Prey protective?

[Goldiesgiants]

Are tarantulas protective of their food?
I just fed my T a medium cricket and I left the room for an hour. When I came back to get something the T automatically ran to the dead cricket and picked it up and just stood there with it. So I'm wondering if tarantulas are particularly protective of their food? Out of curiosity.

 

[Stan Schultz]

Are tarantulas protective of their food?
I just fed my T a medium cricket and I left the room for an hour. When I came back to get something the T automatically ran to the dead cricket and picked it up and just stood there with it. So I'm wondering if tarantulas are particularly protective of their food? Out of curiosity.

I've never heard of such behavior, but I wouldn't be too surprised if it were true. Tarantulas do a lot of things that we merely take for granted, but that are absolutely amazing when you sit down and think about it.

An alternative explanation might be that this is merely a coincidence. You just happened to walk in as your little buddy was preparing to finish the meal. Before we could pass judgement on your observation (behavior or coincidence), we'd have to have several enthusiasts, or several dozen enthusiasts report seeing the same behavior.

Anybody else out there in tarantula-land ever see this? Speak up. Don't be shy!

(BTW, what kind of tarantula is it? How big is it (DLS)? At what life stage is it? And lastly, is it male or female?

 

[Goldiesgiants]

I've never heard of such behavior, but I wouldn't be too surprised if it were true. Tarantulas do a lot of things that we merely take for granted, but that are absolutely amazing when you sit down and think about it.

An alternative explanation might be that this is merely a coincidence. You just happened to walk in as your little buddy was preparing to finish the meal. Before we could pass judgement on your observation (behavior or coincidence), we'd have to have several enthusiasts, or several dozen enthusiasts report seeing the same behavior.

Anybody else out there in tarantula-land ever see this? Speak up. Don't be shy!

(BTW, what kind of tarantula is it? How big is it (DLS)? At what life stage is it? And lastly, is it male or female?

It is a juvenile A. Geniculata around 6cm unsexed at the moment.

 

[Stan Schultz]

They are gorgeous creatures. And get quite large. Can you possibly use your cell phone to get a really good photo of it's "belly" (technically called a venter, which is defined as the ventral side of its abdomen or opsthosoma)? I'm attaching two photos to show you what I mean. These photos are from another distantly related species (Aphonopelma seemani, the Costa Rican zebra tarantula, from Central America), but the principle is the same for what I'm going to tell you. If you're afraid to handle it, perhaps you can get it into a clear/transparent, plastic, deli cup to get a good photo. Be sure to use a new, unused one from a delicatessen or grocery store. Used ones are almost always scratched up and disfigured, thus ruining the image.

This may sound silly, but it works. Once you get the tarantula safely into the deli cup, and the lid secured, have a friend hold it in such a way that the cup is positioned on its side with the tarantula laying flat against what is now the (gently curved) bottom side. Sometimes, gently shaking the cup will help reorient the spider. Have your partner hold it some distance off the floor (half a meter to a meter, depending on circumstances). If they can brace their elbows on the seat of a solid chair or coffee table, that would help avoid shaking the cup and blurring the images.

Then you lay on your back, on the floor, underneath the suspended deli cup with its tarantula, with the cell phone/camera aimed upward at the spider's belly, and start taking pictures. (Your partner should try to stay out of the picture as much as possible. But, maybe one or two photo-bombs would be allowable as a joke. One can't get too serious about this sort of thing. ) Change the positions of the deli cup and its captive so that you get a number of different photos from a variety of different orientations and angles. It may help to turn off the flash on your camera and lay a desk lamp on the floor next to you, and moving it around with each photo so as to illuminate the cup from various side angles. Take lots of photos. When I'm doing such a photo shoot, I plan on a dozen or more shots to get one just the way I want it. If you're not accustomed to this sort of thing, several dozen shots are strongly recommended.

BE ABSOLUTELY CAREFUL NOT TO DROP OR RATTLE THE DELI CUP DURING THIS PROCESS! Tarantulas don't survive earthquakes and crash landings very well.

Also, be sure you remember to put the tarantula back into its cage when you're finished!

Then, using whatever method suits you, attach one or two of the very clearest, best focused pictures of the bunch that you took, to another posting in this thread. We'll do our best to help you predict your little buddy's sex.

Remember that I mentioned ATTACHED PHOTOS above? Here they are. One is of the Zebra's venter without any of my markings on it so you can get a clear, unobstructed view for what comes next. On the other photo I've circled in colored marker some of the spider's organs. Those circled in blue are the tarantula's rear booklungs. Those circled in green are the pair of forward booklungs that are often almost invisibly tucked under the bases of the rear pair of legs. In the middle, between all four booklungs, there should be another structure, a plate of the exoskeleton called the epigynum. In most tarantulas, especially the New World species, if the side to side dimension (its width) is visibly greater than the forward to rearward dimension (its length), and especially if there is a prominent bulge in it (i.e., your tarantula has a little "pot belly"), you've almost certainly get a female. If the length and width are about the same, or if the length is greater than the width, there's a good probability that it's a male. The individual in my photos is definitely a female!

Test on Friday!

Stan

 

[So0nToBe Tarantula addict]

I would say if any species was " prey protective" it would be an A. Geniculata!! Lol. But never actually observed this out of my juvy Genic. or any of my other babies!!!

 

[Goldiesgiants]

They are gorgeous creatures. And get quite large. Can you possibly use your cell phone to get a really good photo of it's "belly" (technically called a venter, which is defined as the ventral side of its abdomen or opsthosoma)? I'm attaching two photos to show you what I mean. These photos are from another distantly related species (Aphonopelma seemani, the Costa Rican zebra tarantula, from Central America), but the principle is the same for what I'm going to tell you. If you're afraid to handle it, perhaps you can get it into a clear/transparent, plastic, deli cup to get a good photo. Be sure to use a new, unused one from a delicatessen or grocery store. Used ones are almost always scratched up and disfigured, thus ruining the image.

This may sound silly, but it works. Once you get the tarantula safely into the deli cup, and the lid secured, have a friend hold it in such a way that the cup is positioned on its side with the tarantula laying flat against what is now the (gently curved) bottom side. Sometimes, gently shaking the cup will help reorient the spider. Have your partner hold it some distance off the floor (half a meter to a meter, depending on circumstances). If they can brace their elbows on the seat of a solid chair or coffee table, that would help avoid shaking the cup and blurring the images.

Then you lay on your back, on the floor, underneath the suspended deli cup with its tarantula, with the cell phone/camera aimed upward at the spider's belly, and start taking pictures. (Your partner should try to stay out of the picture as much as possible. But, maybe one or two photo-bombs would be allowable as a joke. One can't get too serious about this sort of thing. ) Change the positions of the deli cup and its captive so that you get a number of different photos from a variety of different orientations and angles. It may help to turn off the flash on your camera and lay a desk lamp on the floor next to you, and moving it around with each photo so as to illuminate the cup from various side angles. Take lots of photos. When I'm doing such a photo shoot, I plan on a dozen or more shots to get one just the way I want it. If you're not accustomed to this sort of thing, several dozen shots are strongly recommended.

BE ABSOLUTELY CAREFUL NOT TO DROP OR RATTLE THE DELI CUP DURING THIS PROCESS! Tarantulas don't survive earthquakes and crash landings very well.

Also, be sure you remember to put the tarantula back into its cage when you're finished!

Then, using whatever method suits you, attach one or two of the very clearest, best focused pictures of the bunch that you took, to another posting in this thread. We'll do our best to help you predict your little buddy's sex.

Remember that I mentioned ATTACHED PHOTOS above? Here they are. One is of the Zebra's venter without any of my markings on it so you can get a clear, unobstructed view for what comes next. On the other photo I've circled in colored marker some of the spider's organs. Those circled in blue are the tarantula's rear booklungs. Those circled in green are the pair of forward booklungs that are often almost invisibly tucked under the bases of the rear pair of legs. In the middle, between all four booklungs, there should be another structure, a plate of the exoskeleton called the epigynum. In most tarantulas, especially the New World species, if the side to side dimension (its width) is visibly greater than the forward to rearward dimension (its length), and especially if there is a prominent bulge in it (i.e., your tarantula has a little "pot belly"), you've almost certainly get a female. If the length and width are about the same, or if the length is greater than the width, there's a good probability that it's a male. The individual in my photos is definitely a female!

Test on Friday!

Stan

I will see about getting photos as soon as possible. It would be a bit of a chore for me just now to do it that way in particular as my wife is still a little bit phobic of the T (happy to feed and fill the water if I'm away still not too comfortable with holding the T even in a container ) also my T has a darkening on the butt so I'm assuming premolt and would like to disturb the poor thing as little as possible at the moment oh and she(?) Is still very skittish and runs away almost immediately as soon as I walk in the room.

 

[Goldiesgiants]

I would say if any species was " prey protective" it would be an A. Geniculata!! Lol. But never actually observed this out of my juvy Genic. or any of my other babies!!!

It just took me by surprise because the cricket wasn't really in the path of the hide. The T looked like it went out of its way to grab the cricket first

 

[Stan Schultz]

A

It just took me by surprise because the cricket wasn't really in the path of the hide. The T looked like it went out of its way to grab the cricket first

Another data point on my chart, trying to prove that tarantulas aren't just stupid, witless bugs (like crickets, for instance). That brain of theirs FUNCTIONS!

 

[Goldiesgiants]

A

Another data point on my chart, trying to prove that tarantulas aren't just stupid, witless bugs (like crickets, for instance). That brain of theirs FUNCTIONS!

I have another question about my Ts behaviour should I start a new thread?

 

[Stan Schultz]

I have another question about my Ts behaviour should I start a new thread?

You'll probably not get banned from the forum for doing so, but it's considered good form to pose only one topic (e.g., question, observation, suggestion, etc.) per thread.

Also, just as a suggestion, since you have so many questions, may I recommend that you go to your friendly, neighborhood, public library and check out a copy of The Tarantula Keeper's Guide (a.k.a, TKG3 and "the tarantula keeper's bible"). It's 376 pages of tarantula drivel. And, reading the whole book in one sitting has been known to cause brain damage. (I should know. I wrote it!) At least for the first sitting, just thumb through the book, reading sections that catch your attention, and looking at the illustrations. It will answer 90% of the questions you're likely to ask, plus another 90% of the questions that you should be asking, but don't know enough to do so yet.

And to be clear about this, I am not using this forum as a place to advertise and increase my book sales. At least the printed edition of TKG3 is out of print, and generally only available from used bookstores. And it is unlikely to ever be reprinted again (except 50 years from now, when the copyright expires, as a Dover reissue). Thus, I am receiving no monetary remuneration or other considerations by pushing it here (except the satisfaction that I'm helping other enthisuasts enjoy their little buddies.)

All is not lost, however. Perform an Internet search if you decide you want your own, used, printed copy.

Maybe you should read parts of the book to your newfound little buddy? (Just to make sure that you're both reading from the same page! )

Stan

P.S., Did I just violate the very rule I was preaching about in the first paragraph? LOL

 

[Goldiesgiants]

You'll probably not get banned from the forum for doing so, but it's considered good form to pose only one topic (e.g., question, observation, suggestion, etc.) per thread.

Also, just as a suggestion, since you have so many questions, may I recommend that you go to your friendly, neighborhood, public library and check out a copy of The Tarantula Keeper's Guide (a.k.a, TKG3 and "the tarantula keeper's bible"). It's 376 pages of tarantula drivel. And, reading the whole book in one sitting has been known to cause brain damage. (I should know. I wrote it!) At least for the first sitting, just thumb through the book, reading sections that catch your attention, and looking at the illustrations. It will answer 90% of the questions you're likely to ask, plus another 90% of the questions that you should be asking, but don't know enough to do so yet.

And to be clear about this, I am not using this forum as a place to advertise and increase my book sales. At least the printed edition of TKG3 is out of print, and generally only available from used bookstores. And it is unlikely to ever be reprinted again (except 50 years from now, when the copyright expires, as a Dover reissue). Thus, I am receiving no monetary remuneration or other considerations by pushing it here (except the satisfaction that I'm helping other enthisuasts enjoy their little buddies.)

All is not lost, however. Perform an Internet search if you decide you want your own, used, printed copy.

Maybe you should read parts of the book to your newfound little buddy? (Just to make sure that you're both reading from the same page! )

Stan

P.S., Did I just violate the very rule I was preaching about in the first paragraph? LOL

It's okay you actually answered my question in another thread thank you! I'll definitely check out the book though! I'm a biology/chemistry student I can handle reading "drivel" and i will probably very much enjoy it!

 

[Top Fuel Ted]

I have a pretty large A Geniculata that I have twice observed grabbing and making off with prey only to drop it a bit later and do the happy dance and web it up on the ground, then pick it back up and eat it. Usually I will drop prey to that spider and as long as she is not in premolt, she will will grab it immediately. I swear sometimes she catches it in the air like a Golden retriever grabbing a Frisbee in the park but hard to tell as she is so fast. Like Stan said above, they can be amazing in some of their behaviors. Mostly once I see a spider whack a prey item, I go on about my business but sometimes I am still in the area feeding other spiders and I notice the A Genic with empty fangs and the prey down on the ground. It worried me the first time but both times I noticed her doing that she webbed it a bit then picked up the prey and ate like normal. I've also definitely seen her eat without doing that trick so not sure what she is thinking sometimes.
I have also seen a few different spiders that are not in the mood to eat poke a cricket and leave it to die. I want to say that they were maybe going into premolt and just really, really didn't want the complication of anything in their tank with them. I may be reading into that situation somewhat but I have seen the result several times.
One of the more fun aspects of keeping for me is getting to know the quirks of your different species and individuals. Keep an eye on your A Geniculata and see what else it does that's interesting.

 

[Goldiesgiants]

I have a pretty large A Geniculata that I have twice observed grabbing and making off with prey only to drop it a bit later and do the happy dance and web it up on the ground, then pick it back up and eat it. Usually I will drop prey to that spider and as long as she is not in premolt, she will will grab it immediately. I swear sometimes she catches it in the air like a Golden retriever grabbing a Frisbee in the park but hard to tell as she is so fast. Like Stan said above, they can be amazing in some of their behaviors. Mostly once I see a spider whack a prey item, I go on about my business but sometimes I am still in the area feeding other spiders and I notice the A Genic with empty fangs and the prey down on the ground. It worried me the first time but both times I noticed her doing that she webbed it a bit then picked up the prey and ate like normal. I've also definitely seen her eat without doing that trick so not sure what she is thinking sometimes.
I have also seen a few different spiders that are not in the mood to eat poke a cricket and leave it to die. I want to say that they were maybe going into premolt and just really, really didn't want the complication of anything in their tank with them. I may be reading into that situation somewhat but I have seen the result several times.
One of the more fun aspects of keeping for me is getting to know the quirks of your different species and individuals. Keep an eye on your A Geniculata and see what else it does that's interesting.

My A. Genic doesn't leave any food left over... like at all. I noticed a cricket leg left over and when I went back to take it out it was gone. Just gone. No sign of any of the crickets that I feed her

 

[Enn49]

One of my most memorable feedings was my male L. parahybana who swept up all 6 large crickets that I tossed in his container, webbed them into one big ball and sat and chomped his way through them atone sitting. I've never seen another T do that, yes, I've seen them grab multiple crickets immediately but never seen one ball them up like he did.