How long between feedings?

vtecgsr

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
Joined
Sep 21, 2005
Messages
200
I have 3 inch A. geniculata... How long should i go between feeding it? Like a crick a week or what:?
 

xgrafcorex

Thread Killer
Old Timer
Joined
Aug 16, 2005
Messages
1,333
i feed them all once a week..except i try to feed the smaller slings a little more often to get them growing somewhat faster so they'll become a bit more established.

more food = faster growth
more food and some extra warmth = even faster
 

mr_jacob7

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
Joined
Jan 20, 2007
Messages
222
:? when i got mine from the store, my T was around 4 inches. The guy told me to feed him a cric a night. My T doesn't seem to mind. he snatches the dern thing up every time i throw it in there. (not just grabs the cric when it comes near, but the T actually goes after it.) His abdomen isn't huge, or anything. i have pics in the gallery. just search for "Roel".
 

Mushroom Spore

Arachnoemperor
Old Timer
Joined
Oct 14, 2005
Messages
4,588
:? when i got mine from the store, my T was around 4 inches. The guy told me to feed him a cric a night.
This is WAY overfeeding and you should stop. Pet store guys are, 99% of the time, complete morons and their advice is worthless.
 

Laceface

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
Joined
Nov 20, 2006
Messages
264
This is WAY overfeeding and you should stop. Pet store guys are, 99% of the time, complete morons and their advice is worthless.
Think that's bad?Guy my mom got my T from, told herto give her a few crickets every night. Shes hardly 3 inches.. I stopped that imediately, and now she gets about one a week, occasionally two..but at hte momentshes webbed n her hde refusing food
 

RottweilExpress

Arachnoprince
Old Timer
Joined
Apr 3, 2006
Messages
1,085
Bah....Take it easy on labeling people. You think a Geniculata would live on that diet(one cricket a week) in nature if it could? Nah.

Geniculatas are hungry beasts, and doesn't do bad if you feed them more than that. My little 3" beast is the hungriest in my collection, it has grown very well from 1cm to 7.5cm in the time from 26 august to today.

I feed several S. tartara per week, perhaps 4-5 and maybe a mealworm too.
 

Mushroom Spore

Arachnoemperor
Old Timer
Joined
Oct 14, 2005
Messages
4,588
You think a Geniculata would live on that diet(one cricket a week) in nature if it could? Nah.
That's because, in nature, there's no telling if they'd be able to find food the next day or not until two months from now. So they eat and eat and eat while they can.

However, in captivity, they're going to get regular meals. They just aren't smart enough to understand this, so they still act like they're worried they might never see food again. ;) As always, overfeeding any tarantula will speed up the molting process, which speeds up the aging process, which means your spider won't live as long as someone else's who feeds a more "average" diet. If you're okay with that, go ahead. The tarantula probably isn't sentient enough to care one way or the other. {D
 

gumby

Arachnoprince
Old Timer
Joined
Feb 15, 2006
Messages
1,659
I feed different Ts differently. for instence I have several male G. aureostriata and one large female. I would like the males to mature at a good rate not to near each other but not to far apart. So I feed them a little more then the rest of my Ts because I hope to mate my female once a year and have new male mature each year. I have one male that just matured, one at 4.75", and one at 2.5".
scott
 

RottweilExpress

Arachnoprince
Old Timer
Joined
Apr 3, 2006
Messages
1,085
That's because, in nature, there's no telling if they'd be able to find food the next day or not until two months from now. So they eat and eat and eat while they can.

However, in captivity, they're going to get regular meals. They just aren't smart enough to understand this, so they still act like they're worried they might never see food again. ;) As always, overfeeding any tarantula will speed up the molting process, which speeds up the aging process, which means your spider won't live as long as someone else's who feeds a more "average" diet. If you're okay with that, go ahead. The tarantula probably isn't sentient enough to care one way or the other. {D
In many habitats I would agree to this, but the Acantoscurrias are mainly found in jungle, subtropical areas or pampas. And food are not very scarse in these habitats. Also, the spider is built to feed, yes, and so are all other creatures. The only bugs I wouldn't feed this plentyfull is solifugids, as they have a gourging problem =D

The spider will stop eating when it has had enough. Regarding lost years, well, I'd rather risk only having the animal 18 years instead of 20 if I can quickly and securely bring it from sling/juvie to adult.
 

Dumaw

Arachnosquire
Old Timer
Joined
May 25, 2006
Messages
106
I feed the ones that are hungry every 2 days, sometimes every night, I never saw it as a problem, they are all growing and looking just fine
 

GrofKjans

Arachnosquire
Old Timer
Joined
Sep 27, 2006
Messages
69
My N Chromatus has never refused to eat. I was feeding mealworms for a month, and since this january the T is on superworms. Never had a cricet in its life. That is going to change...
Sometimes I offer food every night, sometimes every other... On the other hand there are periods when I don't offer food for a week or even more. I'm doing it because I have the information that Ts somtimes don't eat for long periods of time(in the wild). Hey, I don't want to spoil it:)
 
Top