Overfeeding

When I adopted Natalia, I noticed that unfortunately, the store had not fed her as well as they should have. Her abdomen was not as rounded as it should have been. So, for a while, I fed her a cricket every day to get her health to where it should be. Now that's she's fine, I feed her three meals a week - the equivalent of three adult crickets a week. She would eat more if I let her. It's been said that you can't overfeed your spider. Well, maybe you can't feed him/her to death, but too much food will definetly have a negative impact on his/her health. Abnormally large abdomens can make molting more difficult, and increase the chances of death in a fall.

My rating: Good

Now I feed her right, but I wonder if I fed her a little too much in the beginning. I am going to send a current photograph of her to an expert to see what they think about her abdomen size.

Related Links

  • Milwaukee Public Museum's "Tarantula Care" Article See "Feeding Your Spider".
  • Spiders Calgary See "Feeding, Molting, and Their Busy Schedule".