Should I breed or buy feeders - 3 Tarantulas

[greyshark]

So I decided to get some more tarantulas after a while and I now have 3 of them. 2 are tiny slings and 1 is a subadult female. I used to buy dubia roaches when I had only 2 tarantulas but I'm thinking breeding feeders would have been a cheaper. So before I even bought the Ts I bought some B.lateralis to start a colony. I think I am far from it but it got me thinking how much spiders would justify me breeding the roaches instead of buying them.

 

[korg]

For three tarantulas I would definitely say buy your feeders... unless you just want to breed feeders as a project/for fun. You can buy a little tub of 100 superworms for cheap at a pet store and it would last you for most of the year. Breeding your own feeders only becomes a "necessity" or really worth it if you have dozens of spiders. Again, unless you just want to do it!

 

[greyshark]

Aren't superworms too fatty to be a regular feeder? I will probably still breed them because I plan on producing slings at one point when the female matures. Can anyone that has a lot of spiders chime in. Like at what point was breeding feeders better?

 

[octanejunkie]

I bought a mixed starter colony of B. lateralis (red runner) turkistan roaches along with our first T

The T matured out as a male and he passed over a year ago. The roach colony is still going.

 

[korg]

Aren't superworms too fatty to be a regular feeder?

Nope, they work great. I've raised many species from tiny sling to adult on them with no issues.

 

[The Grym Reaper]

Unless you have dozens of tarantulas there's really no point in starting a lateralis colony, they'll reproduce far faster than you can feed them off (take it from someone with 78 inverts and a leopard gecko who still has to periodically sell off hundreds at a time to keep their numbers in check).

Aren't superworms too fatty to be a regular feeder?

Nope, maybe for a reptile (which is where most of this x feeder is nutritionally superior to y feeder nonsense comes from) but tarantulas aren't reptiles.

For example, the tarantulas that I've raised from slings on nothing but mealworms are no less healthy than those raised on a mix of feeders.

 

[TwiztedNinja]

I have 27 and just buy roaches

I feed slings once or twice a week. Juveniles and bigger usually biweekly

 

[Asgiliath]

I've got 22 T's and 5 on the way and literally just buy 25 crickets weekly.