Caring for T's food?

[shoelacekeys]

Hey, long time lurker, first time poster, etc, etc.

I've been researching care for a T for a bit now, and when learning about feeding, the answer is generally crickets/fruit flies/roaches.
I've never owned anything that's required these as food, so:

How do I store them?
Do the require refrigeration?
Can I feed dried/preserved crickets/flies to a T?
Do I need to build my own colony of insects, and sustain them as a regular thing?
Are crickets loud? Do they smell? What do crickets eat?

And any other knowledge about crickets/flies would be great!

 

[synyster]

Welcome

As for feeding, crickets and roaches are the most prized meals for T's. Fruit flies will generally be for slings (under .5" spiders) and usually just giving a cricket leg will do. If you plan on having multiple T's, you can store crickets in any tank, or roaches in a covered bin. Most likely you will start off with 1-5 T's so keeping a roach colony is of no concern as you will have too many for the number of T's. My suggestion is to take a trip to the pet store once a week and get crickets or pinhead crickets/roaches for the number of spiders you need to feed. You cannot feed dead prey to a spider. They are hunters so prey has to be alive (exception made for really small slings but prey has to be freshly pre-killed in that case). Most T's can take on a cricket their size and sometimes even more.
Yes, male crickets can be loud.
The best to feed them if you keep them is gut load.
Yes crickets stink. (especially when there are dead ones left in the enclosure)
No refrigeration is required because you need prey to be alive.

 

[Hobo]

Hey, long time lurker, first time poster, etc, etc.

I've been researching care for a T for a bit now, and when learning about feeding, the answer is generally crickets/fruit flies/roaches.
I've never owned anything that's required these as food, so:

How do I store them?
Do the require refrigeration?
Can I feed dried/preserved crickets/flies to a T?
Do I need to build my own colony of insects, and sustain them as a regular thing?
Are crickets loud? Do they smell? What do crickets eat?

And any other knowledge about crickets/flies would be great!

1. You can store 'em in any properly ventilated plastic container or aquarium.
2. They do not need refrigeration, but depending on the feeder, you can refrigerate them to increase their "shelf life"
3. Well you can try rehydrating them and seeing if they will take em, but in general they will only take live or at least freshly maimed/killed.
4. It is not necessary, though prudent if you have a large collection.
5. Yeah, they're pretty loud. Their stench depends on how you keep/feed them, though it will generally be unpleasant. They eat most fruit and veggies. I feed mine dog food.

 

[advan]

Welcome

As for feeding, crickets and roaches are the most prized meals for T's. Fruit flies will generally be for slings (under .5" spiders) and usually just giving a cricket leg will do. If you plan on having multiple T's, you can store crickets in any tank, or roaches in a covered bin. Most likely you will start off with 1-5 T's so keeping a roach colony is of no concern as you will have too many for the number of T's. My suggestion is to take a trip to the pet store once a week and get crickets or pinhead crickets/roaches for the number of spiders you need to feed. You cannot feed dead prey to a spider. They are hunters so prey has to be alive (exception made for really small slings but prey has to be freshly pre-killed in that case). Most T's can take on a cricket their size and sometimes even more.
Yes, male crickets can be loud.
The best to feed them if you keep them is gut load.
Yes crickets stink. (especially when there are dead ones left in the enclosure)
No refrigeration is required because you need prey to be alive.

I agree with all of this except the bold. They will eat dead prey.

 

[Obijuan56]

I have 2 bearded dragons and 8 tarantulas so I have to buy an abundance of crickets to feed them all, I go through 250 or so in about 2 weeks but reptiles need to eat everyday. For just one or two tarantulas the best bet would be to just go to your local pet store and buy a couple. If you want to keep a large quantity of crickets be prepared for them to be loud and smelly depending on the size that you get. Also its good to keep like the water gel stuff for crickets, and I just dog food and some lettuce to keep them fed. I also started a Dubia Roach colony just because I am over crickets but I don't think you will have to go that far.

 

[synyster]

I agree with all of this except the bold. They will eat dead prey.

True but if it's not freshly killed I don't think they'll take it... I could be wrong here as I have never fed dead prey to any of my T's. Also isin't there a health issue if the prey has been dead for a while??

And I didn't say they won't eat it. But I agree what should have been written is "You Shouldn't feed dead prey to your T"

 

[advan]

True but if it's not freshly killed I don't think they'll take it... I could be wrong here as I have never fed dead prey to any of my T's. Also isin't there a health issue if the prey has been dead for a while??

And I didn't say they won't eat it. But I agree what should have been written is "You Shouldn't feed dead prey to your T"

Saying they cannot is implying that they will not or won't. If you said that they cannot eat a television I would agree with you. I wouldn't of put it as "shouldn't" either, there are many people who do not have access to pinheads or smaller feeders, so they kill a cricket and chop em up. Freshly killed is best, I hope no one would try to feed their spider a dryed up or rotten cricket. Also you should remove uneaten food in 24 hrs whether it was dead or alive when you introduced it to your spider.

To the OP: Feed the feeders dog or cat food and mixture of fruits and veggies, if you feed the ladder then you won't need water gel they will get the moisture from the produce.

 

[Chris_Skeleton]

You can feed a T dead prey. Of course not dried out or rotted as advan said. They will find it, and they will eat it as long as it's fresh. I typically don't feed mine dead crickets because I enjoy watching them attack, but I kill mealworms and toss them in all the time and they always eat.

So what are the reasons you shouldn't feed dead prey?

 

[synyster]

Ok maybe I just wrote my post too quick. Usually I try to take my time and be careful that everything I have posted is accurate but I seem to have not done it this time. I'm starting my statement over:

Yes T's can eat dead prey but myself, I prefer to feed them live. More fun to watch haha. I meant that you shouldn't feed them dead prey if it has been dead for too long. I must have thought this and not wrote it. sorry. I totally agree with the above posts, and if you read mine, you will notice that in both I stated freshly pre-killed as being fine to feed (or at least I think I did). So I guess that since i'm not writing everything that i'm actually thinking, then that means that I am tired as it is 1:30 am and that I should go to sleep. I wish you all a good night and I totally agree with the above statements

 

[HotPocket]

my cricket advice is feed off the males first few things in this world annoy me more than chirping crickets in my apartment.

 

[webbedone]

unless you have a large amounts of Ts dont even worry about keeping crickets infact you will soon learn that you want nothing to do with them.
Go to a pet store buy 3-4 crix per T feed em off the same day and thank god that they dont escape make their way into your basement huddle under the furnice reproduce and chirp all night long!!! next thing you know you dont want to spray things to kill them and risk your spiders to the poison then you start doing all sorts of crazy stuff like hunting them with a pvc tube and a piece of potato. And ofcourse even when you catch them you dont feed them to your Ts because you dont know where they've been dont even ask i am done talking about it, this conversation never happened!!!!

 

[BrynWilliams]

True but if it's not freshly killed I don't think they'll take it... I could be wrong here as I have never fed dead prey to any of my T's. Also isin't there a health issue if the prey has been dead for a while??

And I didn't say they won't eat it. But I agree what should have been written is "You Shouldn't feed dead prey to your T"

I feed defrosted frozen crickets/cricket parts to my really small slings when there aren't micros available or i'm suspecting that my sling is in premoult and don't feel like rooting around in the enclosure to find the live feeder if they do indeed go into moult.

No problems in two years, just have to be good about taking out the bolus after they're finished with it, as they seem to go weird faster than freshly killed.

 

[synyster]

I feed defrosted frozen crickets/cricket parts to my really small slings when there aren't micros available or i'm suspecting that my sling is in premoult and don't feel like rooting around in the enclosure to find the live feeder if they do indeed go into moult.

No problems in two years, just have to be good about taking out the bolus after they're finished with it, as they seem to go weird faster than freshly killed.

Nice thanks for the info. This one i'll admit, I didn't know about. I know you can serve thawed mice to snakes but never thought about doing the same with crix and T's. I'll keep that in mind but I personally only serve fresh. But then again, how long do you keep them in the freezer before feeding?

 

[Arachnoholic420]

Nice thanks for the info. This one i'll admit, I didn't know about. I know you can serve thawed mice to snakes but never thought about doing the same with crix and T's. I'll keep that in mind but I personally only serve fresh. But then again, how long do you keep them in the freezer before feeding?

here is a qoute from Eman, in the canadian sub foum!!!

Aside from the usual pet shop staples, there are a variety of food sources available for your spiders. Here are some to consider:

Invertebrates:
Roaches - these are, by far, the best staple food source for tarantulas IMO. The species I prefer are Blaberus fusca and Rhyparobia maderae. Unfortunately, roaches are illegal in our country.

Earth worms - most ground dwellers (and even arboreals) love them. Just make sure, as with anything you catch outside (or buy in a bait shop), that they are pesticide / herbicide / insecticide free. If you have access to an organic composting area, you are almost certain to find a healthy population of earth worms.

Native insects, i.e. beetles, larvae, crickets, grass hoppers, moths, etc. - I generally avoid them. Needless to say, your spiders don’t care and will gladly dive on them. [I have frequently found the bolus remains of beetles, millipedes and even snails, inside tarantula burrows in the wild]

Amphibians:
Frogs - I avoid catching any of our native species, except bull frogs (especially when I’ve noticed significantly higher density levels – due to prolonged or unusual rainfall and other environmental factors?). Non-native species are commercially available here in Montreal (Reptile Amazon) as "feeders" - which I buy every now and then for my larger females.

Toads - I tend to avoid capturing these as well, unless they happen to be all over the place in a given year. Again, non-native feeders are also available.

Reptiles:
Skinks, house geckos, anoles, etc. are commonly sold as feeders and are all excellent choices. If you’ve never seen how Lasiodora, Sericopelma, Pamphobeteus, Phormictopus and Theraphosa species react to reptiles (and amphibians), chances are you’ll be impressed... essentially, they go nuts!

Arboreals tend to favor geckos and anoles while the larger ground dwellers are quite happy tackling anything, including mid to large-sized skinks.

Rodents:
Young mice/rats/gerbils/hamsters, etc. are the largest cheap menu item. I try to avoid them in favor of reptile/amphibian alternatives. The latter seem to occur more frequently in their natural diets (which might explain why certain NW species prefer them, by far). Obviously, cost becomes the limiting factor here.

Other:
The Toronto Zoo feeds thawed baby chicks to their larger “bird-eaters”, i.e. Brachypelma and Hysterocrates spp. and they seem to have a very decent track record in terms of captive longevity. I’ve never tried them (but I probably would if I could get my hands on some ).

Fish - I have experimented feeding gold fish to my spiders in the past, with good success. Although I did not encounter any perceivable ill effects, I wouldn’t recommend using fish by any means. There is no point in adding something unnatural to your spider’s diet.

Bottom line:
Generally speaking, tarantulas are opportunistic predators. Their stimulus-response mechanisms are easily triggered by a wide variety of prey. I try as much as possible to replicate what a tarantula would normally eat in its natural habitat.

Happy feeding!

Peace!!

 

[synyster]

Yeah I read it It's a good thread and thanks for posting it up here!

 

[Arachnoholic420]

Yeah I read it It's a good thread and thanks for posting it up here!

Np!!

Peace Bro!!