If so, how does it work? Do they just molt into larger skeletons?
In: Biology
Former tarantula owner here. Tarantulas can be overfed, which is visible by the size of their butt. It can get dangerous when an overfed tarantula tries to climb and falls, as the butt can rip open and the animal can bleed to death from such a wound easily, as their butt contains most of their blood and also their heart. The butt is not enclosed by a rigid exoskeleton, but rather a very soft skinlike one that can expand.
If your tarantula’s butt is smaller than its body, you can give it a snack. If the butt is the same size or about 1.5x the size of the body, you have a happy little spider. If the butt gets larger than that, your eight legged friend needs a break from food. In adult tarantulas it’s entirely possible to wait several months until the next feeding, they are adapted to survive scarcity of food.
Most of the time, an adult tarantula will only have a thin butt after changing into its new skin – but always wait for at least 3 days or even a week before feeding a freshly molted T, as their exoskeleton will be very soft and fragile, showing white fangs and joints that can easily be damaged if the animal attempts to hunt. Let your spider friend do their yoga stretches for a few days and then give them a juicy cricket 🙂
Edit: Whoa, thanks for all the awards people! This really blew up 😀 I just love spiders and sharing what I know. Have a grand day, internet strangers! <3
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