Pinkies as prey?

[Vanilla]

I am getting my spider tommorrow...a Chilean rose.I was reading that some people feed them pinky mice.Is this okay? I sometimes feed my female gecko a live pinky,so was wondering if it is ok for a tarantula.

 

[Brian S]

This is an age old question that often stirs alot of debate. To answer your question, yes you can on occasion however be prepared to clean up a nasty mess afterwards.
Personally, I feed only crickets and roaches. That is all you really need to feed a T

 

[Midnightrdr456]

large T's can eat Pinkies, personally i dont see a reason too for any T except really large ones on occasion (some do after a molt).

With out getting into the argument this normally becomes, the short answer is yes, if your T is large enough it can eat a pinky. You can find alot of threads about this stuff if you search

 

[Vanilla]

Thanks...I just needed a simple yes or no...

 

[Vanilla]

I have another question...just gonna ask here,instead of making a new thread...what about mealies/superworms on occassion?And if they can have those,do I put them in a little dish as I do with the geckos?

 

[elyanalyous]

it may be ok to feed a pinky(depending on size as stated above), but you must ask yourself why you would put your t through that. it takes a long time to digest, has been known (i read it on here a few years ago) to shorten livespan of the tarantula. and what about damage to the fangs in the struggle? if a tarantula's fangs get broken, they won't be able to eat.

so taking all that into hand, just feed crickets, or meal worms.

i have a full grown female G. rosea (chilian rose) and since in my care she has had only crickets and meal worms (fed her the worms closer to molt time, while she was still eating), i wouldn't put superworms in, becasue they can burrow into the soil and escape, only to come up and eat your tarantula from underneath at a later time. when i fed mealworms, i put them in a smooth procelin bowl (so they can't climb up and escape) your t might now eat them tho

for how to take care of your new t, look at this thead
http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/showthread.php?t=5292

congrates on your choice of tarantula, welcome to the mystery of the rosea, let them be them wacky selves...

 

[Scorp guy]

Thanks...I just needed a simple yes or no...

well theres a yes and a no... YES, you CAN, but just because you can do it, doesn't mean you should (see my sig.) you COULD, go out and spend the amount of $ on a pinkie just for kicks, PLUS cleaning up, stinking up the cage, T's dont have 100% vert prey in the wild, and the cost of a pinkie could go towards much better food for the T....

 

[Brian S]

I have another question...just gonna ask here,instead of making a new thread...what about mealies/superworms on occassion?And if they can have those,do I put them in a little dish as I do with the geckos?

You can feed that almost exclusively if the spider will take them. If the spider is really hungry it will nail 'em as soon as they are dropped in there. However, they are bad to burrow if not picked up immediately.

Keep it simple, just feed some crickets

 

[elyanalyous]

btw, welcome to ab...

 

[sick4x4]

wow im surprised this tread didnt erupt into a skull bashing lol:clap: .....hopefully you consider what has been said, also doing a search would of unearthed some interesting points of view...usually for janitorial reasons just use roaches or crix's....other wise the pinkies dont get eaten all of the way and you end up having a smelly mess to pick up....remember dont trash where you sleep!!!

 

[gagamboy]

on the topic about the superworm thingie, i've had mealworms and superworms accumulate in my C.guangxiensis enclosure because they burrow and the T's would occasionally ignore them...:8o

i also have a hard time taking them out because C.gaunxiensis make elaborate webs (sometimes filling the entire enclosure in thick webbing... as a result, you would feel really bad to destroy such a great architectural marvel just to take out a measly mealworm...
:} :} :}

i counted a maximum of 11 mealworm accumulations when i rehoused those tarantulas...

 

[pinkfoot]

You've had both questions answered, but an idea with the worms is to lop their heads off before feeding...

 

[Merfolk]

My pet store sells feeders geckos, and it's quite a star wars-like chase pursuit over the glass and accross the lid!!!! Pinkies are stationnary, crickets are more entertaining, if that's the point. Warm blooded animals are seldom found in T's diet in the wild, hence their lesser ability to digest it. Cold blooded preys are caught much more often, and I observed way faster digestion, and close to no leftovers. Be aware that inverts are the main source of food for most though!!!

 

[CopperInMyVeins]

it may be ok to feed a pinky(depending on size as stated above), but you must ask yourself why you would put your t through that. it takes a long time to digest, has been known (i read it on here a few years ago) to shorten livespan of the tarantula. and what about damage to the fangs in the struggle? if a tarantula's fangs get broken, they won't be able to eat.

I'm sorry, I had to laugh at this. Damage to the fangs in a struggle with a pinkie? Just to be clear, we're talking about pink mice right, not pinkies of some larger rodent? I average pinkie mouse is a lot smaller, softer,and much less able to defend itself than the average large feeder roach, I've seen roaches take 20 minutes or more to die after being captured, a pinkie will probably die in a couple of minutes, I can't see much of a struggle going on, and I don't know which part of the pinkie is going to break a healthy tarantula's fangs. If you've actually seen that kind of thing happen, please post an account. Personally I stick to crickets and roaches for all my animals.

 

[elyanalyous]

i've read on here a warning on pinkey mice being a possiblility in the breakage or dammage of the tarantula's fangs, you do the serch if your still interested, i'm going to bed

 

[Vanilla]

Thanks for all of the replies...when I do get my T...I am not getting the one I was originally suppose to now,as something came up...:wall: But am hoping to get one in the next few months (only leaves MORE time for research!:clap: )...I doubt I will go through feeding a pinky,just to be on the safe side,as they DON'T NEED it.

Oh and just to let you know,I would NEVER pay $2.99 for a pinky mouse,I am not that mad...I sometimes breed my own mice and sometimes give my female gecko a pinky.But never would I pay the ridiculous prices for pinkies in pet stores!

 

[elyanalyous]

well thats good to know. if you wanted to try, you could get a sling from a breeder, thier cheaper (for the most part) and then you can get one sooner, but you'll have to hurry, or shipping season will be closed (due to winter)

 

[Vanilla]

Hmmm...I wonder if there are any breeders around here...I don't know of any.

 

[elyanalyous]

your in canada right? go http://tarantulacanada.ca/English/English.htm
thats where i got my H. incei, thier also on AB and they are based in montreal

 

[Midnightrdr456]

i think the fang thing about the T's is more about calcium in vert prey being bad for fangs when they molt (although this has not proof as far as ive seen). I know of one person with many t blondis that feeds exclusively mice to them all, and none of them have had broken fangs, so that point isnt very well founded.

But honestly crickets are cheap, easy prey, no real risk (except maybe during molting and they should be fed then anyway), and (not to sound sadistic) but i dont mind feeding annoying crickets that tend to keep me up alot, instead of a defensless, blind little baby mouse.