How often do you feed your tarantulas?

[The Grym Reaper]

TRIGGER WARNING: Actual feeding schedule.

Fast growing species

Meals are no larger than the tarantula's abdomen.

Slings under 1" - every 3 days
Slings over 1" - every 5 days
Small juvies - every 7 days
Larger juvies - every 10 days
Subadults/adults - every 2-3 weeks

Slow growing species

Meals are no larger than the tarantula's abdomen.

Slings under 1" - every 7 days
Slings over 1" - every 10 days
Small juvies - every 14 days
Larger juvies - every 21 days
Subadults/adults - every 4-6 weeks

That's worked fine for me, it's extremely rare (like "3 specimens out of over 100 over a 4.5 year period" rare) that anything refuses to eat for more than 2 months prior to moulting, and none of my tarantulas are obese. My growth rates aren't ridiculously fast but still pretty good.

 

[ChrisBo4]

Wow that's great information. Thank you!

 

[spideyspinneret78]

Every week or 2 I'll feed mine a prey item, slings about twice per week. I'll adjust it depending on abdomen size, behavior, etc.

 

[Swagg]

Just for the record.
There’s nothing wrong with a feeding schedule lol. I know a lot of people get triggered by them but as long as the T is healthy and not obese it’s just a different means to the same goal.

 

[The Grym Reaper]

Just for the record.
There’s nothing wrong with a feeding schedule lol. I know a lot of people get triggered by them but as long as the T is healthy and not obese it’s just a different means to the same goal.

Exactly, people on here decry feeding schedules all the time but the schedules I listed above have been worked out through a process of trial and error and that has worked for me. Surely me listing that as a guideline for someone to tweak to suit themselves is more useful to them than me just saying "hurr durr, feeding schedules are garbage, just wing it" (and I'm not decrying winging it, if it works for you then have at it).

I don't even really do the "feed more heavily right after a moult" thing, I thought the point was to gradually plump them up over the course of the moult cycle, if a tarantula is moulting every 12 months or so (like my AF A. geniculata for example) then I know that if I feed it every 14-21 days then it'll eat up until about 4-8 weeks before it moults.

 

[Swagg]

Exactly, people on here decry feeding schedules all the time but the schedules I listed above have been worked out through a process of trial and error and that has worked for me. Surely me listing that as a guideline for someone to tweak to suit themselves is more useful to them than me just saying "hurr durr, feeding schedules are garbage, just wing it" (and I'm not decrying winging it, if it works for you then have at it).

I don't even really do the "feed more heavily right after a moult" thing, I thought the point was to gradually plump them up over the course of the moult cycle, if a tarantula is moulting every 12 months or so (like my AF A. geniculata for example) then I know that if I feed it every 14-21 days then it'll eat up until about 4-8 weeks before it moults.

I totally agree. I myself go off of abdomen size and that works for me.
Healthy T’s are the goal and I think both methods reach it.
Good talk broski

 

[viper69]

When they are hungry

 

[SquidStina]

I feed them when they're hungry/when they're not fat. Slings I try to feed once a week unless they're in premolt.
My P.pulcher is usually a pretty skinny spider usually, so as soon as she accepts food I give her as many prey items as she wants.
On the other hand, our G.pulchra is always hungry, gets fat easily, and would probably eat until until he looked like a goth beachball with legs, so he has to wait a month+ between meals sometimes.

 

[Rozwyrazowana]

That's worked fine for me, it's extremely rare (like "3 specimens out of over 100 over a 4.5 year period" rare) that anything refuses to eat for more than 2 months prior to moulting, and none of my tarantulas are obese. My growth rates aren't ridiculously fast but still pretty good.

I have much less experience than you, but after a few months of trying to figure it out, I landed with a similar feeding schedule with my slings. I strongly dislike the advice that slings need to be fed every day. I'm a new keeper and I saw it a lot and I was very frustrated at first when my slings refused to eat that often.

Advice "feed when you see it's hungry" was as frustrating as a sling that didn't want to eat daily when I was starting. I think your schedule is a great guide for beginners.

 

[The Grym Reaper]

Advice "feed when you see it's hungry" was as frustrating

Yeah, I don't go by that either as some larger specimens will go back into a "hunting pose" less than 24hrs after eating, they're basically always hungry unless they're in pre-moult or you've piled so much food into them early into a moult cycle that they just opt to hunker down for months until they're hungry again.

 

[Spoodfood]

I don’t really keep track. Usually like others said I look at their abdomen. I also feed slings 3 days after a molt discovery every time, and adults a week after. I typically feed slings every few days depending on weather I’ve seen them or not. If they’re hiding I sometimes stretch it out longer, but if I see a sling out and about I almost always offer food, and it’s a rare occasion they don’t take it. Juveniles/adults I feed usually around once a week, but if food is refused I wait a week and try again. I feed roaches more often than anything, but every once and a while I feed crickets, super worms, or tomato worms. Certain ones prefer or will only eat certain foods, so once you learn their preferences you can decide what to feed them. My Asian forest scorp will only eat super worms so far, and my Damon Diadema will only eat hornworms/tomato worms. My Ts have been less picky but I’m sure there’s picky ones out there.