Feeding the preys of tarantulas?

[topikk]

Greetings. In the past, I've heard that Ts are not scavengers, meaning they won't eat ded bugs. So, I made a lil research on how people feed their Ts. I came into conclusion that most of them take care of crickets, roaches, worms etc. in another enclosure, and feed them alive to their Ts. Applying this procedure would be a P.I.T.A. for me, since the place I live in is mostly free of such bugs and I dont think I can find a place nearby where I can buy alive bugs. Dangit, I'm not getting anywhere with this. So, in short; Is it really necessary to keep big bugs alive at my house, or is it ok feeding ded bugs?

 

[DanBsTs]

Greetings. In the past, I've heard that Ts are not scavengers, meaning they won't eat ded bugs. So, I made a lil research on how people feed their Ts. I came into conclusion that most of them take care of crickets, roaches, worms etc. in another enclosure, and feed them alive to their Ts. Applying this procedure would be a P.I.T.A. for me, since the place I live in is mostly free of such bugs and I dont think I can find a place nearby where I can buy alive bugs. Dangit, I'm not getting anywhere with this. So, in short; Is it really necessary to keep big bugs alive at my house, or is it ok feeding ded bugs?

I believe when Ts are in the sling stage they will have some scavenging tendencies. If you are talking about feeding slings I think pre-killed prey is ok. Correct me if I'm wrong anyone

 

[The Grym Reaper]

Slings and small juveniles will readily scavenge feed.

Keeping feeders alive doesn't actually require a massive amount of effort at all, I have a roach colony, a tub of superworms and a mealworm colony. Sourcing them shouldn't be difficult, you can order them from online reptile supply/pet supply stores/eBay

The mealworms are kept in a tub of bran in the fridge (cooler temps mean they take longer to pupate into beetles).

The superworms are just kept in a tub of bran at room temperature (putting these in the fridge will kill them) and last for months (they need to be separated to pupate into beetles).

The roaches require a little work but that mainly consists of topping up their food/bug gel every few days and cleaning them out once or twice a month.

 

[Mojo288]

Yes they will scavenge, some of mine won't take live feeders yet.

Some feeders can be kept in a fridge (buy a separate mini fridge if you're squeamish) such as meal-worms and wax worms. But if you have a big T this isn't going to be very effective imo, at some point you are going to need to find larger feeders.

You could try fishing bait shops .

 

[StampFan]

250 mealworms in a tiny thing in your fridge could last one T six months.

If you're referring to buying those prekilled insects in a can not likely a great idea.

 

[Andrea82]

Prekilled feeders still have to be freshly killed by you before you give it to your spider. It's not like 'oh, there's a dead beetle on the floor, i can feed that to my spider'.
So you need to keep live prey, yes.

 

[PidderPeets]

My 3" male N. chromatus has readily scavenged a dead superworm before (the superworm had just drowned in my mantis enclosure so it was fresh and the mantis wouldn't eat it), so I think it also depends on the individual tarantula.

But I agree with Andrea that even if feeding prekilled food, it still has to be fresh. So it's more efficient to keep some live prey in another enclosure.

You don't have any pet stores nearby that would sell feeder insects? There's also online.

 

[Andrea82]

https://www.ubuy.com.tr/en/brand/Mealworms#page=1

Online shop in Turkey that sells mealworms. Just googled on 'buying mealworms in Turkey'. They sell dried ones which you shouldn't use, spiders can't eat those, but they also sell live ones.

 

[G. pulchra]

How long are you talking about them being dead before you feed them?

 

[topikk]

https://www.ubuy.com.tr/en/brand/Mealworms#page=1

Online shop in Turkey that sells mealworms. Just googled on 'buying mealworms in Turkey'. They sell dried ones which you shouldn't use, spiders can't eat those, but they also sell live ones.

Ehehe, thank you! How much mealworms should be enough for a 4-5cm juvenile phase spider? I don't wanna overbuy, you know

 

[Swoop]

Ordering small amounts is going to cost a lot of shipping.

You could try finding a local tarantula, scorpion or reptile enthusiast with a feeder colony and buy small amounts from them.

 

[Andrea82]

Ehehe, thank you! How much mealworms should be enough for a 4-5cm juvenile phase spider? I don't wanna overbuy, you know

Mealworms stay good for six months in the fridge so I'd say 250 gram or so.

 

[cold blood]

Some feeders can be kept in a fridge (buy a separate mini fridge if you're squeamish) such as meal-worms and wax worms

Wax worms die in the fridge too if kept in there too long....they're best kept at room temp.

250 mealworms in a tiny thing in your fridge could last one T six months

Here's your solution....mealworms.

Ehehe, thank you! How much mealworms should be enough for a 4-5cm juvenile phase spider? I don't wanna overbuy, you know

You do want to over buy....as they last 6 months or more in the fridge....you literally have to buy mealies twice a year.

A juvie that size would be good with one mealworm per feeding. Just crush heads before feeding...they remain alive, but this prevents them from burrowing away.

 

[DanBsTs]

Just crush heads before feeding...they remain alive, but this prevents them from burrowing away.

Good to know! Wish Id have thought of that a while ago.

 

[The Grym Reaper]

250 mealworms in a tiny thing in your fridge could last one T six months.

Mealworms stay good for six months in the fridge so I'd say 250 gram or so.

You do want to over buy....as they last 6 months or more in the fridge....you literally have to buy mealies twice a year.

If you keep any that pupate and breed them then they'll last indefinitely, I'm feeding off the great grandkids of the batch I purchased in July of last year lol.

 

[cold blood]

If you keep any that pupate and breed them then they'll last indefinitely, I'm feeding off the great grandkids of the batch I purchased in July of last year lol.

I've had no success breeding them....but I will keep trying. @Venom1080 gave me a good baseline to follow, although it wasn't far off from what I was doing, it was still very helpful. I have great luck with everything I try to raise and breed...but not these dang things, and I know its not a difficult endeavor, people say all the time how easy they are.....one day mate

Till then, I am happy they are ridiculously cheap.

 

[StampFan]

I've had no success breeding them....but I will keep trying. @Venom1080 gave me a good baseline to follow, although it wasn't far off from what I was doing, it was still very helpful. I have great luck with everything I try to raise and breed...but not these dang things, and I know its not a difficult endeavor, people say all the time how easy they are.....one day mate

Till then, I am happy they are ridiculously cheap.

That's the piece for me. I can get 250 of these things less than a footlong at Subway. And also then don't have a bunch of potential escapee beetles in my house....

 

[The Grym Reaper]

I've had no success breeding them....but I will keep trying. @Venom1080 gave me a good baseline to follow, although it wasn't far off from what I was doing, it was still very helpful. I have great luck with everything I try to raise and breed...but not these dang things, and I know its not a difficult endeavor, people say all the time how easy they are.....one day mate

Till then, I am happy they are ridiculously cheap.

Fair enough, I literally only bothered trying because I was getting sick of killing/discarding the ones that pupated.

The only problem I've had was recently when a tub of babies ended up absolutely crawling with mites but I solved that by leaving the tub open with some petroleum jelly smeared around the top to stop them from trying to escape as things dried out.

 

[cold blood]

The only problem I've had was recently when a tub of babies ended up absolutely crawling with mites but I solved that by leaving the tub open with some petroleum jelly smeared around the top to stop them from trying to escape as things dried out.

Good solution...how long did this take? I had an explosion in my roach bin this summer... I've done 5 complete cleanings between August and October before I finally cleared up the issue.

 

[Swoop]

Fair enough, I literally only bothered trying because I was getting sick of killing/discarding the ones that pupated.

I use the pupae as sling food. Freshly molted adults get fed to my large slings/small juveniles. Larger food-happy juveniles (a Nhandu chromatus and an A. genic) get adult beetles with one or both halves of the elytra (hard wings) ripped off. I dropped a couple mealies into my scorpion enclosure and one immediately pupated, I caught a scorp munching on one while it was still soft too.

Mealworms are my least favorite feeders but I got kind of creative with them when my supply of blats got low.