Hi

my baby red knee is bout 1.5 or 2 cm big .I gave her a total of 4 crickets last week with two days a part. She doesn't hesitate at all to eat them. Last time I fed her was sunday. Not sure how oven I much feed her.i know for adult they say +- every 2 weeks...

Hi Willa,

Welcome to the forum. Dimitri was kind enough in one of my earlier threads to suggest the following with regards to feeding the little ones: tarantulas.co.za/forum/tarantula-general/28745-feeding-slings.

It helped me a lot.

Hi Willa

I am no expert here, only been keeping T's for about 8 months, but the feeding is up to you mostly, if you feed the red knee more and keep the temp a bit up, they will grow faster (that I have read). I personally only feed my slings and juveniles once per week, and to be honest I think some of my T's are a bit obese. I am sure a more experienced keeper on the forum will give u a more exact answer.


Have a good day

Thanx so much that helped alot

One meal a week, the size of the T will be adequate. To overfeed or "power feed" as you did, will shorten their lifespan ultimately, but at least this slow growing T will grow a little faster for a short while. Brachy's are notoriously pickey eaters. Don't get a scare if it suddenly stops for long periods, after eating so well. Had a smithy that only ate one little cricket in two months, then molted and now feeds regularly.

Deon wrote: ... To overfeed or "power feed" as you did, will shorten their lifespan ultimately, ...

This has not been proven and in fact has not even been supported by credible anecdotal evidence, just another unproven hypothesis and an urban tarantula myth. The fact is that no one has ever done even an unofficial study. And, the effect probably differs widely and wildly with the species, sex and age of the tarantula.

Refer to Growing Your Own for definitions used in the following discussion.

I normally suggest power feeding baby tarantulas (e.g., 6 baby crickets a week) to grow them out of the fragile infant stage as quickly as possible. I recommend feeding tarantulas that are large/old enough that they're molting only once a year only one or two crickets a week (4 to 10 crickets a month). Prorate the feeding of intermediate sizes/ages according to an estimate of body mass.

The really huge, giant tarantulas (e.g., T. blondi and L. parahybana) must be fed more, of course. Again, prorate their feeding based on estimated body mass.

Power feeding spiderlings and larger tarantulas sometimes has unpredictable results. Unless you have had prior experience and know what you're doing, I'd discourage the practice.

May I suggest that you go to the Spiders, Calgary webtree and start reading.

DO NOT FAIL TO READ THE FOUR BOOKS RECOMMENDED IN STAN'S RANT !

The best news is that 90% of the questions you wanted to ask plus a lot, LOT more that you didn't think to ask are all laid out for you for ABSOLUTELY FREE if you take advantage of your friendly, neighborhood, public library! All you need do is read.

Best of luck. Hope this helps.


"The magnitude of our ignorance [about tarantulas] is staggering."
- TKG3