#22 - POWER FEEDING

Today's blog topic was reader suggested, but it is a subject that seems to keep popping up. Speaking at both of my ArachnoGatherings in 2014 and 2015, former ATS president Christian Elowsky referred to "power feeding" and also made reference that when myself, Frank Somma, Eric Reynolds and Bill Korinek were the "expert panel" for a Q&A session at ArachnoCon 2006, we mentioned that "overfeeding" was one of the biggest problems in tarantulaculture. I'm not sure why this has become a raison d'être or hot topic for Mr. Elowsky, but we're talking apples and oranges, chalk and cheese here. I don't know if Christian reads this blog. He's the esotericman. He's hard to get a handle on. I don't hear from him much anymore.

So, we will have to first look at some definitions because "power feeding" and "overfeeding" are not the same thing. Obesity is unhealthy in all organisms, but frequent feedings do not necessarily lead to obesity. But before we delve into the definitions and I state my opinions let's look at what made my friend and reader Jaimie suggest this topic so I can warm up with a bit of a rant.

She messaged me that she had got into an argument (I assume on Faffbook or Arachnoboards) with persons who claimed that "one should only feed a tiny sling once a month". She said that "they" considered her care improper for "subjecting (her) slings to twice a week feedings because their abdomens were going to burst". As Jaimie correctly noted, the real problem here is that you have self-proclaimed, self-appointed experts spouting gibberish and often will have new keepers follow their terrible advice. This will be a recurring theme here at KMBHS and it was covered in depth early on with blog #3 - INFORMATION IS NOT KNOWLEDGE. That's why I avoid the Arachnobored* like the plague. That's why I don't engage people on Faffbook. Anyone with a sliver of information turns it into expert opinion and vomits it on the Internet at the slightest provocation. (*Please note that my use of the term "Arachnobored" is not a slam on Arachnoboards. I was one of the early members and it was a fantastic resource and place to interact with fellow tarantula enthusiasts back in the day. The owners Scott & Debby are dear friends and I helped them put on their ArachnoCons. But, as with anything, the larger it gets the higher the idiot quotient becomes and it isn't their fault that much of what is posted on Arachnoboards is nonsense. The "Arachnobored" are the people who have 2000 posts in 1-2 years. They sit behind their keyboard thinking people give a shit what they have to say. They're typically newbies with too much time on their hands and they play the "telephone game" I mentioned in #3. Unfortunately, those who actually have the most to say usually have the least time to say it. I can tell you that the real experts spend their time feeding and breeding spiders or perhaps squeezing in a blog with morning coffee before spending 10 hours feeding spiders. The Arachnobored have nothing but time and ill-informed opinions. They are the ignorant that will post that a tiny sling should only be fed once a month with an air of authority and find victims for their bullshit and create greater ignorance in the hobby. The Arachnobored shit all over Faffbook and their stench does not dissipate.)

OK, didn't want you to think I've forgotten how to call a fucktard a fucktard. Rant out. Let's take a deep breath, ignore the Arachnobored (as they should be), and dive into some definitions and realities. 

Again, I want to draw a comparison with herpetoculture. As you should know by now, I've kept and bred both reptiles and tarantulas throughout my life and many tarantula keepers also keep reptiles. I will often mention both hobbies. In snakes or other reptiles, "power feeding" has a negative connotation. It should as it leads to unhealthy snakes with shorter lifespans. But we're back to apples and oranges, chalk and cheese. Vertebrates and invertebrates are very different beasties. Arachnids have expandable opisthosomas for a reason and they don't have a skeleton or complex organs. Frequent feeding when young is, in my opinion, harmless. If you dabble in the reptile hobby you have perhaps heard "power feeding" disparaged - and with good reason. The general rule of thumb with snakes is to feed and then wait until the snake defecates before feeding again. With young snakes some keepers will offer two meals and then wait for the defecation. This is good reptile husbandry. But it doesn't apply to tarantula raising. One problem with "power feeding" a vertebrate is that it's skeleton and organs should develop at a natural rate. An abundance of food may rush along the process and have detrimental effects including shortened lifespan. It is no surprise that many of the longest-lived snakes are males. Breeders may "power feed" females to get them to reproductive size and get them large so they produce the maximum offspring, but it is well known by snake breeders that small and slender male snakes tend to make the best breeders. These snakes are given maintenance meals and aren't "pumped up" to large size. And they live longer. Sometimes, much longer.

But let's get back to our big hairy spiders. What is "power feeding"? What is "excessive feeding"? I can tell you that they are NOT THE SAME. Like Jaimie, I strive to feed my slings twice a week. Because of the sheer number I have that is not always possible and it may be every 7-10 days. But if I am on perfect schedule it is every four or five days. Anywhere between every 3-10 days is good. Less frequently is not advisable. As I've preached elsewhere, tarantulas should be getting some (most) of their moisture from their prey and if you're feeding once a month for a "tiny sling" it is not being properly hydrated. It may have humidity and this passes through its book lung system, and it may be drinking misted droplets out of necessity, but it is not being fed often enough. You really can't feed a spiderling tarantula too often as long as you do cease offering food once its abdomen has become extended. Generally, the spider will cease feeding on its own and go into a molt. But there are some types that will keep eating (e.g., Brachypelma) past a desirable point. If I notice a spiderling has a big full abdomen I don't feed it. Simple if you're attentive. Easy if you have a friggin' clue. But I assure you that it's abdomen is not going to flippin' burst!** It also is important to mention that feeding frequency is tied to temperature. My tarantula room is 75-80ºF. This is ideal for many species, cooler climate spiders (e.g., P. subfusca) are kept closer to the ground or moved to my cooler bedroom as necessary to avoid excessive temperatures. Many novice tarantula keepers are using room temperature, which, of course, varies from home to home. But if we use something common like 67ºF then that spider will have its metabolism slowed down and will feed less frequently. If you are keeping your tarantulas in a reptile room where temperature exceeds 82ºF (a practice I DO NOT RECOMMEND for any species) frequent feeding is appropriate.

(**It is a good practice, especially with larger tarantulas to starve them a bit and keep them very lean prior to shipping. Tarantulas with very large abdomens, especially Brachys and Aphonopelma and such, are notorious for having their abdomens "burst" in transit due to pressure changes during air travel and being too delicate to properly pack. This isn't what I am talking about with regards to "power feeding", but thought I'd interject something off topic so you can learn something important about shipping - a topic that will make an appearance in an upcoming blog.)

Excessive feeding or overfeeding is another animal altogether. Older tarantulas that have settled into a molt cycle rhythm (most adults eventually get to the point where they molt annually) can certainly be overfed. This is dangerous for a number of reasons. First, as I mentioned at the beginning, obesity is unhealthy in all organisms. But don't make ridiculous comparisons and think that a Brachypelma with a huge, out of proportion, "obese" abdomen is the same as an obese mammal. Humans gain 7 extra miles of blood vessels (i.e., capillaries) for every pound of fat and this makes your heart work much harder. I can tell you that I am currently at my heaviest ever and I shudder to think how hard my almost 51 year old ticker is working. Diet is underway... I think what our "expert panel" I mentioned in the first paragraph was referring to (I don't have Christian's memory... blame it on the 70s and 80s) was that these overfed, obese tarantula make poor breeders and potential American captive propagation is therefore negatively impacted. But I am sure we were also commenting on "pet" tarantulas and the dangers they face. One is the danger from a fall. Hopefully most of you realize how fragile tarantulas are and why many of us are vehemently against handling. But even left alone an obese tarantula is at increased risk to a fall. Captivity makes tarantulas do crazy things and we've all seen or heard about the terrestrial (often the "rose hair") climbing up the sides of its aquarium and even hanging upside down from the screen lid. Now we have a REAL danger of a burst opisthosoma. A fall may not be pretty.

My adult tarantulas do not have giant abdomens. Lean and healthy is desirable. I feed most weekly (about to breed or just produced) or bi-weekly (majority - maintenance meals) depending on whether they are soon to breed. Once a female has been mated I will offer food almost every day in small meals. For example, if I usually give 4 or 5 adult crickets I will only offer two each day until she refuses the meal. Sexed males that I don't have an immediate need for are fed every three weeks. That is the least often I feed any spider. So my tarantula spiderlings and Sparassidae (huntsman spiders) and Ctenidae (wandering spiders) are fed twice a week when possible, but at least once a week. Juvenile tarantulas are fed about once a week. And adults I mentioned above. After a female has produced a sac and it has either hatched in the terrarium or been pulled I will feed her every day if she'll eat to get her recovered from her long fast and weight loss due to egg-laying and sac production. Mature males I try to feed often when they first mature because eventually they might cease feeding. I want to give them some energy and keep them alive as long as possible. Once done with mating they are fed about once every two weeks (if they'll eat).

So let's return to our clueless and argumentative knuckleheads who believe that "tiny slings" should be fed once a month. I'm not sure how the word "tiny" was used, but I can tell you that a very small tarantula spiderling, one that is feeding on pinheads or even fruit flies, is not going to fare well with a monthly feeding. These are the guys that I try to feed every few days. One reason is that I want to grow them quick at first so they'll take the much easier to provide one week cricket. I produce my own pinheads and fruit flies, but they're a pain and I'd much rather get them to one-week old crickets and then their growth spurt will begin.

In fairness, I should state that clueless newbies who spout off bits of what they've seen other newbies post and spread misinformation are not exclusive to arachnoculture. In my other hobbies - firearms, photography, guitar - you'll find the same asinine know-it-all know-nothings who willingly post complete bollocks with an authoritative tone. That's one of the purposes of this blog. Factual information and education from experience and knowledge. You'll find bits of the same on Arachnoboards or Faffbook, but you have to wade through vile festering muck to try to find the needle in the haystack gems of info posted by the truly knowledgeable and experienced. There are still people who think Schultz's book is the bible after all. That is a disservice to the hobby. I implore you to look at the name of the post author before you read any post. There are people out there that have wisdom to share. But good luck finding them amongst all the misinformed, ignorant, and clinically dense.

In closing, I should state that the comments contained herein are based on extensive experience and knowledge. I am no scientist and I haven't run tests on control groups of tarantula siblings fed with different frequencies. I know such studies have been done and if you have greater interest you might want to Google them. There also is a Search box on my Tarantula Bibliography. I also want to state that I never feed tarantulas vertebrates. A big roach is just as good a meal as a mouse or lizard. I understand that prey variety is always a good thing, but mix crickets, roaches and super worms, etc. will cover that. There is no reason to feed a mouse or lizard. Why am I against it? Because it leaves a gory mess. It will usually take about 24 hours or more for the spider to ingest it and phorid flies (and other nasties) will be attracted to the putrid bolus during that time. This is a bad thing! Phorid flies are a scourge of the tarantula hobby. You will also be left with a stinky mess and when I've used fuzzy or weanling mice for Theraphosa or Pelinobius in the past I've sometimes had to do a complete rebuild of the enclosure to get rid of the stench.

All the best, Michael

#8 - OCTAVARIUM

Eight random topics.
Tomorrow I will return to rant mode with a scathing condemnation of postal service shipping and related hobby douchery.

1. MUSIC - I've made brief music comments. Today's blog title is the name of a Dream Theater album that celebrated the ten year anniversary of its release within the past few days. Music is very important to me. I started playing violin at age 8 or 9, mistakenly thought it wasn't cool and switched to drums in junior high school and then started a life long love for the guitar. I was a teenager in the late 70s and early 80s and developed a love for mostly British music from early prog rock like Genesis, Yes, King Crimson and ELP and early metal like Sabbath, Judas Priest, and Iron Maiden. Then I discovered Metallica from their early demo that came out as I was graduating high school. My high school metal band didn't yet know of this San Franciscan thrash band that would become metal's most successful act. Our set list included Judas Priest, UFO, Michael Schenker, Aerosmith, Nugent, Then metal was everything until I heard Dream Theater and discovered a melding of the epic compositions and dazzling virtuosity of prog with the gnashing teeth and crunch of metal. Now I listen to a much wider variety of music including most genres. I can go from Pantera to bluegrass to a cello concerto. But bands that combine prog and metal to great effect remain my mainstay. Opeth is the epitome as they are of similar age and share similar influences. They swiftly and seamlessly switch from death metal to prog sections that even include the use of mellotron, an instrument that harkens back to early 70s Genesis. Between the Buried Me is a more recent favorite and their music shifts from modern tech/math metal to prog to Stravinsky! So even in my early 50s I am a metalhead and Opeth, Gojira, Meshuggah, Between the Buried and Me, Katatonia, Arch Enemy, Conquering Dystopia/Loomis/Merrow, Daylight Dies, etc. dominate my playlists.

/m\  /m\

2. Random trivia question 1: What is the only bird with a penis? Hint: No, it is not a cock. (Answer at end).

3. TATTOOS - I got my first tat at age 36. It was a kanji (oriental character) that supposedly meant "to love, promise or cherish". My ex-wife and I got matching ones on our ankles the day after our wedding in Chicago. Silly romantics. Thankfully it is now covered up. It was another six years before I got inked again. This time I was in San Antonio for ArachnoCon and had my favorite tarantula put on my outside left calf above the silly kanji. Anyone who doesn't know what species it was/is doesn't know me very well. That was it until two years ago when I returned to Chicago and met Andy Daugherty (Andy's Tat2 Crue, Belvidere, IL). His first project was to rework the Poecilotheria subfusca tat from San Antonio, which wasn't done well and hadn't aged well. Next thing I knew I was often in Andy's chair and I kept adding. I now have two leg half sleeves featuring the subfusca and P. miranda on the left and E. olivacea and C. schioedtei on the right. The filler are custom flowers, foliage, butterflies, a dragonfly. After my mom passed I had wanted to get a memorial tat in tribute to her. I knew then that I would start black & grey sleeves and while Andy could continue his color work on my legs, I wanted my mate Mark Pennell (Serious Ink Tattoo Studio, Shirehampton, Bristol, UK) to do my arms. His first session was about 9 hours to do a lower half sleeve in tribute to my mother. Later he did a two session - one in the UK, and one in USA - Darwin half sleeve on my lower left arm. Then after I lost my beloved dog Taylor Mark did an amazing portrait of her - with her ashes ceremoniously dusted onto the ink- on my upper right and, more recently, did an amazing clouded leopard on my upper left. Next week he will continue our work towards a full sleeve on the right. I've lost track, but I now have about 60 hours of ink. And most of it was done at age 49 and 50!

4. Random trivia question 2: Well since I did a penis one ... The vagina contains a natural lubricant called squalene. What animal also has squalene (although not necessarily in a vagina ...)? (Answer at end).

5. GUNS - My father is a retired police chief. He taught me to shoot in his Evanston, IL police department range when I was a little boy and I've shot handguns and long guns all my life. I have a concealed carry permit and my Kimber Master Carry Pro .45 (or Glock 23 .40 S&W) is often hidden on my hip. I've taken numerous classes in combat shooting, shooting from the holster, etc. and practice almost every week. I've always loved target shooting, period. I was on an archery team in my teens and I am an avid dart player. I like aiming. But guns are a controversial topic and American gun culture is seen as strange by those in other countries. I visit the UK often and one of the oddest things for me is seeing policemen without pistols. They have batons, spray, maybe a taser. But they don't carry firearms. If they encounter criminals with guns they have to call in a special unit ("SWAT") that is armed. That seems daft to me. But it's all a matter of perspective. Getting into debates about guns with people always brings me to what for me is a simple truth. Generally, the sensible answer is in the middle. Call it moderate if you must. Although I've shot for over four decades and carry a gun I have never been an NRA member. That's because I disagree with their stance. I believe in my right to sport shoot or defend myself and others with deadly force by being responsibly armed. I believe in the training and licensing required, not to mention the background checks and fingerprinting. The NRA doesn't. They think the second amendment is absolute. I don't believe that people should be able to own automatic assault rifles. To protect gun rights the NRA argues the extreme - the second amendment means you should be able to carry a bazooka down the street. Sensibility is in a moderate stance, but the moderate stance is seen as weak and you have to go to the extreme to fight tenaciously and win. Let's bring this to our reptile hobby. To protect our right to keep geckos and king snakes we must fight that everyone should be allowed to have a 20 foot plus reticulated python or perhaps venomous snakes. Is the sensible solution in the middle? Discuss among yourselves.

6. Random trivia question 3: My favorite trivia is not about sexual organs. My topic is geography (much to the dismay of my family who I subject to geography quizzes at parties I host). What language is the most widely spoken in the world (by first language speakers)?

7. PHOTO THEFT REVISITED - My last blog covered photo theft and I forgot to mention one thing. I love Instagram. It's my favorite social media as it essentially is just sharing photos (or 15 sec vid clips) and people mostly like and rarely comment. Hashtags make finding content of interest easy and it doesn't have the nonsense and noise of Faffbook. However, I made a bad assumption when I first started. One of the things I liked was that you couldn't download and steal images. At least that was my naive thinking. I've since discovered that, OF COURSE, there are apps like Instagrab. It allows you to save pix. My early IG pix weren't watermarked, but now they are. Lesson learned. But one of the cool things about IG is an app like Repost. I argued yesterday that FB people must use the Share feature to show the origin of photos. Well, Repost does exactly that on IG but it automatically puts the username of the original poster on your reposted (shared) image and your shared post contains their text and hashtags. I highly recommend Instagram and hope you'll follow me @exoticfauna.

8. In conclusion, thanks for reading and I hope eventually I will get comments/feedback and questions. I still have no questions for "Sunday, Fun Day". It was an opportunity for you to get me to tackle the controversial or call out the douchenuggets. I promise brutal frankness.

All the best, MJ

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Answers: 1. swan 2. shark 3. Mandarin