Ok, my T wasnt going for her mealworms... I tied one to a string... Good idea?

I tied a large meal worm to a string dangled it in front of Audrey and she went for it straight away. The string is still attached to the meal worm. Is there any chance that Audrey could ingest the string?

The T is a A. Geniculata, string i used was thin cotton (used for sewing etc).

the reason why i used this method is because she always used to jump on her mealworms and now just lets them pass by and then they burrow into the soil never to be seen again.

Heres a crappy (and enhanced) pic of what has happened... Do you think ill be able to tug at the string when the mealworm gets mushy? Also my T is a good 2".

I wouldn't worry about the string. Take it away when the meal worm is gone.

Jon

but what about if the T ingests it and it goes down its mouth? :-s

I would imagine that much like the exoskeleton parts of crickets and the like that they choose not to eat... she will do the same with this string Even if she takes some into her mouth... it will probably be spit out into one of those lovely little globules of 'leftovers' Ewww LOL

the way I understand it is that a tarantula eats by breaking down the food with enzymes outside of its body and sucking on it through its mouth, its mouth is kinda like a filter or screen that only lets paricals smaller then 1um pass. So if it did eat the string it would be broken down into microscopic fragments anyways. I wouldnt worry because I doubt your T's like the taste of string.

Here is a link to how T's digest food:
http://www.atshq.org/articles/Digestion.pdf

Yup. They pretty much only eat liquid food.

I'd be much more concerned about the string getting wrapped arond the tarantula in some way and causing an injury if it strarted to struggle.

Wade

String (and even more so, thread) can cause problems IME. I used to tie pieces of meat from thread to feed my mated females and usually left the thread attached while it fed. Normally when it is finished, all that would be left would be the remains, and I would simply pull the end of the thread to remove the remains (ideal if the spider takes the food down it's burrow etc). I stopped this method after a T. blondi actually ingested part of the thread and this had to be pulled from the mouth (with some force) to remove it. I also had other problems of the spider getting itself wrapped in the thread, especially around the carapace and this can be difficult to remove, it was a large C. crawshayi and she wasn't happy

I still feed the occasional defrosted pinkie of piece of meat but instead of tying it to the thread, I thread it through using a needle. Once the prey is taken, the thread can be pulled free with no harm coming to the spider...

Well i had to leave her whilst eating and was hopeing she wouldnt get tangled in the thread. She didnt Don't think im going to make a habit of it...

I would think that it is really rare that a tarantula could ingest a string

I'm wondering if tiny fibers from the thread could become entangled in the filtering mechanism of the mouth parts.

When I feed my C. crawshayi pinkies( live .) I have always tied a thread to its leg. When Princess( her name ) is done with it I simply pull the thread out with the bolus attatched. I've never had problem, although I am careful to make sure she is clear of the sting first.