More feeding info wanted.

[Rich.Harrington]

I recently aquired a Lasiodora Parahybana sling (1cm), and have so far been using fruit flies to start it off until large enough for nymph roaches.

At present I tend to put in one fly every other day, and each time it is gone within a couple of hours at most.

As this is the first type of spider I have that posesses this kind of appetite I'm wondering if I maybe slightly underfeeding it or not? I know parahybanas will eat and eat and eat so have no fears about overfeeding, yet I also know how much energy they need for this delicate stage so don't wish to deny it food.

[Colin D Wilson]

I've never actually heard of a parahybana over feeding so as to be detramental to the health of the spider, and as you quite rightly said, they have a voracious appetite.
you could try putting two flies in every other feed and see how that goes on.
should be easy to monitor if it takes prey items within the time you say.

[Tom Forman]

a general rule of thumb is to keep the spiders abdomen as big as its carapace. Any bigger and your spider is too fat.
You can try upping feeding, just watch the abdomen size, you don't want the spider to get too large or it will have difficulty walking and moulting.
By the sounds of things, you can feed a bit more though, your spider might grow a little bit faster

[Stanley A. Schultz]

I recently aquired a Lasiodora Parahybana sling (1cm), and have so far been using fruit flies to start it off until large enough for nymph roaches. ...

How small are the nymph roaches that you have? Smaller than the tarantula's abdomen perhaps? If so, go ahead and feed nymph roaches to it. If you are careful to sit there and watch to ensure that the roach doesn't harm the tarantula, you can even stretch the size rule a bit. In fact, I've heard of a lot of people who routinely kill a roach or cricket that's too large and leave it next to the spider. It's usually gone by the next morning, especially if you open its body cavity a bit to allow fluids to escape. Yummy!

You need to be absolutely certain that your fruit flies aren't simply escaping into the room. Trying to feed any flying insect to a tarantula is tough because the food isn't restricted to two dimensions, while the spider is.

Parahybanas are one of the three largest tarantulas on the planet. Most people get them because they get so large and, unlike Theraphosa blondi they're also very hardy. If you want your parahybana to reach its full size potential you need to "power feed" it until it has a leg span of something like 5" or 6" (12 to 15 cm). Then you gradually reduce its food intake until it reaches maximum size. For adult males that could be as much as 10" or 11" (25 to 28 cm). Females seldom get larger than 8" or 10", but they're fairly heavy spiders and may weigh up to 100 grams.

An adult female will survive quite nicely on a dozen adult crickets every two to four weeks. I'm not familiar with the size of the locusts that Europeans feed their tarantulas because migratory locusts are highly illegal in North America, and because crickets are so easily acquired. No one has seriously tried raising our native species of locusts as tarantula food either. If locusts are available to you instead of crickets you will have to make allowances for differences in size. But, that shouldn't be terribly difficult.

... At present I tend to put in one fly every other day, and each time it is gone within a couple of hours at most. ...

Fruit flies have been shown to be less than ideal for spider food. They apparently lack one or more important nutritional factors. Widows fed on nothing but fruit flies developed all sorts of developmental problems and a high mortality rate, presumably due to a dietary deficiency. Fruit flies are okay as long as you also mix in something else, probably on a 50/50 basis. If your roaches are too large, can you get baby crickets from a local pet shop or fish bait store?

... As this is the first type of spider I have that posesses this kind of appetite I'm wondering if I maybe slightly underfeeding it or not? ...

There is almost no way to overfeed a parahybana until it reaches a leg span of about 6" (15 cm). If anything, you're starving it!

Enjoy your tarantzilla!

[Rich.Harrington]

Thanks for the replies and advice, I did wonder if I was underfeeding.

As to the nutrition of flies, well I only intend to use them until the spider hits 2-3cm, then I know it can happily take on nymph roaches.

Guess it's time to get another culture of flies in the morning and throw in a fair few now then.

[Louise~Nichols]

Thanks for the replies and advice, I did wonder if I was underfeeding.

As to the nutrition of flies, well I only intend to use them until the spider hits 2-3cm, then I know it can happily take on nymph roaches.

Guess it's time to get another culture of flies in the morning and throw in a fair few now then.

Rich, I'm with Stanley regarding the fruit flies...and to be honest I'd ditch them sooner rather than later...it's better than having to deal with the consequences after you have created the problem.
I've seen it firsthand when I split a batch of slings to *trial feed* on different sources of prey....the fruitfly gang ended up with a high percentage of problems, not to mention highest mortality rate.

The slings that I fed on nothing but fruitflies eventually suffered moulting issues and developed problems in their legs, becoming bandy or twisted...this was before they had even reached 3cm.
If you get a moulting problem that's bad enough...you could end up with no sling to feed at all.

[Rich.Harrington]

Ah fair points, so a general thought then is to prekill a roach?

[Colin D Wilson]

As far as flies go i've not actually used them much myself as i'd come across people who have had problems (just explained by Louise)

I personally chop up a cricket or squidge a small cricket and leave it in the tub
It's normally gone ( or very little left) in the morning.

[Louise~Nichols]

Rich, absolutely matey...good levels of nutrition in a chopped roach or cricket, and then little one can get as much as it needs from the meal. Thanks for listening....your L.Para will be grateful too...mine love a good chunk of pre-killed food! lol

[Richard Shah]

Enjoy your tarantzilla!

Yeah - I just found out that that is one big spider! From what I can see, it should be growing really fast. If it's not - then feed it a bit more.
Bare in mind, I know scarecly anything about T.s.
Rich

[Colin D Wilson]

Thats what the forums for matey, there's always someone here who can answer any questions.
International advice and experience, what more could you ask for?

[Rich.Harrington]

Well I use a high quality diet of kitchen leftovers, fresh veg/fruit, fish flakes and dog biscuits for the roaches so I know they are putting out high levels of nutrition for my T's. So would throwing in an adult or half grown roach be ok if prekilled and chopped? I'd just worry about it staying there long enough to fester is all, with the resonably high humidity?

[Colin D Wilson]

My personal rule is only leave prekilled food in over night.

With a humid environment i would keep on top of the removal ASAP so as not to attract flies etc.

[Louise~Nichols]

Rich...I've seen my babies still munching after 8 hours, so I leave the pre-killed food with them overnight (I usually feed late afternoon/early evening), and then clear out the next day...that prevents any build up of yuckyness...LOL...that's my *technical* word for the day.

[Richard Shah]

Rich...I've seen my babies still munching after 8 hours, so I leave the pre-killed food with them overnight (I usually feed late afternoon/early evening), and then clear out the next day...that prevents any build up of yuckyness...LOL...that's my *technical* word for the day.

Lol. Well that seems pretty damn logical to me, so I'll do that - thanks, once again. I was wondering about what to do with the remains of the food - if the spider has covered it in web, should you remove it?
Thanks,
Rich.