a good spider to culture for food

[dtknow]

So I was wondering...does any species fit these specifications here? I am thinking about something you could raise to use spiderlings to feed other critters.

Stay relatively small and be harmless(include web) to even a small frog.

Be very prolific.

Be communal, or at least not so cannibalistic that raising them in a confined space wouldn't be a problem.

I can bend on the first and the last.

 

[JLDomestics]

I have currently been wondering the same and have been working with this unidentified species of grass spider I have. My plan was to feed them to toads and frogs. Pretty much it seems like a waste of time to culture them as they generally need to be separated due to cannibalism which creates alot of time and money problems. And then they take several months to be full size and best for feeding. In the end it just seems like a waste of time and probably is because no one out there sells feeder spiders in any large quantity for some reason. I am also considering culturing caterpillars as an amphibian food source. Thanks for reading.

 

[dtknow]

Thanks for the info! I don't think grass spiders are the way to go as they are very cannibalistic and need quite a bit of space for those mat webs they construct. I'm looking particularly at the house spiders. If their is a small Steatoda species it might fill the bill. Since their webs are not that big cannibalism would be a minimal problem. If it still was, you could simply keep them each in their own jars, perhaps in a collective container that could allow food to crawl in but not let the spiders out.

 

[JLDomestics]

Actually I have several Steatoda borealis, more importantly 3 females that lay eggsacs regularly, but they are just so small and hard to maintain(the babies), unless you have neverending patience, and then again they take like 5 months + to become of feeding size. Catching spiders just seems to be easier, less time consuming, and much cheaper.

 

[dtknow]

JL: I'm actually wanting the babies to feed out, not adult spiders. My thought would be to take an eggsac, put it in a feeding dish, and when they spiders hatch the frogs could pick them off(dartfrogs, so the size is perfect). Any surplus babies could just be stuck in with the adults and if you provide small food alongside normal meals 1 or 2 should make it.

 

[Nick12007]

Hmm, I wonder if culturing insectivores/carnivores for food in general doesn't work out?
Also, arachnids in general prolly wouldn't work due to the cannibalism issues and generally long generation times.
Although it'd be interesting to see if maybe getting a fertile widow to keep hatching out eggsacs might be worth it as long as you made sure to have fertile widows around...

 

[buthus]

L.geometricus ...maybe 5 or 6 young gravids would keep you in hatching sacs every couple/few weeks or so. U'd have to sling proof your frog tank though ...can be done fairly easily/cleanly.

Termites are your better bet. IMHO

 

[JLDomestics]

Yeah the problem with letting an eggsac hatch and putting a whole bunch of baby spiders in a frog tank is that they will crawl out and you will have spiders all over your house.