Hissers as feeders?

[Godzillaalienfan1979]

Hi,all

So, I noticed how some people use hissers as feeders. Would it be ok if I got some, started a breeding colony and used some of them as feeders for my S. Dehaani? Probably not, right? I don't suppose his venom claws could penetrate the roach's exoskeleton?

 

[Liquifin]

A deehani could penetrate the hissers exoskeleton, but the problem is that hissers can be fast burrowers. I fed my dehaani one before, but it burrowed quickly, so it took a while to find it. I mean A long while, about 1-2 hours. TBH I had given up on the idea of hissers as feeders, they would be good to use once in a while for variety though.

 

[Godzillaalienfan1979]

hissers can be fast burrowers

I never knew that, always pictured them as slow and lumbering. Thanks!

 

[Liquifin]

I never knew that, always pictured them as slow and lumbering. Thanks!

I thought the same too, before I actually fed one.

 

[pannaking22]

I'm planning on using some of the nymphs as feeders soon because my colony is rapidly spinning out of control lol. Should make a decent feeder and I'll see how quickly the nymphs burrow too. They don't seem to burrow much in their current enclosure, but the extra substrate in some of the other enclosures might be the encouragement they need.

 

[davegrimm1]

I use hissers for feeders all the time, especially for BIG T's. They are still very soft and quite meaty and I dont have to feed the big T's as often. And yes, what are you going to do with all those extra hissers anyway?

 

[pannaking22]

Yeah I've started using them for feeders. Good for larger spiders/scorpions. Don't seem to move around enough for amblypygids, but I have plenty of other feeders for those.

 

[PidderPeets]

Hissers are my Avic's absolute favorite food. When she last molted, she became extremely picky afterwards and wouldn't eat anything but hissers for quite some time. I have never seen a hisser of any size attempt to burrow. They're fantastic climbers, so I'd be more inclined to think it would climb the walls of the enclosure out of the centipede's reach.

The pronotum is pretty sturdy (especially on males), but the rest of the body is soft enough that I'm sure a dehaani would have no issues with it. The smaller nymphs can be pretty fast, but larger nymphs and adults aren't remarkably fast.

I'd definitely say they're worth a shot as feeders. They're large (both in size and mass) and they should sustain your pede for a bit. I'd say it's also worth mentioning that if you're able to get some adult females directly from a breeding colony (as opposed to PetCo., for example, where they prepackage pairs of young adults/large nymphs), there's a very good chance they're already gravid. I've never gotten a female from my LPS that wasn't gravid.