What part of crickets/roaches do T's eat?

[JESTERx626]

1) What part of crickets/roaches do T's eat? Do they eat only the juicy insides or also the outside crunchy parts, or both?

2) How often can I feed my sling's? Every other day, 2, 3, 4, 5 days etc.

 

[Harlock]

Tarantulas eat like all spiders. (Someone with better knowledge/word use can state and describe this better) They use their fangs to inject digestive juices into the prey item, thus turning all the innards into a liquid they can suck up through their fangs. The indigestible material (chitin exoskeletons in the case of roaches/crickets, bones and skin in pinkies/anoles) are rolled into a junk ball called a bolus, and is a waste item of the tarantula. As for feeding, you can do as often as every other day if you want to increase their rate of growth, but this will have an adverse affect on their lifespans. Roughly once a week is closer to a natural feeding, although atleast twice is more common for young slings.

*One of the main reasons for "power feeding" a sling is to get it out of the danger zone <1" in size

 

[skippy]

Ts actually have a smal slit mouth between their chelicerae that they suck the semi-liquid contents of their prey into (what i've heard anyway ) not through their fangs

 

[jr47]

Mine usually eat the whole thing unless they are just not really hungry. They usually kill the prey and roll it in a ball. Cover it in digestive fluids and then suck it through their mouth as it liquifies.
Sometimes you can see them doing this if they are in the open and you wait and watch.

 

[Widowman10]

yep, like the above poster said, T's do not suck up prey through their fangs as true spiders do, but rather use sucking mouthparts.

feed your slings however often you want. the faster you feed them, the faster they'll grow.

 

[blooms]

*One of the main reasons for "power feeding" a sling is to get it out of the danger zone <1" in size

Why is under one inch a danger zone？

 

[Widowman10]

Why is under one inch a danger zone？

it's not.

sometimes it can be a problem with avic slings though.

 

[gvfarns]

Why is under one inch a danger zone？

B/c small slings die a lot. Larger T's can go a long time without food or water or whatever but tiny slings need food, water, more controlled conditions, etc.