this post was submitted on 19 Jun 2025
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[–] remon@ani.social 14 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

I don't think it's a change in their eating habits, these spiders are known to catch fish, frog, salamanders or basically anything that size you'll find near water. Just rare to see and snap a picture of one with a turtle.

[–] andros_rex@lemmy.world 7 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Yeah, many larger spider species will go after smaller vertebrates. Goliath bird eaters (South American) will go after snakes much larger than they are - despite the name, they aren’t inclined towards birds though.

Calories are calories.

[–] remon@ani.social 7 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Yep, they are generally opportunistic and can be quite brazen. But most of the time they'll go after easier, smaller prey.

I used to have a goliath birdeater and it was entirely fed on crickets. We tried a baby mouse once, but it was a huge mess to clean up and they don't need nor prefer it.

Theridiidae are usually the most notourious for catching much bigger prey.