Lycanthrope]

good idea scott, seems like i have a hole in my head to have not thought of that krystal its weird you mention that, because a few months back my sisters goldfish died and i figured what the hell. i put it in with my emperor scorpions, and ive never seen a meal vanish so quickly!

 

[Al Muoio]

fish?

Hi Krystal, what kind of fish do you give to your T?

 

[atavuss]

Originally posted by krystal
just a quick observation--during my a. geniculata's last moult, he lost a fang. i figured it was a freak occurrance, and figured everything would be okay since the other fang was intact.

is it possible that i have o.d'ed my t on pinkie/fuzzy food, and that led to the deformed fang? my a. geni's main meals have been fuzzies, mainly because the crickets from the petstore i go to do not carry "large" crickets and my a. geni ignores them when offered. recently, a new petstore moved into the area that sells larger crickets. should i cricket-feed more often than the mouse feed?

IME in the several years that I have been using rat pups or pink mice for feeders I have not had any problems with deformed fangs or any other deformities. (I have stopped breeding mice for feeders as I find that rats are hardier and are better moms for their pups).
Ed

 

[AlbinoDragon829]

Re: pinkies cause deformities?

Originally posted by Lycanthrope
wow i hope not, ive been planning on switching my goliath to a diet of mainly pinkies. id be interested in knowing if they cause deformities also

I doubt that overfeeding pinkes/fuzzies to your Ts would cause deformity. It does, however, increase the chance that they will get hurt in a struggle... Then again when some species of Ts get to a pretty hefty size, I've heard of them actually refusing invert prey.

 

[Valael]

Yeah, I doubt it would cause any problems. If anything, I'd think a pinky diet would be healthier than a cricket diet.

 

[Joy]

Originally posted by krystal
just a quick observation--during my a. geniculata's last moult, he lost a fang. i figured it was a freak occurrance, and figured everything would be okay since the other fang was intact.

is it possible that i have o.d'ed my t on pinkie/fuzzy food, and that led to the deformed fang? my a. geni's main meals have been fuzzies, mainly because the crickets from the petstore i go to do not carry "large" crickets and my a. geni ignores them when offered. recently, a new petstore moved into the area that sells larger crickets. should i cricket-feed more often than the mouse feed?

Iy's possible. I don't think dietary diversity ever hurts. But the only times I have run into this was with T. blondi, a male and a female from the same eggsac. They had been reared on a very diversified diet, and my own suspicion was that inbreeding might be to blame, or possibly just a genetic defect in the bloodline. I have other tarantulas, including blondi, who have eaten virtually nothing but mice for the past 4 or 5 years, and they have never had any problems.

Joy

 

[Alonso99]

hey

What T is that?

 

[Joy]

Re: hey

Originally posted by Alonso99
What T is that?

It's a T. blondi, one of my fangless ones. Her condition doesn't show up as well in this picture as in my other one, but I have just discovered this site doesn't permit posting the same picture more than once. You can find the other one under the thread "Pre-molt slings . . . .how to tell."

Joy

 

[Longbord1]

i would really like to feed a blondi when i get one just vertebrates so it gets huge is this true more cases!!!!!!

 

[Aragorn]

I hear that you should feed the diet that animals eat in the wild...for T's that being the inverts, mostly insects! Like people from Africa do not digest wheat very well because their bodies are not adapted to digest them, but they digest root vegetable very well because that's what they eat over in Africa...and people in Asia and Africa don't digest milk very well. Though, I don't really know the difference between protein from in inverts and verterbrates. My guess it probably doesn't hurt them. What I do is feed my small crickets ( I buy them small ) tropical fish flakes, which is high in protein, so they grow very strong with good proportion of meat and fat, and to grow them as quickly as possible. ( And the tropical fish flakes makes the color really vibrant. ) Usually, I feed them to them before the crickets are fully grown, but still a good size so they'll eat it. Fully grown crickets have less nutrients than immatures, which less protein and fat content. Anyway, my B. smithi sling has gotten really big with just two molts. I guess a diet of mice will get really big in no time for the T. blodi because they're fast grower, and making them very strong and healthy being able to produce good eggs and sperm. That's what I aim for, big healthy T's.


Here is the link to my briefcase of my spider, you take a look: http://briefcase.yahoo.com/knotsripol@sbcglobal.net



"I give you the light of Earendil our most beloved star!"

 

[Crotalus]

I dont know if they can get deformed by a pinkie diet. My blondi juvenile lost a leg in her last molt, and shes been raised on inverts only - it just happens sometimes for no obvious reason (temps, humidity etc).
I prefer to give the larger T´s large deathhead roaches (Blaberus ssp.) and on occasion a pinkie or a larger fuzzie - smaller T juveniles eat the smaller roach juvs with great appetite. They are easier to breed and dont smell like crix do.
A blended diet is the best in my opinion so I buy a bunch of crix now and then as a supplement.

/Lelle

 

[Earth Tiger]

No offense but it seems that all of you folks
here forget to mention the main reasons for
the moulting problems - age and humidity.
Uusually moulting problems occur if they
are kept too dry. Even if it is given a water
dish, a large adult may still dry out in the
process since the process is longer in adults,
and may take up to a day.

 

[MrT]

Re: Re: hey

Originally posted by Joy
I have just discovered this site doesn't permit posting the same picture more than once. Joy

As for reposting pics..
Just resize it again, or rotate it, or crop it.. It will repost then..


Ern

 

[Earth Tiger]

Diet

Regarding the diet, I think a crickets only diet
is better than a pinkies only diet, because both
T's and crickets are inverts which are similar in
body compositions. So, your T's will probably
derive better nutrients from an invert than a
vert. But certainly a diversified diet is the best.

The most obvious nutrient deficiency in
a vertebrates only diet is copper. Arachnids
use copper to form their oxygen binding proteins
while vertebrates use iron. Vertebrates are not
rich in copper but most inverts are.

Then how to deal with T's that ignore cricket-sized
preys? I do have some adult Golden Earth Tigers
refusing small preys. But to solve this problem,
you don't need to limit their diet to pinkies only -
they will readily take large locusts. In fact, IME
they prefer large locusts, since they are larger
than pinkies.