Avic Avic feeding Q

sansoucie

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My little Avic refuses to come down to catch a cricket or get a drink. I spray water for her/him and it comes right to the spray nozzel. I have had it just a few weeks and can't get it to eat. Is this usual? How do I get it to eat without stapling a cricket to the top of the tank? :D
 

Vys

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It'll come down when it feels like it (i.e is hungry enough) I'm pretty sure. Mine does, anyway. She comes down to drink sometimes, too.
 

sansoucie

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Thanks for the reply! I usually feed all of the Ts at the same time and this devil wont eat. I guess it would be ok to leave a crick in there for a bit to see if she/he goes after it?
 

Vys

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I'd say so. It would require some really persistent bad luck for your spider to start molting at the same time as that cricket got some illusions of grandeur (and wanted to turn the tables).

Offt: By the way sansoucie, who was that lady in your avatar two avatars back?
 

sansoucie

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That was ME! I took it off as the PMs and email msgs were getting a bit wierd ;P Shh some people think women over 30 wear spandex and baggy sweatshirts! ;P
 

Jeri

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My avic was eating pretty well for awhile, but then I started feeding him moths and he wants nothing to do with crickets anymore. They just hop around until I give them to my roses.

Jeri
 

sansoucie

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I never thought of moths.... I can catch a ton of them where I live. I will try that too as I want to FORCE this thing to grow up! LOL!
 

Vys

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sansoucie said:
That was ME! I took it off as the PMs and email msgs were getting a bit wierd ;P Shh some people think women over 30 wear spandex and baggy sweatshirts! ;P
Ahaa....woo :)
 

OldHag

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sansoucie said:
Shh some people think women over 30 wear spandex and baggy sweatshirts! ;P

You mean....we dont?? :? DAMN!!!

My Avic only comes out after dark...I throw in a cricket and the next morning its gone.. :D

Michelle
 

Sheri

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I had an immature A. avic who needed to be put in a very small container to find its food, but after about a dozed crix, she seemed to get the hang of it, so you might want to try that. It also threw two legs from climbing, so mine was clearly clumsy as well for an arboreal.

I am actually leaving right away to pick up a breeding pair! {D
 

sansoucie

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Lucky you!! LOL!


You may have a point about the size of the tank. I have it in a hex, and it's a juvie. I will try a smaller tank too. :)

Thanks guys!
 

ahkiu

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i had some problems with my a.versi's finding their food, they spun such big web's that it was hard for them to find the crickets. eventually moved them to smaller conditions and they have been feeding voraciously since.
 

ChrisNCT

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Avic avic feeding

Hello. I just thought I'd add my post in here regarding the Avic's. I have a CB/B female. She is about 2.5" legspan at most right now. She won't stop eating. If I throw 10 crickets in her enclosure, she'll eat all of them by morning. I am limiting her to about 5 per week. I will try to enclose a link to a pic of her in her enclosure so that you can see her rump size. It's huge!!!
 

Mikey_G.Rosea

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I am kind of using some common sense, but these creatures don't really know when to "stop" eating. From what I read, and from some thought (nuclear meltdown imminent! :p), I have concluded to just giving about 2-3 per week should be good. I give my Rosie (diff. species I realise) about 2-3 per week so she doesn't over eat and die. But i don't know that species very well, and I woud suggest just 2-3 until she looks healthy (if a large abdomen is healthy that is...). Just my .02
 

JohnxII

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Well, I think they do know what is enough. 1 of my G.Aureostriata slings once left half a mealworm pupa, it was looking plump and stuffed of course. Another G.A juvie left half a cricket... so I knew that was it. Oh yeah my sub-adult male A.Avic once ate only the abdomen of a gravid cricket and left the rest on the substrate... usually you only find the webbed-up bolus of leftovers.

As for your A.A, yeah I'd say a smaller enclosure might help, but there should also be means for crickets to climb up from the bottom. For mine, I stand one of those plastic critter keeper on the side, and the crickets keep on climbing up the mesh "top" which is now the front. Nowadays my "Pinky" would just hang out at the top of the front waiting for something. :)

But in any case, I'd also agree that they tend to come down to hunt/drink at night when you're not looking!
 

JJJoshua

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Can you "Over feed" a tarantula?? From what ive heard you cant, they just won't eat if they're not hungry. THis is what ive encountered in my T's. After a period of sporadic eating, they stop for a little while and get fat. Then slow down their consumption rate. I think they know their bodies better then we do and should give them as much nourishment as their little bodies want.

Just my 2cents
 

sansoucie

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WOO HOO! She's eating.. FINALLY! She hated the meal worm, but I threw in a few crix just now and she literally attacked them. Guess that whole "can't find 'em" thing was false! LOL! Pretty cute to see her hop down , snatch a cricket as big as she is, and hop back up on her branch to munch. Seems she dowsn't want the small crickets, just the med to large ones. Guess that was the whole problem. I put 3 different sized in and she repeatedly chooses the larger ones . :confused: Whatever.... I am just thrilled the little thing is finally eating. Her butt was starting to look like an old raisin! :D
 

Pheonixx

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i have a similar problem with one of my avic avic's but the other one wont stop eating! i just got a new digi cam today and should have pics up tonight (hopefully.) i put the non-eater in tupperware and when crick came up to T the T raised up to let the crick under it!!! i think the T did it cause it knew i was watching! LOL
 

Zombie

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First off how big is your Avic?
Too often our desire to make our T's happy is to set them up in a tank way to big for them, full of plants and sticks and what not.
Keep in mind that most tarantulas (with the exception of mature males) tend to stay within 6 to 12 inches of their burrows, or in the case of arborreals, their webs.
With the question of water, I would suggest siliconing (if its a glass tank) or hot glueing (if its plastic) a small deli cup or bowl up near the top of the cage, close to whichever corner your Avic is hanging out by.
In the case of feeding, the smaller the cage the better, as a 1/4 inch cricket in a 10 gallon tank may be hard to find. I do not the specifics though, so please respond.
Do you have any plants or cork in the tank with the Avic?
If so, try and place the crickets there, or on any webbing he/she may have spun.

Eric
www.e-spiderworld.com
 
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