Grammostola pulchra Feeding [First TIme Owner]

[risaXrisa]

So, I've gotten my very first tarantula, roughly the size of a quarter including legs. It's settled nicely into the enclosure and I fed it it's first small cricket yesterday. It ate it perfectly. Then early today, I decided to check to see if it wanted another and it took it down immediately. I gave it another when I got home from work and it took it down immediately again. They are tiny crickets, so I was wondering how many I should feed it for the week? I don't want to accidentally overfeed/underfeed it. I've seen people say to do it maybe once or twice a week for young tarantulas like this, but I just want to be sure. I appreciate any help and advice c:

 

[magouilles]

You can try feeding it every 3 days. You can certainly give it food faster until it's not hungry anymore but what you will most likely experience is your t won't eat for a looooong time until it molts
I don't believe overfeeding your t is a problem but it's very mixed in the hobby and I saw people saying it could lead to issues and other people saying there was no such thing as an overfed tI personally have not encountered issues with very plump ts aside from them not eating for a long time
also slings can go months and months without eating without any problems, as long as its abdomen looks plump and not very tiny
I feel like you would need to actively try to underfeed it to actually get to that point
If it refuses food, make sure it has access to water at all times
wish you the best of luck! i love keeping g.pulchra and i hope you do too

 

[DomGom TheFather]

You can feed once a week.
You can feed twice a week.
Three times?
Sure.
But generally about once a week is good for a slow grower that size. You'll get a feel for it.

Cute spider.

 

[Jonathan6303]

So, I've gotten my very first tarantula, roughly the size of a quarter including legs. It's settled nicely into the enclosure and I fed it it's first small cricket yesterday. It ate it perfectly. Then early today, I decided to check to see if it wanted another and it took it down immediately. I gave it another when I got home from work and it took it down immediately again. They are tiny crickets, so I was wondering how many I should feed it for the week? I don't want to accidentally overfeed/underfeed it. I've seen people say to do it maybe once or twice a week for young tarantulas like this, but I just want to be sure. I appreciate any help and advice c:

View attachment 403419

Can you post a pic of the spider an the enclosure.
Thanks

 

[risaXrisa]

Can you post a pic of the spider an the enclosure.
Thanks

You can try feeding it every 3 days. You can certainly give it food faster until it's not hungry anymore but what you will most likely experience is your t won't eat for a looooong time until it molts
I don't believe overfeeding your t is a problem but it's very mixed in the hobby and I saw people saying it could lead to issues and other people saying there was no such thing as an overfed tI personally have not encountered issues with very plump ts aside from them not eating for a long time
also slings can go months and months without eating without any problems, as long as its abdomen looks plump and not very tiny
I feel like you would need to actively try to underfeed it to actually get to that point
If it refuses food, make sure it has access to water at all times
wish you the best of luck! i love keeping g.pulchra and i hope you do too

Thank you so much! I really appreciate the help c:

You can feed once a week.
You can feed twice a week.
Three times?
Sure.
But generally about once a week is good for a slow grower that size. You'll get a feel for it.

Cute spider.

Thank you! I really appreciate the help c:

 

[Tarantuland]

You should remove the humidity and temperature gauge. It's unnecessary and will stress you out. But let that substrate dry out, these guys do better with dry substrate. Looks way to wet

 

[risaXrisa]

Yeah, I was actually thinking about removing the temp gauge lol. And the substrate is just really dark in color to be honest. I’ve only been filling the water dish, so there’s no other misting going on. Maybe I should buy a different brand of substrate?

 

[Tarantuland]

What is it? It looks like coconut fiber which is perfectly fine. If the substrate isn’t wet, then why is there lighter patches on the top of it? By the teeth of the skull? That looks like dry coco fiber and the rest looks wet

 

[risaXrisa]

What is it? It looks like coconut fiber which is perfectly fine. If the substrate isn’t wet, then why is there lighter patches on the top of it? By the teeth of the skull? That looks like dry coco fiber and the rest looks wet

It’s a mix of dirt and cocofiber. I did my best to make sure it was dry before I put it in the enclosure. There’s also a pale moss along the top. I’ll try doing it again and hopefully that will help things. Thanks for the help c:

 

[Craig73]

When I use substrate from the bag it always has a little bit of moisture and dries out in a few days to a week.

 

[Tarantuland]

It’s a mix of dirt and cocofiber. I did my best to make sure it was dry before I put it in the enclosure. There’s also a pale moss along the top. I’ll try doing it again and hopefully that will help things. Thanks for the help c:

It looks like you got ventilation, it’s probably fine

 

[risaXrisa]

When I use substrate from the bag it always has a little bit of moisture and dries out in a few days to a week.

Oh, so I shouldn’t have to put it out to dry myself? I don’t mind if I have to, but if it will dry by itself then that would save some time lol.

 

[risaXrisa]

It looks like you got ventilation, it’s probably fine

I appreciate the help c:

 

[Craig73]

Oh, so I shouldn’t have to put it out to dry myself? I don’t mind if I have to, but if it will dry by itself then that would save some time lol.

Do you recall if it was just cool to the touch or did it feel wet? If it was just cool to the touch I’d personally leave it and watch to make sure that top layer is drying out in a few days.

I’m not an expert on substrate, but it’s what I do for my dryer species. The coco fiber should dry faster than the dirt if I’m not mistaken (I use dirt/moss), so don’t be alarmed when it dries in different stages.

You’ve got top and side ventilation so you should be fine.

 

[risaXrisa]

Do you recall if it was just cool to the touch or did it feel wet? If it was just cool to the touch I’d personally leave it and watch to make sure that top layer is drying out in a few days.

I’m not an expert on substrate, but it’s what I do for my dryer species. The coco fiber should dry faster than the dirt if I’m not mistaken (I use dirt/moss), so don’t be alarmed when it dries in different stages.

You’ve got top and side ventilation so you should be fine.

I remember it was cool to the touch. Thank you for the help. I was getting a little worried there lol.

 

[Craig73]

I remember it was cool to the touch. Thank you for the help. I was getting a little worried there lol.

You’re all good. The first T can be a little nerve racking. Best advise I can give is don’t overthink it too much. They’re going to do things that raise the anxiety, but if your husbandry is good they’ll take care of the rest and know how to be T’s better than we do.

I’m working on getting a G. pulchra. I have a pair of G. ihiringi (my favorite) and quite a few of other genus.

 

[The Grym Reaper]

It's a slow growing species so feeding it once every 7-10 days is plenty.

I don't believe overfeeding your t is a problem but it's very mixed in the hobby and I saw people saying it could lead to issues and other people saying there was no such thing as an overfed t

You can't overfeed slings, it is very easy to overfeed larger specimens (and extremely difficult to reverse), this can result in drag injuries which in turn can result in abdominal ruptures. Below was taken from a FB post where the OP's L. parahybana attempted to moult with a drag injury and suffered a fatal abdominal rupture in the process, the OP gave me permission to share the images.

 

[viper69]

I don’t feed on a schedule- feed as often as they will eat till they are a little plump as I travel a lot

 

[darkness975]

That enclosure is way oversized for a spider that size. And until they are older they appreciate some moisture.

 

[risaXrisa]

That enclosure is way oversized for a spider that size. And until they are older they appreciate some moisture.

Yeah, I’m already aware. I accidentally bought the wrong size.