I have a goliath orange stripe and as you know she is pretty big (about 8inches or so). So big that sometimes I feed her one cricket and another later on, seeing as she only gets fed a couple of timed a week.
Well the pet shop gave me three locusts free of charge to try her with and she had a biggish cricket earlier today. Now I just tried feeding her a locust and I didnt know till I opened the tub that they were biggish ones (not winged) and there were three in there. One fell out by her and it was only twitching. It looked dead. It fell too close to her to get it out.
Plopped another in that actually moving, but the third one plopped in too!
She doesnt seem interested, and now they are both in her flower pot where she normally sleeps and the near dead one is outside under her.
Im not saying she wont catch one cos she ate earlier, but shes never turned down a meal so dunno if she'll kill them or not.
Do big spiders usually kill even when not hungry to get them out the way?
My boyfriend then turned round and said her abdomen looks big.
I dont usually notice this with black spiders to be honest, and it only looks a little big to me, but it looks baldish on the end. Now I normally check all my spids for this every day, including today, and I didnt notice, and the odd week I feed her twice a day (or sometimes two in a row) and shes always ate it. cos shes really big.
Now shes got these two locusts (which are very much alive but very calm) in with her and a near dead one (which may just be pretending) ready to much on her at night, and I cant get to them.
I got to go to bed too so dunno what to do.

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1.1.0 cats
1.0.0 chinese dwarf hamster
1.0.0 bearded dragon - Nimbus
0.0.3 baby GALS
0.0.1 carolina corn snake baby - Magma
0.2.12 tarantulas
0.1.0 sub adult female leopard gecko - Lettuce
0.1.0 dog - Rosie

What is a Goliath Orange stripe in scientific nomenclature? Is it a Lasiodorides striatus ?
I feed my T.apophysis once per week and that is plenty for any Tarantula.
Locusts will not munch on your T, a cricket might. Remove them with a pair of tongs if you have some.
Theraposa will fast for up to 6 months when in pre-moult but as yours has eaten today that suggests otherwise.
HTH

Phil

thanks. yes it is a Lasiodorides striatus.
sorry keep forgetting the latin name for it.
Well, i looked this morning and only one is left and its up on the side of the lid, so unless its sititng on the other two its eaten them.
Someone told me before to feed more than a standard size T, but I wont be doing that now. Especially cos more might fall in than expected, like last night.

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1.1.0 cats
1.0.0 chinese dwarf hamster
1.0.0 bearded dragon - Nimbus
0.0.3 baby GALS
0.0.1 carolina corn snake baby - Magma
0.2.12 tarantulas
0.1.0 sub adult female leopard gecko - Lettuce
0.1.0 dog - Rosie

To be honest, the amount you feed won't matter. If your spider isn't hungry it won't eat.. simple as!

My klugi and blondi take 5 crickets in one mouthful at every feed... and they've never had any problems.

It's really nothing to worry about. The best way to reduce the number of crix/locusts falling into the tank is to grab them with tweezers. I have 12" tweezers that i just open a corner of the tub and gently grab a cricket or locust and throw it in.. job done


The spider is eating so she won't moult, and thats the only time they'll munch on her

Hi Becky
How big is your Klugi? I have an 8" female, about 6 yrs old. She's quite mechanical in her movements but she feeds fine. I usually feed her 2-3 crickets a week but I think she could eat lots more.

Hi Blackrose
I wouldn't worry about a few more insects falling in. I don't think I've ever heard of a T dieing through over-feeding and large Ts have large appetites. The only issue I've read concerning over-feeding are the abdomen becoming so large it trails on the floor which, if the substrate is hard, can cause inflamation and secondary diseases. If the addomen is clear of the floor when the T is walking then no probs. In nature the T is an opportunist feeder, it eats when the food is about but its also used to fasting for long periods (as much as 2 years has been recorded).

She's only subadult. About 5" but shes mean lol Goes for anything that moves. Strikes the water bowl n everything!! Always a good one to feed infront of people who haven't seen a spider hunt before lol She pounces from one side of the tank to another!