- Joined
- Oct 10, 2024
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- 104
Make sure to remove prey if the spider has not eaten it within 24 hours! Good luck with your new additions.
Three tarantulas, no experience, new to the hobby!
- Thread starter MrsFrizzle
- Start date
- Joined
- Oct 13, 2011
- Messages
- 6,099
I only drop food in with tongs I don’t hand feed them with them risk breaking a fang.
- Joined
- Dec 24, 2018
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- 1,024
GUILTY!!!!!!!
In the beginning of my keeping T's I used to tong feed my C. versicolor. Now......I was warned by members it's a bad idea because they can run up the tongs and 1. Fall to rupture their abdomen, (death sentence) and 2. and/or bite you.
I believed in the docile nature of my particular versicolor but appearances can be deceiving. After I actually seen video footage of T's running up tongs I stopped and realized I was wrong. The members were correct and I stopped tong feeding that versicolor. I never would have forgave myself for such a stupid thing I was doing due to my lack of experience. In essence I was or more to the point my versicolor was spared a potential mishap.
In the beginning of my keeping T's I used to tong feed my C. versicolor. Now......I was warned by members it's a bad idea because they can run up the tongs and 1. Fall to rupture their abdomen, (death sentence) and 2. and/or bite you.
I believed in the docile nature of my particular versicolor but appearances can be deceiving. After I actually seen video footage of T's running up tongs I stopped and realized I was wrong. The members were correct and I stopped tong feeding that versicolor. I never would have forgave myself for such a stupid thing I was doing due to my lack of experience. In essence I was or more to the point my versicolor was spared a potential mishap.
- Joined
- Oct 25, 2023
- Messages
- 109
When I first started researching tarantula care, I thought tong feeding was completely normal because I saw it everywhere on YouTube. I was relieved to discover by the time I actually got my tarantulas that this is not the norm and carries risks for both the tarantula and the keeper, as explained above. My opinion is that tong feeding is mostly for show--people want to see or capture video of a tarantula taking something down, and sometimes it takes a while before the actual takedown happens when you're not waving an insect in your tarantula's face. I don't actually take issue with some of these entertainment channels and enjoy watching some of them myself, but beginners need to be especially cognizant of when to view something as husbandry advice/practice and when not to, especially since this is a hobby where authority and credibility can be hard to establish.
Personally, I actually don't find that my tong skills are all that great anyway if I'm working with something that's fast-moving, so I have a system where I scoop crickets into a pill bottle that they can't jump out of and then drop them into the enclosure that way. It works for me, though if I have to retrieve uneaten prey, I have no choice but to use the tongs to get them out of there.
Anyhow, I know my method probably results in more crickets missed by my tarantulas when they're first dropped, but my tarantulas are very adept hunters who always get their meal in the end if they're interested in eating, so I see no harm in it. They know what they are doing and don't need to be spoonfed by me.
MrsFrizzle
Arachnopeon
- Joined
- Nov 17, 2024
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- 9
Where is the beginners link? Is the site different on a phone than a computer?
It should be a sticky, in this sub-forum, above the main threads.
If you can't find it, try this : https://arachnoboards.com/threads/tarantula-information-for-beginners-and-more.318718/
More than enough information there, to give you a good headstart on things.