Tarantulas - Conditioning breeders

I have found that to put weight on quickly, especially for tarantulas you are conditioning up for breeding, that meal worms or super worms are an excellent choice. They are a convenient food source to put weght on your tarantulas quickly and I use them to suppliment my usual feeder insects - crickets and roaches.

The best thing about meal worms or super worms is that they are so easy to keep as you can chill them in the refridgerator for weeks and thus always ensure you have a back up food supply handy. They can be used for juveniles or mature tarantulas whole or cut into segments for spiderlings. Your spiderlings will not be frightened by the meal worm portions as they sometimes are by live pinhead crickets and they are much easier to have readily in hand than pinhead crickets which are a high maintenance feeder by comparison.

You can also use raw chicken or beef heart cut into suitable sized portions as a food supply, however as with any dead food make sure you remove any leftovers within 34 hours to avoid it going bad in the enclosure. For very large tarantulas the occassional pinkie mouse (dead of course) is also great for putting condition on your tarantula.

With a varied food supply my females are in great condition for the upcoming breeding season. Make sure to put the condition on now (in the southern hemisphere) before the tarantulas start to slow down their feeding rate with winter coming. Just remember not to overfeed to the point of obesity as a tarantula should not be dragging an oversized abdomen along the ground!