How much is too much?

HaraKiri

Arachnopeon
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May 4, 2007
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I am currently feeding my 3" G. Aureostriata 1 cricket a day. I've read up on powerfeeding but the boundaries of what defines powerfeeding and what doesn't seems to be arguable. I am searching for more of a professional opinion(not an argument :p) on if this should be considered powerfeeding.
 

cacoseraph

ArachnoGod
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we would need to know at least the size of the crix before any reasonable answer can be given


.. i suspect that reasonable answer is going to be yes, however
 

HaraKiri

Arachnopeon
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May 4, 2007
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Well that was mainly all I needed to know, the size of the crickets vary from 1/2" - 3/4". Thank you for your help though.
 

spid142

Arachnobaron
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Apr 9, 2006
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too much

Feeding a crix per day would definitely be overfeeding IMO, most agree to feed 1 to 2 crix, per 5 days to a week. I feed twice weekly and my Ts are very healthy but not overfed. It can be better to slightly underfeed them, so they have a greater interest in food when it is feeding time.
 

syndicate

Arachnoemperor
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yeah one a day would def be feeding alot.none of the 100 or so spiders i have eat that much
 

mrbonzai211

Arachnobaron
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1 cricket every 10 to 14 days would be good for a T that size

I have a B. smithi that's about that size and he's getting fat even on that diet so I'm knocking it down to one every 3 weeks. I would start every 2 weeks and see how your T's metabolism reacts to it before making any changes
 

P. Novak

ArachnoGod
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It really depends. Do you want to power feed your T, which speeds up the growth or just let it grow at a slow steady pace.

Also, since it's starting to heat up now, I'd say 2 crickets a week since the T's metabolism will be speeding up.
 

JMoran1097

Arachnoangel
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will T's overeat or are they good about only consuming when they are hungry?
 

P. Novak

ArachnoGod
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will T's overeat or are they good about only consuming when they are hungry?
They'll eat as much as they can because they don't know when their next meal will be. I don't consider it overeating, but some others do. I'd just keep it to a couple crix a week.
 

Merfolk

Arachnoprince
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Some Ts powerfeed themselves in the wild, I saw pictures of them eating very large preys or looking seriously inflated (like this cute unknown avic on Rick West's site) ; some other look very thin.
Constant abundance does not occur in nature, so after the feast comes the fast...
 

RottweilExpress

Arachnoprince
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Some Ts powerfeed themselves in the wild, I saw pictures of them eating very large preys or looking seriously inflated (like this cute unknown avic on Rick West's site) ; some other look very thin.
Constant abundance does not occur in nature, so after the feast comes the fast...
Of course they do. They eat till they have enough for an upcoming molt, basicly.

Btw, I haven't measured exactly yet, but I have a presumed female B. Albo who has grown from ½-1 cm in July last year to 11-12cm legspann "today". That's pretty nice if you ask me.

Temp + food = Growth

I'm pretty sure feeding one crick every three weeks as some one planned to do to a B. Smithi would have left me with a 5cm Albo today. Also, asuming a B. Smithi only finds pray once every three weeks and call this natural feeding frequency is in my mind wrong wrong wrong.
 

ballpython2

Arachnoprince
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There is no such thing as feeding a tarantula too much. Tarantulas will only eat until they are full.... and after they get full you won't have to feed them for a while.... tarantulas and mammals have different metabolism rates. so your regular pets and humans can get obese and overweight. since tarantulas have a slow metabolism they can actually go without food for at least two weeks. so just feed your T until it won't eat any more crickets then wait a week or just 5 fives until its ready to eat again. when my Ts eat I feed them until they won't eat any more and I never have had any obese or over weight Ts. the only downsides i have had is that they don't want to eat for the longest time so im forced to be patient. but because of the way i feed my Ts out of the 14 I have..one of them is always in pre - molt its wonderful.
 

ballpython2

Arachnoprince
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It really depends. Do you want to power feed your T, which speeds up the growth or just let it grow at a slow steady pace.

Also, since it's starting to heat up now, I'd say 2 crickets a week since the T's metabolism will be speeding up.
Novak, you feed your T's two crickets a week? I guess you'd consider me over feeding because most of mine when i do feed them get at least 3 crickets a week or more if they finish off the ones they ate and are still looking for more.

my slings and my .75-1" blues i only give them one cricket every week - 14 days because since they are so small one will keep them filled up for a while
 

Pennywise

Arachnolord
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I have fed my Ts one cricket every other day until they are near adulthood.
Ususally adult Ts have less of an appetite but warm temperatures tend to
burn their energy faster. I haven't lost any yet so I don't think it's harmful
for younger Ts to eat more as long as they are actually eating the food and
not hiding it or letting it lie around. My giant Ts can eat 5 or 6 crix per week
but there you are dealing with a size factor. Some members feed roaches
to larger Ts but since I live in Florida I do not want to use them because
they might escape and multiply.:D :D :D
 

P. Novak

ArachnoGod
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Novak, you feed your T's two crickets a week? I guess you'd consider me over feeding because most of mine when i do feed them get at least 3 crickets a week or more if they finish off the ones they ate and are still looking for more.

my slings and my .75-1" blues i only give them one cricket every week - 14 days because since they are so small one will keep them filled up for a while
My juvies yes. I feed my adults 1-3 crickets a week. There is no number set in stone for me; it varies between each individual T and whether they are gravid or not.
 

lunixweb

Arachnobaron
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Apr 15, 2007
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I've read that you can see the abdomen size of your T, two times larger than cephalothorax is a good signal of being healthy, so, I think that giving 2 crix in one week is ok, although it depends on each sp. some eat more.
 
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