Is it okay for a tarantula to eat a mouse

[CarbonBasedLifeform]

If you have to feed it a mouse, please use a pre-killed mouse. Be prepared to clean up a nasty mess at the end though

 

[Estein]

Sorry double post

 

[Estein]

I get what you're saying but how is feeding a live mouse more cruel than feeding a live roach or cricket I mean they're both live animals so yeah

Vertebrates and invertebrates have very different nervous systems and process painful stimuli in different ways. A mouse, having a central nervous system, will suffer a slow and painful death at the fangs of an LP, whereas a feeder insect has a decentralized system and won't feel the same effects.

 

[WeightedAbyss75]

This is only my personal opinion, but with mice and verbebrate feeding it just gets messy and it isn't great for the keeper. Taking the cruelty aspect of the argument, there are two reasons why I would never feed a mouse again. The first is the mess. Like @CarbonBasedLifeform said, the mushed meat bolus would rot and stink like you wouldn't believe. Especially when it is a T that could leave a bolus in a burrow for a while, it isn't worth it to me. Also, there is feeding frequency. For big T's like my adult female B. emelia, I wouldn't feed a vertebrate because then they don't eat for a long time. I enjoy watching them feed every week, so I try and give crix or roaches. After eating a live adult mouse, my G. pulchripes went without eating for 5 months! (I know, terrible decision. T wasn't hurt, thank god )Just not really worth the cost either, when roach colonies provide food for free when correctly set up Overall, I just don't understand why you'd feed mice over insects. As a treat, maybe, but be wary. Injury, rot, and a big fast may come afterward... depending on the size of mouse.

 

[Haksilence]

Not safe but cruel.

What makes it cruel? Is it less cruel when a snake does it? Or when they are eaten in the wild? is it cruel when I enjoy a delicious salmon burger or a steak or chicken cutlet?
It's no more cruel then any other predatory carnivorous activity.

 

[riderr]

Hey @Haksilence,
a snake kills more quickly. As others have stated the nervous system of mice differs from those of crickets etc.
Sure it's cruel when Ts eat mice in the wild. However I can't change that.
As for a good steak - love it. But I avoid buying meat from animals that were raised in bad conditions. The killing process is more humane than a T killing a mouse anyways.
Don't get me wrong here - I totally respect your opinion. Do you feed mice on a regular basis? I find it's cruel to watch, with insects not so much. Could be subjective though.

Best
Lukas

 

[Chris LXXIX]

Well, obviously a cricket (no matter the size) in the hot, full of venom, chelicerae of a Theraphosidae, hell... in comparison is like a man hit by a truck at full speed. Death in a second.

A mouse on the other hand will suffer. And Christ if he/she will suffer. Just a fact. Now this involves only the personal views of everyone, "ethics" or else. Fair enough.

I fail to realize only why someone needs/wants to put, technically, at risk (because you never know, period, needs only a scratch) his/her Theraphosidae.

 

[Angel Minkov]

Why oh just why do anyone want`s to feed mice to their T`s. There`s soo many great feeders out there. !!! Mice not included !!!
The worst possible thing that can happen is that the mice get a chunk of your T. And most likely injure it so much that it dies from the wounds + It is not good for the T with all the calcium in the mice. From what I`ve heard.

what? The calcium myth again...?

 

[CarbonBasedLifeform]

What makes it cruel? Is it less cruel when a snake does it? Or when they are eaten in the wild? is it cruel when I enjoy a delicious salmon burger or a steak or chicken cutlet?
It's no more cruel then any other predatory carnivorous activity.

It is cruel when you have the choice and you decide that a live mouse will be the food when more humane options are available. I breed mice and rats to build up a stockpile of frozen rodents for my snakes. Pre-killing the rodents with co2 is preferable than feeding live because with the co2 the rodent falls asleep and dies in its sleep. I've never seen a struggle with this method.

With the snake on the other hand, I had one snake who would not eat frozen so I had to feed it live (I have since converted this snake to eating frozen, which I believe is the duty of every snake owner in this situation). The mice were crushed and suffocated to death by the snake. You could see the fear in the eyes of the mice and there definitely was a struggle as the snake wrapped itself tighter.

Now imagine how a mouse would die when fed to a tarantula. Large fangs pierce it's body. Venom slowly kills it as it is being predigested from the inside. All this for the entertainment of the owner because there really is no benefit to the T.

 

[basin79]

It is cruel when you have the choice and you decide that a live mouse will be the food when more humane options are available. I breed mice and rats to build up a stockpile of frozen rodents for my snakes. Pre-killing the rodents with co2 is preferable than feeding live because with the co2 the rodent falls asleep and dies in its sleep. I've never seen a struggle with this method.

With the snake on the other hand, I had one snake who would not eat frozen so I had to feed it live (I have since converted this snake to eating frozen, which I believe is the duty of every snake owner in this situation). The mice were crushed and suffocated to death by the snake. You could see the fear in the eyes of the mice and there definitely was a struggle as the snake wrapped itself tighter.

Now imagine how a mouse would die when fed to a tarantula. Large fangs pierce it's body. Venom slowly kills it as it is being predigested from the inside. All this for the entertainment of the owner because there really is no benefit to the T.

FT rodents/chicks are fine now and again though. If you don't mind the mess afterwards.

 

[basin79]

Found the pics of my Stirmi girl eating a FT fish. My pede got one too. And finally again a pede but a T will happily take a FT rodent too. My Bullfrog wasn't hungry, my basin ETB wasn't hungry and the rat was too small for it to be worthwhile to one of my retic girls.

 

[Bugmom]

This is only my personal opinion, but with mice and verbebrate feeding it just gets messy and it isn't great for the keeper. Taking the cruelty aspect of the argument, there are two reasons why I would never feed a mouse again. The first is the mess. Like @CarbonBasedLifeform said, the mushed meat bolus would rot and stink like you wouldn't believe. Especially when it is a T that could leave a bolus in a burrow for a while, it isn't worth it to me. Also, there is feeding frequency. For big T's like my adult female B. emelia, I wouldn't feed a vertebrate because then they don't eat for a long time. I enjoy watching them feed every week, so I try and give crix or roaches. After eating a live adult mouse, my G. pulchripes went without eating for 5 months! (I know, terrible decision. T wasn't hurt, thank god )Just not really worth the cost either, when roach colonies provide food for free when correctly set up Overall, I just don't understand why you'd feed mice over insects. As a treat, maybe, but be wary. Injury, rot, and a big fast may come afterward... depending on the size of mouse.

In preparation for getting an egg sac from a large species, a small mouse can be beneficial.

I am perhaps odd in that I'll feed a thawed mouse to a T before I'd feed one of our big hissers, cause the hissers are pets; the mice are just frozen dinners.

 

[WeightedAbyss75]

In preparation for getting an egg sac from a large species, a small mouse can be beneficial.

I am perhaps odd in that I'll feed a thawed mouse to a T before I'd feed one of our big hissers, cause the hissers are pets; the mice are just frozen dinners.

There are always big female dubias

 

[Bugmom]

There are always big female dubias

I stopped keeping dubia because a large portion of my tarantulas wouldn't eat them, so they were more of a hassle than they were worth. I use lateralis now; no one refuses a red runner in this house!

 

[Venom1080]

am i the only one that doesnt mind watching a mouse die from a tarantula? it happens in nature..

 

[Haksilence]

Hey @Haksilence,
a snake kills more quickly. As others have stated the nervous system of mice differs from those of crickets etc.
Sure it's cruel when Ts eat mice in the wild. However I can't change that.
As for a good steak - love it. But I avoid buying meat from animals that were raised in bad conditions. The killing process is more humane than a T killing a mouse anyways.
Don't get me wrong here - I totally respect your opinion. Do you feed mice on a regular basis? I find it's cruel to watch, with insects not so much. Could be subjective though.

Best
Lukas

I dont regularly, no. but pinkies are just about the biggest, most fattening meal you can give a freshly molted or post sac tarantula and I will use them on occasion.
In my experience I wouldn't say that a tarantula takes much longer to kill than a snake does. We have a few pythons in the house and I hear about the same amount of time squeaking from each. I'd imagine, with the presence of venom, a pinkie probably only feels for a second or two after the initial mechanical puncture, given the size and proportions of venom.

I just personally don't view anything in the circle of life or the food chain cruel.

 

[Haksilence]

Now imagine how a mouse would die when fed to a tarantula. Large fangs pierce it's body. Venom slowly kills it as it is being predigested from the inside. All this for the entertainment of the owner because there really is no benefit to the T.

You wrongfully assume vertebrate feeders are solely for the enjoyment of the owner. I use pinky mice as feeders occasionally for post molt and post sac large specimens since there is simply no other feeder with a higher nutrients and fat content. I don't enjoy it, and they aren't killed slowly, the mouse is dead in less than 5 second in almost all cases

 

[basin79]

am i the only one that doesnt mind watching a mouse die from a tarantula? it happens in nature..

A lot of things happen in nature. Doesn't necessarily mean they should be replicated in captivity. Tarantula hawk wasps paralyse T's in the natural world. Yet they're not introduced into a T's lair to keep it on it's toes.

For me personally I feel it's up to me to provide for all of my pets whilst at the same time trying to give feeders the best possible life. A mouse dying in the fangs of a T is absolutely unnecessary giving the fact they'll happily take FT.

Yes a mouse still has to die but it's a "better death".

My Bullmastiff loves chicken and lamb. Yet I wouldn't dream about giving him live ones. And I'm sure many wouldn't.

But it's largly the same. Just on a bigger scale.