Something i've been wondering for a little while is a tarantulas ability to "taste" and differentiate between different types of food. Do they even have the ability to taste foods? do they have this ability in any sense at all? i.e. can they enjoy different food sources more?
Tarantulas ability to "taste" food
- Thread starter Ryand2
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Lol good question my forst answer to taste would be no, but maybe like scorps they do have a degree of smell. As for "enjoymeny" i think they take what ever they can get their fangs on. Other spiders are known to only take food from a specific source but i will put this down to specialisation rather than preference for flavour
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i dont know if they can taste but of all my T's that i have, none eat ants.. i wonder if its taste of the acid on the ants ?
not only that but you shouldnt feed ants because ants fight back and if the spider doesnt immediately grab them they can latch onto a leg and even cut one off.
as for tasting, its a moot point but you should vary the diet of your T because some bugs have different nutritional value then others, what crickets might not have moths do or grasshoppers or worms. everyone likes some spice in life
as for tasting, its a moot point but you should vary the diet of your T because some bugs have different nutritional value then others, what crickets might not have moths do or grasshoppers or worms. everyone likes some spice in life
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Gonna try meal worms soon....so..we'll see...
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Hi,
They possess chemoreceptors and tarsal organs that would serve the same or similar puropses to both our sense of smell and our sense of taste. Whether they actually taste/smell in the sense we know it is another story.
Cheers,
Steve
They possess chemoreceptors and tarsal organs that would serve the same or similar puropses to both our sense of smell and our sense of taste. Whether they actually taste/smell in the sense we know it is another story.
Cheers,
Steve
Squirrelcore8
Arachnopeon
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I will give the advice now that meal worms/superworms dig. Soil/Eco-earth/whatever can be penetrated and you T's cant kill what it can't reach. Crickets are the only thing that I have found that doesnt have a nasty clean up or an ability to dig.
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Exactly.Steve Nunn said:
And if anyone doubts they can taste their food, do this: quickly and without warning touch your finger down on the substrate near your largest, most voracious feeder who otherwise is non-agressive. Now, after you finish changing your shorts ask why (knock knock knock) the spider grabbed your finger and then almost immediately let go without biting you
Of course, a more practical observation is just to watch how they feed: Often they take their palps and forelegs and touch the prey item before striking. That's them deciding if that cockroach or whatever makes good eating acording the chemoreception information they receive.
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Preferences in food items have shown researchers they have some form of memory. Are the preferences based upon taste, texture or smell I don’t know?
All of my Ts seem to enjoy an occasional meal worm but my Rosie has always refused to eat them. She dislikes them for some reason. Perhaps it’s not taste but before I owned her she was psychologically abused by a meal worm.
All of my Ts seem to enjoy an occasional meal worm but my Rosie has always refused to eat them. She dislikes them for some reason. Perhaps it’s not taste but before I owned her she was psychologically abused by a meal worm.