Am I overfeeding my T - and a close up of a bald spot.

[dr del]

Hi,

She gets one adult locust a week but when I looked at her back end yesterday it looked awfully big compared to what I remember so I thought I'd ask if you think it should be allowed to go down slightly.

Side on shot.


Close up of her back end.


While I was there I managed to get a decent close up shot of her bald bum.


What do you folks think?


dr del

[Evan Jamison]

Not exactly sure how large a locust is, but if she is full grown I'd back off on the large meals, she's looking pretty plump. Does she kick hairs often? My female red knee would go bald kicking when she was younger, but has since calmed down quite a bit.

-Evan

[dr del]

Hi,


An adult locusts body length is around 7 cm.

You can see her eating one in this thread - and it also explains why she has a bald spot.

She went for years without a bald patch at all then I got a camera.

These pics are the best I have for a size ref - she's a full adfult though as she hasnt gotten any bigger for at least 7 sheds.






dr del

[Evan Jamison]

She went for years without a bald patch at all then I got a camera.
dr del

LOL, perfect!!

She's a beauty Derek, I love big female T's! As for the locust, that's a fairly big meal every week. I maintain our adult female T's on one adult lobster roach or an equivilent-sized meal every week.

-Evan

[dr del]

Hi,


How big are those compared to locusts? An adult locust is around 1 cm in diameter and say 5-7 cm long depending on age. She stopped eating crickets (brown or black) about 6 years ago after happily munching them for about 3 before that.

I have occasionaly fed her small pinkie mice using the thread method but it is such a pain to do and I don't feel confident givng them that much animal protein and fat on a regular basis. Think the last time I gave her a mouse was over 2 years ago in fact.

I'm not sure how I would feel about keeping a cockroach colony ( I'm a wuss really) but I know the neighbours would throw a wobbler.

Do T's eat earthworms? There is a fairly limited menu available in our local reptile store and that's all I can think of besides mealworms (too bitey I feel) and waxworms ( too fatty).

I could try cutting her back to one locust every 2-3 weeks perhaps? She used to eat 2 a week without getting this fat - think she needs a treadmill.


dr del

[Shadowspider]

I didn't know you had tarantulas!
No wonder I like you!!!
One adult locust a week is not too much for an adult B. smithi. You don't want to feed her any more than that, but it's not going to make her explode. If you want, you can take her down to one locust every week and half or one every two weeks if you feel her abdomen is getting too large.

Generally a good sized abdomen should be equivalent in size to the spider's carapace. If the abdomen is wider than the carapace, back off the food a bit or wait longer in between feedings.
Also bear in mind that tarantulas will often "fatten up" before a molt so they have plenty of energy for the molt. By the looks of your girl's skin on that bald patch, she's not going to molt anytime soon, but she may be starting to store up.

She's a beautiful, healthy looking girl.

[Evan Jamison]

Lobster roaches are a little over an inch as adults. I'd say at least two, maybe three would be about the same sized meal as a locust. I love raising roach colonies, easy to keep, and they produce like crazy with warm temps and lots O food, or slowly with cooler temps and limited food. But for one spider, prolly not worth trying to get over The Willies.

I could try cutting her back to one locust every 2-3 weeks perhaps?

Sounds about right. At least until she slims down a bit. How long have ya had her?

-Evan

[Schlyne]

That sounds good for slimming her down a bit.

[Laooda]

Wow.... She's SO NICE Dr D!!!! What a stunner! Hope you resolve the bald patch.... but all the same, she's gorgeous!

[dr del]

Hi,


Yeah, I really like her - she's normally pretty easy going so as long as I remember to stop annoying her after her next shed the bald spot should be history.

I got her as an almost full grown sub-adult in 1996 if memory serves - might have been either 95 or 97 though.

It's only been around 7-9 months since she shed last so I think I have a while to wait till she looks perfect again but maybe I can just take the pictures from the front till then.

Will drop her feeding freq down a bit and see if she slims down any. Thanks guys.



dr del