how to feed a tarantula on a wall

[dabomb]

I just got an Avicularia Avicularia year old male about a week ago, and two days ago I moved him into a new cage, 12 by 12 by 18. he has just sat on the wall. how do I feed him? the last thing he ate was a cricket about a week ago.

 

[chanda]

Just release a cricket into the cage. He will chase it and catch it and eat it when he is ready. You do not have to hand-feed your spiders. They have the necessary instincts to identify and pursue prey.

 

[dabomb]

Just release a cricket into the cage. He will chase it and catch it and eat it when he is ready. You do not have to hand-feed your spiders. They have the necessary instincts to identify and pursue prey.

Thanks so much! this is my first T, so this really helped! I normally hand feed my Bearded Dragon, so i didn't know if it was the same.

 

[viper69]

Thanks so much! this is my first T, so this really helped! I normally hand feed my Bearded Dragon, so i didn't know if it was the same.

I strongly suggest you read my pink link in my sig file below for Avic care. I've owned plenty of reptiles, including BDs, and Ts are very different in feeding than BDs, not the same at all.

Avics have a very narrow tolerance for husbandry errors compared to most species. There are oodles of "Help my Avic is dying" threads here, more than any other type of T.

It isn't because they are difficult per se, it is because the majority of owners follow caresheets and/or DO NOT do the research required to keep one thriving.

Read the info in my link, come back here with specific questions IF you have any.

We want your Avic to thrive, not survive or die.

What size is your Avic? Diagonal leg span?

 

[chanda]

Thanks so much! this is my first T, so this really helped! I normally hand feed my Bearded Dragon, so i didn't know if it was the same.

Hand-feeding (or tong feeding) a tarantula is generally a bad idea. If you are literally hand feeding, you risk getting bit when the spider lunges for its prey. If you are tong feeding, your fingers may be safe - but you risk the spider running up the tongs onto your arm, which could result in an escaped spider, a dropped/dead spider, or you getting bit/haired. Also, there is the very real risk that the spider might strike the tongs instead of the prey, damaging one or both fangs or even breaking them off entirely. A spider with broken fangs will be extremely difficult to feed - and may end up starving before it is able to re-grow them through successive molts.

 

[spideyspinneret78]

Hand-feeding (or tong feeding) a tarantula is generally a bad idea. If you are literally hand feeding, you risk getting bit when the spider lunges for its prey. If you are tong feeding, your fingers may be safe - but you risk the spider running up the tongs onto your arm, which could result in an escaped spider, a dropped/dead spider, or you getting bit/haired. Also, there is the very real risk that the spider might strike the tongs instead of the prey, damaging one or both fangs or even breaking them off entirely. A spider with broken fangs will be extremely difficult to feed - and may end up starving before it is able to re-grow them through successive molts.

I agree. When I first started out, I learned this the hard way when one of my very food motivated spiders ran up my tongs and nearly bit me.

 

[testdasi]

Thanks so much! this is my first T, so this really helped! I normally hand feed my Bearded Dragon, so i didn't know if it was the same.

Firstly, hand-feeding is out of the question. The tarantula can't tell at all if it's your fingers or the prey, unlike many lizards.

With regards to tongs-feeding, while I agree that it's not recommended, it's not as bad as the warnings.

• The running-up-the-tongs-and-bite scenario is a real and painful risk with Pokies / Psalmopeous but rather unlikely with Avic. Freak accident? sure, that's why you want to be safe rather than sorry but still unlikely with Avic.
• The breaking-fangs scenario is more likely with voracious eaters (e.g. P. cancerides, A. geniculata etc.) but again rather unlikely with Avic. You can mitigate this risk by using rubber tip tongs or bamboo tongs (but then bamboo tongs will increase the chance of the running-up-the-tongs scenario).

There's another reason I haven't seen mentioned is that the tarantula can actually feel the tongs and consider the prey + tongs part of a giant animal. You may then trigger fight-or-flight response from the tarantula instead of feeding response. Again with Avic, probably nothing major but with a 7" Pokies, it can be rather scary.

 

[DomGom TheFather]

The more you give them to climb on the more they seem to stay off the walls.
When they are showing signs that they are hungry/hunting I like to use tongs and grasp the prey item by the tip of their butt and release them scrambling towards the t.


IN this situation I would release a roach a few inches down the stick.
They run head first up and into hungry hunters.

 

[DomGom TheFather]

Don't worry, though.
Even with all that stuff in there you will still get to clean crap off the walls.