Feed the Beast

SATURDAY, JANUARY 2, 2016   |   POSTED BY MICAH GARTMAN

Happy New Year!

Autumn was peaceful and quiet for Sydney Sue. On December 6th, she celebrated her second birthday by sleeping all day. We're still waiting for her to molt. I haven't earned enough of her trust to pick her up, but she has no issue with me feeding her. She's been eating so much, in fact, that she now has a bigger butt than Kim Kardashian! Over the past year Sydney Sue and I have developed enough of a bond that we've been able to create our own clean-and-feed system, so I thought I'd share it with you. The basic game plan goes like this:

Every Thursday I fill up her water dish, clean up her trash (which she bundles up in silk and kindly puts next to the water dish) and give her a tasty cricket. She stands very still and watches every move I make. I know she wants to retreat into her tube so I can't touch her, but Baby Sydney is ready to eat!

I captured the entire routine on video. There is no gore, but it might be too scary for the little ones. Tarantulas are ambush hunters and attack their prey with amazing ferocity. If possible, watch the entire video so you can see Sydney Sue perform the classic tarantula "victory dance" after she catches her tasty cricket.

Spiders need love, too.
IUCN and CITES classify 37 species of tarantula as threatened or critically endangered.
Help support tarantula conservation today.