Feeding / Pemberian Makanan Tarantula

Feeding, Watering and Maintenance:

Slings can be fed a pinhead cricket or baby roach twice (or more often if desired) a week. As your tarantula grows, its prey should also grow with it. A good sized pray would be a prey roughly the same size as the tarantula’s abdomen. Enclosures shouldn’t be permitted to dry out. Your tarantula needs the humidity to keep its lungs clean and to help it breathe. Use a spray bottle and lightly mist one side of the enclosure. Be sure that the other half is dry, and be sure not to hit the tarantula when you are misting as this will only annoy them. Smaller slings will drink from the substrate or from dews forming as the water condenses. Larger slings will need a small and shallow water dish, be sure that the water dish will not be easily flipped over. An obligatory rock or stones should be in the middle of your dish, so in the likelihood that your tarantula falls, it will have something to climb on to to avoid drowning. A water dish should always have clean water. Uneaten prey (for more than 24 hours) should be taken out, as well as insect shells and leftovers (food boluses/balls) to avoid mold and attracting mites.

Juvenile and adult tarantulas can be fed bigger prey and any leftovers, shells and uneaten prey should be removed. A water dish should always be filled with clean water. For humidity, you can either spay one side of the enclosure with water or you can pour as small amount of water to one side of the substrate. If you notice mites or mold, it is best to replace your substrate.

Prey items may include crickets, meal worms, roaches, maggots and wingless fruit flies. Avoid feeding your tarantula items caught in the wild as they may be infected with disease or toxic substances from insecticides and pesticides. Larger species can be fed an occasional pinky mouse for variety. Do not feed your tarantula mice on a regular basis, the excess calcium will cause some molting problems for your tarantula.

The enclosure, water dish, spray bottle and accessories may be washed using water only. A gentle dishwashing liquid mixed with a lot of water may be used but be sure that the item being washed is rinsed thoroughly.

Since the Chaco Golden Knee is somewhat of a digger, you may need to level the substrate every once in a while if you desire.

Note: If your tarantula refuses to eat a prey, remove any uneaten prey after 24 hours and wait for 3 days up to 1 week before trying to feed it again. Aside from attracting mites and other parasites, the tarantula might be desensitized by the presence of the prey and would stop eating. Tarantulas rely on sudden movements to detect prey, if you leave prey in the enclosure for long periods of time, they might get used to a lot of movement and may entirely ignore the prey.