FEEDING

Most tarantula feed on live insects. Specimens that are growing larger can feast on small reptiles or even small mammals like mice, small lizards, and so on. Some tarantulas, when hungry, will wait their pray at their hide entrance. Others are stalking their pray to capture them in speed of light.

Tarantulas do not eat their food, they rather absorb it. From the beginning, they must prepare food for intake by injecting poison (digestive toxin) from their fangs into their prey. After the poison has liquefied the victim, only then will the tarantula begin to slowly absorb the food. The belly system of Tarantula is like a long tube that runs through the whole body. When food is ingested by the tarantula the food system breaks it down and then it is ingested by the tarantula in the body.

Tarantulas, like humans, are good to be fed by a variety of food: insects, cockroaches, worms, lizards and even mice for larger tarantulas. A hungry tarantula will be ready to attack a pray of it's size, just remember that you should not be given more food than the body of the tarantula (excluding the legs). Food that is not eaten within 24 hours must be taken out, as sometimes the hunter himself can become prey, but food leftovers can start to rot. I usually feed my spiders once a week, I give up to three cockroaches a meal to juveniles and adults, I usually feed spiderlings only one or two newborn cockroaches once a week.

SPIDERLING FEEDING

TARANTULA FEEDING

TARANTULA FEEDERS

I feed my tarantulas with cockroaches. Cockroaches are a richer source of nutrients than other insects, they can be grown on their own, thus controlling their diet, thus avoiding parasites and infections that can enter the tarantula body and, of course, provide the necessary nutrients for tarantula with the help of cockroaches and vitamins.

The most common cockroach species for direct feeding purposes, starting with the largest in size:

Madagascar hissers (Gromphadorhina portentosa)

Potential size: 8 cm

Pros: are some of the largest and very fleshy, unable to reproduce at room temperature.

Cons: Able to sneak on all surfaces, can hiss, which is sometimes annoying and to conquer female males in relatively loud battles with each other.

Dubias (Blaptica dubia)

Potential size: 4 cm

Pros: grows relatively large, can not climb vertical, smooth surfaces, can not reproduce at room temperature.

Cons: Pretends to be dead when trying to feed them, tarantula responds to vibrations, so sometimes, does not even show interest in the dubia cockroach.

Cockroach marble (Nauphoeta cinerea)

Potential size: 3.5 cm

Pros: are medium in size, mobile, meaty.

Cons: can crawl on all surfaces, likes to dig into the substrate.

Turkmen Red Runners (Blatta lateralis)

Potential size: 3 cm

Pros: are small, extremely active, does not pretend to be dead when fed. Cannot climb on vertical, smooth surfaces, cannot reproduce at room temperature.

Cons: Short life expectancy.