flies as food for h. incei

[kreuz]

hello everybody!

I've got a question concerning the food for my holothele incei. due to reasons of space I had to downsize my tarantula collection an i've only kept my several cyriocosmus sp. and my holothele incei! I now wanted to ask if it is possible to feed those little spiders (and especcially my h.incei) flies only. or is there anything wrong as far as size and nutritional value are concerned.
i get maggots from a fishing store let them pupate and then I feed the flies.
would be great if anyone could help me!

best wishes,
kreuz

 

[7mary3]

It depends on the size of the T. H. Inceis are much smaller than most Ts, so they'll most likely be ok on that diet... You may want to subsitute every once in a while with a small roach or a few crickets though as that they do have more nutrition than flies alone. IMO most Ts should be given a diet that doesn't consist of a single food source anyway. I tend to feed crix with the occasional roach and the rare pinky. Contamination of the flies can be a concern, but the fact that you raise the flies from larvae does help, as that you needn't worry about them coming in contact with something that may be harmful to the T. Personally, I'd rather feed small crix or roaches than flies though, but to each his own. I don't see it being a problem so long as that you make sure to supplement the diet with other feeders once in a while.


EDIT---

also, as Etown pointed out, I am assuming that you'd be taking the wings off of the flies to make it easier for the T to catch. Nutritionally, the flies will probably be ok. But it's certainly a hassle (and some may say cruel) to de-wing the flies. And if you don't pull the wings off, it's gonna be tough for the T. It's personal preference I suppose, so long as the T can catch the flies then you should be alright. Ok, now I'm just starting to repeat myself. Let us know what you decide on, I'm curious.

Another Edit---

I know I know, I said I was done, but a thought occurred to me. Did you consider feeding the protein rich maggots to your T? It's another possibility.

 

[Moltar]

I think that flies would probably be ok as far as nutritional value is concerned. They may have difficulty catching them though. Why don't you want to use more conventional fare such as crickets? Are the t's too small?

Enjoy your H incei, they're one of my very favorites!

 

[kreuz]

i used to order crix from the internet, but with so few tarantuls this doesn't pay off anymore. i got a fishing store right next to me an there I could get those flies. that's the only reason why i wanted to substitute flies for my crix...

 

[7mary3]

They should be ok as a staple. If you don't want to order crix at all anymore, consider throwing in one of the maggots before they pupate every now and then.

 

[Elytra and Antenna]

If they're similar to fruit flies in their nutritional value (which is reasonable) you may find your tarantulas molt out with curvy legs.

 

[kreuz]

They should be ok as a staple. If you don't want to order crix at all anymore, consider throwing in one of the maggots before they pupate every now and then.

another option would be those canned crickets...but i don't know if my spiders would eat them and how long you could keep them before they get bad! any experiences?

 

[JayzunBoget]

If they're similar to fruit flies in their nutritional value (which is reasonable) you may find your tarantulas molt out with curvy legs.

Do you have any theory for why this might be?
From my vantage point in the pet trade what I've seen has taught me that so much more of the nutrition an insect has to offer actually comes from it's diet. The potato flake "media" that flightless friutflies culture in sometimes frightens me with its "nutritional vapidity"!
I breed Poison frogs and they seem to do okay on them exclusively when they are young, though.