Is my boy getting chubby?

magicmed

Arachnobaron
Joined
Jun 4, 2016
Messages
404
Wanted to make sure I wasn't overfeeding my approx 3" dls Aphonopelma hentzi. He gets 2 or 3 medium crickets a week. One every couple of days. I know he's out of sling stage and to where I need to worry about weight, and his abdomen has plumped up a lot since I got him. Just wondering how far away from the danger zone am i
 

Attachments

cold blood

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Jan 19, 2014
Messages
13,223
Looks beautiful. Getting plump is just part of the ts life cycle....the plumper is gets, the less you need to feed and the less often you need to feed. I'd say you could start to slow down at this point...1 cricket a week would be my feeding schedule until it gets really fat, then maybe one every 2 or 3 weeks until it refuses....but truthfully, it will just stop eating eventually if you continue feeding like you are, the more you feed it now, the longer the pre-molt fast often is.....the less you feed now, the shorter that pre-molt fast is likely to be.
 

viper69

ArachnoGod
Old Timer
Joined
Dec 8, 2006
Messages
17,851
Just wondering how far away from the danger zone am i
That all depends on only two things really

1. How big the abdomen is
2. The distance between sub and cage lid ;)

It's my belief you cannot over feed them. My B. albo was MUCH larger than that at your Ts size.
 

Spidermolt

Arachnoknight
Joined
May 29, 2015
Messages
203
Looks beautiful. Getting plump is just part of the ts life cycle....the plumper is gets, the less you need to feed and the less often you need to feed. I'd say you could start to slow down at this point...1 cricket a week would be my feeding schedule until it gets really fat, then maybe one every 2 or 3 weeks until it refuses....but truthfully, it will just stop eating eventually if you continue feeding like you are, the more you feed it now, the longer the pre-molt fast often is.....the less you feed now, the shorter that pre-molt fast is likely to be.
i agree 100% in cold blood and I personally feed them the same way to keep a "regular" sized abdomen knowing that it means a much slower growth rate but you also have to realize that in the wild one T may live in a hot spot full of food while another waits for weeks for food and yet they are both equally healthy in the end. so overall yours is perfectly fine and the longer you have him the more you will naturally learn its metabolism.
 

darkness975

Latrodectus
Arachnosupporter +
Joined
Aug 31, 2012
Messages
5,610
At that size I'd just throw one good size cricket in there a week and top off the water dish.
 

Quixtar

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Sep 22, 2007
Messages
513
They will stop eating if they're big enough. The only thing you have to worry about is preventing a fall.
 

Rocky

Arachnopeon
Joined
Jul 10, 2016
Messages
40
That all depends on only two things really

1. How big the abdomen is
2. The distance between sub and cage lid ;)

It's my belief you cannot over feed them. My B. albo was MUCH larger than that at your Ts size.
I couldnt agree more Imo dew if your ts metabolism is speed up it means it breaks down nutrients and food faster so if your t is in warm conditions and your power feeding it than I think it's fine, but I myself only power feed slings because In nature it has been studied that their one and only goal is to grow larger so not to be a prey item to everything that comes by. As long as your sling don't fall from far heights which shouldnt be avaliable in the first place I think power feeding slings are harmless.on another note In the arachnobible it states the fact that no studies have proven powerfeeding harmful to a spiderling however it is seen in juvies and up. Also there has been no proof like snakes that powerfeeding decreases potency In sperm also stated in the arachnobible lol.
 

viper69

ArachnoGod
Old Timer
Joined
Dec 8, 2006
Messages
17,851
powerfeeding harmful to a spiderling however it is seen in juvies and up
How are you defining the term "powerfeeding"?
Where have you read this?

You can certainly over feed a snake and cause health problems, including obesity.
 

Rocky

Arachnopeon
Joined
Jul 10, 2016
Messages
40
Tarantulas
How are you defining the term "powerfeeding"?
Where have you read this?

You can certainly over feed a snake and cause health problems, including obesity.
Tarantulas keepers guide. Powerfeeding has been found to take off time of the life span by power feeding the sub adults and adults. But no evedience when it comes to slings. I'll take a pic of the page when I can If i must but I'm sure if you have it you can find it. I have my slings a little higher in temps and feed them until they look like they are rather plump around 1.5 the size of their head or slightly bigger. (My bad I just realized I Made a typo that was supposed to be not harmful to a spiderling.) Lol. The only thing I see bad about it is if your enclosure is too high for your sling and they fall with a plump abdomen it could be deadly. But that would be an enclosure problem not feeding one imo.
 
Last edited:

antinous

Pamphopharaoh
Old Timer
Joined
Mar 28, 2013
Messages
1,668
A fat sling is a happy sling. The more they eat, the faster they grow out of the 'fragile' stage.

image.jpeg
 

Sana

Arachnoprince
Joined
Oct 26, 2014
Messages
1,139
Tarantulas

Tarantulas keepers guide. Powerfeeding has been found to take off time of the life span by power feeding the sub adults and adults. But no evedience when it comes to slings. I'll take a pic of the page when I can If i must but I'm sure if you have it you can find it. I have my slings a little higher in temps and feed them until they look like they are rather plump around 1.5 the size of their head or slightly bigger. (My bad I just realized I Made a typo that was supposed to be not harmful to a spiderling.) Lol. The only thing I see bad about it is if your enclosure os too high for your sling and they fall with a plump abdomen it could be deadly. But that would be an enclosure problem not feeding one imo.
Could you give the version and page number?
 

Rocky

Arachnopeon
Joined
Jul 10, 2016
Messages
40
I can when I get home but I'm at work it's in the powerfeeding section like page 298 or some where in the mid to last 200 pages. I'm quite sure that's what I've read if not my bad but I've been power feeding slings forever with no problem. I want to say it's the third version I just picked it up about a month and a half ago. I've kept spiders for ever but this is my first true tarantula that is mine. I've taken care of many but never kept one of my own tI'll two months ago or so.
 
Last edited:

viper69

ArachnoGod
Old Timer
Joined
Dec 8, 2006
Messages
17,851
Tarantulas keepers guide. Powerfeeding has been found to take off time of the life span by power feeding the sub adults and adults.
I see what you are trying to say. What you wrote is true, but misleading.

The portion of the book deals w/powerfeeding primarily as a means to do the following:

1. Shorten the time for a male to reach maturity in the context of breeding
2. Extend the life of a male so it lives longer, in the context of owning a male as a pet.

What he doesn't write is something like "powerfeeding with decrease the life span of your Ts due to some type of abnormality" That is, instead of your female living 20 years, she will croak in 15 or 10 etc.

In fact he states there's is no empirical data demonstrating the effects of powerfeeding. It would be nice if there was a scientific study on this.

https://books.google.com/books?id=r...age&q=power feeding tarantula schultz&f=false
 

Rocky

Arachnopeon
Joined
Jul 10, 2016
Messages
40
I see what you are trying to say. What you wrote is true, but misleading.

The portion of the book deals w/powerfeeding primarily as a means to do the following:

1. Shorten the time for a male to reach maturity in the context of breeding
2. Extend the life of a male so it lives longer, in the context of owning a male as a pet.

What he doesn't write is something like "powerfeeding with decrease the life span of your Ts due to some type of abnormality" That is, instead of your female living 20 years, she will croak in 15 or 10 etc.

In fact he states there's is no empirical data demonstrating the effects of powerfeeding. It would be nice if there was a scientific study on this.

https://books.google.com/books?id=rIVAkA3IlHgC&pg=PA257&lpg=PA257&dq=power+feeding+tarantula+schultz&source=bl&ots=Y9wsKaWWEm&sig=LBF77zVJnA9OdsQbYvngBS1TG_I&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiF3pDB2O7OAhUW1mMKHYWlAMMQ6AEIODAD#v=onepage&q=power feeding tarantula schultz&f=false
Well all I know is I powerfeeding slings of mine and that's all, better to be safe than sorry, plus whats the real reason for powerfeeding an adult. Also it says powerfeeding males makes them live longer? 0.o. And yeah I might have miss worded what I meant. But I do remember a chart somewhere I'll have to find it and try to remember to post here. Anyhow thanks for the clarification is that from the most recent version. I'll have to look at mine again.
 

viper69

ArachnoGod
Old Timer
Joined
Dec 8, 2006
Messages
17,851
Well all I know is I powerfeeding slings of mine and that's all, better to be safe than sorry, plus whats the real reason for powerfeeding an adult. Also it says powerfeeding males makes them live longer? 0.o. And yeah I might have miss worded what I meant. But I do remember a chart somewhere I'll have to find it and try to remember to post here. Anyhow thanks for the clarification is that from the most recent version. I'll have to look at mine again.
The version I have has that exact page. I'm pretty sure it's the most recent.

As for making them live longer...It's not like males will live 20 years. If you feed a male more food, it will grow faster, and thus have a shorter life, but not because of some abnormal internal issue. If you feed it the bare minimum it won't die as quickly as the heavily fed male typically. With males the owner is fighting against biology, and it's a losing fight. Your male is going to die soon, compared to a female, case closed.

A chart? If you find it, post it please.
 

Rocky

Arachnopeon
Joined
Jul 10, 2016
Messages
40
The version I have has that exact page. I'm pretty sure it's the most recent.

As for making them live longer...It's not like males will live 20 years. If you feed a male more food, it will grow faster, and thus have a shorter life, but not because of some abnormal internal issue. If you feed it the bare minimum it won't die as quickly as the heavily fed male typically. With males the owner is fighting against biology, and it's a losing fight. Your male is going to die soon, compared to a female, case closed.

A chart? If you find it, post it please.
Oooh I see where your going no it doesn't nessiciarly "hurt" the t just speeds up its life span. I'm just saying a tarantula has a certain amount of molts especially males before it's life starts to dwindle away. Not saying powerfeeding nessecarily harms your t. The chart that I saw even stated it doesn't make a drastic difference weither you do it or not. I just don't recommend heating them after the fragile sling state cause its just going to cost more money that I don't see needing to be spent on heating your ts enclosure and possibly cooling your house down back to room temp.
 
Last edited:
Top