I overfed my tarantula?

VidekSon

Arachnopeon
Joined
Jul 4, 2019
Messages
7
I posted a picture of my chromatopelma c. on reddit because I thought it was acting weird (she hasn't eaten for about 5 months and hasn't molted since september 2018. Someone answered me on reddit and told me that I overfed my tarantula and that i should be seeking for help on arachnoboards. I will add a link to images of her abdomen. I wasn't force feeding her or anything, I was feeding her once time a week. Seems like it was too much... I take full responsibility for my actions. Any kind of help would be appreciated. Have a great day!


 

vicareux

A. geniculata worship cult member
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Mar 14, 2020
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496
I can't see well from the image,but just to make sure to get this out of the way,look into impaction,
 

MBArachnids

Arachnoknight
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Jun 3, 2019
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249
Stop feeding it now
Seems I am coming into contact with you quite a lot today....

I don't mean to take over this thread and maybe you can just give me a blunt yes or no.. I was under the impression that even though T's are opportunistic they will still refuse food (mine have refused food even if not in pre-molt)

Question: Is overfeeding your T really a thing?
:embarrassed:
 

Eva

Arachnosquire
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Jan 14, 2017
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71
Her abdomens looks to be darkening, so she might molt in the near future. Is she in this position constantly, or is it just a reaction to being disturbed?
 

VidekSon

Arachnopeon
Joined
Jul 4, 2019
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Her abdomens looks to be darkening, so she might molt in the near future. Is she in this position constantly, or is it just a reaction to being disturbed?
Constantly. If i try to poke her (I did it once) she will kick hair. From time to time she gets in a death curl. Its not a death curl, she doesn't die, she just sits in that position. For a while I was worried but now I get used to it.
 

Eva

Arachnosquire
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Jan 14, 2017
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71
Constantly. If i try to poke her (I did it once) she will kick hair. From time to time she gets in a death curl. Its not a death curl, she doesn't die, she just sits in that position. For a while I was worried but now I get used to it.
In that case the best you can do is provide water as was mentioned and hope for the best. Did she have access to water all the time? Also show the whole setup if possible!
 

viper69

ArachnoGod
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17,851
Seems I am coming into contact with you quite a lot today....

I don't mean to take over this thread and maybe you can just give me a blunt yes or no.. I was under the impression that even though T's are opportunistic they will still refuse food (mine have refused food even if not in pre-molt)

Question: Is overfeeding your T really a thing?
:embarrassed:
They are opportunistic.

What you see with large abdomens is they end up dragging on the sub, setae come off. If a T falls, SPLAT.

I personally don’t believe feeding a T will hurt i its development/physiology but I don’t know.

Haven’t heard of a T eating itself to death if that’s what you’re asking?


They can be fed a lot precisely because they are opportunistic. As pets they are spoiled.
 

MBArachnids

Arachnoknight
Joined
Jun 3, 2019
Messages
249
They are opportunistic.

What you see with large abdomens is they end up dragging on the sub, setae come off. If a T falls, SPLAT.

I personally don’t believe feeding a T will hurt i its development/physiology but I don’t know.

Haven’t heard of a T eating itself to death if that’s what you’re asking?


They can be fed a lot precisely because they are opportunistic. As pets they are spoiled.
That is exactly what I was wondering, do T's actually eat / over eat so much so that it affects their mobility to such an extreme.

That is actually fascinating because they are opportunistic they can actually do more harm than good by eating more than what is required because of the "fear" of when the next meal will come.

So following that logic this must account for a substantial amount of deaths in the wild, because at home they are in a controlled environment with less risk or less exposure to risk.
I can imagine in the wild if a T gets "lucky" enough to eat more than what is required so much so that it impairs it's mobility that it could potentially lead to death.

I should start a new thread
:geek::D
 

viper69

ArachnoGod
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That is exactly what I was wondering, do T's actually eat / over eat so much so that it affects their mobility to such an extreme.

That is actually fascinating because they are opportunistic they can actually do more harm than good by eating more than what is required because of the "fear" of when the next meal will come.

So following that logic this must account for a substantial amount of deaths in the wild, because at home they are in a controlled environment with less risk or less exposure to risk.
I can imagine in the wild if a T gets "lucky" enough to eat more than what is required so much so that it impairs it's mobility that it could potentially lead to death.

I should start a new thread
:geek::D
Because of their feeding behavior I never feed on a schedule- I simply observe their abdomen size.
 

MBArachnids

Arachnoknight
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Messages
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Because of their feeding behavior I never feed on a schedule- I simply observe their abdomen size.
Exactly what I do, although I have to confess if I had the time on my hands I would probably become a control freak and try to spoon feed them on a strict schedule :rofl::rofl:
 

wesker12

Arachnobaron
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Jun 13, 2011
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That is exactly what I was wondering, do T's actually eat / over eat so much so that it affects their mobility to such an extreme.

That is actually fascinating because they are opportunistic they can actually do more harm than good by eating more than what is required because of the "fear" of when the next meal will come.

So following that logic this must account for a substantial amount of deaths in the wild, because at home they are in a controlled environment with less risk or less exposure to risk.
I can imagine in the wild if a T gets "lucky" enough to eat more than what is required so much so that it impairs it's mobility that it could potentially lead to death.

I should start a new thread
:geek::D

No. At least in my experience and everything I've read on, theraposidae biology and overall their metabolism is much, much more efficient than most other organisms (hence why they can go for such long term without food or water). In fact in many aspects their metabolism and overall energy storage is very different and arguably more straightforward from ours. Theraposidae don't exactly get "obese" or store fat or have metabolic concerns from getting fat like we do. These animals have very different metabolisms and biology than mammals and obesity that most people are familiar and know about.

Honestly I think the idea that they can "overfeed themselves till they hurt themselves" is ludicrous at best. These animals have survived hundreds of millions of years of evolution, not changing too much, but just getting a bit smaller due to environmental pressures and decreased O2 levels in the current geological era. And to counterpoint your train of thought, if anything they have evolved and adapted to take advantage of resources to the nth level. In fact I've personally seen "fat" tarantulas that molt and have an issue or damage and immediately molt sooner afterwards, which is much easier when they have an abundance of nutrients already stored up. Essentially that fat abdomen that so many people worry about (just use low height containers people), can actually save the animal by acting as a second life or second chance by allowing it to molt with the energy and nutrients it's already amassed ESPECIALLY if the issue is feeding related (sucking stomach, broken fangs etc).



But of course what viper said about overly fat T dropping from a height, going splat is a viable danger, the heavier it is, but that's more so to with the issue of the owner and what kind of habitat they create.
Any T approaching molt, will look "obese" and probably have increased splat damage as a simple physics response. Also as they approach premolt their tarsal claws get a bit weaker and less grippy so chances of falling definitely increase.

If anyone has any counterpoints I'd love to hear it.
 
Last edited:

wesker12

Arachnobaron
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Now unfortunately if your tarantula is sick or impacted, which may be the case than she might not make it, definitely read up about impaction and all that but hopefully she will just molt out of whatever issue she has. Have you observed her defecating or any feces around the enclosure? And keep up the good work on the water dish, water is life.

What is the ambient temperature of the enclosure she's in?

Also I wouldn't be too comfortable having a GBB in that height container, exo terra box right? Is it 18 inches high? Save that enclosure for arboreals and get a big plastic shoebox or something.
 

VidekSon

Arachnopeon
Joined
Jul 4, 2019
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7
Thanks for the comment. One day, which is probably a long time ago (2 months) she took a big poo. I'll add the link to pictures down below. I was worried so I posted pictures that I linked to Facebook, because it was quite big and if I'm honest, I don't have any experiences with poo.

The temperature in the enclosure is the whole time around 23°C. Although I'm kinda worried because I increased humidity to 60% because I am expecting her to molt soon. I don't want to move her to the smaller enclosure now - I could really stress her out.

I totally agree with you about the height in the enclosure, I bought it when I started out with the T. keeping hobby. The enclosure is 30x30 cm - 12x12 in.

Again, thanks for the comment!

 

Baby T

Arachnoknight
Joined
Dec 7, 2018
Messages
266
Your T looks well fat. There's no reason to raise the humidity, these species need dry environments. just a water dish they can access... If the husbandry and enclosure aren't right, could be prolonging pre moult. Temp sounds fine but humidity is a no...
 

fried rice

Arachnoknight
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May 25, 2019
Messages
286
Thanks for the comment. One day, which is probably a long time ago (2 months) she took a big poo. I'll add the link to pictures down below. I was worried so I posted pictures that I linked to Facebook, because it was quite big and if I'm honest, I don't have any experiences with poo.

The temperature in the enclosure is the whole time around 23°C. Although I'm kinda worried because I increased humidity to 60% because I am expecting her to molt soon. I don't want to move her to the smaller enclosure now - I could really stress her out.

I totally agree with you about the height in the enclosure, I bought it when I started out with the T. keeping hobby. The enclosure is 30x30 cm - 12x12 in.

Again, thanks for the comment!

12” is a dangerous height, Even a fall from 6” would be dangerous. Humidity is useless
 
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