overfeeding?

[Abi Skeet]

Is it possible to overfeed a T. I fed my 3/4cm A.bicoloratum sling a cricket leg last night and this morning its bottom is huge and shiny.Never seen the shinyness (not a word I know lol) in any other of my T's

[bobgepstein]

Fat Spiddies

I've heard it is possible to overfeed spids - but mine just stop eating and ignore the cricket when they're full (actually they go up to it and see what it is before wandering away).

My Curly Hair has attached locusts before and then only partly eaten them (you have to remove them then).

Quite often my spiders abdomen is all shiny and they're full up. Looks like a balloon ready to burst. I figure they've been on the plant for millions of years and if they want to eat they will, if they don't they won't...

One thing though which I thought about is my spids are quite big compared to my sisters (we got them from the same batch at the same time) because I feed mine more. I'm not too sure of this will affect their lifespan or not?


Cheers,
Bob.


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[Abi Skeet]

Thats what I thought, A couple of mine will kill a cricket and then leave it so I assumed they knew when they were full but the shine was a shock, as you said a balloon ready to burst.
My brother used to feed his spiders more and they were bigger and grew faster(now I have started feeding mine more)
It's an interesting point though. How does this affect thier life span? How much food would the come across in the wild?

[Nicola Dolby]

As far as I'm aware a tarantula will not overdoo it when it comes to feeding. As was said above, when they are full they just reject the food on offer. Also some tarantulas have wierd eating habits. For example my H. lividium, whilst in no way fat, went 2-3 weeks refusing food then ate about 6 crickets in two days and has now walled herself up in her burrow to moult! Regarding the "shiny" abdomen, Brachypelmas develop a bald patch before moulting on the abdomen which turns black and shiny as the new exoskeleton hardens underneath the old one. perhaps your spider is coming up to a moult? Also, whilst spiders do go off food as they prepare to moult, I have seen myself a tarantula have a "last meal" just before moulting, as though they are 'topping themselves up' before the event. At the end of the day your spider knows what it needs the best and if not hungry or full, it will say no.

[Abi Skeet]

Thanks, maybe it is coming up for a moult but it ate right up until it moulted last time so I have no idea and didn't get that fat. It's doubled in size over night lol.I won't worry about it then

[KJ Vezino]

Yes, I believe they can be overfed. The thing is that tarantulas (especially desert species) evolved in a feast or famine environment. Some might go an entire season without a meal, so they eat whenever they can to build up stores, just waiting for that next drought. In my opinion an abdomen that is huge and plump is not healthy and could be cause for concern. These spiders definitely have a greater chance of having their abdomen burst if they should happen to fall from the side of their enclosure.

If we take the time to understand how tarantulas behave in the wild it will help us be better keepers of them in captivity. It is our job as responsible keepers to limit the amount of food that they get, because they will keep eating up until they come up on a molt. This is how they behave in the wild, and the only thing that changes in captivity is the endless supply of food. They will stuff themselves, until they can't eat any more because their evolution assumes that the next meal could be months from now. Just because they stop eating because they've stuff themselves completely, does not mean that that is healthy for them.

[Abi Skeet]

Thats what I thought. I was feeding them once a week but as my brothers were eating more(2 or 3 times a week) I decided to up my feeds but now starting to wonder if I should give them less again?

[James Box]

that's probably the case for many species, but i've had individuals turn their noses up at food when they're not all that fat. so that would indicate to me that at least those individuals have the ability to know when they're full. but you're right that many may not, due to their environment.

this made me laugh:

my spids are quite big compared to my sisters

<-not sure what this says about your sisters

i suppose if you're worried about the size of your spider, maybe don't feed it til it starts to get a bit slimmer. as long as the abdomen is bigger than the carapace, i'd say the spider's doing ok...

i've heard it suggested here that powerfeeding may affect the spider's lifespan adversely...i think the data may be inconclusive yet, but something to keep in mind. moderation is probably the best policy.

[Abi Skeet]

i suppose if you're worried about the size of your spider, maybe don't feed it til it starts to get a bit slimmer.

i've heard it suggested here that powerfeeding may affect the spider's lifespan adversely...i think the data may be inconclusive yet, but something to keep in mind. moderation is probably the best policy.

I wasn't going to feed it till it got a bit slimmer anyway as it worried me. Do we know if over feeding brings on a moult?if so I would have thought it would have a shorter life span especialy with males reaching a final moult?I'm sure we need a lot of research before anything can be proved but for nowI want to do whats best for my T's

[James Box]

i would assume you're right! at least it makes sense to me.
the idea of powerfeeding as i understood was exactly that, to speed up moulting.
i've heard that feeding too rapidly can speed up the metabolism and shorten the lives of some inverts, like solifugids and centipedes...can't prove it's true personally, but i'd say it's worth spacing feedings out if the creature doesn't seem to be too skinny or poorly looking.
i was also told to feed my G pulchra male slowly, so that he matures later and grows slower... and that was Lee from the spider shop!
so there seem to be a decent number of knowledgeable people that agree with this standpoint.

[Abi Skeet]

I may start feeding them once a week again then at least that way I know I am not over feeding them. How ofted to you lot feed your T's and slings? and do you feed them differently?

[James Box]

well i'm still learning about this myself...i figured every few days was a good amount, but might slow that down. so far i've only had two moults from one of my P striata and one from a P. irminia, which i've now had for a couple months. don't *think* that's too fast. at least nobody looks like they're bursting...yet.
i'm sure some experts with a few years at least of rearing slings could give us a better estimation of how often feeding should occur!

[Abi Skeet]

Well does anyone know how often they would feed in the wild as I would like to match this as much as I could

[craig hill]

it all depends on when a meal comes along, sometimes they might not get a feed for weeks, but they could get maybe one or two stroll up in one day.

[KJ Vezino]

Well does anyone know how often they would feed in the wild as I would like to match this as much as I could

Like I said, it's feast or famine in the wild. If you really want to replicate nature, then don't have a feeding schedule. Feed at random. Feed a few here, a few there, then go a few weeks in between from time to time. I try to feed once a week, but when the cricket supply is low, or if I run out of 1 size before another, they may go 2 - 4 weeks without a meal.