Over feeding

[omarahmedbya]

What is considered over feeding a juvenile A.geniculata and a juvenile L.paryhabana?

I feed them 3 medium sized black crickets a day each.

Sometimes 2 a day and sometimes 3 a day.

 

[fcat]

^ that is considered overfeeding but let’s see them dumpers

I feed heavier than usual after a molt and then only when I see them out or in a hungry looking to ambush position, or if they have been doing heavy construction… that’s intermolt behavior and their metabolism is more demanding.

Forgotten about feeders can eat your Ts, bring parasites, and even procreate (more things to eat your Ts)… the smell

I just like to see a healthy abdomen. Too fat and you face molting complications.

 

[sparticus]

If you think you are overfeeding them, why do you keep doing it? Spiders will generally stop eating when they are full. Then they will hide until after they molt. It is difficult to overfeed a growing sling, they generally just fast until the next molt. But you could end up waiting a long while to see them again. And if you are leaving live feeders free wandering in with your spiders and not 100% sure they are eating everything that's definitely a recipe for trouble.

 

[Gevo]

Are their abdomens really fat? If they're more than about 1.5 times the width of the carapace, those are well-fed tarantulas that don't need to eat for a while.

Feeding frequencies vary, but for some context, a more "normal" feeding frequency for juvenile tarantulas would be a large cricket once or twice a week. If their abdomens start getting really plump, they don't need another meal for a couple of weeks. Remember that they are opportunistic hunters with very low energy needs, so they don't eat regularly and instead stay near their burrows for long periods of time waiting for something to cross their path. When food is available, they will eat it because they don't know when their next meal will come around, and it will look like they have insatiable appetites, but then one day, they'll decide they've had enough, and they won't eat for a long, long time. Feeding them as much as they'll take will speed up that process of them getting full, and they'll end up fasting for much longer before their next molt.

 

[IntermittentSygnal]

Wow, that’s a ton. My juvie/sub-adult genic gets fed one every couple weeks-ish and is still a chonker. He also has a large enclosure and gets plenty of “exercise”. Right after a molt, maybe one a week-ish for a few weeks.

 

[Ultum4Spiderz]

What is considered over feeding a juvenile A.geniculata and a juvenile L.paryhabana?

I feed them 3 medium sized black crickets a day each.

Sometimes 2 a day and sometimes 3 a day.

That’s an incredible amount of food. Any pictures???

 

[Scoot]

That sounds like a recipe for a loooooooong fast and pre-moult phase.

 

[omarahmedbya]

^ that is considered overfeeding but let’s see them dumpers

I feed heavier than usual after a molt and then only when I see them out or in a hungry looking to ambush position, or if they have been doing heavy construction… that’s intermolt behavior and their metabolism is more demanding.

Forgotten about feeders can eat your Ts, bring parasites, and even procreate (more things to eat your Ts)… the smell

I just like to see a healthy abdomen. Too fat and you face molting complications.

This is the L. Parahybana juvenile

That’s an incredible amount of food. Any pictures???

Here is the L.parahybana juvenile

 

[FatBadBay]

I would definitely cut back on feeding. When their booties are that large, you increase the chance of them rupturing from a fall.

 

[Ultum4Spiderz]

Here is the L.parahybana juvenile

Doesn’t need fed again for a while, huge !!!! Fatter than Jupiter.

 

[Arachnophobphile]

What is considered over feeding a juvenile A.geniculata and a juvenile L.paryhabana?

I feed them 3 medium sized black crickets a day each.

Sometimes 2 a day and sometimes 3 a day.

Start here:

Tarantula Information for Beginners (and More)

Below are some helpful resources. (Rather than having half a dozen or more pinned threads, which clutter the top of the board, we are pinning this index.) While the focus is on beginners, there are other threads on health and more advanced species that may be useful to more experienced keepers...

arachnoboards.com

After that do more research. Wherever you got your info from stop reading it.

 

[Scoot]

Here is the L.parahybana juvenile

Sorry, we wanted to see the T? That's a grape

You can hold off on feeding it, probably until after it moults. Gives new meaning to the phrase "haul ass".

 

[omarahmedbya]

Doesn’t need fed again for a while, huge !!!! Fatter than Jupiter.

When you say ‘a while’, how long are you referring to?

 

[viper69]

This is the L. Parahybana juvenile

Too fat

 

[Gevo]

When you say ‘a while’, how long are you referring to?

Until the abdomen decreases in size or the tarantula molts. That may mean waiting several weeks at least.

 

[Mustafa67]

Here is the L.parahybana juvenile

I’ve never seen such a fat T Stop feeding it

 

[sparticus]

When you say ‘a while’, how long are you referring to?

Many species go several months between molts even as slings. So if you feed it all the way up like that it could be a couple months or more before it needs to eat again. I would not start to worry about feeding until after it has molted, however long that takes. It should be hungry again a couple weeks after the molt. I have ~1/4" slow growing species sling that ate one meal and then went underground. It's been buried over 3 months now and is doing great. Hopefully it will molt soon. Until then I water it occasionally and wait.

 

[Matt Man]

1 cricket 2x a week is all you need. Your LP is over fed and I am guessing so is the Genic. Take a week off and monitor. You are grossly over feeding your Ts to the point of it being unhealthy or dangerous

 

[IntermittentSygnal]

When you say ‘a while’, how long are you referring to?

Watch the abdomen size. From the looks of it, you may be waiting until after he molts. Ensure water is always readily available.

 

[TheraMygale]

At this rate, lifespan is affected.

its better to feed less, more often, then more all the time.

even after a molt. Captive tarantulas get more food in a year then possible in a wild lifetime. If we are going to metaphoric.

you dont need a supersized sling/juvie/adult. Only if you plan on breeding a female, then its good that she’s atleast 1.5x the carapace and then some; she will fast once she starts to care for the eggs.

no reason for morbid obese tarantulas.

Keep them fit, hungry and ready to eat.