Quick noobie question on sizing and another on albopilosum behaviour

[Steph1304]

Hey all,

I mentioned in another thread about sizing Ts but figured it might be better moved here. My albo arrived yesterday, I ordered one >7cm and here she is.

She is eating well, I dropped a roach in earlier which she immediately pounced on, so later when I was moving my versicolor into her new tank I dropped a roach she hadn't eaten in with the albo and again she grabbed it immediately. She then wiggled her bum and rotated clockwise then counterclockwise - then with the roach still in her mouth she walked over to the water dish and dipped in her front two legs 1 at a time, before turning round and wandering off again to devour the cockroach. Is this standard behaviour?? I've never seen the versicolor do this!

As for size, I managed to take a snap of her with my hand on the other side of the tank. I know she is more than 7cm but I'm not sure where to measure from and to.

Also could anyone give me a rough idea on how much I should be feeding her? I have a selection of crickets around 1" long and red runners just over 1" (though the ones with wings are about 1.5"), I also have meal worms. I don't want to over feed her, but the versicolor eats a roach or a couple of crickets a week. This one is so much bigger and hss such a fast response to food I'm guessing she needs considerably more?

 

[Tarantulafeets]

The spinning is completely normal, people call it the "happy dance" and they do that whenever they are eating.

 

[m0lsx]

I believe, although I do not know where I read it. That the happy dance, could possibly be a defensive thing. I believe the theory is that whilst dancing they lay down some webbing which then gives them some protection whilst they concentrate on eating & have no real defence.

 

[sunset]

I believe, although I do not know where I read it. That the happy dance, could possibly be a defensive thing. I believe the theory is that whilst dancing they lay down some webbing which then gives them some protection whilst they concentrate on eating & have no real defen

I read something along the same lines. But can't help to love the happy dance, spinning and all. They get those spinnerets moving and round and round they go!!. So satisfying to watch lol.
As for feeding, tarantulas are opportunistic eaters, as for feeders, you can feed it anything that's around the same size as it's carapace. Yours seems to be about the size of a sub adult, depending on the fullness of your TS abdomen. You could probably feed it 2 LG roaches a week. If it's abdomen seems to still be small you can feed it another but that's probably all I would do for the week. When they molt I usually feed a bigger meal to give them back the nutrients they lost. But after that depending on species and what you have for feeders, I'd say 2 LG weekly if not every other.
Wait till it's abdomen starts to go down again before the next meal.
Hope that's helpful.

 

[Steph1304]

I read something along the same lines. But can't help to love the happy dance, spinning and all. They get those spinnerets moving and round and round they go!!. So satisfying to watch lol.
As for feeding, tarantulas are opportunistic eaters, as for feeders, you can feed it anything that's around the same size as it's carapace. Yours seems to be about the size of a sub adult, depending on the fullness of your TS abdomen. You could probably feed it 2 LG roaches a week. If it's abdomen seems to still be small you can feed it another but that's probably all I would do for the week. When they molt I usually feed a bigger meal to give them back the nutrients they lost. But after that depending on species and what you have for feeders, I'd say 2 LG weekly if not every other.
Wait till it's abdomen starts to go down again before the next meal.
Hope that's helpful.

That's really helpful thank you!