Artificial food?

[prairiepanda]

Some people have had luck feeding fang-less Ts "cricket soup"(squished out bug guts) in a dish or by dropper directly onto the mouth. I suppose in theory a synthetic liquid diet could be formulated and applied in the same way, but it's not feasible because it would cost too much to develop compared to feeding live prey and feeding would become a huge chore since most Ts would need to be fed by dropper. The last part might be remedied by filling gel capsules with the liquid diet and waving them around on a stick or in tongs to encourage the Ts to pounce and eat it like a real bug. (the hex bug robot idea is just ludicrous, tbh) Still the problem remains that the cost of producing such a product would be too much to justify the effort. If a pet owner were to compare the price and amount of effort involved in feeding the gel caps vs live feeders, the live feeders would win on both counts by a huge margin.

So it may be possible, yes, but not feasible. (And I'm a third year biochemistry major, so please don't attack my intelligence or educational background if you wish to dispute me. Civilized arguments are welcome, however.)

 

[Blut und ehre]

Some people have had luck feeding fang-less Ts "cricket soup"(squished out bug guts) in a dish or by dropper directly onto the mouth. I suppose in theory a synthetic liquid diet could be formulated and applied in the same way, but it's not feasible because it would cost too much to develop compared to feeding live prey and feeding would become a huge chore since most Ts would need to be fed by dropper. The last part might be remedied by filling gel capsules with the liquid diet and waving them around on a stick or in tongs to encourage the Ts to pounce and eat it like a real bug. (the hex bug robot idea is just ludicrous, tbh) Still the problem remains that the cost of producing such a product would be too much to justify the effort. If a pet owner were to compare the price and amount of effort involved in feeding the gel caps vs live feeders, the live feeders would win on both counts by a huge margin.

So it may be possible, yes, but not feasible. (And I'm a third year biochemistry major, so please don't attack my intelligence or educational background if you wish to dispute me. Civilized arguments are welcome, however.)

+1 ....agreed!! [What arguments??? hahahaha]

 

[viper69]

Whomever thinks this half-baked, crackpot, meth-induced derived "solution" is even REMOTELY a viable and logical option to live prey for the long term care and breeding of tarantulas is an idiot. If someone can't handle feeding live prey to an animal that has evolved to eat live prey over the course of MILLIONS of years, do the tarantulas a favor and get a different animal as a pet.

---------- Post added 01-30-2014 at 03:35 AM ----------

Just found this. Someone feeding their Phlogius sarina animal meat because they found the live food cultures smelt and were too high maintenance :0 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TtzaAAYeDqs

A lazy owner is a BAD owner. He should get a plant instead.

 

[Blut und ehre]

And a "fake" plant at that!! hahahah

Whomever thinks this half-baked, crackpot, meth-induced derived "solution" is even REMOTELY a viable and logical option to live prey for the long term care and breeding of tarantulas is an idiot. If someone can't handle feeding live prey to an animal that has evolved to eat live prey over the course of MILLIONS of years, do the tarantulas a favor and get a different animal as a pet.

---------- Post added 01-30-2014 at 03:35 AM ----------




A lazy owner is a BAD owner. He should get a plant instead.

 

[viper69]

And a "fake" plant at that!! hahahah

HAHAHAH water almost on keyboard w/that fake plant remark !!! SOOOO TRUEEEE

 

[hibiscusmile]

The cricket on a stick reminds me of the movie " the Christmas story" where Ralphies mother is asking his brother what the little piggies eat"!!! lol

 

[Blut und ehre]

Oh Yeah....With the "smashed" potatoes on the fork!!! hahahaahha

 

[prairiepanda]

Whomever thinks this half-baked, crackpot, meth-induced derived "solution" is even REMOTELY a viable and logical option to live prey for the long term care and breeding of tarantulas is an idiot. If someone can't handle feeding live prey to an animal that has evolved to eat live prey over the course of MILLIONS of years, do the tarantulas a favor and get a different animal as a pet.

Most people don't feed live prey to dogs, cats, or ferrets. This is quite often also true for carnivorous reptiles and predatory birds in captivity. Live prey may be the best solution for Ts, but it's not the only solution. Feeding chunks of meat is just silly, though, and definitely wouldn't meet all the nutritional requirements of the animal.

 

[jsteadm1]

Whomever thinks this half-baked, crackpot, meth-induced derived "solution" is even REMOTELY a viable and logical option to live prey for the long term care and breeding of tarantulas is an idiot. If someone can't handle feeding live prey to an animal that has evolved to eat live prey over the course of MILLIONS of years, do the tarantulas a favor and get a different animal as a pet.

---------- Post added 01-30-2014 at 03:35 AM ----------




A lazy owner is a BAD owner. He should get a plant instead.

+1... I can't believe what I just watched. That guy needs to sell his tarantulas if he can't handle crickets.

 

[oooo35980]

That's an awful lot of hate considering most tarantulas didn't exactly "evolve over the course of MILLIONS of years" to live in a plastic box on coco fiber and eat a diet of crickets. His T is obviously not sick or dying, I can't think of any reason that meat would be unhealthy for a T, considering that most of them will scavenge and vertebrate prey in the wild isn't exactly uncommon.

Maybe I haven't been in the hobby long enough to understand.

 

[vespers]

He should get a plant instead.

Some plants can be more difficult to care for than most tarantulas.

 

[prairiepanda]

That's an awful lot of hate considering most tarantulas didn't exactly "evolve over the course of MILLIONS of years" to live in a plastic box on coco fiber and eat a diet of crickets. His T is obviously not sick or dying, I can't think of any reason that meat would be unhealthy for a T, considering that most of them will scavenge and vertebrate prey in the wild isn't exactly uncommon.

Maybe I haven't been in the hobby long enough to understand.

Meat isn't bad for them, it's just not nutritionally complete. Used as a staple diet, especially if using just one kind of meat, the T will gradually develop severe nutrient deficiencies. I'd expected it to shorten their lifespan substantially and cause developmental issues in growing Ts.

 

[oooo35980]

Meat isn't bad for them, it's just not nutritionally complete. Used as a staple diet, especially if using just one kind of meat, the T will gradually develop severe nutrient deficiencies. I'd expected it to shorten their lifespan substantially and cause developmental issues in growing Ts.

Interesting. What is considered complete nutrition? What is meat missing that crickets have?

 

[LordWaffle]

Some plants can be more difficult to care for than most tarantulas.

Then he can get a chia pet.

 

[viper69]

Most people don't feed live prey to dogs, cats, or ferrets. This is quite often also true for carnivorous reptiles and predatory birds in captivity. Live prey may be the best solution for Ts, but it's not the only solution. Feeding chunks of meat is just silly, though, and definitely wouldn't meet all the nutritional requirements of the animal.

What do domesticated mammals have to do with Ts?? I'm shocked a science major is even making such an apples/oranges comparison. I expect more out of science majors, perhaps that's my "mistake". What do birds, reptiles, and any other animals have to do with Ts in this context?

"Live prey may be the best solution for Ts" May be the best solution? So you aren't sure if millions of years of evolution got it "right" ? Or did you have a better solution that millions of years of evolution missed or did "wrong" ? I wasn't aware that Ts were having a difficult time eating live prey at all and needed another solution. Is there a world-wide pandemic of epic proportions where Ts are suddenly starving because they can't/won't eat live prey in the wild or in captivity??

 

[just1moreT]

One of my T's wrote in webb on glass veggies please

---------- Post added 01-30-2014 at 07:43 PM ----------

If all the roaches and crickets run out im figuring im already gone or will be soon , roach its what for dinner ,

 

[Zervoid]

I'm a third year biochemistry major, so please don't attack my intelligence or educational background if you wish to dispute me.

prairiepanda <edit> Nothing I said is insulting your education or backgound. It's simply proving your complete and utter inability to think creatively. You might be smart but I'm guessing your as boring as oop: watching paint dry.

I agree with you oooo35980 their is way too much hate on this forum. Dismissing something straight out like that everytime I have an idea reminds me why I never bother to talk on intenet forums.

And viper69 change your quote "Some men see things as they are and say why, I dream things that never were and say why not" <edit>.

 

[prairiepanda]

What do domesticated mammals have to do with Ts?? I'm shocked a science major is even making such an apples/oranges comparison. I expect more out of science majors, perhaps that's my "mistake". What do birds, reptiles, and any other animals have to do with Ts in this context?

"Live prey may be the best solution for Ts" May be the best solution? So you aren't sure if millions of years of evolution got it "right" ? Or did you have a better solution that millions of years of evolution missed or did "wrong" ? I wasn't aware that Ts were having a difficult time eating live prey at all and needed another solution. Is there a world-wide pandemic of epic proportions where Ts are suddenly starving because they can't/won't eat live prey in the wild or in captivity??

I was not trying to suggest that domestic animals were the same as tarantulas, which is why I also included birds and reptiles in my comparison. But please consider the fact that whole prey is the most biologically appropriate food for cats and ferrets, even though they have been domesticated. They are still carnivores, regardless what's in their kibble. And yes, even reptiles and birds are entirely different from arthropods, but in my opinion it is a relevant example of providing something other than live prey to a wild, predatory animal. Yes, they have different nutritional requirements, but the discussion is about alternate methods of meeting those requirements and not about what those requirements actually are.

Furthermore, you have chosen a different definition for the word "may" than the one that I intended. I was not questioning the fact that live prey is the best solution.

prairiepanda <edit> Nothing I said is insulting your education or backgound. It's simply proving your complete and utter inability to think creatively. You might be smart but I'm guessing your as boring as oop: watching paint dry.

I wasn't trying to brag. Being a student doesn't make me special or superior in any way. I'm sorry if I offended you, but I was only trying to fend off comments like this one:

You obviously don't know a lot about science. Because this is NOT true at all, it's not even remotely true, whatever makes you think this crazy thought of yours (I'm not really asking you because it's beyond crazy) >>> "considering everything in nature can be manufactured these days and processed down to it's mathematical base through a computer"

My guess is that you are not yet in a university. You have a lot to learn about science and man's "capabilities"

 

[LordWaffle]

You really need to calm down. Getting all huffy because your idea isn't well accepted among people who know more about the subject than you is going to be a major problem anywhere you go. You don't post on forums because people don't think your ideas are great. Lovely.

 

[viper69]

prairiepanda <edit>. Nothing I said is insulting your education or backgound. It's simply proving your complete and utter inability to think creatively. You might be smart but I'm guessing your as boring as oop: watching paint dry.

I agree with you oooo35980 their is way too much hate on this forum. Dismissing something straight out like that everytime I have an idea reminds me why I never bother to talk on intenet forums.

And viper69 change your quote "Some men see things as they are and say why, I dream things that never were and say why not" <edit>.

This is wrong on so many levels. I won't even comment but for 2 things, I will quote it.


Prariepanda <edit> puts up helpful posts often. Stating someone's educational level is not bragging at all, Panda was stating a fact, no more, no less. I've read those that complain about such a statement may be insecure.


---------- Post added 01-30-2014 at 09:26 PM ----------

I was not trying to suggest that domestic animals were the same as tarantulas, which is why I also included birds and reptiles in my comparison. But please consider the fact that whole prey is the most biologically appropriate food for cats and ferrets, even though they have been domesticated. They are still carnivores, regardless what's in their kibble. And yes, even reptiles and birds are entirely different from arthropods, but in my opinion it is a relevant example of providing something other than live prey to a wild, predatory animal. Yes, they have different nutritional requirements, but the discussion is about alternate methods of meeting those requirements and not about what those requirements actually are.

Furthermore, you have chosen a different definition for the word "may" than the one that I intended. I was not questioning the fact that live prey is the best solution.

I submit you are probably right regarding the above. I see what you meant by "may" now!! I was like "may" really??? I'm sorry Panda!

---------- Post added 01-30-2014 at 09:44 PM ----------

Some plants can be more difficult to care for than most tarantulas.

That's actually quite true. My botanist friends and I trade stories all the time, thanks for reminding me!