# Feeder Spiders



## roo (Mar 17, 2007)

I am looking to breed some feeder spiders for my pygmy chameleons. Something roughly the size of a .25” cricket or smaller, non aggressive, not too toxic/harmful in case a pygmy gets bit, and easy to keep/breed. Thanks.

-roo


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## Taceas (Mar 17, 2007)

Why spiders exactly? 

You could breed roaches or crickets at home cheaper I would imagine.


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## 8+) (Mar 17, 2007)

Yeah, why feed a live food that needs to eat a live food? 

I suppose you could just let them cannibalize each other, but then at some point you'd need to separate them to raise enough adults to breed the next batch.

If they were the right size as adults you'd need to wait two seasons before being able to feed them (feeding them the whole time). If slings were to be used, You'd probably have a short period of time that they would be the right size. Then you'd have to have lots a broods going at different stages.

I thought most went with fruit flies?


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## froggyman (Mar 18, 2007)

i agree with them why not roaches but is you really wanted too false widows could work ok.


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## roo (Mar 18, 2007)

I do feed roaches and crickets and a bunch of other feeders too. Chameleons get bored with certain feeders and they enjoy diversity and the nutritional benefits of offering diverse feeders. 

I wouldn’t offer spiders as a staple, I realize that would be more work then its worth but I just wanted to have some on hand as a treat.

One of my comprehensive books on pygmy chameleons has stated that their stomachs typically contain spiders so that’s why I am interested in them and a fellow keeper dropped a spider in a tank and got a pretty good reaction to them from the chameleons.

I live in the NE USA and usually have three species in my apartment. They do well since I always have escapee feeders such as really small crickets and fruit flies. One species in the cob web spider, another is on the small side and black … likes to string strands of web from its nest to the ground, the last is a yellowish type one that is a bit translucent. 

-roo


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## telow (Mar 19, 2007)

you should realy give the Chameleons termites not spiders

they are safe and have alot of food value and are easy to get.


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## roo (Mar 19, 2007)

> you should realy give the Chameleons termites not spiders
> 
> they are safe and have alot of food value and are easy to get.


Uhhh ... I agree and would love to score some termites. I think someone here posted a very detailed way to keep/breed them and I saved it as a PDF. Where can I get some?

On a side note ... sorry if I irked anyone here about feeding off spiders. If it helps, many of the chameleon farms in Africa feed pygmy chameleons to the larger "true" chameleons.

-roo


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## 8+) (Mar 20, 2007)

roo said:


> On a side note ... sorry if I irked anyone here about feeding off spiders.
> -roo


I'm sorry I assumed you wanted spiders to be your primary food source. Your reply makes perfect sense.

Perhaps you can steal a sack or two from the spiders in your apartment? Then let them cannibalize each other until they're the right size before feeding them.

As mentioned, S. _grossa_ might work well.


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## Taceas (Mar 20, 2007)

Have you tried maggots or Phoenix worms? Both are pretty high in protein and calcium, both I'm sure which would be beneficial to a chameleon. 

I used to buy maggots from some bait place on Ebay. They sent hundreds with sawdust in a gallon sized ziplock bag and I kept them in the fridge and they'd last quite a long time. 

Phoenix worms are good too, but require a bit more care to keep them longer. 

My baby leos loved them because they wiggled and moved around a lot.

If you lived nearby I'd hook you up with some termites. We live in a forest and just about any rotting log you break apart is crawling with them.


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## telow (Mar 20, 2007)

roo said:


> Uhhh ... I agree and would love to score some termites. I think someone here posted a very detailed way to keep/breed them and I saved it as a PDF. Where can I get some?
> 
> On a side note ... sorry if I irked anyone here about feeding off spiders. If it helps, many of the chameleon farms in Africa feed pygmy chameleons to the larger "true" chameleons.
> 
> -roo




you can order termites on this website www2.carolina.com


good luck with your cham's.


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## roo (Mar 20, 2007)

I have tried fly larva … don’t get a good response with them and they hide in the planted aquariums really fast. I need things that crawl around a bit to get better attention. I also have to pin prick fly larva for better digestion too.

I’ve actually got some from www2.carolina.com a ways back but don’t I need a queen to build up a colony? I did a little bit of research and saw something about in the absence of a queen a worker or another class of termite will “change” to a queen. Not sure if that’s true with the species sold at the link.

Thanks for all the help.

-roo


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## cacoseraph (Mar 20, 2007)

personally, i think supplementing a diet with as many different feeders (relatively safe ones, of course) as possible is a VERY good idea

i'm sure reptile dietary requirements are more well understood than invert... but still, seems like there is a better chance of covering all your bases with a wide variety.

if you ever do find a sweet species then i would like to hear about it!

.. i'm thinking an indoor species might be your best bet... they would probably be able to throw eggsacs with little to no environmental queueing. wow, five vowels in a row =P  they also might be able to produce more than one litter a year. how small are those chams, out of curiousity?

you might want to steer away from aerial web makign spiders, they tend to take up disproportionately high volume for each cage


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## roo (Mar 21, 2007)

> how small are those chams, out of curiousity?


Just a few inches when adults … uber tiny as babies

Here is a hatchling B. superciliarus … under an inch
http://www.people.cornell.edu/pages/tjr32/Images/bs1.JPG

Here is a sexually mature juvenile of the same species … around 2 inches
http://www.people.cornell.edu/pages/tjr32/Images/cbbs1.JPG

-roo


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## 8+) (Mar 21, 2007)

WOW, awesome!!!:drool:


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