Possible to overfeed a sling to death?

TCVulpes · Jul 10, 2014

This may be a very stupid question but I haven't really found an answer to it yet and didn't even think of it until today. First some background.

A month ago I got my first sling ever (which also happens to be my second T ever). It's 1/3" E. campestratus (3rd instar I believe). At the same time I'd ordered Bailey, I also got a 25+ count of pinhead B. Lat roaches. In this past month I've discovered a few things about Bailey:

1. Will not hunt/kill prey
2. Lives in burrows and only seems to come out at magical times I never catch no matter what time of the day or night I look into the enclosure

In this past month, today was only the 3rd time Bailey has fed. Each time I've tried giving live prey, removing after 24 hours, trying again a couple days later. I have to pre-kill the pinhead B. Lat and leave it out and sometime during the magical scavenging outside the burrow window the body disappears and there's no sign of anything. On to the point of this story/question.

Over this past month, the B. Lats have grown and are no longer pinheads. They're not all fully grown but they're easily Bailey's size and larger. I crushed one's head and put it into the enclosure last night. This morning I woke up and finally saw the magic. Bailey had the body dragged half way to the burrow entrance. A half hour later and quick peek showed Bailey doing the happy dance and devouring the roach.

I came home tonight and Bailey looks like a balloon with legs! I swear it look like if I were to breath on him/her, (s)he'd pop.

Is it possible to feed a sling to death? I'm pretty worried at this point. I know for future it looks like I'll need to dissect the food into smaller portions but for now is there anything to be worried about?

dredrickt · Jul 10, 2014

Certain species, yes, I've heard you can blow them up. Most species will stop eating when they go into premolt though. There are exceptions. But I wouldn't worry in this case, just let it be, it will eventually molt. I would get another food source for right after it molts though, chances are those roaches are going to be too big by the time it molts and is ready to eat again.

cold blood · Jul 10, 2014

TCVulpes said:
This may be a very stupid question but I haven't really found an answer to it yet and didn't even think of it until today. First some background.

A month ago I got my first sling ever (which also happens to be my second T ever). It's 1/3" E. campestratus (3rd instar I believe). At the same time I'd ordered Bailey, I also got a 25+ count of pinhead B. Lat roaches. In this past month I've discovered a few things about Bailey:

1. Will not hunt/kill prey
2. Lives in burrows and only seems to come out at magical times I never catch no matter what time of the day or night I look into the enclosure

In this past month, today was only the 3rd time Bailey has fed. Each time I've tried giving live prey, removing after 24 hours, trying again a couple days later. I have to pre-kill the pinhead B. Lat and leave it out and sometime during the magical scavenging outside the burrow window the body disappears and there's no sign of anything. On to the point of this story/question.

Over this past month, the B. Lats have grown and are no longer pinheads. They're not all fully grown but they're easily Bailey's size and larger. I crushed one's head and put it into the enclosure last night. This morning I woke up and finally saw the magic. Bailey had the body dragged half way to the burrow entrance. A half hour later and quick peek showed Bailey doing the happy dance and devouring the roach.

I came home tonight and Bailey looks like a balloon with legs! I swear it look like if I were to breath on him/her, (s)he'd pop.

Is it possible to feed a sling to death? I'm pretty worried at this point. I know for future it looks like I'll need to dissect the food into smaller portions but for now is there anything to be worried about?

Lol, you're t may look like it will pop, but it won't. It may molt fairly soon now that its extra plump. Many slings of slower growing species do better as scavengers until they get to 3/4-1".

Its totally natural for slings and juvies to spend much, if not most of their time underground or in hiding, they are very vulnerable at that small stage and they seem to be well aware of that fact.

Like you mentioned, you can still feed those roaches, but now 1 roach will feed a few slings....time to get a couple more, maybe?

Oumriel · Jul 10, 2014

All of my slings get as fat as ticks and they are dragging their big booty behind them then they molt and are skinny again. I read somewhere that this is how slings operate, they eat and get fat then go hide and wait to molt, this way they are less exposed to predation. I have never read anywhere where a sling has eaten so much it has burst. ( if this is legitimately documented id like to be able to read that, just not a "my brothers, cousin said he once saw his sisters, uncles spider burst cause of over feeding") The danger that I can see is that since the sling is so big and ready to molt, a fall off of the side of an enclosure or something else that may cause trauma to the tight abdomen would be more of a concern.

Beary Strange · Jul 10, 2014

Oumriel said:
All of my slings get as fat as ticks and they are dragging their big booty behind them then they molt and are skinny again. I read somewhere that this is how slings operate, they eat and get fat then go hide and wait to molt, this way they are less exposed to predation. I have never read anywhere where a sling has eaten so much it has burst. ( if this is legitimately documented id like to be able to read that, just not a "my brothers, cousin said he once saw his sisters, uncles spider burst cause of over feeding") The danger that I can see is that since the sling is so big and ready to molt, a fall off of the side of an enclosure or something else that may cause trauma to the tight abdomen would be more of a concern.

There has been discussion on this matter before and the instances cited where a tarantula did seem to die as a result of overfeeding seemed to occur mostly in adults. This makes sense as a sling is still growing and will molt out of this excessive weight more quickly and this of course ties into the mechanic you mention. But I still prefer to err on the side of caution and not continue to feed any tarantula, sling or adult, with an alarmingly large rump.

Oumriel · Jul 10, 2014

If a T with an overly heavy abdomen has a rupture, I am more prone to believe that something in the environment (even just dragging on the ground) played a part in causing that rather than it just breaking open while it was sitting there because it was over fed. Not advocating over feeding, but slings do get big and stretched looking before they molt. I don't know what anyone elses slings do, but mine get fat go under ground or in a hide and wait to molt.

TCVulpes · Jul 10, 2014

Thank you all so much! I'll definitely be getting some other feeders here for the next feeding. I've been wondering about the next molt. When I got Bailey (s)he was so light as to be practically transparent so I'm assuming, freshly molted. Now (s)he is much more tan/brown in color. Still not very dark but maybe this feeding will be the one that spurs the molt. I'm in no rush to accelerate growth here. I rather take it slow and have a fully healthy development without risking any side effects from power feeding and the like.

Possible to overfeed a sling to death?

TCVulpes

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dredrickt

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cold blood

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Oumriel

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Beary Strange

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Oumriel

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TCVulpes

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