Feeding Vertebrates to tarantulas

[JacenBeers]

Who has had success with this? The only vertebrates at my store that I am loyal to are anoles and frozen mice of all sizes. I think it would be easy for a large spider to catch an anole but I dunno about a dead mouse. How many people have successfully fed something dead to a spider? And how many have fed anoles or simlar non poisonous invertebrates? I fed my old Theraphosa Blondi a baby mouse once and she gobbled that up no problem and I fed a large skeleton Tarantula a little frog I caught near my house. I also fed my Grammastola Rosea a goldfish that was dying. All with success but anoles and dead animals are new to me. Help.

[savian]

After a molt I always feed my bigger T's a pinky. They are call mice on Ice and they are all ready dead. I heat it in hot water for 15 mins then throw it into the tank. My B Smithi is all over it. As for the Anoles I don't know. It is to much money for me to spend to find out if they like them or not.

[Gail]

I had a few anoles that I tried feeding to my larger t's and none of them would touch them. I always feed pinkie mice with no problem. I have found that many of the T's prefer the mice to be dead already - like savian, I warm mine up in hot water for 5 to 15 minutes (depending on size of the mouse) and then just lay it near the T - WITH TWEEZERS - as they are usually very eager to eat it and I don't want to risk them not knowing where the pinkie ends and my finger starts

Gail

[atavuss]

I might catch heck for this......but I feed rat pups (I use them before their eyes open) to many of my t's....I breed rats because I find them hardier than mice. some of my t's will not touch them, my robustums just started taking them recently (they used to run to their burrows or try and hide behind their water dish) I had a a. bicoloratum throw a hair kicking tizzy because I put a pink mouse in with it, and I mean it went beserk and was darn near bald on its abdomen when I finally took the pinkie out. all of my 11 b. smithis will readily accept vertabrate prey.
Ed

[kellygirl]

i just cant do it! a few months ago, i was going to try to feed a tiny pinkie mouse to my G. rosea. i bought it, got it home, picked it up out of the bag, was about to put it in the tank, and then i looked at it. that's where i made my mistake.

as soon as i looked at it, i began to see it as an animal instead of food. maybe it's because i've been vegetarian for so long and i cant stomach the thought of feeding flesh to my animals... i dont know, but when i looked at that tiny little mouse, i started to cry. and then it squeaked. and then i started to weep. i had to immediately take it to my friends' place and they put it in with one of their momma mice. ultimately, the little pinkie became food, i'm sure, but i absolutely cant bring myself to do it.

my rosie actually hasnt eaten in months, but she's always accepted crickets before. i assume she's just not hungry for now. i think i'll be sticking to crickets.... guess i can never get a snake or monitor

-kellygirl

[JacenBeers]

I have been a vegetarian for 6 years now and this does not stop me in any way from feeding an animal that is naturally predatory and cannot survive any other way, the flesh of another animal.

[MrDeranged]

Kelly,

Nothing to worry about. Feeding live vertebrate prey is sort of an acquired taste. Many people don't have the stomach for it and it's nothing to be ashamed of. I think that if you'd like to feed your T's pinkies, just feed them pre killed. Many of the larger pet store chains will sell trays of frozen pinkies. When you need one, you just pop it out, toss it in some warm water till it thaws and then just throw it in with your T. No noise and no fuss. BTW, the squeeking is alot louder when the T's fangs are in the mouse....

Just feed pre killed and you should be fine

Scott

[MrDeranged]

BTW, the only time I really use pinkies for food is just after a molt, or if I'm trying to fatten up a female for a breeding attempt. Well, that and for my bigger centipedes. Crickets just don't seem like much of a meal for them, so I supplement them with pinkies alot more than my T's.

Scott

[Code Monkey]

Originally posted by atavuss
I might catch heck for this......but I feed rat pups (I use them before their eyes open) to many of my t's....I breed rats because I find them hardier than mice.

You won't catch heck from me because I'm not one to stand in the way of the food chain. It's just something I could never do having got to know way too many rats as well as a dog.

[atavuss]

guess i can never get a snake or monitor

-kellygirl [/B][/QUOTE]

one of the big reptile companies was making sausage shaped food for snakes and other meat eating lizards, I don't know if they still are or not. I checked into them once but the price was too high for how many snakes/lizards I had at the time.
Ed

[Devildoll]

hmm... i'm still leary about feeding pinkies to my inverts.
I feed pinkies to many other animals weekly if not more, but i'm very nervous about starting.
don't know why.....
i did put a live pinkie in my H. minax (if thats really what it is ) and she took it w/o a problem.... she was looking pretty skinny though and not taking crickets really quickly, so i had to fatten her quick.

she's done fine since then though.