Pinky feed failed miserably...

[yodaxtreme545]

I picked up a real small pinky ( less than 1" to be exact ) to feed to Annie, my 4" LP. I dropped it infront of her, she comes down off the glass, attempts to get it but then lets it go immediatly. Needless to say the pinky HAD been bitten and that was the end of it's life but Annie didn't seem to want it. Note that she made no threatening stance and attacked it the same way she attacks any other prey I give her. This was the first time I'd ever tried feeding any of my T's a pinky and until after a molt will probrobly be the last. What's funny to me is Annie and my other 4" LP female, Lydia, are always in the exact opposite moods. It never fails. But they are sisters afterall and I think that is explanation enough. I will be adding more photos tomorrow. C-ya.

 

[Ultum4Spiderz]

I really wish I knew were to buy pinkie mice.. wana buy some to add variety... perhaps your LP's need to grow a little larger... I Know my 4.5-5" Lp would probably massacre a pinkie mouse
do you normally feed large prey Roaches?? superworms
Some spiders are scared of big prey items.. =/ weird.. I wouldnt give up try when Ts are larger Lps.. eat snakes mice... everything in the wild.. very hungry kritters

I had a thread about feeding mice... honestly no one has any proof they cause molting issues.. its a myth

 

[Formerphobe]

It's not a myth, it's a theory. It has not been proven or disproven.

I have noticed that several of my spiders are neophobic in regard to food. Some will take any invertebrate, some are partial to roaches or crickets or superworms.

 

[Earth Tiger]

I will leave the pinky there for 1 day and remove it if your LP really doesn't consume it. When I fed lizards to my juvenile LPs, some of them would release the lizard immediately after delivering the lethal bites, but the spiders didn't stay too far away from the paralyzed preys. After a few minutes they just came back and consumed the dead/paralyzed lizards.

It seems to me that this is a tactic by the juvenile LPs to avoid injury risk from a large struggling vertebrate preys. Once they became adults they not longer exhibit this tactic (perhaps because no more prey is considered large to them). All my T. apophysis also occasionally adopted this hit and run tactic when they were small, but LPs demonstrate this tactics more often.

---------- Post added 12-18-2011 at 12:38 AM ----------

I really wish I knew were to buy pinkie mice.. wana buy some to add variety... perhaps your LP's need to grow a little larger... I Know my 4.5-5" Lp would probably massacre a pinkie mouse
do you normally feed large prey Roaches?? superworms
Some spiders are scared of big prey items.. =/ weird.. I wouldnt give up try when Ts are larger Lps.. eat snakes mice... everything in the wild.. very hungry kritters

I had a thread about feeding mice... honestly no one has any proof they cause molting issues.. its a myth

Any reptile pet store near you? Any pet store that sells reptile have pinky mice.

Alternatively you can feed them fresh prawns and shrimps, my LPs love them very well.

 

[19tarantula91]

Just don't make pinkies his only diet... Some people including me believe to much calcium can be very harmful to a T during it's next molt.

 

[grayzone]

i used to feed MY L.p mice as well.... it was a bit larger when i first fed it a pinkie (around 5") and it grew to an AMAZING 7-8". when he matured i shipped him off. point is, like 19tarantula91 said, dont make mice your t's ONLY source of food... i have NEVER heard of fresh prawns or shrimps, however i HAVE heard of beef hearts and such..

 

[Earth Tiger]

i used to feed MY L.p mice as well.... it was a bit larger when i first fed it a pinkie (around 5") and it grew to an AMAZING 7-8". when he matured i shipped him off. point is, like 19tarantula91 said, dont make mice your t's ONLY source of food... i have NEVER heard of fresh prawns or shrimps, however i HAVE heard of beef hearts and such..

I didn't invent that, back in 2003 several breeders fed shrimps to large T species, but they are no longer active here. Not all people can get pinky mice easily, and for large Ts such as LPs and TBs, feeding them crickets alone were impractical. Also there are people like me who don't like pinkies - back in my day I needed to dissect rats in high school biology and I hated the smell. For hygienic reasons I don't feed mice and pinkies to my Ts. I don't like something that urinates when it is killed. I don't want to change the substrate that often.

 

[Bigboy]

I really wish I knew were to buy pinkie mice.. wana buy some to add variety... perhaps your LP's need to grow a little larger... I Know my 4.5-5" Lp would probably massacre a pinkie mouse
do you normally feed large prey Roaches?? superworms
Some spiders are scared of big prey items.. =/ weird.. I wouldnt give up try when Ts are larger Lps.. eat snakes mice... everything in the wild.. very hungry kritters

I had a thread about feeding mice... honestly no one has any proof they cause molting issues.. its a myth

Put a male and a female mouse together and you won't need a store for those pinkies.

 

[grayzone]

For hygienic reasons I don't feed mice and pinkies to my Ts. I don't like something that urinates when it is killed. I don't want to change the substrate that often.

........hmm.. interesting E.T. i never really stopped to think of that before. i never changed my L.p's substrate after i fed it a pinkie. luckily , for ME and the L.p, all was well. i will def think of that NEXT TIME i ever entertain the idea of larger prey

 

[DannyH]

I wouldn't try it again. Even if there is no scientific evidence to prove or disprove feeding pinkys is bad, there is also none to prove it is good. When people say "you are what you eat" it does have some truth to it, so a T can get a varied diet from roaches or crickets fed a variety of fruits and vegetables.

 

[Hornets inverts]

I honestly dont believe feeding pinkies to T's causes any harm, i have done it in the past to larger Phlogius sp with rat pups and had no issues and know other people have also used rats/mice on occasion with no ill effects. Only down side i found was the mess. Didnt require a substrate change as the mess was localised so just a spot clean was all that was needed. Also please dont use live mice or rats, use thawed or freshly killed, most pet stores should stock frozen rats and mice, thaw them and they are ready to feed

 

[grayzone]

I wouldn't try it again. Even if there is no scientific evidence to prove or disprove feeding pinkys is bad, there is also none to prove it is good. When people say "you are what you eat" it does have some truth to it, so a T can get a varied diet from roaches or crickets fed a variety of fruits and vegetables.

..well if it cant be proved bad OR good then what does it matter? it would eat it in the wild, it has sustainable nutrients needed, PLUS it provides a lil fun to the world of keeping ts. im not saying to feed all ts pinkies. dont even know if i personally will or not anymore. it all comes down to preference, like powerfeeding

 

[DannyH]

..well if it cant be proved bad OR good then what does it matter? it would eat it in the wild, it has sustainable nutrients needed, PLUS it provides a lil fun to the world of keeping ts. im not saying to feed all ts pinkies. dont even know if i personally will or not anymore. it all comes down to preference, like powerfeeding

I just think its better to be safe than sorry. Although its only a theory, it does make sense. Also, I don't think T's are eating small, weak, baby mammals in the wild because as you prob know, pinky mice aren't very mobile. A tarantula would prob see an adult mouse as a threat, and if it doesn't, it may not survive the feeding. Also, how is it fun feeding tarantula mammals? To me its just gross, and they leave an awful bloody mess..

 

[ZergFront]

Also there are people like me who don't like pinkies - back in my day I needed to dissect rats in high school biology and I hated the smell. For hygienic reasons I don't feed mice and pinkies to my Ts. I don't like something that urinates when it is killed. I don't want to change the substrate that often.

Don't forget.... it's not the spider who's going to have to remove the food bolus. Gross...

I wonder if any of mine would eat prawns. I tried feeding my arboreal salamanders pieces of shrimp but they refused.

 

[aquaArachnid]

In the 2 1/2 years I've had my G. Rosea, she's only stuck to invertebrate prey. Tried offering a pinky once but it was a no go. My T. Blondi on the other hand, loves mice

 

[Bigboy]

PLUS it provides a lil fun to the world of keeping ts

If you are throwing a live baby mouse to a spider to be impaled repeatedly by fangs, injected with venom and consumed just so you can watch it wriggle and squeak for your own pleasure perhaps you shouldn't let that be known.

 

[grayzone]

you would think so... dont act like youve never clicked a youtube vid of a mouse being eaten by a t... feeder mice are called feeder mice for a reason. grow a set and quit acting like its inhumane. crickets and roaches are living, breathing, able to bleed (sort of) creatures as well. whats the difference:sarcasm:

 

[Ultum4Spiderz]

If you are throwing a live baby mouse to a spider to be impaled repeatedly by fangs, injected with venom and consumed just so you can watch it wriggle and squeak for your own pleasure perhaps you shouldn't let that be known.

+1 on that LOL!!
yeah or if you want it too be known put it on Youtube,.,.. just say Live feeding for Variety or people will probably hate you & say a lotta bad things
I plan on getting pinkies for variety... not for cruel massacring of baby mice:biggrin:

 

[grayzone]

variety is the spice of life... so they say. for the record, im no blood thirsty, kill -crazy guy who gets his kicks by watchin lil animals die. i, like every other t owner, enjoy feed time. PERIOD. whether its crix, roaches, small cats (horrible joke) its always entertaining.

 

[ijmccollum]

Prawns? Are we talking about what you get in the meat dept? I def couldn't feed live pinkies, Artic Mice, maybe.