OMG--Are they supposed to grow this fast?

[IguanaMama]

I got my first T, a greenbottle blue, on Sunday. It was itty bitty, less than 1/2". I've been feeding it one 1/4" cricket each morning and evening. If I blink, I miss it get it's pray, it's so quick. Anyway, it seems to be growing right before my eyes. It looks like it's already grown at least 1/8" or more and got FAT. Is this right? Am I feeding it too much?

 

[cacoseraph]

you generally have to feed spiderlings more often (but smaller quantities, obviously) than larger more full grown spiders.

two crickets a day seems a bit much, however.

 

[manville]

hahaha dont worry you can never overfeed a tarantulas..keep doing what youre doing and it will grow into a monster

 

[chique]

You've got to love the growth spurts that spierlings have. My 1st spiderling was a p.cancerides and as she grew/molted/grew/molted I got to points where I seriously thought her arse was going to explode, or failing that she'd be dragging it around like a dog with worms, gutsey little thing. as manville said just keep doing what you're doing, as long as there's no risk of the ikle thing falling from a height then size/weight shouldn't pose a problem. Enjoy these tender years lol

 

[Code Monkey]

hahaha dont worry you can never overfeed a tarantulas..

You've been around on these boards long enough to know that is only technically true. No, you cannot feed a tarantula until it pops, but you can certainly feed them more than is "healthy", winding up with a tarantula more prone to ruptures in a fall, abdominal injuries in general, and, I suspect, more likely to have problems moulting.

 

[galeogirl]

Looks like CM beat me to it. I don't think that powerfeeding is worth the health risks. At that size it's very tricky to extricate a t from a bad molt.

 

[Zhaoermia118]

You've got to love the growth spurts that spierlings have. My 1st spiderling was a p.cancerides and as she grew/molted/grew/molted I got to points where I seriously thought her arse was going to explode, or failing that she'd be dragging it around like a dog with worms, gutsey little thing. as manville said just keep doing what you're doing, as long as there's no risk of the ikle thing falling from a height then size/weight shouldn't pose a problem. Enjoy these tender years lol

LMAO

"she'd be dragging it around like a dog with worms"

I don't usually post, but thats a good one!

 

[Code Monkey]

To those so cavalierly dismissing any cautions about big butted spiders: it is not a problem in small slings to feed heavily, but as they get bigger the practice can and does kill even without a fall. I have seen enough photographs of the callous like a bed sore that occurs when the tarantula can't hold their abdomen off the ground when moving and the subsequent moult where the T's guts came spilling out of the hole from where the callous formed and prevented a proper moult.

Most power feeders just get a large spider faster, but some get a very dead spider for their efforts.

 

[GoTerps]

I feed the crap out of all my slings/juvies... some every day... never had a bad molt, ever. I feed until they refuse food and then wait for a molt.

Adults are different story, and don't get fed very often. Never more than once a week.

Edit-- CM I think a lot of the stuff your mentioning (as you pointed out) pertains more to larger specimens/adults. I really don't agree with there being health issues for "powerfeeding" slings and juvies.

eh... how did i get sucked in to this one

 

[chique]

I just wanted to say that my earlier post where I said ...

My 1st spiderling was a p.cancerides and as she grew/molted/grew/molted I got to points where I seriously thought her arse was going to explode, or failing that she'd be dragging it around like a dog with worms, gutsey little thing.

...was said with 'humour'.

I completley acknowledge and agree that problems are always a possibility if you are 'power feeding'.

 

[Cirith Ungol]

Eventho my post isn't nessessary I feel like offering my 2c.

Slings, juvis and adult T's post moult - heavy feeding until abdomen is as large as carpace,

Mid period feeding
- adults and juvis 'til abdomen is 1/3 bigger than carpace; about every 2-4 weeks 1 snack (juvis about 1-2 a week)
- Slings, 2-3 times a week 1 snack, no super-overfeeding (when abdomen gets ugly-fat and 5-6 times larger than carpace)

That's how I do it anyway. I don't like those super fat spiders. I want them to look sleak and mean and not like sad mutant elefants with too many limbs. I also don't want to endanger them due to OF.

 

[IguanaMama]

Thanks

Thanks for the advise. I'm going to slow down a bit. I didn't realize I was powerfeeding, I read somewhere that was what you were supposed to do. It's in a medicine bottle, so it can't really fall far, but I don't want to risk a bad moult. Callouses and guts spilling out... I can do without.

 

[Code Monkey]

Thanks for the advise. I'm going to slow down a bit. I didn't realize I was powerfeeding, I read somewhere that was what you were supposed to do. It's in a medicine bottle, so it can't really fall far, but I don't want to risk a bad moult. Callouses and guts spilling out... I can do without.

Maybe I wasn't clear, for small slings, such as yours, I don't even know that powerfeeding is technically possible. They eat, they moult, they grow. Once a spider starts to get some size on it, say ~2 inches, then it's time to start "watching their weight" because problems can occur if overfed.

I sort of derailed your question thread because, while you probably can figure it out for yourself, not all advice is equal, and the blanket statement that you can never overfeed is only true in the same way it's true that Karl Rove didn't leak Valerie Plame's *name* to the press.

 

[jbrd]

Eventho my post isn't nessessary I feel like offering my 2c.

Slings, juvis and adult T's post moult - heavy feeding until abdomen is as large as carpace,

Mid period feeding
- adults and juvis 'til abdomen is 1/3 bigger than carpace; about every 2-4 weeks 1 snack (juvis about 1-2 a week)
- Slings, 2-3 times a week 1 snack, no super-overfeeding (when abdomen gets ugly-fat and 5-6 times larger than carpace)

That's how I do it anyway. I don't like those super fat spiders. I want them to look sleak and mean and not like sad mutant elefants with too many limbs. I also don't want to endanger them due to OF.

ok i see your schedule, but not what and how much though?

 

[Lorgakor]

When I first got into tarantulas, which really isn't that long ago, I really overfed my T's. It was a newbie thing, wanted to watch them eat, thought they were starving, that kind of thing. Now I feed my adults and juvies about once a week, sometimes longer, and slings I feed about twice a week. I feed large crickets to the adults, as many as they will eat, and one appropriately sized cricket to each sling, some of which are only taking pre-killed right now. I don't like to see them with huge balloon butts, but sometimes they end up pretty chunky anyway after a big cricket, even if they hadn't eaten for over a week. Anyhoo, not sure where I am going with this. I've lost my train of thought.

Oh yeah! So, back to the original question. Did your C. cyaneopubescens molt? Otherwise I think the only way it could be bigger would be its abdomen. My little one just molted a few days ago, and I was surprised by how much it grew, looks like half an inch at least.

 

[Tony]

you generally have to feed spiderlings more often (but smaller quantities, obviously) than larger more full grown spiders.

two crickets a day seems a bit much, however.

You dont HAVE to feed anything more anything. Period. I have tiger rumps here that are 1.5" whereas all it's sibs out in the world are near adult sized, and males have hooked out. I feed them so little, yet??? they still live?

And Code, Cmon, do we have to drag random threads through the political mud?
T :?

 

[Cirith Ungol]

ok i see your schedule, but not what and how much though?

What and how much: an appropriatly sized feeder insect. For slings it can be a B.dubia baby roach, can be a S. tartara baby roach, can be a maggot. It all depends of the species of T.

Arboreals get tartara, because tartara don't dig.
My lividums get maggots because maggots dig.
All the others might get leg-capped dubias so that the dubias can't dig.
Just for show I might give my full grown genic a maggot at times. There is not much meat on them if you compare with the T's size but I get to see the action and the T get's the little treat in return