Two questions....???

[Jones0911]

Two questions:

First has anyone ever sat & watched a T eat to the point where they see with their own eyes the growing abdomen as the T is eating?

Second, before Ts molt they turn over on their backs but how do they do that? tip themselves over? walk next to a wall and just release their grip? and how do they right themselves, using their knees?

 

[pardozer]

sounds like you need to read The Tarantula Keeper's Guide. It's the Holy Grail for T keepers.

 

[Arachtion]

Yeah my blondi "Amazon" she ate 3/4's of a 25g rat pup she was literally three times the size in the 36 hours she was eating it, not quite seeing it "inflate" so to speak but it can take only a number of hours, my Haplopelma doriae ate a chunk of steak the other day in about 4 hours

 

[Hobo]

1. Yes, sort of. I don't know if you could actually see an abdomen get larger before your eyes, but feed a sling something large and come back when it's done. You'll be able to see the difference.

2. Flipping over at about 1:36:
[youtube]IsBJaohdFwo[/youtube]

Don't have a vid of flipping back (you'll find lots on youtube), but they just sort of reach over with their legs and turn over.

 

[Arachtion]

1. Yes, sort of. I don't know if you could actually see an abdomen get larger before your eyes, but feed a sling something large and come back when it's done. You'll be able to see the difference.

2. Flipping over at about 1:36:
[youtube]IsBJaohdFwo[/youtube]

Don't have a vid of flipping back (you'll find lots on youtube), but they just sort of reach over with their legs and turn over.

Is that your video? Wonder why they kick hair on it, deter predators? Remove the abdomen skin easier? So they don't stick to the mat? I actually watched my versicolor moult last night

 

[Hobo]

Is that your video? Wonder why they kick hair on it, deter predators? Remove the abdomen skin easier? So they don't stick to the mat? I actually watched my versicolor moult last night

From what I've read, it's to deter predators from disturbing them when they are most vulnerable.

 

[NGLepine]

my Haplopelma doriae ate a chunk of steak the other day.

Like a legit chunk of raw steak? Too bad they dont have much ability to optimize creatine!! A large T with water inflated biceps hahaha... Hmmmmm... Too bad a cant draw... Tarantula Comics Entertainment Co in the making

 

[Scuttlebutt]

I've never actually seen an abdomen grow, but I fed my little Hapalopus sp. Colombia sling a cricket leg as large as herself a few weeks ago. I came back a few hours later to remove the bolus and to my surprise she was finishing off the last of the whole thing! Her abdomen easily tripled in size from that one meal.

 

[Arachtion]

Like a legit chunk of raw steak? Too bad they dont have much ability to optimize creatine!! A large T with water inflated biceps hahaha... Hmmmmm... Too bad a cant draw... Tarantula Comics Entertainment Co in the making

Yeah! I was making some dinner for me and our lass and there were a few snippets of fat on the side so I trimmed the fat off and gave both her and my P.cambridgei a piece,
and yeah right about that one I could put monohydrate in her water and get her a hamster wheel haha

 

[Jones0911]

how did their bodies react to the food? etc

 

[Arachtion]

how did their bodies react to the food? etc

Just ate it as they would a prey item, I've fed vertebrates to my larger species a few times (frozen/thawed) without problems, just takes them a hell of a long time to eat them and really stinks when they're done! Plus it can attract mites/flies so be sure that you remove any leftovers.