powerfeeding males?

gmrpnk21

Arachnobaron
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I hope this thread doesn't open up a can of worms, but I was wondering something. If someone finds out they have a male and decides to push it to maturity faster so they may mate it and hopefully get slings, will the male be as potent? Would it make him less wanted by someone looking for a mate?
 

Fran

Arachnoprince
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I hope this thread doesn't open up a can of worms, but I was wondering something. If someone finds out they have a male and decides to push it to maturity faster so they may mate it and hopefully get slings, will the male be as potent? Would it make him less wanted by someone looking for a mate?
Thats doesnt make any differences in the "quality" as far as my knowledge goes. They can only grow so fast, so pushing the maturity is not a problem but of course it will shorter his life span. :)
 

gmrpnk21

Arachnobaron
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Thats doesnt make any differences in the "quality" as far as my knowledge goes. They can only grow so fast, so pushing the maturity is not a problem but of course it will shorter his life span. :)
Awesome. I am starting to question my sexing of my B. smithi today, because when I looked again I think I saw a small slit in the right spot on the molt. I will have to put it under a microscope at work tomorrow. If it is a male, I will push it to maturity and put it up for a trade, sale, or ask for 20 slings out of the deal. Normally people ask for a 50/50, but I don't want a ton of slings around lol.
 

xhexdx

ArachnoGod
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Thats doesnt make any differences in the "quality" as far as my knowledge goes. They can only grow so fast, so pushing the maturity is not a problem but of course it will shorter his life span. :)
I agree with this.
 

Poxicator

Arachnobaron
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Excuse the question, but why push a male when you don't want the slings? You might as well enjoy him as he is.

Powerfeeding isnt normally detrimental to large individuals, its powerfeeding when they're small to get them to adult size which is usually the issue. So, long term rather than short term.
 

gmrpnk21

Arachnobaron
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Excuse the question, but why push a male when you don't want the slings? You might as well enjoy him as he is.

Powerfeeding isnt normally detrimental to large individuals, its powerfeeding when they're small to get them to adult size which is usually the issue. So, long term rather than short term.
I didn't say I didn't want slings, I just don't want a ton. Everything I have read says that powerfeeding isn't proven to be bad for them, but it's been speculated that it shortens their lifespan, and it probably will. I really want a female that will possibly outlive me lol.
 

Poxicator

Arachnobaron
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If "everything" you've read to support that is purely from forums then its not surprising you take that opinion.

The forum myth soon becomes reality.
 

mitchrobot

Arachnoknight
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what proof do you have that power feeding would be detrimental to slings? the only real risk i could see is one being at a slightly higher risk of a damaged abdomen die to it being overly distended.

i powerfeed the hell out of most of my males as they are not part of my more permanent collection, and i usually only buy them to breed, so their longevity is not an issue to me. and a super fat PU male molts into a chunky MM, that IMO has much more mileage than not. although some males eat well, so that doesnt really matter. now, some males i feed very very little as my girls arent up to size, and in those cases i beef my girls up to try to pass my males up.
 

gmrpnk21

Arachnobaron
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It wasn't just on this forum, I just went from site to site and read.
 

Poxicator

Arachnobaron
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what proof do you have that power feeding would be detrimental to slings? the only real risk i could see is one being at a slightly higher risk of a damaged abdomen die to it being overly distended.

i powerfeed the hell out of most of my males as they are not part of my more permanent collection, and i usually only buy them to breed, so their longevity is not an issue to me. and a super fat PU male molts into a chunky MM, that IMO has much more mileage than not. although some males eat well, so that doesnt really matter. now, some males i feed very very little as my girls arent up to size, and in those cases i beef my girls up to try to pass my males up.
Ive posted this quite recenly in AB, but its worth repeating:
Here is a quote by the president of ATS, Christian Elowsky:
At Arachnocon in 2007, a well rounded round table discussion all agreed that overfeeding was the main issue facing the hobby, the group included Eric Reynolds, Bill Korinek, Michael Jacobi and I think Frank Somma. Since then, I have been making my own observations, and I've seen enough to support that overfeeding (of any prey items) or commonly feeding rodents causes molting issues.
 

DawgPoundSound

Arachnopeon
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Ive posted this quite recenly in AB, but its worth repeating:
Here is a quote by the president of ATS, Christian Elowsky:
At Arachnocon in 2007, a well rounded round table discussion all agreed that overfeeding was the main issue facing the hobby, the group included Eric Reynolds, Bill Korinek, Michael Jacobi and I think Frank Somma. Since then, I have been making my own observations, and I've seen enough to support that overfeeding (of any prey items) or commonly feeding rodents causes molting issues.
Regardless to what some round table of people says, through experience, I've seen that power feeding doesn't cause molting issues at all. Matter of fact, it assists in shedding the exoskeleton, and makes it easier for the tarantula to make a clear shed. If it's underfed, it's going to have a much harder time removing itself from the old exo. As I've seen from a few slings that had much smaller abdomen and eventually molted. I had to assist them out of their skin, as opposed to the larger abdomen T's who shed their skins rather beautifully. Which is why I strictly power feed slings from then on. I would also like someone to video prove through time how you can over feed a tarantula. Because also from what I've seen through power feeding, is tarantulas WILL refuse when not hungry or interested, no matter how much you offer them.
 

Poxicator

Arachnobaron
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out of interest how long have you recorded your experiences with powerfeeding? and have you shared this information with others? just curious.
 

Fran

Arachnoprince
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No can of worms... In general, I feed as much as they will eat and I have never had a bad molt except a month ago.
Once with one spider in my time in the hobby, and its absolutely impossible to determine if the feeding patterns had anything to do with it.

Is a matter of personal opinion and experience till some scientific solid proof says the oposite.

Feeding invertebrate prey..I dont see any problems to feed as much as they will take. Once they are "full", they will not pay attention to the prey for days or weeks.
 

billopelma

Arachnolord
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I'll add fuel to the forum rumor mill...

I've 'heard', many times (no citations, no scientific studies, no names) that forcing males to early maturity does lead to increased incidence of breeding issues. Females refusing to mate, small and/or infertile sacs, higher mortality rate of slings...
Sometimes if you need to hit a particular window, it's worth the risk, but I won't do it simply out of impatience.

And good luck speeding up a smithi, he'll be ready in 6 years rather than 7, lol.


Bill
 

mitchrobot

Arachnoknight
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ive gotten good sacs from females that were bred to "rushed" males with no obvious problem in their *ahem* potency. i find a terrified limp noodle male or a male hungry female on the offense are neither here no there in regards to power feeding a PU.

as far as molting issues goes....ive lost 2 spiders to molts in my handful of years keeping and breeding Ts. im no expert, but i dont consider my self a no0b either ;). the two spiders got stuck...could have been anything that caused it, but i would not think a result of powerfeeding as neither of them for fattymelts. now the rodent thing, again, i feel a lot of it is incidental, and leaves that to be an ongoing debate for another tired well beaten dead horse of a thread.

the only obvious problem to me again is just a bigger possibility of an abdomen rupture, or something in that ball park.
 
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