how often should I feed my 3 year old salmon pink bird eating tarantula

darthvader1975

Arachnopeon
Joined
May 17, 2017
Messages
6
i have just brought a salmon pink bird eater she is 3 years old I was just wondering how often I should feed her I'm going to use extra large locust I did ask the owner but I don't think he knew what he was doing to be honest so any advice would be appreciated thank you
 

TownesVanZandt

Arachnoprince
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May 12, 2015
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1,041
That´s pretty much up to you. I feed my subadult and adult specimens every other week, but you can feed it once a week as well if you wish to.
 

cold blood

Moderator
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How big is the specimen in question...3 years doesn't tell much.
 

Chris LXXIX

ArachnoGod
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Dec 25, 2014
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You need to use a 'dark side' of the Force substrate... coco fiber, Irish peat moss, topsoil, all of those are fine :-s
 

Rittdk01

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Oct 4, 2016
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258
I feed mine once every week or two. She's fat, so I don't really worry about her eating so much as having water to drink.
 

MrTwister

Arachnoknight
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Mar 17, 2017
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251
L. parahybana will usually eat as much is offered. Feeding this much will result in the spider eventually fasting for months, possibly longer. Once or twice a week should be more than sufficient.
 

Walker253

Arachnobaron
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Jun 12, 2016
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554
The background looks like an aquarium background. If not, get it out as stated.
Feeding, once every week or two. How much? As long the abdomen looks good, like above, you're doing good. Hard to tell how big your LP is. If it's about 4-5", say 3-4 crickets a feeding to start. Adjust as you see fit. If you way overfeed, it's abdomen will swell and it will fast until the next molt. BTW, the abdomen will swell during premolt as well. LP's are pigs and will overeat if you let them. It's not good, so just experiment and find it's sweet spot for the right amount. That was a whole lot of nothing, sorry. Hope you get what I'm saying.
 

boina

Lady of the mites
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Mar 25, 2015
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If you use extra large locusts to feed her then once a week is really a bit much. Every two weeks will be plenty, even less will be ok, too. If your tarantula starts to look like a balloon on legs cut back on the food ;).

Rocks are really dangerous for a tarantula to walk on. A leg can get trapped or injured between them. A fat tarantula will scrape her abdomen while trying to walk over them. Softer substrate like coco fiber without chunks or top soil is much, much better.
 

Chris LXXIX

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Dec 25, 2014
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If you use extra large locusts to feed her then once a week is really a bit much. Every two weeks will be plenty, even less will be ok, too. If your tarantula starts to look like a balloon on legs cut back on the food ;).

Rocks are really dangerous for a tarantula to walk on. A leg can get trapped or injured between them. A fat tarantula will scrape her abdomen while trying to walk over them. Softer substrate like coco fiber without chunks or top soil is much, much better.
Now that you mentioned locusts I've just realized I've never offered one to mines in all of this time, ah ah :-s
 

Ellenantula

Arachnoking
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Sep 14, 2014
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2,009
For your T's size -- I'd feed about every 2 weeks. A little variance in feeding schedule isn't a big deal. In one particularly hectic time in my life -- mine got fed monthly. I have had times I fed that size weekly. Size of prey also makes a difference....

You've gotten lots of advice already so I'll just wish you the best of luck with your T -- I have received so much joy in T keeping.
 

SchubertHelm

Arachnosquire
Joined
May 16, 2017
Messages
74
L. parahybana will usually eat as much is offered. Feeding this much will result in the spider eventually fasting for months, possibly longer. Once or twice a week should be more than sufficient.
My L.Parahybana was fasting for an abnormally long time and I had no idea this was the reason. Thanks for this post.
 
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