Feeding a Goliath Birdeater

[SaIiLdVaEnR]

Good tread.

Aidan

[Pixie]

?

[SaIiLdVaEnR]

I don't know, I didnt start this tread. All that it said was the title, and had no content; resulting in my comment. Now it seems that my comment is the only visable thing.

Aidan

[tonyj]

Yes, it will live longer that way!
Mine were fed on pinky mice, and any left over crickets, but the most expensive meal was when my sexually mature male was nailed and ultimately eaten by a very large female in gratitude for the servce he had just rendered.
She fought her way through the chopsticks I normally use for post-coital seperation, and took the smile off his face (and mine) in a matter of seconds.
Pinky mice at $1 each are also cheaper than providing $200 sexually mature males for the main course.

[Dragoon]

You paid 200$ for a sexually mature male tarantula?? I wouldn't think ANY species would be worth this amount...am I right?

And whatever became of the insertion? Did she drop a sac?
D.

[Syco]

Will live longer what way?!?!
tonyj-- are you seeing something in this post that the rest of us aren't? I didn't see a post to reply to! LOL!

[Lrptls]

any one have any pictures they could put up to make this odd and unkown thread cool?

[ChokeOnSmoke]

I think Tony was reffering to the title

[tonyj]

- I was referring to the title. (thanks ChokeOnSmoke)
- I have seen spiders costing more than $Can 200 and have in
fact paid more than $Can 200 for spiders in the past.
- And no she did not produce an egg sac from that union, at least to my knowledge, as I sold a number of spiders soon afterwards including the Goliath Birdeater.

[concept3]

well they have a goliath bird eater in pjs pets in edmonton and their selling it for like 80 bucks

[Syco]

LOL! Ok, I guess they do live longer if you feed them! We don't have a Goliath, but we do have 3 L. parahybanas. I can't wait until they get big! One is about
3" right now, but the other 2 are just about an inch. We put a pinkie mouse in with the 3" one and ate every bit of it.
We thought he was going to pop! :D

[Dragoon]

Here's the cool pic of a Goliath to add to this odd thread....
<img src="http://varanid.mvd2.com/files/dragoon/Courtleggy.jpg">

[~Suntiger~]

Mine plain & simply refuses to eat anything that is already dead (ie, mice or pinkies), and after many attempts I gave in to her will and started giving her live mice -- which she appears to enjoy to their fullest, leaving only a sticky blob of fur behind!

http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/500/3582IMG_6372-med.JPG

[Lrptls]

awesome dragoon and suntiger! i love looking at these guys, mainly cause i will never get to have one. they are very cool looking.

[Dragoon]

Why will you never get to have one??

I only have the one, but its not a very aggressive spider, IMO. She will react to prodding by slapping with her feet rather than biting or anything. She has a strong slap, though! After holding her feet up for a few, she puts them down and continues whatever she was doing...no biting or running around. She's large, but quite a nice spider...so why can't you have one?
Just curious...
D.

[SaIiLdVaEnR]

How big are your GBE's?

Aidan

[Lrptls]

my boyfriend doesn't want me to have one, any tarantula really. last year i was thinking about geting a rose hair or pink toe and he didn't care then but then i got alot more herps and he thinks i have too many herps (i'm starting to agree on that though)
but even if i joke around about geting a bird eater he takes me serious and gets a bit upset thinking i'm going to get one.
if one day i could ever get a tarantula i dont think i would get a bird eater, i think i would get something smaller and easier to care for.

[~Suntiger~]

LOL Lrptls, I once had a boyfriend like that... When I got my goliath, he said "That's the scariest f-ing thing ever, and I am not sleeping in the same room as it because it's going to break out and eat me in my sleep!!!" LMAO!!!

Guess which of the two is still here....(happily!! :D)

[Lrptls]

lol aw, glad the best one stayd, i dont think my bf would be scared of sleeping near one, or being close to one, but dont know about touching, hell..i dont think I could touch one lol!

[Pixie]

Love Goliaths!!!

At first it was only the sheer size of them that attracted me to this species but soon after, I really started to like their simple coloring. It's such a nice rich reddish brown that really grew on me!

Funny thing is that mine hasn't gotten that typical coloring yet. It just molted again (now over 5") and is a darker brown with reddish/pinkish hairs strewn about. Quite nice actually but I'm not keeping the hope that he/she'll be keeping these colors forever.

I'll be taking some new pics tomorrow of my "Tonka" and will post them here :)

Pixie

[tonyj]

GBEs may not be the most ferocious of the S.American tarantulas, however they will readily protect themselves by urtication. This can be extremely problematic. GBE hairs must be one of, if not the worst of the hairs, causing problems to humans. I know of one person who was hospitalised after handling a dead specimen, then involuntarily wiping his hand across his face causing hair to enter his eye. Months passed before he was given an all clear by the eye specialists, during which time he suffered immensely.
Enjoy these beautiful creatures, but be cautious when handling them. Some species will tolerate handling whilst others will urticate at the slightest provocation, which will cause extreme irritation to some people.
There are some excellent books out there including 'The Tarantula Keeper's Guide" by Stan and Marguerite Schultz. I find this to be an excellent reference for novice or advanced enthusiasts.
Don't be afraid of tarantulas; learn about them, respect them and enjoy them!