What happens if a spider eats a poisoned cockroach?

Jimmy Jamblez

Arachnopeon
Joined
Feb 28, 2017
Messages
16
I've been feeding my latro some cockroaches that I manage to catch in the yard at night. The thing is, we have cockroach baits in our home called "Mortein Nest Kill" that are designed for the cockroach to eat and take back to it's nest to kill all the other cockroaches. Can a spider eat a roach that's eaten some poison without dying?

Any help would be appreciated.

PS: Here are photos of the baits.

dasda.jpg 2.jpg
 

WeightedAbyss75

Arachnoangel
Joined
Feb 22, 2014
Messages
921
I've been feeding my latro some cockroaches that I manage to catch in the yard at night. The thing is, we have cockroach baits in our home called "Mortein Nest Kill" that are designed for the cockroach to eat and take back to it's nest to kill all the other cockroaches. Can a spider eat a roach that's eaten some poison without dying?

Any help would be appreciated.

PS: Here are photos of the baits.

View attachment 263746 View attachment 263747
The fact that it says, "kills with a single feed", it may not be a great idea to feed them. Crickets would be better IMO. If you are feeding wild spiders, it may be ok, but it is always better to feed non-wild :D If you "have to", I would at least wait a few weeks before feeding to see if they die. It says they will die quickly, so wait a little time and any infected roaches will die. Still, not a great idea. Also, I would say your spider would probably die by eating an infected roach. Seems like pretty nasty stuff to insects...
 

chanda

Arachnoking
Old Timer
Joined
Jun 27, 2010
Messages
2,229
Just because a bug is out and walking around does not mean that it hasn't been poisoned - it could just mean that it was exposed to a delayed or slow-acting poison, or that the bug consumed a sub-lethal dose of said poison. That's why it's better to feed only insects that are purchased or raised specifically as feeders, so you can be absolutely certain that they have not been exposed to pesticides or other harmful chemicals. (Also, with wild-caught feeders, you run the risk of exposing your pets to harmful entomopathogenic fungi, nematodes, or other parasites or diseases.)

If you feed a cockroach that has eaten pesticides to your spider, you are effectively feeding your spider pesticides. With the wild caught roaches, you have no way of knowing if they've consumed some of the poisoned bait, or how much they've eaten. It is possible that your spider might survive eating a poisoned roach - but it might also start to accumulate toxins from that roach and continue accumulating them with subsequent roaches until it reaches a lethal dose.

For now, you've already fed it a few potentially contaminated roaches. There's nothing that can be done about that except to hope for the best - and going forward, purchase or breed pesticide-free feeder roaches or crickets.
 
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Jimmy Jamblez

Arachnopeon
Joined
Feb 28, 2017
Messages
16
Just because a bug is out and walking around does not mean that it hasn't been poisoned - it could just mean that it was exposed to a delayed or slow-acting poison, or that the bug consumed a sub-lethal dose of said poison. That's why it's better to feed only insects that are purchased or raised specifically as feeders, so you can be absolutely certain that they have not been exposed to pesticides or other harmful chemicals. (Also, with wild-caught feeders, you run the risk of exposing your pets to harmful entomopathogenic fungi, nematodes, or other parasites or diseases.)

If you feed a cockroach that has eaten pesticides to your spider, you are effectively feeding your spider pesticides. With the wild caught roaches, you have no way of knowing if they've consumed some of the poisoned bait, or how much they've eaten. It is possible that your spider might survive eating a poisoned roach - but it might also start to accumulate toxins from that roach and continue accumulating them with subsequent roaches until it reaches a lethal dose.

For now, you've already fed it a few potentially contaminated roaches. There's nothing that can be done about that except to hope for the best - and going forward, purchase or breed pesticide-free feeder roaches or crickets.
Absolutely. Will do, thank you for your advice and taking the time to reply!
 

The Snark

Dumpster Fire of the Gods
Old Timer
Joined
Aug 8, 2005
Messages
11,047
Oh how nice. Methyl 7-chloro-2,5-dihydro-2-[[(methoxycarbonyl)[4-(trifluoromethoxy)phenyl]amino]carbonyl]indeno[1,2-e][1,3,4]oxadiazine-4a(3H)-carboxylate

Oxadiazine is a slow acting general insecticide. Sodium channel blocker. No doubt it will transmit from prey to predator. Keep away from your critters.
 
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