Can you over-feed a tarantula?

SRirish

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My G.rosia (Lucy) has always had a good appetite.

at one time she accepted a cricket 1 day before she molted!(i knew she was going through premolt by her change in mood so i did not feed her that day. I believe a friend of mine fed it to her when i was busy)

well this year a couple months after she molted she was especially hungry(she went after the first 2 defenceless crickets so fast) Well that day i fed her 6 crickets. Now she is being fed 3 crickets a day and she happily eats each one.

she has had this big appetite for a couple month's now and so i am asking you, more experienced T keepers and breeders this question. Am i over-feeding my T?

She is not gravid (gravid means pregnant is what im guessing)

and i cant think of any reason of why she likes to eat so much other than her being pregnant (witch she is not)

is there any exlanation you have for this?

or am i just making her a pig?

-thanks ahead of time!
 

problemchildx

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From my experience, generally Ts won't gorge themselves on purpose when they aren't hungry... Like humans can do..

But in the wild they eat a much as they can, waiting for the fast period where they will go without eating because of the scarceness of prey.

Can someone else back this up?

Also, I am not sure why she eats so much I think you have had her long enough so that you know she hasn't been mating..
 

fartkowski

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In my opinion 3 crickets a day is way too much.
One or two a week is fine.
Alot of T's will eat as much as you give them, especially after a molt.
At some point in time I wouldn't be surprised if your rosie goes several months without eating.
How big is she?
 

P. Novak

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Well over eating is a completely different thing in Ts than it is in humans. Technically a T can over eat because like problemchild said in the wild they eat when they can. They have no idea they are being kept as pets, so their instinct is to eat when they can. It is our duty to replicate their natural behaviours like it would be in the wild, so most hobbyist space the feeding times. I mean it's not wrong to feed your T as much as it will eat, but it does increase the chance of it getting hurt when it falls.
 

problemchildx

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Well over eating is a completely different thing in Ts than it is in humans. Technically a T can over eat because like problemchild said in the wild they eat when they can. They have no idea they are being kept as pets, so their instinct is to eat when they can. It is our duty to replicate their natural behaviours like it would be in the wild, so most hobbyist space the feeding times. I mean it's not wrong to feed your T as much as it will eat, but it does increase the chance of it getting hurt when it falls.
Good point, and am I correct in saying overfeeding will generally cause a shorter life span?
 

P. Novak

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Good point, and am I correct in saying overfeeding will generally cause a shorter life span?
In the long run yes, since over feeding is power feeding, and power feeding shortens the time between molts which means the T will grow to maturity much faster. With the long living Ts it won't be very noticable though. I myself powerfeed some of my young ones till they get adult colors, then from their it's a cricket or 2 a week.
 

Mushroom Spore

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But in the wild they eat a much as they can, waiting for the fast period where they will go without eating because of the scarceness of prey.

Can someone else back this up?
Yes. Tarantulas are binge eaters, and...aw, crud, I can't type all this out again, it's like the sixth one in the last week. {D OP, if you do a search for "powerfeeding" you should get plenty of info.
 

problemchildx

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LOL shroom..

I never did seek this info, it's just being slowly drilled into my head each day, making me unsure if I am always correct or not.

Search FTW
 

SRirish

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In my opinion 3 crickets a day is way too much.
One or two a week is fine.
Alot of T's will eat as much as you give them, especially after a molt.
At some point in time I wouldn't be surprised if your rosie goes several months without eating.
How big is she?
She is about 4"

ps:sorry for my late reply's
 

problemchildx

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wow 3 crickets a day for a 4" spider..

sounds like the comparable average amount of an obese American toddler's daily consumption.

:confused: but yeah 2-3 crickets at MOST twice a week.

In fact, I would only give a rosea 1 or two a week, then maybe go a week with none, then give 5 the next week. It's good to spice up the dinner menu too.
 

bio teacher

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Everybody's responses are right on. I just wanted to point out that the correct species name is rosea and not rosia. I know scientific names are confusing, but as a biology teacher, I have a need to make sure that we are using correct scientific names. Especially with all of the confusing common names out there. I hope that I didn't offend you:)
 

vvx

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I think one aspect of the power feeding debate is whether it only shortens the life span during which the spider is powerfed or if it affects the spider after you return to a normal feeding schedule.

Not many people I think show off their 1/2" slings, in fact adult females might cost 10x as much as a sling, so if you get the adult female quicker and it doesn't have any negative forward looking effects can it be that bad? Especially if you're the sort of person who's more likely to buy an adult female rather than a sling in the first place.
 
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Mushroom Spore

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I think one aspect of the power feeding debate is whether it only shortens the life span during which the spider is powerfed or if it affects the spider after you return to a normal feeding schedule.
Think of it this way: you have a two-hour movie on tape. But the first twenty minutes are really boring! So you fast forward twenty minutes to get to the good stuff. It's still a two-hour movie, but because you sped it up, it's over in an hour and forty minutes.

That's kind of a weak metaphor, but it's close.
 

problemchildx

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That's kind of a weak metaphor, but it's close.
Good enough for me.

Personally I like feeding slings the way they would in the wild.
Also, they just have so much more character (don't even mention it you guys) and activity when they are younger. I am a somewhat impatient person, but it's like having children. I really don't think you would willfully choose to fast forward through their childhood.
 

Flying

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Good enough for me.

Personally I like feeding slings the way they would in the wild.
Also, they just have so much more character (don't even mention it you guys) and activity when they are younger. I am a somewhat impatient person, but it's like having children. I really don't think you would willfully choose to fast forward through their childhood.
I don't think it's an issue of overfeeding though. I just check if they're hungry by throwing a cricket in. If the sling dashes from one end to the other end just to get the cricket then I think it's hungry.

When the sling doesn't grab the bait at once then I remove it. I check this every day and so far they only eat when hungry. If the sling runs away from the cricket rather than eating it then it's quite obvious to me that the cricket should go.
 

problemchildx

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Not really, actually. T's will eat usually every time you feed them. Slings, on the other hand may know when to stop, but I haven't seen one of my spiders refuse prey yet. (Hoping for that first molt!! :wall: :mad: :rolleyes: )

Typically, like my good and drunk Irish buddy, T's don't know when to stop! They eat as much as possible in anticipation of the awaited fast. BTW this is not meant to be a cruel stereotype, it is in fact my good Irish buddy. In fact he's somewhere around these forums :)

Anyway as for powerfeeding slings, I see no harm at all. Who likes to wait?! Just a preference of mine to watch them slowly grow up while I slowly grow older.

Example of bad overfeeding:

Fred: "Wow, that's quite a big G. Rosea you have! Is she gravid?"
Dan: "Nah dawg, she just has a good appetite!"
Fred: "Uhhh how many crickets a week?"
Dan: "Usually 3 a day"
Fred: *glances at the 5" legspan, and points out to Dan that the abdomen should never be 5 times as large as the cephalothorax*
Dan: "Is she gonna die?"
Fred: "No in fact, I suspect you could go without feeding for at least a month or two."

Also I am now reminded of one of SCABIES field trips for finding wild tarantulas. Cacoseraph noted that as soon as the T was in captivity, it ate the roach with many compliments. In the wild, I'm sure they go very very long without food.

A little food for thought.

PS I am really bored can anyone tell? :rolleyes:
 
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