What does powerfeeding mean to YOU?

[Ranitomeya]

A great point. I interpret the term powerfeeding as a reflection of the keeper's actions and not of the sling's, but I see where you're coming from. I know that it's generally thought from anecdotal evidence that decreasing feeding will lead to longer lifespans--do you know of any studies? I agree that it's certainly the intuitive conclusion to make; I just wonder if there are any numbers to back it up.

Intuitively, you can easily reason why decreasing feeding can lead to longer lifespans. If it takes longer for them to achieve critical weight--the minimum mass required before a molt, you prolong the period of time between every molt. In that way, you can greatly increase the time it takes for them to mature and delay the point at which senescence can occur.

I don't know of any studies on tarantulas, but in the lab I work in, one of the grad students was starving Manduca sexta to prolong the fifth instar. In lab conditions, it normally takes about five days from ecdysis to a fifth instar to the start of wandering, which is when the animal ceases eating and searches for a place to pupate. When starved, you have animals that remain in the fifth instar for considerably longer AND pupate at a considerably smaller mass, resulting in a longer lifespan(as a fifth instar) and a smaller adult size. Both Manduca sexta caterpillars and juvenile tarantulas are designed to eat as much as possible before each molt, so you could theorize that starvation has a similar effect on tarantulas.

Under non-experimental conditions, we set the Manduca sexta up in more food than they could possibly eat and they are free to eat as much as they want, just as though they were in the wild and living on a host plant. You certainly wouldn't call this practice powerfeeding or overfeeding. It's just regular feeding because juvenile invertebrates are designed to eat as frequently as their biology allows and grow as quickly as their biology allows.

 

[Haksilence]

Hey y'all. I've noticed that everyone on the boards seems to have a different idea as to what constitutes powerfeeding. For some, it's feeding your sling every day; for others, keeping food constantly in the enclosure; for others still, feeding steadily until the sling refuses to eat more.

I don't intend for this to be a debate, nor is my plan to establish some sort of standard for the term--I'm not that lofty. I want to know your definition of powerfeeding because I think it will make me more understanding of the nuances in the hobby and give an idea of what practices have worked for you. I look forward to gleaning your wisdom, fellow arachnerds.

So, what's your version of powerfeeding?

My "powerfeeding" for slings involves a mix of offering food every day to every other day, to allowing a few 1/4"-1/2" Dubai's roam free since they are essentially harmless and will actually do a bit of cleaning. I do the second specifically for my communal setup since there is no way to tell if all of them have eaten, so I keep food almost always available so the runts are able to get their fair share after the bullies get there's.

 

[louise f]

My "powerfeeding" for slings involves a mix of offering food every day to every other day, to allowing a few 1/4"-1/2" Dubai's roam free since they are essentially harmless and will actually do a bit of cleaning. I do the second specifically for my communal setup since there is no way to tell if all of them have eaten, so I keep food almost always available so the runts are able to get their fair share after the bullies get there's.

Your place must be Tarantula heaven <3

 

[louise f]

For slings i offer food 3 times a week. They get baby dubia, and diced meal worms for those who dont eat roaches.

 

[EulersK]

For slings i offer food 3 times a week. They get baby dubia, and diced meal worms for those who dont eat roaches.

In my house, they get dubia or they don't get to eat I've never had one starve itself to death. After they take down a roach the first time, they never have an issue with it again.

 

[Haksilence]

In my house, they get dubia or they don't get to eat I've never had one starve itself to death. After they take down a roach the first time, they never have an issue with it again.

"You are gonna eat it and you are going to like it, and you're going to sit at this table until that plate is clean, when you have your own enclosure you can buy your own feeders, but while you live on my self you're gonna eat what I give you"

 

[Ellenantula]

It just means feeding on an appropriate schedule here. I try not to overfeed or underfeed.

 

[louise f]

In my house, they get dubia or they don't get to eat I've never had one starve itself to death. After they take down a roach the first time, they never have an issue with it again.

God damn you're a hard one friend. Haha

 

[YagerManJennsen]

To me, it depends on the size of the prey. I might feed 3 crickets a week because they are small and have little nutritional value or 1 roach per week since they are bigger and have much more sustenance. For big adults I slow down, maybe a few crickets or a mealworm every 1.5 - 2 weeks if they are a fat and happy spider.

 

[Introvertebrate]

I think you have to crank up the heat and humidity to around 80 and feed them as much as they will eat. The heat and humidity helps boost their metabolism. if you just feed them a lot they will just look like a bunch of swollen ticks.

You've got it Jarrod. You can't powerfeed without increasing the temperature. Higher temperature means higher metabolism, which means greater food requirements. If you then continue to feed your Ts as much as they demand under these elevated temperatures, they'll grow faster than they ordinarily would. Ultimately, however, they'll end up bigger if you don't accelerate their growth rate.

 

[Poec54]

Whenever I hear the term 'power feeding' in this hobby, it almost always means the person doesn't know what they're talking about. Some think anything more than one feeding a week is power feeding.