LiamMail
Arachnopeon
- Joined
- Oct 16, 2017
- Messages
- 2
Hi all! New poster here on Arachnoboards! I've used information from this site's threads a lot in the past for my experiences with keeping invertebrates at work. Now, my girlfriend and I have found ourselves the owners of a Grammostola rosea who needed a forever home. The tarantula has done well feeding on crickets, but we were interested in keeping an invertebrate colony that she could periodically feed on so we wouldn't have to keep going to the pet store. I have offered it Gromphadorhina portentosa from our local pet store, and the T took it quickly the first time it was offered (granted, the hisser was not in its best shape and basically walked right into its pedipalps). We have since kept several of the G. portentosa as a colony, but haven't been able to get it to feed on any of them, even after fasting the T for about a month (both by offering a roach free-roaming in the tank and via tongs). The colony is probably at 40-50 individuals now and is kind of outgrowing its space, so these are the questions I'm posing...
1. Is there a way to easily get our T to eat the G. portentosa without causing the hissers stress? I've seen people suggest things like crushing the head so it doesn't bury itself or freeze up, but it seems pretty inhumane to us, especially if the T left it like that for a month plus. Would the T eventually eat the hisser if it got hungry enough to where we just need to provide the hisser with food in the T's tank?
2. Is there a different invert that's easy to keep/breed that is more similar to the house crickets she's eating that we could switch to keeping? I've been toying with the idea of Nauphoeta cinerea or other smaller roach species. Do T's do well with small roach species like this, or do they have the same prey responses of burying themselves or freezing up to where the T might not eat them? Should we be considering a totally different kind of invert all together?
Thanks in advance for any replies!
1. Is there a way to easily get our T to eat the G. portentosa without causing the hissers stress? I've seen people suggest things like crushing the head so it doesn't bury itself or freeze up, but it seems pretty inhumane to us, especially if the T left it like that for a month plus. Would the T eventually eat the hisser if it got hungry enough to where we just need to provide the hisser with food in the T's tank?
2. Is there a different invert that's easy to keep/breed that is more similar to the house crickets she's eating that we could switch to keeping? I've been toying with the idea of Nauphoeta cinerea or other smaller roach species. Do T's do well with small roach species like this, or do they have the same prey responses of burying themselves or freezing up to where the T might not eat them? Should we be considering a totally different kind of invert all together?
Thanks in advance for any replies!