hmm how many pinkies in a week....

[marisa]

My gerbils have a parenting problem and they aren't able to rasie a litter. When the babies get to the eye opening stage, I get anywhere from a 90% - 100% mortality rate. :(

The just had another litter of 8 so I have to take away almost all pinkies and see how they do with one to raise. My question is how many gerbil pinkies do you think two tarantulas can eat in a week?

I have no snakes that will eat them, and I don't want to just toss them out....both T's are eating a gerbil pink as we speak. Usually the Brazilian Pink takes about 5 hours to eat one, and the Salmon birdeater usually takes 8-12 hours.

Is it safe to give them a few more as they are done with each one? I have no clue if you can overfed a spider so.....

marisa

[Scotty Allen]

Yes, you can overfeed a tarantula. This is a common cause of death (in captive specimens), particularly in adults. Many, (I hesitate to say most cause I'll get yelled at) captive raised adult tarantulas are over fed. I really don't know how to describe what a "fat" (for lack of a better term), abdomen looks like. It should be firm but not over inflated looking. Adult tarantulas are used to going long periods of time without food (yes, there are exceptions) and then gorging themselves when food is available. If yours are still growing, a couple or three pinks at a feeding will probably be fine, but this may be a little much for full grown adults. Hope this is a help.

[marisa]

Thanks Scotty. Both my T's are under a year old and have many many inches of growing to do. ! :) I will probably feed them each two or three, then give them a week or two before I fed them their crickets.

Thank you!

Marisa

[marisa]

<img src="http://members.rogers.com/mattl/nedpinkie.jpg">

Ah the joys of a digi cam.
And looking now I won't be giving this guy more than two. He is a little small still.

Marisa

[OttawaChris]

I dont know where Scotty is getting that from... I have never heard of an overfed tarantula and I have been an active member in the hobby for many years.

The rule of thumb in the world of T's is that a feeding once or twice a week is sufficient for them to thrive.

The worst that they get is too obese and more prone to rupturing in a fall.

Why not freeze the rest of the pinkies and thaw them out as you need them?

[Blackwidow69]

Yeah i agree with you on that one OttawaChris, i feed my T's as much as they want and mostly 3 to 4 times a week if they are hungry they will eat and i have been working with T's for more than 20 yrs.. i have seen them get really fat but never had any die from eatting to much and yes the fall is what would kill them.. as for freezing the pinkies that would work good as i use frozen rat pinkies that i feed to my salmon pink and goliaths and also my curly hairs.. The T's that act like they never seem to get enough are the giant white knees and the curly hairs.. My salmon pink does a number on prey to.. :)