phoebe12483
Arachnopeon
- Joined
- Jan 19, 2011
- Messages
- 27
Sorry for the potential redundancy of this post, however despite using the search function I could use some specific advise pertaining to my T.
After having done research through the search function I have effectively answered some of my own questions regarding feeding and have found that YES, I am feeding my T too much, potentially way too much. To my own defense, I was following the advice of what appears to be a more or less reputable T store which had been feeding her 5-7 crickets per week for almost a year.
I have a 4.25-4.5 inch female Versicolor with a very big appetite. I have been maintaining this feeding regimen for about 3 months, she is able to consume this amount of food in a 3 - 4 day time frame, often eating up to three crickets at a time, and single large crickets whole. She actively seems to hunt the crickets out, leaving her web tube home to chase after prey. Usually I will wait 3-5 days before feeding again, branching feedings out to once a week to week and a half. If you read a previous post from about a month ago regarding "potentially aggressive behavior with vibrations", after 3 or 4 days of not eating, she will jump towards the sound of low vibrations and pace back and forth to get closer to the sound of what I'm assuming she's interpreting as potential prey items. For the last 3 days, she has been sitting on her bark outside of her tube web, which is usually what she does after not eating for several consecutive days.
She last molted in Dec, molt prior was in March. As per store is about 2.5-3 years of age. Temp kept at 68-80F, humidity at 55-70 (which is hard to maintain here in DRY Colorado even with a humidifier right next to her cage, and live plants in her vivarium). She is not fat per se, abdomen not larger than her cephalothorax, but she is not thin either.
My question is this: Given her behavior in conjunction with the fact that she is a fast growing, higher metabolism species that has high humidity and hydration requirements, how much should I be feeding her each week? Versi owners, what sort of feeding regimen do you maintain for your ADULT Ts?
Should I ignore her behavior which appears to illustrate that she is hungry? I understand T behavior with regards to how/why they eat in the wild, dangers of overfeeding etc. If I'm not anticipating her to molt soon given the time frame between past molts, should I be concerned about an extra two or three crickets wondering about? (If she doesn't catch them when I drop them near her, her set up is such that it is hard to remove prey items given her set up).
Sorry again for yet another feeding post, I just found that there were fewer posts regarding specifics on adult T feedings (more on growing spiderlings), and even less info with species specific info for the faster growing/ high humidity Ts. THANKS!
After having done research through the search function I have effectively answered some of my own questions regarding feeding and have found that YES, I am feeding my T too much, potentially way too much. To my own defense, I was following the advice of what appears to be a more or less reputable T store which had been feeding her 5-7 crickets per week for almost a year.
I have a 4.25-4.5 inch female Versicolor with a very big appetite. I have been maintaining this feeding regimen for about 3 months, she is able to consume this amount of food in a 3 - 4 day time frame, often eating up to three crickets at a time, and single large crickets whole. She actively seems to hunt the crickets out, leaving her web tube home to chase after prey. Usually I will wait 3-5 days before feeding again, branching feedings out to once a week to week and a half. If you read a previous post from about a month ago regarding "potentially aggressive behavior with vibrations", after 3 or 4 days of not eating, she will jump towards the sound of low vibrations and pace back and forth to get closer to the sound of what I'm assuming she's interpreting as potential prey items. For the last 3 days, she has been sitting on her bark outside of her tube web, which is usually what she does after not eating for several consecutive days.
She last molted in Dec, molt prior was in March. As per store is about 2.5-3 years of age. Temp kept at 68-80F, humidity at 55-70 (which is hard to maintain here in DRY Colorado even with a humidifier right next to her cage, and live plants in her vivarium). She is not fat per se, abdomen not larger than her cephalothorax, but she is not thin either.
My question is this: Given her behavior in conjunction with the fact that she is a fast growing, higher metabolism species that has high humidity and hydration requirements, how much should I be feeding her each week? Versi owners, what sort of feeding regimen do you maintain for your ADULT Ts?
Should I ignore her behavior which appears to illustrate that she is hungry? I understand T behavior with regards to how/why they eat in the wild, dangers of overfeeding etc. If I'm not anticipating her to molt soon given the time frame between past molts, should I be concerned about an extra two or three crickets wondering about? (If she doesn't catch them when I drop them near her, her set up is such that it is hard to remove prey items given her set up).
Sorry again for yet another feeding post, I just found that there were fewer posts regarding specifics on adult T feedings (more on growing spiderlings), and even less info with species specific info for the faster growing/ high humidity Ts. THANKS!