Scared of overfeading

[JayJay]

I am getting an A. Brocklehursti and was told these are one of the few I need to worry about overfeeding. He will be a .25 in sling from Ken The Bug Guy, I will be feeding him crickets, but I will be pre-killing them for him until he is older. I was wondering if I need to limit the amount of dead cricket I give him, or should I just smash the head, throw him in and take him out a few hours later?
And to stick another small question in here, I will be keeping him in a 20 dram vial, I was wondering, and I know it's probably just nit picking, but should I mist the vial ( avoiding the sling ofcourse ) or just run a few straw drops around the edges and one in the middle of the vial every few days? Thanks in advance!

- Temp Sig, A. Brocklehursti name, wich would you choose, Brock Sampson, or Thokgron?

 

[AmbushArachnids]

I have 80+ Ts and i havent had any negetive effects from powerfeeding. Feed them all they can eat and they will be fine.

For a spiderling:
You should feed twice a week. Dont worry, they wont eat unless they are hungry.

 

[NikiP]

No need to limit I feed a lot of my small guys adult crickets that i've smashed the head of. They eat what they want & leave the rest.

And it's fine to just mist a side of the vial. If some gets on the sling, it's not a big deal either.

 

[JayJay]

Sweet Thank you for the quick response, one small other question, as a sling should I keep em a little bit on the warm, around 75F? or is it ok to keep them the same as I normally do, 68-70F

Btw AgentD006las, I seen a few of your vids on youtube, one spider stood out for me on -feeding 003, and I am so going to get a P. Ornatas next, very sweet looking =)

 

[AmbushArachnids]

Sweet Thank you for the quick response, one small other question, as a sling should I keep em a little bit on the warm, around 75F? or is it ok to keep them the same as I normally do, 68-70F

Btw AgentD006las, I seen a few of your vids on youtube, one spider stood out for me on -feeding 003, and I am so going to get a P. Ornatas next, very sweet looking =)

They will do just fine at room temp. They will grow slower and eat less at those temps. If they get under 60 you may want to bump the temps. A good rule of thumb is if your comfortable, they are comfortable. Pick up The Tarantula Keepers guide. That will answer most your questions and makes for a great read when your fussing over your Ts.

I dont reccomend getting a pokie or any Old World tarantula just yet. Old worlds have more potent venom than New worlds. Try something new world for your first arboreal. Avics are a good NW arboreal beginner.

Before getting into pokies and other old worlds..

Tapinachenius are Psalmopoeus are both defensive but dont have as potent venom or any urticating hairs. Alot of people agree these are a better choice for getting used to the speed of agressive spiders w/o the nasty bite.

BTW: P. ornata and P. fasciata are known to have the nastiest temperment. Good pokies to start with are.. P. regalis, P. formosa, P. miranda and P. metallica. These four are considered to be calm.

 

[sharpfang]

Those fat slings

Came from a successful breeding by: "Kenzie" and are well-started - I've been feeding them baby turkish roaches :}
They are fast growing tarantula species, that approaches 8" in Adult-Size.

En~joy! - Jason

 

[esotericman]

At Arachnocon there was a round table discussion with a few folks who post here all the time including Jacobi and Eric. The entire group agreed over feeding is the number one problem in our hobby. So eventually it can be a problem.

Except for those species who seem to get nearly all of their MOISTURE from food (some arboreals), I only feed my collection 2-3x per month. The abdomens are still too large, but I never see molting problems. In general, adult tarantulas, who are not expected to produce eggsacs are more than fat if the abdomen is a bit wider than the cephlothorax.

Also, do some searching around, one thread is no way to form an opinion, in my opinion.

http://thebts.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?6899-mice-as-food

 

[JayJay]

KentheBugGuy delivered.

Just got him today! Ate as soon as I got em into his new home in the 20 dram vial, was bigger then I thought he was going to be, about .40 instead of .25, but no way is that a complaint!

 

[Moltar]

My opinion: It's ok to powerfeed slings to get them up to a size that is easier to manage and more, uhm, "death proof". Once they hit juvenile stage though, you should try to level out the feeding regimen. Most hobbyists keep their T's more well fed than they would usually be in the wild. It's ok to have a plump spider but once you get into the realm of a T being genuinely FAT, there are health and safety issues to consider. A very fat T can't lift its abdomen off the ground and drags it everywhere, which can cause abrasions and lesions on the underside. A vary fat T also has its abdomenal skin stratched so tight that a fall can be much more dangerous than normal. They can also snag that butt on something like a sharp stick and risk abdomenal rupture that way. There is also the possibility of molt complications with a very fat T.

So, although a T isn't in danger as a direct result of overfeeding, the indirect results can be pretty dangerous.

 

[JayJay]

Sweetness

So, I got my Acanthoscurria Brocklehursty on March third, and started a feeding chart. He ate as soon as I got him ^^
Heres the chart so far:

3/3/11 ate very small cricket 1pm
3/4. fed
3/6 fed, fat as hell
3/8 fed 4 AM
3/9 fed 2pm
3/11
3/13 2pm
3/15
I have been feeding him very small crickets. After the fifteenth he stopped eating, and refusing food. I thought it was because of the prekilling, but he wouldn't eat live prey ether, about the twentieth I noticed him geeting really dark on the legs, and then noticed how much his abdamen's dark spot had grown, Molting time soon! Day after day after day I waited, and finally he flipped over about ten minutes ago! 10:26 PM 3/29/2011.
I wish I could post good quality pictures but my D. Cameras suck =( but here's the pic when I got him

Here is when he started, just flipped over:

and here was an hour and a half later, all ready half way out!

Will post more pics as he goes!

---------- Post added at 01:24 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:18 AM ----------

Right before I was going to bed I checked on him on last time, and he was all ready done! 1:16AM ( again sorry for the crappy d. camera )

 

[Formerphobe]

Those are good pics for a tiny sling in a vial! Congrats on a good molt!

Ditto what Esoteric and Moltar said about over-feeding.