Tarantula Happy Dance

[TokeHound]

I watch a gentleman on YouTube who cares for many Tarantulas, and some of his do the happy dance after they catchy their prey. My T's are all slings and so far, have not done the happy dance. Is it something that usually adult T's do? Are certain species known more for doing it than others? I was just curious cuz the happy dance is so cute, it makes me want to celebrate with the Tarantula when they catch their prey

 

[Jeef]

I have a few that do (juvies and an adult) and a few that don't. I've never seen my sling eat. I've seen it take down crickets, but then it gets hauled down it's hole. As far as species goes, My B. smithi does, my B. emelia doesn't. My A. chalcodes does, my A. henziis don't. My A. johnycashii kinda does one. I've seen things that make me strongly suspect my C. darlingi would if it ate out in the open.

I'm of the opinion that the happy dance is to lay down a web-mat so they can eat in peace. It bears mentioning that they don't do it every time they eat. It'll be interesting to see what folks with larger collections have observed. Particularly folks with arboreal ones.

 

[timc]

I believe all my tarantulas do it; some take longer than others to start, some do it where you can’t see, but I think they all do it to some extent lol. As stated they are laying a web mat that I believe they use to kind of keep the prey item together as they actually digest it outside their body. I could be wrong about this, so anyone feel free to correct me.

 

[MBullock]

it's a foodbag that basically holds in the liquified portions so they dont just spill out.

 

[timc]

it's a foodbag that basically holds in the liquified portions so they dont just spill out.

I find it absolutely hilarious that everyone calls it “cute” when it’s going on, but if you had the ability to look very closely at the process it’s pretty disgusting lol there’s vomiting, digestion, living solids being turned to liquids, gross(it is kinda cute though)!

 

[octanejunkie]

Disgusting or not, it's how most spiders ingest nutrients

Here are some of the better descriptions I've found online:

What are the eating habits of tarantulas?

Answer (1 of 5): Tarantulas do in fact chew up their food, using their chelicerae (fangs) to rip and mush up the prey item into a wad, before squeezing all the juiciness out, with the help of digestive juices. Despite popular belief, the venom of a tarantula doesn’t really help the animal digest...

www.quora.com

Here's a great paper by 'RGB'

ATSHQ: American Tarantula & Animals

ATSHQ: American Tarantula & Animals. Helping You Find What American Animals Like To Eat Most! Tarantula Spiders Wild Animals Pets Diet Pests Guides

atshq.org

And if you're wondering who Robert Gale Breene III was, aka Spider Bob, you can Google him.

 

[Jenniferinfl]

I have a few that do (juvies and an adult) and a few that don't. I've never seen my sling eat. I've seen it take down crickets, but then it gets hauled down it's hole. As far as species goes, My B. smithi does, my B. emelia doesn't. My A. chalcodes does, my A. henziis don't. My A. johnycashii kinda does one. I've seen things that make me strongly suspect my C. darlingi would if it ate out in the open.

I'm of the opinion that the happy dance is to lay down a web-mat so they can eat in peace. It bears mentioning that they don't do it every time they eat. It'll be interesting to see what folks with larger collections have observed. Particularly folks with arboreal ones.

My psalmo reduncus 1" spiderling was doing a ridiculous version of it the other day. Just up and down the sides of the enclosure. It was pretty funny to watch. I think it may depend a lot on the size of the prey item. Like, my small arboreals that are eating fruit flies don't seem to bother with it. But, that one had just caught it's first live cricket and it just went nuts with it.. lol