# Feeding pinkies to tarantulas?



## Unix (Jun 23, 2010)

Hi Everyone.

I have always heard that pinkies (or fuzzies, or any rodent) shouldn't be fed to a tarantula because of the high calcium content.

Is this a fact or just something that's been passed around and keeps going around?
I'm just trying to understand where this came from and some questions I've asked myself are these:

a) do tarantulas eat the occasional pinkie in the wild?
if they do would they do it even if it was bad for them? Wouldn't they know not to do it?

b) how high are rodents in calcium?
Is the calcium mainly in the bones? Do the tarantulas digest any bone?

c) are high levels of calcium bad for tarantulas and if so how high is 'high'?

d) what effect would high calcium have on the tarantula?

I have tried a few searches on this matter and can't find anything that seems solid.
Like I say, I'm not saying this matter isn't true, I just would like to see it documented in some paper.

Any thoughts on this?

Rich


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## garlicpickle (Jan 16, 2009)

I am pretty sure a T wouldn't encounter a pinkie in the wild. Pinkie mice don't leave their nests and T's are not hunters, they are opportunists and wait for food to wander by.


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## Unix (Jun 23, 2010)

garlicpickle said:


> I am pretty sure a T wouldn't encounter a pinkie in the wild. Pinkie mice don't leave their nests and T's are not hunters, they are opportunists and wait for food to wander by.


Thanks for the reply.
Maybe I was being a bit to specific with the term 'pinkie'. I used pinkie because it's the smallest rodent that can be bought for a tarantula as rodent food.

Would a tarantula attack and eat a passing rodent?


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## mattykyuss (Oct 12, 2009)

*re*

saw a goliath grab a mouse walking past its burrow ,so i guess they do and would ,mat


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## TCBT (Jul 11, 2010)

Unix said:


> Hi Everyone.
> 
> I have always heard that pinkies (or fuzzies, or any rodent) shouldn't be fed to a tarantula because of the high calcium content.
> 
> ...



hey rich,

that is some awesome questions there, i have no proof as of yet to give you on the matter, but if it helps to answer a few questions then good :2thumb:

me and a friend conducted an "experiment" with a Goliath birdeater (True T.blondi) female, with a 10 inch leg span, we fed her mice and she was fine, but it was NOT a strict diet of just mice, i belive it was every other week we fed her 1 week a diet of crik's then the next a couple of mice, we did this for 6 -7 months straight until she molted to a much larger 10.8 - 11.2 inch LS, after this we decided to take a goliath sp, Sp burgandy to be precised, at 7 inch leg span... 

did the same thing, she is now holding a good 10 inch legspan, and is very healthy....

We come to a conclusion on this, that if fed appropiatly the growth is good, and large, but then we thought about other spiders that had been fed this sort of based diet, so we looked into it, and here we are.. :lol2:

what we a trying to find out, is.. if there are some spiders that can hold the calcium levels better than others, and if so, Does it effect how large they grow, basically to the maximum they grow, say a G.rosea, between 12 - 15 cm LS, does a diet like this cause problems or, does it allow the spider to have Full growth ?? is it healthy and so on  

as for the do they eat the bones, Yes very much so :Na_Na_Na_Na:

as soon as our experiment has been conducted and finished, we do intend on showing follow ups of this and proof of any outcome, but beings were half way through... you alllll have to wait  :Na_Na_Na_Na:

damo

[Edit] This is all done experimently in a lab, and this is to try and prove solid evidence, so please dont follow this example, of feeding mice to tarantula's ... at the end of the day they dont need it =]


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## garlicpickle (Jan 16, 2009)

My blondi didn't pass up the opportunity the one time I offered her one.
I don't know about calcium metabolism in arachnids or how good/bad it is for them, but I am pretty sure a large tarantula would not be particular about what it grabbed hold of given the chance. I don't think they have the intelligence to know what is "good" for them and what isn't.

I guess from a statistical POV, vertebrates would not form a large part of a wild T's diet.


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## professorspidy (Jul 12, 2010)

Theres been a thread on the bts forum about this recently!! 
http://thebts.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?6899-mice-as-food


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## TCBT (Jul 11, 2010)

garlicpickle said:


> My blondi didn't pass up the opportunity the one time I offered her one.
> I don't know about calcium metabolism in arachnids or how good/bad it is for them, but I am pretty sure a large tarantula would not be particular about what it grabbed hold of given the chance. I don't think they have the intelligence to know what is "good" for them and what isn't.
> 
> I guess from a statistical POV, vertebrates would not form a large part of a wild T's diet.



No there is no way in hell this is a staple diet in the wild, if they did catch the odd rodent or amphibian bird what ever the case, its on a rare basis, 

the stuff on TV were they catch it is staged to a huge degree, there is no such thing as a birdeater IMO, if there is, id like to meet one :Na_Na_Na_Na:


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## rudy691 (Aug 11, 2010)

TCBT said:


> there is no such thing as a birdeater IMO, if there is, id like to meet one :Na_Na_Na_Na:













:2thumb:


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## Unix (Jun 23, 2010)

professorspidy said:


> Theres been a thread on the bts forum about this recently!!
> mice as food??


Thank you for the link. I'll read up on it. )


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## TCBT (Jul 11, 2010)

rudy691 said:


> image
> 
> 
> :2thumb:



:lol2::lol2::no1:


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## Unix (Jun 23, 2010)

TCBT said:


> hey rich,
> 
> that is some awesome questions there, i have no proof as of yet to give you on the matter, but if it helps to answer a few questions then good :
> 
> ...


Wow, thanks for the reply.

Glad to see others have wondered about this!
Just what I wanted to see - a case study with detailed notes being taken.
Alternating between crix and rodents is a good idea. Better than going fully blown with rodents only.
So so far you've had good results - that's encouraging.
Is a bag-of-bones left over from the feeding? My G. rosea ate a pinkie once (refused it the first time and two morio beetles that were co-existing with my rosea ate it instead!). It was a year ago and can't remember what she left behind.

I'll look forward to seeing the results. Will you post them in this section?

Rich


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## Baldpoodle (Apr 18, 2007)

> do tarantulas eat the occasional pinkie in the wild?
> if they do would they do it even if it was bad for them? Wouldn't they know not to do it?


yes they do it has been observerd. If it tastes bad then they may not go for it.



> how high are rodents in calcium?
> Is the calcium mainly in the bones? Do the tarantulas digest any bone?


not sure but would guess high in compaison to other foods. there has been research into this but it has not intereseted me enought to read it through.
yes they can digest the bone but it does take time and they do often leave much of it.



> are high levels of calcium bad for tarantulas and if so how high is 'high'?


no one really knows.



> what effect would high calcium have on the tarantula?


no one really knows.



> me and a friend conducted an "experiment" with a Goliath birdeater (True T.blondi) female, with a 10 inch leg span, we fed her mice and she was fine, but it was NOT a strict diet of just mice, i belive it was every other week we fed her 1 week a diet of crik's then the next a couple of mice, we did this for 6 -7 months straight until she molted to a much larger 10.8 - 11.2 inch LS, after this we decided to take a goliath sp, Sp burgandy to be precised, at 7 inch leg span...


your experiment was a waste of time for a huge number of reasons, including, you used only two spiders different ones at that, you had no contol spider, the diat was a mix and not one or the other and you are unsure as to how much and often you fed it.



> did the same thing, she is now holding a good 10 inch legspan, and is very healthy....
> 
> We come to a conclusion on this, that if fed appropiatly the growth is good, and large, but then we thought about other spiders that had been fed this sort of based diet, so we looked into it, and here we are..


you came to the conclusion after two different spiders fed irregularly a mixed diet and thinking about some other spiders fed the same way!
yes, I can't see a noble prise coming your way real soon lol.



> what we a trying to find out, is.. if there are some spiders that can hold the calcium levels better than others, and if so, Does it effect how large they grow, basically to the maximum they grow, say a G.rosea, between 12 - 15 cm LS, does a diet like this cause problems or, does it allow the spider to have Full growth ?? is it healthy and so on


My advise is either start again and think through what you are doing or give it up now based on what you have already said.



> as soon as our experiment has been conducted and finished, we do intend on showing follow ups of this and proof of any outcome, but beings were half way through... you alllll have to wait


I can hardly wait.



> This is all done experimently in a lab, and this is to try and prove solid evidence, so please dont follow this example, of feeding mice to tarantula's ... at the end of the day they dont need it =]


is it really? which one may I ask?



> I guess from a statistical POV, vertebrates would not form a large part of a wild T's diet.


I agree



> the stuff on TV were they catch it is staged to a huge degree, there is no such thing as a birdeater IMO, if there is, id like to meet one


look up Maria Sibylla Merian


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## Unix (Jun 23, 2010)

garlicpickle said:


> My blondi didn't pass up the opportunity the one time I offered her one.
> I don't know about calcium metabolism in arachnids or how good/bad it is for them, but I am pretty sure a large tarantula would not be particular about what it grabbed hold of given the chance......t.


Some good points there..
Thanks for getting back..


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## Unix (Jun 23, 2010)

Baldpoodle said:


> your experiment was a waste of time for a huge number of reasons, including, you used only two spiders different ones at that, you had no contol spider, the diat was a mix and not one or the other and you are unsure as to how much and often you fed it.


I agree a control is needed in all experiments where comparisons are needed.
But in this experiment surely the control is the thousands upon thousands of tarantulas that everyone is feeding rodent-less.

An informal control I know. What I mean is everyone has a good idea of typical feeding habits, moulting habits of your crix only G. rosea etc..

All your points you raised are very interesting. Glad you went through them and answered them all - thanks!


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## TCBT (Jul 11, 2010)

Baldpoodle said:


> yes they do it has been observerd. If it tastes bad then they may not go for it.
> 
> 
> not sure but would guess high in compaison to other foods. there has been research into this but it has not intereseted me enought to read it through.
> ...


waste of time in your eyes, same as it is a waste of time even going near any tarantula illness that may occur,

Its the attitude "Waiste of time" that gets no results and only leaves a gate way that no one will touch because no one wants to take the chance.... Therefore medicare and so on, based on inverts in general will never be solved, because its a waiste of time ?? no it aint, its a way forward in the hobby, instead of farting about with how strong the venom is, which we oready no, how about the more in depth stuff, Dietry, health, and so forth ??

No one noes anything about it, why because of the example you just gave mate, its pointless, not a problem, nothing to worry about and so on... But we no nothing about tarantula's, why because it is pointless ?!?

and for picking out i dont no how often these girls are fed, there poo is documented, so feeding is a dead cert,

as for only 2 specamins, i did say once all research is complete, with other specimins, not just goliath spiders... it would be pointless then  and quiet frank, completly pointless ...

this is not a 5 minuite research going on, it is full on, and is going to take a while... therefore patience is vital, somthing we all should have learned keeping spiders :Na_Na_Na_Na:

anything else on this, i will not speak of.... ill post details documents and so on when the time comes, until then, like me and my friend and everyone else, we all have to wait to see the outcome : victory:

sorry but i wont put more info forward until i have solid evidence, and its not fair on anyone else, so everything i put, if you wish to take as the holy grail then so be it, but its not full proof, its a theory and yet to be proven, 1 specamin of each is not enough to prove this... so please mate keep your hair on, iv lost mine oready lol so be patient my friend all will be revieled in time with documents showing the study and so forth, as of yet, i wont be posting nothing on this as it is not proof and some may take it as that, not proof until study is complete, and proof can be given ... at the moment, i will not divolge any more info :Na_Na_Na_Na:


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## TCBT (Jul 11, 2010)

Unix said:


> Wow, thanks for the reply.
> 
> Glad to see others have wondered about this!
> Just what I wanted to see - a case study with detailed notes being taken.
> ...



yes mate i will definatly be posting the outcome, ill be scanning all paper work which is vital and uploading them here, but this will take time im afraid, the documentation will come forth, but its a matter of when, how long is this going to take, a long time lol 

but well get there :Na_Na_Na_Na:


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## GRB (Jan 24, 2008)

If you want advice on experimental design then feel free to pm me. 

It's all very well giving BP a hard time for his comments, but strictly, they are valid. The experimental design has more holes than a sieve from where I'm standing - I can explain them if you want via pm, or here. 

[I usually get bashed for being "too negative" however, because for some reason people seem to think that pushing out weak/invalid/ utterly crap results into an already muddy "field of science" with tarantulas is a good thing, and that critiquing them beforehand in order to improve them is a bad thing. Apparently.]


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## TCBT (Jul 11, 2010)

GRB said:


> If you want advice on experimental design then feel free to pm me.
> 
> It's all very well giving BP a hard time for his comments, but strictly, they are valid. The experimental design has more holes than a sieve from where I'm standing - I can explain them if you want via pm, or here.
> 
> [I usually get bashed for being "too negative" however, because for some reason people seem to think that pushing out weak/invalid/ utterly crap results into an already muddy "field of science" with tarantulas is a good thing, and that critiquing them beforehand in order to improve them is a bad thing. Apparently.]


if i was giving bp a hard time, im sure... it would go somthing along the lines of, look you :censor: :censor:, <<< 

what ever comes out of my mouth should be taken as a pinch of salt, but if you have an issue with me for what i said then please IM me, i dont come on here to question others authority, only to help, thats what this place is for right ?? 

if i wanted to give others a hard time, id go out on the street and cause havok mate, this aint a hard time its just an opinionated answer, to question what i have said, so therefore i gave him a detailed answer, not a gwumpy pants answer to what he had said, if you want to take it as a hard time, then so be it...

BUT it was not hard, it was a genuin answer to his reply, :Na_Na_Na_Na:


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## Poxicator (Nov 14, 2007)

Have to agree with BP here. The experiment should be conducted over a matter of years with a number of females fed solely on rodents. Any information gained on less than a handful could be concluded from completely different factors.
No harm in doing it though, but it certainly shouldnt be thought of as proof.

We wouldnt expect to see the damaging affects of smoking within the first few months or even years, likewise I don't think you'd see the results of such a diet in the short term.

What we do know is there are some unpublished reports suggesting there are issues with a rodent diet. What many have experienced is a diet high in calcium has been linked to wet moults and (in the case of T. blondi) loss of fangs and a reduced lifespan.

In my mind I want to do the best for my Ts within my capacity, if there's warnings on certain issues (founded or not) I give them some creedance and take steps to reduce those factors. The only time I believe the feeding of rodents is of benefit is as part of the breeding programme for which I'd feed 1 or 2 mice.


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## vivalabam (Aug 8, 2010)

I always thought they were supposed to be fed a pinkie like every month or so, you learn something new every day. :blush::lol2:


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## Baldpoodle (Apr 18, 2007)

> waste of time in your eyes, same as it is a waste of time even going near any tarantula illness that may occur,


I fail to see the link here?



> Its the attitude "Waiste of time" that gets no results and only leaves a gate way that no one will touch because no one wants to take the chance....


No the way you explained your experiment ment that it would be a waste of time as no valid or even theroised results could be taken into account for anything as you have left in too many varibles to make even the slightest of conclusions.


> Therefore medicare and so on, based on inverts in general will never be solved, because its a waiste of time ??


Did I say this?



> no it aint, its a way forward in the hobby, instead of farting about with how strong the venom is, which we oready no


We do? This is great news please say where this is published I would love to read it.


> how about the more in depth stuff, Dietry, health, and so forth ??


Yes I agree only your study/experiment did not sound very in depth nor did sound as if any valid or good results could be made from it, which is why I said it was a waste of time.


> No one noes anything about it, why because of the example you just gave mate, its pointless, not a problem, nothing to worry about and so on... But we no nothing about tarantula's, why because it is pointless ?!?


you are right no one does know much about it but your study, the way you explained it, is not going to help any either as no conclusions can be made from it.



> and for picking out i dont no how often these girls are fed, there poo is documented, so feeding is a dead cert,


so you do know then? only before when you wrote 
but it was NOT a strict diet of just mice, i belive it was every other week we fed her 1 week a diet of crik's then the next a couple of mice
you didn't seen very sure.



> as for only 2 specamins, i did say once all research is complete, with other specimins, not just goliath spiders... it would be pointless then  and quiet frank, completly pointless ...


well for a experiment like this I would be thinking of useing at the very least 30 specimens of the same species to draw even a slight conclusion. Just adding on or two examples of a few different species just makes your varibles even wider and your conclusions that more less relivent....so yes still a pointless excercize so far.


> this is not a 5 minuite research going on, it is full on, and is going to take a while... therefore patience is vital, somthing we all should have learned keeping spiders


you can be as patient as you like but the way you have explained your experiment it will still tell you nothing that is useful in regards to what you want to find out.



> anything else on this, i will not speak of.... ill post details documents and so on when the time comes, until then, like me and my friend and everyone else, we all have to wait to see the outcome : victory:
> 
> sorry but i wont put more info forward until i have solid evidence, and its not fair on anyone else, so everything i put, if you wish to take as the holy grail then so be it, but its not full proof, its a theory and yet to be proven, 1 specamin of each is not enough to prove this... so please mate keep your hair on, iv lost mine oready lol so be patient my friend all will be revieled in time with documents showing the study and so forth, as of yet, i wont be posting nothing on this as it is not proof and some may take it as that, not proof until study is complete, and proof can be given ... at the moment, i will not divolge any more info


well after this much build up I really really look forward to it. where are you going to publih may I ask so as I know where to look out for the results.

Just so you know I never took your reply as being hard on me either and I hope you do not take my critiquing on your experiment as being hard on you either. 
If someone like myself who has no scientiffic background or experince can pick out loads of holes in an experiment like this, from the way you describe it then I hope my critiquing can be taken in a constructive way.


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## Werevon (Mar 19, 2010)

I feed my adult male a pinkie every now and then and it seems to do him no harm, I suppose it is like most things that I have fed through the years and many of them working with and feeding animals, a varied diet can do no harm if it fits into the animals range of food, in fact a varied diet is often beneficial to most of the creatures on this planet, including Ts and inverts. Yvonne


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## Unix (Jun 23, 2010)

Werevon said:


> I feed my adult male a pinkie every now and then and it seems to do him no harm, I suppose it is like most things that I have fed through the years and many of them working with and feeding animals, a varied diet can do no harm if it fits into the animals range of food, in fact a varied diet is often beneficial to most of the creatures on this planet, including Ts and inverts. Yvonne


Hi Yvonne

A very good point. A varied diet can surely do no harm.
It's not as if we are giving our tarantula anything foreign to what it would find in the wild.
I'm only thinking of offering my Ts about 4 pinkies a year anyway.
Rich


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## Poxicator (Nov 14, 2007)

Something I considered a while back was the feasibility of Ts eating rodents. I have no doubt it happens but consider the scenario of a large terrestrial which has spread its web across the surrounding area to its burrow and intwined in this are lots of urticating hair. Why would it do this? to ward off insects? obviously not, but to ward prey is an obvious conclusion. Rodents find their food source by a sense of smell, sniffing everything. I'd have thought a nose full of uticating hairs would be a deterent for any approaching rodent and therefore possibly reduce the occurrence of feeding on small rodents. Just my thoughts.


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## Biffy (May 23, 2010)

Poxicator said:


> Something I considered a while back was the feasibility of Ts eating rodents. I have no doubt it happens but consider the scenario of a large terrestrial which has spread its web across the surrounding area to its burrow and intwined in this are lots of urticating hair. Why would it do this? to ward off insects? obviously not, but to ward prey is an obvious conclusion. Rodents find their food source by a sense of smell, sniffing everything. I'd have thought a nose full of uticating hairs would be a deterent for any approaching rodent and therefore possibly reduce the occurrence of feeding on small rodents. Just my thoughts.


I agree with this I think most instances in the wild would result from a mouse rat looking for food coming across a tarantula, if anything they would avoid each other.


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## sage999 (Sep 21, 2008)

I once fed my AF T blondi a defrost mouse that a snake had refused. It took aggressively from the tongs and then fed on it in the open. I left her to it and when I later came back she had taken it into her burrow. The problem was it soon began to stink and after a couple of days I was forced to remove it. I had to drag this decomposed carcass out from the burrow with a large, angry and very fat blondi attached.

I went back to roaches.


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## _TiMiSdRuNk_ (Aug 27, 2008)

I've fed them mice from time to time, and it's never done any of mine harm. I would make sure anything left gets taken out right away though as it smells foul when it rots in the warmth is T tank


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## garlicpickle (Jan 16, 2009)

Mine left nothing of the pinkie I gave her. I never even found a bolus, although there are woodlice in the tub as well, so they may have taken care of it.


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## KDS (Nov 8, 2008)

I Have caught wild mice in traps and all my goliaths and pampo's will 
take them they have also taken lumps of beef they all seem to do well regards kim


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## _TiMiSdRuNk_ (Aug 27, 2008)

I've heard of someone feeding a goliath on 'Lean cuts of tender meat' and he wanted it in the record books as the heaviest spider in the world. The guys a blast from the past for us old lot. 


Fancy Meeting This Character in the Bath


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## Unix (Jun 23, 2010)

Poxicator said:


> Something I considered a while back was the feasibility of Ts eating rodents. I have no doubt it happens but consider the scenario of a large terrestrial which has spread its web across the surrounding area to its burrow and intwined in this are lots of urticating hair. Why would it do this? to ward off insects? obviously not, but to ward prey is an obvious conclusion. Rodents find their food source by a sense of smell, sniffing everything. I'd have thought a nose full of uticating hairs would be a deterent for any approaching rodent and therefore possibly reduce the occurrence of feeding on small rodents. Just my thoughts.


..and very good thoughts - why would they lay urticating hairs? Answer has to be ward off predators and I can only see them being small rodents.
Unless the urticating hairs also act to disable the rodent to make it easier for the tarantula to attack?
Not saying the tarantula's main purpose for hair laying is to trap. Very likely to ward off - as you said. But maybe wold take advantage of a choking mouse?


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## Unix (Jun 23, 2010)

_TiMiSdRuNk_ said:


> I've heard of someone feeding a goliath on 'Lean cuts of tender meat' and he wanted it in the record books as the heaviest spider in the world. The guys a blast from the past for us old lot.
> 
> 
> Fancy Meeting This Character in the Bath


I've heard too of feeding beef to a female for pre-breeding conditioning...


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## Genseric (Oct 7, 2007)

_TiMiSdRuNk_ said:


> I've heard of someone feeding a goliath on 'Lean cuts of tender meat' and he wanted it in the record books as the heaviest spider in the world. The guys a blast from the past for us old lot.
> 
> 
> Fancy Meeting This Character in the Bath


That is not such a blast from the past.. when you were banned, Dr Bustard was on here saying 'Hello'.


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## Werevon (Mar 19, 2010)

Lets not forget the name bird eaters, We know they do not catch birds But!! there are many pictures of them feeding on them in the open, from what I can gather ,many of them have good appetites and will feed off carrion if it gets the chance this is why we see the pictures of them feeding on birds.My big fellow will take pinkies one every now and then, he has also taken a rat pup and he has never left anything to go off, and the piggy that he is takes adult roaches every week, the only time he has left any thing was a large female Dubia that kept going behind his water dish and they played cat and mouse for 4 days, I felt sorry for her so I put a piece of oaty biscuit in for her for one night and of course he caught her on the biscuit and that made me feel really guilty. I know I know!!!! but it did.
Webbing is also over burrows as a warning system to the T. and not just as a trap as lets not forget that they are preyed on too.


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## _TiMiSdRuNk_ (Aug 27, 2008)

LeviathanNI said:


> That is not such a blast from the past.. when you were banned, Dr Bustard was on here saying 'Hello'.


Yeah but he's a blast from the past mostly as last i heard he got out of spiders? I've not really heard much on him since back in the 90s


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