Snake as a feeder for T

[maxi_kdu]

Well a think a CB T is not capable as a WILD one both in battle and digestion.

 

[Mushroom Spore]

Well a think a CB T is not capable as a WILD one both in battle and digestion.

I doubt there's any real difference, since a tarantula is an instinct-driven machine either way and it's VERY doubtful they even understand that they're in captivity.

 

[singlemind]

I agree with Mushroom Spore, I doubt theres going to be any difference between a wild or captive born spider in any sort of situation like this, arthropods tend to be more 'hard wired' with instinctual behavior response. It would definately be a good idea to euthanise the snake before hand to eliminate risk to both the spider and a rather painful end for the snake.
As for this being a natural or required thing, nutritionally not necessarily the best long term, but I have no doubt snakes are occasionally taken as prey items by a large opportunistic spider.

Don't get me wrong, I love snakes and wouldn't ever do this with a healthy animal, let alone for $19 but it is your choice to make. I've seen a few pictures and such around of stillborn or weak hatchlings being fed, and its important to remember that we're all made of meat. If its around, no need to let it go to waste.

 

[xhexdx]

I want to point out a comment you made about 'not being satisfied' with roaches.

I bet your tarantula is perfectly satisfied with them.

And on top of that, there's still the calcium issue that has been previously discussed. Any vertebrate will give your T more calcium than needed, as it's coming from their bones.

I think it's a waste of a perfectly good snake. Roaches are the way to go.

 

[Pink-Poodle88]

To be honest I don't see why one would do it intentionally just for novelty value or something. I'm not saying it shouldn't be done however, I've fed quite a few snakes to some of my spiders before, but only wild caught ones. I'm not about to pay $20 for a meal, and if you do feed a snake, I'd only do it once a year or so, if that. I want to try and mirror their diet as close to how it'd be in the wild as possible. That would be a diet of mostly insects, but also the occasional mouse/small lizard/etc. Vertebrates definitely wouldn't make up the majority of a tarantula's diet, but definitely at least a good part of it. Tarantulas don't care what the animal is, if it can be overpowered, they'll eat it.

As for the snake harming the tarantula, I doubt it to be honest. Tarantulas are quite fragile, make no mistake, but I've been into tarantulas since I was 7 years old. Over all these years, I've fed mice, lizards, snakes, as well as the staple crickets to my spiders, and never once have any of my spiders been injured by any of their prey. I'm not saying it isn't a possibility however, but in my personal experience it's rare because spiders of all sorts are such amazing predators easily capable of killing and eating animals many times their size. You still need to be careful though, and realize the possibility of injury to your spiders.

Many people feel that it's "inhumane" to feed vertebrates to tarantulas. Personally, I think this is sheer and utter bull. It's okay to feed a mouse to a snake, but not to a tarantula? ... Okay then. The irony and idiocy in such statements makes me laugh personally. To me it seems like the typical over opinionated general population and their favoring one animal over another. Feed the "bad ugly bugs" to them, but not the "cute little mice." It's a bunch of hypocrisy and irrational bull to me personally. Even though logically speaking, there's really nothing wrong with feeding pretty much whatever animals you want to your spiders, you still need to realize that some may "look down upon" you for feeding certain animals, and need to realize the risks, as stated before, and don't just do it for "novelty value" either.

Overall, feed whatever you want, just be careful about it. If you really love your spiders, you'll go out of your way to care for them and watch out for them as much as possible.

 

[bushbuster]

What The Hell Do You Want To Do That For ? ? ?

I thought National Geographic was supposed to influence viewers in a positive way ?

Let me guess. To post it on youtube under the obligatory title 'TARANTULA vs SNAKE.' Just like all the other titles posted by morons who also have small penises.

Its just needless, uneccessary and sad. I hope the $19 snake wins.

Well said! My sentiments exactly...Maybe a small penis would be a good meal, lmfao

 

[Mushroom Spore]

Many people feel that it's "inhumane" to feed vertebrates to tarantulas. Personally, I think this is sheer and utter bull. It's okay to feed a mouse to a snake, but not to a tarantula? ... Okay then. The irony and idiocy in such statements makes me laugh personally.

If I could trouble you to get off your high horse for a moment, I'd like to point out first of all that the vast majority of snake-keepers worth their salt feed PREKILLED prey to their snakes. No pain for the rodents, no risk of injury for the snake, everyone wins.

Second, snakes are far more selective in their prey types. A great many snakes will eat exactly one prey species and no other--ask anyone who's gone through the hassle of trying to get their ball python to switch from mice to rats, including myself. If you own a snake, you do not have a choice. You are either going to feed it rodents or it is going to die.

Tarantula owners have a choice. Crickets and their ilk sure don't seem to feel pain, but mice are exponentially more intelligent than that and they DO. (And if my snake's reaction to getting antibiotics injected into him at the vet was any indication, snakes can definitely feel pain too.)

 

[PhilK]

If I could trouble you to get off your high horse for a moment, I'd like to point out first of all that the vast majority of snake-keepers worth their salt feed PREKILLED prey to their snakes. No pain for the rodents, no risk of injury for the snake, everyone wins.

Second, snakes are far more selective in their prey types. A great many snakes will eat exactly one prey species and no other--ask anyone who's gone through the hassle of trying to get their ball python to switch from mice to rats, including myself. If you own a snake, you do not have a choice. You are either going to feed it rodents or it is going to die.

Tarantula owners have a choice. Crickets and their ilk sure don't seem to feel pain, but mice are exponentially more intelligent than that and they DO. (And if my snake's reaction to getting antibiotics injected into him at the vet was any indication, snakes can definitely feel pain too.)

Hahahaha too right mate, too right. Couldn't have said it better myself (particularly the high horse bit). A bit of education goes a long way, as opposed to enjoying the sound of ones fingers clacking on a keyboard

 

[Sabatta]

If you really are feeding your T a snake for its enjoyment and not yours, then ask your local pet store to hold onto the next snake it gets that dies. Tell them you will buy the dead snake for $5 and to pop it into their freezer until next time you pass by. I'm sure they would prefer to make $5 rather than nothing on a dead snake. Plus the snake feels no pain in your care so you can't be vilified on the board for what you did.

Or if you just want to watch a battle, go find that National Geographic video and watch it again.

You also mentioned in an earlier post that you would injure the snake yourself so that it would only squirm a little so your T doesn't get hurt... please don't do that. Compassion is blind. I don't see how anyone can claim to love their T but then go and maim another animal.

 

[lychas]

im going to prekilled the snake or injured it so badly that it can only move a bit for my t to see it

melanie, just so your friends anaconda doesnt get hurt i think you should seriously injure Genei, a few hits to the gut with a 4x2 should do some serious damage and prevent him struggling while being eaten alive.

 

[UrbanJungles]

The reminds me of an article by Rick West who talked about staging a T blondi feeding on a Fer-De-Lance for a documentary in one of the old ATS journals.

Don't believe all of those "interactions" you see in documentaries, they are mostly all staged.

 

[Cirith Ungol]

Genei Ryodan
I've fed off baby snakes on several occasions. In every case they were the weakest snakes in their litters and dead or near dead. It wasn't dramatic at all. Just after a couple of minutes the spiders figured out that the snakes were long creatures and rolled them up in a ball, spun them into a web package and continued eating. There was always a lot of chewing involved and that's one of the reasons I stopped feeding off snakes - they're 99% bone and no meat. A T will get more out of eating two big roaches.

 

[NevularScorpion]

Genei Ryodan
I've fed off baby snakes on several occasions. In every case they were the weakest snakes in their litters and dead or near dead. It wasn't dramatic at all. Just after a couple of minutes the spiders figured out that the snakes were long creatures and rolled them up in a ball, spun them into a web package and continued eating. There was always a lot of chewing involved and that's one of the reasons I stopped feeding off snakes - they're 99% bone and no meat. A T will get more out of eating two big roaches.

i understand that roaches can provide a lot of nutrients to a T but my problem is that my T apophysis dont eat roaches that i have right now. I used to feed her turkisan roaches but i dont want to have those things anymore in my house. I tried to feed her some dubia and hisser but she wont eat them. I even left the dubia and hisser in her cage for 3 weeks or almost a month but she did not eat them. When i offered her some mouse and cricket she ate them like there is no tomorrow. I don't no whats the reason why my T is acting like this thats why im trying to look for some other feeder so i will have more options and varieties of feeder for my T. i dont want to always feed my t some mouse and cricket because i want my T to have a diverse diet.

 

[lychas]

have you listen to anyone saying verts are bad for inverts? If it eats crickets feed it crickets, will be healthier then one fed on mice and snakes.

 

[NevularScorpion]

I only feed crickets to my ts as a last resource because i have roaches now. I dont really like crickets that came from pet stores because i dont know if they get nurish properly or if they are carrying parasite that can harm my t and i cant breed crickets in my house either. also i dont want to buy crickets every week since i already have 3 roach colonies, its just impractical.

 

[Avix4me]

not really thats why i posted this tread to ask people if i have to prekilled the snake before i feed it and to know any information regarding to this topic. dint you read my question ? Also i thought that some big tarantula need to eat snake as part of their natural diet because i saw it in national geographic channel that some sp. of tarantula eat snakes in their natural habitat. Plus your hope of my precious T being killed by a snake is never going to happen because im going to prekilled the snake or injured it so badly that it can only move a bit for my t to see it. ofcourse if only i decided to feed my T a snake.



I thought that snake can provide a good source of protien since it has a lot of muscle and low fat. however, i did not know that snakes have high concentration of calcium in their body. I'm just going to use a different feeder since most people here said that snakes are bad idea as a feeder.

"injure it so badly that it can only move a bit for my t to see it."?!?! Thats a horrible thing to say! Just pre-kill it! Dont make it suffer! I sware some people neede to think about what they say before they say it!:?

 

[Sabatta]

Look, you asked for peoples opinions and most said not to do it. After 3 pages you are not listening and making excuses. Next time, just do it since you had no intention of listening to anyone that didn't say what you wanted to hear. Don't ask the question if you already have your mind made up. You are just upsetting people.

 

[NevularScorpion]

"injure it so badly that it can only move a bit for my t to see it."?!?! Thats a horrible thing to say! Just pre-kill it! Dont make it suffer! I sware some people neede to think about what they say before they say it!:?

I din't really mean to say that, its just that izan was rude to me. i asked a simple question and he gave me an insult! I made this thread to gain information about this topic and not to be critized by other people using unapproprieate words. I haven't even started this plan yet its was just an idea that pop into my head. So why are some people here are mad at me, i haven't even done anything yet. Also don't worry I will follow what people here in ab told me. I will ask my friend if he has a prekilled snake. I think feeding T with a snake wont do any damge if i just once.

 

[David_F]

also i dont want to buy crickets every week since i already have 3 roach colonies, its just impractical.

I'm not gonna bash you for wanting to feed a snake to your spider. Not something I would do but...whatever.

The thing I can't wrap my head around is the line I quoted above. It's impractical to buy a few dollars worth of crickets while you're at the pet shop with the snake but it is practical to spend $20 on a perfectly healthy snake only to kill it and feed it to an animal that doesn't require snakes (or any vertebrate, for that matter) in its diet? Is that what you're saying? :?

Yeah, best way to go is to get a gimp hatchling and feed that to your spider.

Also, the "calcium is bad for tarantulas" thing hasn't been confirmed yet. Haven't heard anything about it for a while. Has anything been published yet? Is anyone still working to figure out if it is a problem?

 

[Brian S]

Dave, I was thinking along your lines. Thats kinda scary LOL