B. Smithi Feeding

SerpentLust · 08-26-04, 07:41 PM

Greetings all, I'm back! Mwuahaha Not that anyone noticed I was gone hahaha

Anyways, I'm thinking of taking a break from purchasing any new snakes and ever since 1. My trip to Little Rays and 2. I believe it was the April Mississauga Expo, I've taken a fascination to Tarantula's.

I'm really interested in B Smithi, the colors on them are gorgeous, I've heard they're a good beginner and my main thing was that I want a terrestrial for my first.

I've been reading numerous caresheets, but everyone so far seems to be lacking how many times you feed this particular pet. They say the usual slings eat pinheads, adults can eat crix and mice, etc. But I don't know how many times a week to feed.

Clarification on this would be greatly appreciated, as well as any pointers on owning my very first Tarantula

Jenn

manville · 08-26-04, 08:27 PM

Hmmm...most people feed their tarantulas 2-3 times a week. I feed mine as much as it can eat. It is totally up to you how much you feed your tarantulas. I think 3 times a week is good. B smithis are awesome beginner tarantulas. Beautiful tarantulas.

Pixie · 08-26-04, 10:48 PM

I have a different approach when feeding my tarantulas regardless of their size or age.

Basically, I feed relatively to the size of their abdomens. If they still look nice and plump then they're fine, if I see any diminishing of the abdomen or if I know they haven't eaten for quite a while, then I feed them.

I have found that different tarantulas and species seem to have different metabolisms. Asian and African species need to eat more often whereas American species (south & north) tend to do well with more spaced out feedings. Arboreals seem to have a faster metabolism compared to terrestrials.

So some of my Ts get fed once or twice a week (i.e. s. calceatum, h. lividium, p. murinus, a. metallica, t.blondi) while others eat every 1 to 3 weeks (aphonopelmas, brachypelmas, grammostolas).

Pixie

emilsmee · 08-31-04, 08:09 PM

my smithi is a little pickier than most of my other t's. she eats 2 times a week, never more and sometimes less. since she's pretty much a pet rock, so i'm assuming her lack of eating has to do with her lack of moving/growing. brachy's do everything slow...
but when picking a size crix, i pick about the same size as the abdomen like pixie said, unless it's an overly obese t, which is quite normal in my collection, being the founding member of the F.T.F.C.
(which is the Fat Tarantula Fan Club, lol).