Sling eating daily?

[SmokeyMountainInverts]

I'm 100% new to this hobby. After about a year of scouring these forums and watching videos I decided to get a GBB. Well my little sling came in at approx. 1/2inch legspan.
To get to the question.. I've fed "her" every single night for a week. Is it safe to feed daily a tiny cricket? She seems eager to jump on it every single day. And only once has she refused it. She appears healthy and has been expanding her web daily. What are your thoughts?

 

[Little Grey Spider]

I'm 100% new to this hobby. After about a year of scouring these forums and watching videos I decided to get a GBB. Well my little sling came in at approx. 1/2inch legspan.
To get to the question.. I've fed "her" every single night for a week. Is it safe to feed daily a tiny cricket? She seems eager to jump on it every single day. And only once has she refused it. She appears healthy and has been expanding her web daily. What are your thoughts?

I'm going to get it for this... I just know it... But I see nothing wrong with it. I've read on here that it can lead to bad molts, overly plump T's which can increase risk of abdomen rupture, etc. I've got a few who would eat daily and believe it or not, they don't just eat themselves to death. They eat when they're hungry and stop when they aren't. I've (knock wood) never had a "bad" molt. I've never had an injury result. If your T were in the wild, you wouldn't be there to regulate the feeding. It's a very unpopular opinion on here, but I'm not just going to be a lemming and side with everyone else because I don't want to get yelled at. And I suspect there are people on here who DO feed more often, but are afraid to admit it on here because people on this forum can be very judgemental (just watch ). Banzaiiiiiiiiiiiii

 

[nicodimus22]

I'm 100% new to this hobby. After about a year of scouring these forums and watching videos I decided to get a GBB. Well my little sling came in at approx. 1/2inch legspan.
To get to the question.. I've fed "her" every single night for a week. Is it safe to feed daily a tiny cricket? She seems eager to jump on it every single day. And only once has she refused it. She appears healthy and has been expanding her web daily. What are your thoughts?

All it means is that your sling will stop eating sooner than if you had fed it less often. So you may have weeks or even months at a time where it refuses food, and will not eat until it molts and hardens up. They will not eat until they burst.

Personally, I usually feed slings twice a week, so that they eat more consistently through their molt cycle. That's just my preference, though.

 

[Ellenantula]

I would feed small slings twice weekly -- every 3 days at most. Just me.

[In the wild, this would be incredible feeder bountifulness]

 

[AmberDawnDays]

I feed my slings that are smaller than 1" twice a week. Once they are over 1" they typically get fed once a week. My slings never seem to go through a premolt phase of not eating that lasts longer than 1 week and occasionally it lasts 2 weeks. My slings molt regularly and successfully.

 

[The Grym Reaper]

I feed every 3 days until about 1.5" then every 5 days until 2".

Feeding daily won't hurt, it just means that your slings will stop eating for longer prior to a moult.

As feeding is up there as one of the most enjoyable parts of Tarantula keeping I like to feed often enough to sate my urge to see things get duppied but not so often that all of my Tarantulas stop eating for months on end (my longest fast so far was my AF L. difficilis which stopped eating for 50-odd days before changing clothes).

I've read on here that it can lead to bad molts, overly plump T's which can increase risk of abdomen rupture, etc.

It's more common to see that on Wastebook, I've gotten into bare arguments with people in FB Tarantula groups because they keep perpetuating these myths.

If anything, slings with tiny abdomens are more liable to not survive moults than proper fat ones, slings won't randomly burst open because you fed them one cricket too many, they'll just stop eating once they've eaten enough to see them through to their next moult. Also, they can't ever really weigh enough to sustain drag injuries like juveniles/adults can.

Then there's the "but power feeding slings reduces their lifespan" argument which is true but it's only going to be noticeable in males which have piss-poor lifespans anyway, in females that can live for decades you're talking maybe a matter of months, it's a negligible difference.

As a lot of people say on here... "A fat sling is a happy sling"

 

[Little Grey Spider]

I feed every 3 days until about 1.5" then every 5 days until 2".

Feeding daily won't hurt, it just means that your slings will stop eating for longer prior to a moult.

As feeding is up there as one of the most enjoyable parts of Tarantula keeping I like to feed often to sate my urge to see things get duppied but not so often that all of my Tarantulas stop eating for months on end (my longest fast so far was my AF L. difficilis which stopped eating for 50-odd days before changing clothes).



It's more common to see that on Wastebook, I've gotten into bare arguments with people in FB Tarantula groups because they keep perpetuating these myths.

If anything, slings with tiny abdomens are more liable to not survive moults than proper fat ones, slings won't randomly burst open because you fed them one cricket too many, they'll just stop eating once they've eaten enough to see them through to their next moult. Also, they can't ever really weigh enough to sustain drag injuries like juveniles/adults can.

Then there's the "but power feeding slings reduces their lifespan" argument which is true but it's only going to be noticeable in males which have piss-poor lifespans anyway, in females that can live for decades you're talking maybe a matter of months, it's a negligible difference.

As a lot of people say on here... "A fat sling is a happy sling"

Facebook is a cult . I'm not a member. I like that "a fat sling is a happy sling." The only time I haven't felt comfortable feeding daily or even more than twice a week was when my G. pulchripes had a weird mark on his abdomen. Not knowing if it was a weak point, I didn't want him to get so fat as he usually does. He's burrowed right now so I'm awaiting the outcome on that, but he's usually one of my most hungry T's. So barring something like that, I have no problem feeding if they are hungry.

 

[Anoplogaster]

I'm really random with feeding, and all have been fine. Probably mimics the randomness they experience in nature anyways

Just remember that slinghood is a period of rapid growth. They could use the extra calories

 

[The Grym Reaper]

Facebook is a cult . I'm not a member.

Yeah, it's misanthropy fuel, I've cut mine down to about 150 people who don't make me want to smash my head into a wall.

Found a few good groups/pages to buy Tarantulas from at good prices (better than the main UK dealer's sites anyway) on there which is a bonus but I avoid all the other Tarantula groups like the cancer they are, most of them are run by the same group of people and most of those people are idiots.

 

[nicodimus22]

I've cut mine down to about 150 people who don't make me want to smash my head into a wall.

Down to 150? I've been at 18 friends for years, and 50% of those are family members that I had to add.

Not the social butterfly that you are, my friend.

 

[Andrea82]

Gbb slings don't know the term 'fasting in pre molt'. Seriously, mine ate and molted within 24/36 hours.
If a sling has enough, it will just molt and start over. Feed it as often as you like. Only when they're juvies or adults should you restrict feeding a little.

 

[cold blood]

I've read on here that it can lead to bad molts,

Stop reading those really old posts and threads.

You cannot over feed a sling...as mentioned, it will just refuse food eventually.

Plumpness is a growth strategy....a fat sling is plumper after molting, and therefore, will be ready to molt again sooner, after fewer meals.

 

[cold blood]

Gbb slings don't know the term 'fasting in pre molt'. Seriously, mine ate and molted within 24/36 hours

If you fed every single day, I guarantee you it would learn the term "fasting".

 

[The Grym Reaper]

Not the social butterfly that you are, my friend.

First time I've ever been called that

 

[SmokeyMountainInverts]

Thank you all for the valuable information. Perhaps I will cut back a bit now that I've got the "new spider excitement" out of my system. As hungry as she seems to be I can't imagine the reaction after a few days.

 

[Little Grey Spider]

Stop reading those really old posts and threads.

Will do. But only because you asked so nicely.

 

[Kendricks]

Feed how you like, really. They will stop when they see fit, just as others mentioned it.

Personally, I feed rather randomly, but often, sometimes daily, sometimes weekly.

 

[Tim Benzedrine]

I'm pretty random with feeding mine, but they are primarily juvie/sub adults (I've never really figured out where the line is drawn between the two). But I fed them twice a week when they were s'lings.

Heh. the other night my leopard gecko refused a B. lateralis. I had already crippled it a bit to slow it down, so rather than toss it back in with the rest of the colony, I decided to toss it in to one of the spiders.

Normally I'd have offered it to my L.P who is well equipped to handle a largish offering, but she had recently fed. So I chose the A. genic. But once the deed was done, I realized that I had made a rather large misjudgment of scale. Mind you, it's a genic and I think it would pounce on a side of beef if I tossed it to the spider, but it caused a bit concern to me. The genic ate it all, though. I was half expecting it to discard a portion. It didn't enlarge its abdomen any appreciable amount that I have noticed, despite the fact that the roach was probably 3/4 the length of that abdomen. Of course, the entire mass of a prey item is not consumed. But she won't get another meal for awhile nonetheless.

 

[sasker]

Depending on the species, some slings molt every month. I don't see any reason to slow this pace down by putting them on a strict diet. It's an all-you-can-eat bonanza for slings in my place

 

[Kendricks]

But she won't get another meal for awhile nonetheless.

"Why would you want me to starve!?"
- Your A. genic, for sure!