Do you raise any unusual feeders for your T's?

[Swoop]

Just recently ordered my first slings after nearly a decade of not having any inverts. Picked up crickets at Petco for the time being but I'd like to at least dabble raising some other kind of food for them. What sort of alternatives do you use to store-bought, if any?

I know people do roaches, fruitflies, mealworms, and crickets. None of those seem particularly interesting to me tho I could raise crickets I suppose. Found some black soldier fly grubs once in a compost bin, they were pretty easy. My mom was mad because they 'ate her worms' that she bought for composting but my toads loved them and they're cheap and native to this area. Earwigs would be a little tougher but catching a few females would probably yield eggs I could put into a clean enclosure to avoid pesticides and parasites and start a colony of sorts. I'll probably try BSF's and earwigs, just to see if I can.

Do you raise anything that's a little out of the ordinary to feed your tarantulas?

 

[jaycied]

Maggots are easy, and arboreals are fun to watch catch the flies. Same idea with waxworms and those moths, but they aren't very nutritious.

 

[TRection]

You could always raise a couple kids

I personally do superworms, unlike mealworms you have to actually separate and raise their beetles before they start laying eggs. So its almost like having more little pets to look after which i enjoy.

 

[efmp1987]

I fed my pinky that I lost in an accident.

 

[The Grym Reaper]

I personally do superworms, unlike mealworms you have to actually separate and raise their beetles before they start laying eggs.

Tempted to try this, I ordered two packs of them, they didn't turn up for ages so I phoned up to say they hadn't turned up and they sent out another two packs free of charge... Anyway, both lots eventually turned up without a single DOA so I currently have shedloads lol. Any tips?

 

[TRection]

Tempted to try this, I ordered two packs of them, they didn't turn up for ages so I phoned up to say they hadn't turned up and they sent out another two packs free of charge... Anyway, both lots eventually turned up without a single DOA so I currently have shedloads lol. Any tips?

The worms themselves are easy to keep, i use those orange cricket food/water cubes for them. Keep them in a container large enough for them so they are not piled all on top of each other and fill it with an inch or 2 of plain oats. You can give them pretty much anything to eat in terms of vegetables and fruits just chop them up and lay them skin side down so they dont moisten the oats too much and prevents molding. As long as they have plenty of room and plenty of food they wont eat each other, they are cannibalistic in nature which is the only reason i suggest giving them room rather than dumping them all into a small container.

As for the beetles, i use a fishing tackle box to separate the worms. Place the worms by individually in the little cubes with a little bit of oats and a little slice of water cube or carrot or whatever (i find this helps keep them alive long enough to turn). After about 2 weeks they will pupate and after another 2 weeks they will hatch into beetles. The beetles start off white and soft so its a good idea to watch until they turn readish brown at least before transferring them (again because they might eat eachother) place the worms into their own container, not with the worms. The beetle container should have a small layer of plain oats or wheat germ with some egg cartons for them to hide and live in. Just like the worms feed them pretty much any fruits or vegetables you want. But once the vegetables dry out (as long as they dont mold) just move them to one side of the enclosure DO NOT throw them out. The reason being is that superworms beetles like to lay their eggs on them and by tossing the leftovers you could be tossing a bunch of eggs. Thats pretty much it really. The beetles are honestly pretty cute lol when i feed mine they will actually come scurrying over from opposite sides of the tank right to the food and start pushing each other out of the way the same way cats do to each other lol. Anyways hope that helps, Ill post a pic of my set up if you would like

 

[AmberDawnDays]

I am also interested in starting a colony of some sort, but I don't even know how to get started with that.

 

[JoshDM020]

Im starting (trying to start) dubia roaches and mealworms. Ive got one thats like... 3 days from leveling up to beetle form (i still like that analogy)

 

[ShyDragoness]

I would love to breed dubia but my mum would actually kill me haha

(edit: IM NOT JOKING!! She once thought a moth was a cockroach, tbh it was sitting in a way that it did look kinda like one, and spent the next hour screaming having panic attacks and cleaning the house- it was not fun!)

 

[Swoop]

My mom's like that with dogs, she thinks anything she can't identify is a pitbull. Like 'No Mom, that's a beagle, he's not going to grow into a 120 pound spike-collared neighborhood menace.' Ironically I think her 'Australian shepherd/red healer mix' was actually one quarter pitbull.

I think beetles would be fun but they seem like a lot of fuss.

 

[nicodimus22]

Smurfs. They always prompt a great feeding response, what with all the yelling and crying.

 

[Venom1080]

Kittens.

 

[darkness975]

The pinchers on the back side of Dermaptera spp. would concern me, as well as the foul odor they emit when threatened.

 

[Johnny Q]

I have been keeping termites to feed my smallest carnivorous inverts. Super easy to keep just checked them for the first time in almost 2 months and they are thriving.

 

[The Grym Reaper]

The worms themselves are easy to keep

Yeah, they're pretty much bulletproof, I just give them an oatmeal substrate and they're fine for months.

As for the beetles, i use a fishing tackle box to separate the worms. Place the worms by individually in the little cubes with a little bit of oats and a little slice of water cube or carrot or whatever (i find this helps keep them alive long enough to turn). After about 2 weeks they will pupate and after another 2 weeks they will hatch into beetles. The beetles start off white and soft so its a good idea to watch until they turn readish brown at least before transferring them (again because they might eat eachother) place the worms into their own container, not with the worms. The beetle container should have a small layer of plain oats or wheat germ with some egg cartons for them to hide and live in. Just like the worms feed them pretty much any fruits or vegetables you want. But once the vegetables dry out (as long as they dont mold) just move them to one side of the enclosure DO NOT throw them out. The reason being is that superworms beetles like to lay their eggs on them and by tossing the leftovers you could be tossing a bunch of eggs. Thats pretty much it really. The beetles are honestly pretty cute lol when i feed mine they will actually come scurrying over from opposite sides of the tank right to the food and start pushing each other out of the way the same way cats do to each other lol. Anyways hope that helps, Ill post a pic of my set up if you would like

This is the bit I was curious about, that's a great help, thanks.

Do they only lay their eggs on/in fruit/veg or is a case of "they'll lay them wherever but prefer fruit/veg"?

I'm not massively keen on leaving fruit/veg in livefood bins because they attract flies (and Hades knows what else lol) and flies get on my nerves.

 

[Swoop]

Haha smurfs. I don't know if a bucket of singing smurfs would be more or less annoying than chirping crickets.

The pinchers on the back side of Dermaptera spp. would concern me, as well as the foul odor they emit when threatened.

I used to use wild-caught earwigs as feeders for just about everything else I caught including some relatively small spiders (~3/4" or smaller jumping spiders). I doubt juveniles or females pose any threat to a 1" or larger spider but I would pre-kill or snip the pincers just in case. The big males are pretty cool to look at too, they go from circular pincers to these big ol' scythe-shaped things.

I've heard they smell but never been able to smell one, threatened or otherwise.

 

[darkness975]

I've heard they smell but never been able to smell one, threatened or otherwise.

Hold it up to your nose after holding one. It's not the most repulsive thing you've ever smelled but it is there.

 

[TRection]

Yeah, they're pretty much bulletproof, I just give them an oatmeal substrate and they're fine for months.



This is the bit I was curious about, that's a great help, thanks.

Do they only lay their eggs on/in fruit/veg or is a case of "they'll lay them wherever but prefer fruit/veg"?

I'm not massively keen on leaving fruit/veg in livefood bins because they attract flies (and Hades knows what else lol) and flies get on my nerves.

They will lay them pretty much anywhere but prefer laying them on fruits and veg carrots work really well because i never find it rots they tent to just dry out and shrivel up so i have never had issues with flies.

 

[ediblepain]

Earwigs can fly

 

[nellyitchabelly1]

Just recently ordered my first slings after nearly a decade of not having any inverts. Picked up crickets at Petco for the time being but I'd like to at least dabble raising some other kind of food for them. What sort of alternatives do you use to store-bought, if any?

I know people do roaches, fruitflies, mealworms, and crickets. None of those seem particularly interesting to me tho I could raise crickets I suppose. Found some black soldier fly grubs once in a compost bin, they were pretty easy. My mom was mad because they 'ate her worms' that she bought for composting but my toads loved them and they're cheap and native to this area. Earwigs would be a little tougher but catching a few females would probably yield eggs I could put into a clean enclosure to avoid pesticides and parasites and start a colony of sorts. I'll probably try BSF's and earwigs, just to see if I can.

Do you raise anything that's a little out of the ordinary to feed your tarantulas?

I feed and have been feeding for a long time black soldier fly larvae and I was you been using those with my jumping spiders and I might possibly try it on my tarantula but somebody told me that the calcium is not good for inverts but I haven't seen anything to back that up yet so I'm still researching it but I have black shoulder flies in a composting bin right now