Bees

[Phiddipus Bryan]

My G. pulchra, Black Betty hasn't eaten much in the last six months, but when I found an injured carpenter bee, he devoured it in no time. I wish I had good carpenter bee supply, he loves them, and they are slow to use their stinger. Any body else feed their T's bees? I was thinking bumblebees, there's more of them around, but they're more aggressive too, I don't want "Black Betty" to get stung. Any thoughts?

 

[JC]

There is no need to feed your tarantula other venomous and potentially hazardous feeders. The the market has a plethora of cheap and very effective feeders including roaches and insect larvae for predatory pets. Take a look in classifieds...

 

[webbedone]

there was a topic about feeding bees to Ts on the forums maybe a few months back in which the poster claimed that by consuming Bees his Ts were gaining shinier colours.

Regardless, feeding Bees to you tarantulas is exteremely dangerous! One of the natural enemies that Tarantulas have are wasps and a sting in the right place at the right time CAN BE FATAL!

My tarantulas are not just valuable they are irreplacable pets that hold a special place in heart, they are my zen and my piece of relaxation. I would never try to feed anything to my T that could potentially KILL THEM.
So my recomendation is to stick to average feeders like crix or roaches and not experiment with crazy stuff!

 

[Mammothdog]

You guys do know that carpenter bees don't sting right...

 

[Hedorah99]

You guys do know that carpenter bees don't sting right...

The females do have stingers, but are hesitant to sting.

And why would you risk feeding your pet a wild feeder that could have been exposed to god knows what in the wild. Stick to crickets or roaches...

 

[webbedone]

Only male carpenter bees dont have a stinger. Females do and i bet if the choice is "get eaten" or "sting" they'll sting. I'd rather not take chances and stick with regular feeders like crix or roaches.

 

[JC]

You guys do know that carpenter bees don't sting right...

The females do have stingers, but are hesitant to sting.

And why would you risk feeding your pet a wild feeder that could have been exposed to god knows what in the wild. Stick to crickets or roaches...

As a precautionary, even if the animal has non-lethal defenses, you should not feed anything that has been outside of an environment which you can neither monitor nor control. Feeders insects that I find days later after having escaped their bins get thrown out.

 

[Bill S]

You guys do know that carpenter bees don't sting right...

My wife got stung on the top of her head by a carpenter bee. It appeared to be pretty painful. I think you'd have a pretty hard time convincing her that it didn't sting.

 

[rabidchipmunk91]

I agree with JC, I wouldn't recommend any wild feeder.

 

[paassatt]

The bigger issue is with possible insecticide exposure. I'm sure no tarantula owner with a conscience would put a flying, aggressive bee up for meal time, opting instead for what the OP said- an injured, on-its-way-out specimen; the possibility of insecticides being in the bee's system should rule out this idea, regardless of the lack of a stinging threat.

 

[ZergFront]

There's a TON of variety of CB insects to feed to your spider that you can get by the colony -- crickets, locusts (well, maybe only in the UK), waxworms, mealworms, superworms, pheonix worms, hornworms, roaches; I can go on! I'd feel safer with one of those.

If you insist on feeding bees, I would make removing the stinger manditory (no if, ands or buts!) A sting could disable a spider for days or KILL them! Mostly the latter. Also, be aware of any pesticide spraying going on in your neighborhood.

 

[LirvA]

There's nothing you could do to be mindful of pesticides when you feed with wild insects. If you found it in your yard, and you know you don't spray, well maybe your neighbor does. If you know your neighbor doesn't, maybe someone else in your neighborhood does. If you know no one in your neighborhood doesn't, maybe the next neighborhood. etc. etc. etc.

Just don't feed with wild caught bugs.

 

[Moltar]

All true, males don't have stingers and females are quite reluctant to sting... BUT the reason females seldom sting and males actually get to venture out into the world is because, unlike honeybees, carpenter bees have tremendous choppers. I have no doubt that a carpenter bee is capable of biting through any part of a tarantulas anatomy. Chopping a leg off of a 5" T is probably not out of the question for a carpenter bee.

Also, everything else they said about, yaknow, pesticides and parasites and all...

 

[DamoK21]

I agree with moltar, the jaws (as i understand it) are on the large side, and without a dought im sure that these will not hesitate to chew through the T's leg/abdomen and cause severe damage, at a very tiny push, fatallity.

Plus as oready mentioned, pestersides and so forth, honestly there is no valid reason as to why you would feed wild caught inverts (and so forth) to any arachnid pet/animal, unless the animal in question is wild in it self (uninhabited area), but then that with out a dought would be for your own gratification....

each to there own i supose

 

[shanebp]

Unnecessary risk in my opinion, but you're free to make your own choice!

Just do me one favor, please don't come back and tell us that your T's have brighter colors after feeding bees lmao....

 

[Phiddipus Bryan]

Well, that's why I asked, I wouldn't want Black Betty to get hurt. I hadn't considered the possibility of insecticides or other poisons, but I have few neighors. Of coarse, I know about predatory wasps, the Carpenter and Bumble Bees are big juicy insects compred to the crickets she's been rejscting lately. I guess I'll try roaches insted. Thanks for your input!

 

[Pana Lemontzis]

Well, that's why I asked, I wouldn't want Black Betty to get hurt. I hadn't considered the possibility of insecticides or other poisons, but I have few neighors. Of coarse, I know about predatory wasps, the Carpenter and Bumble Bees are big juicy insects compred to the crickets she's been rejscting lately. I guess I'll try roaches insted. Thanks for your input!

You can feed them bees. Ive been feeding my Ts so many wild caught insects and theyve never had an issue. For a long time as well. I feed them bees, wasps, centiepdes, ground beetles. And theres never been any injury. Tarantulas arent as weak as we have them to be

 

[Ultum4Spiderz]

You can feed them bees. Ive been feeding my Ts so many wild caught insects and theyve never had an issue. For a long time as well. I feed them bees, wasps, centiepdes, ground beetles. And theres never been any injury. Tarantulas arent as weak as we have them to be

Just because they eat them in the wild doesn’t make it a safe or good idea for captivity. Plenty of cheap feeder species that can’t harm to your spider . Plus pesticides on wild prey can cause dks . Obviously they will crush and eat anything they can overpower .

 

[Pana Lemontzis]

Just because they eat them in the wild doesn’t make it a safe or good idea for captivity. Plenty of cheap feeder species that can’t harm to your spider . Plus pesticides on wild prey can cause dks . Obviously they will crush and eat anything they can overpower .

I never had a single issue and Ive owed so many tarantulas. I do live away from the city and i know there arent pesticides. And I also never have any parasite issue. They could over power a lot of stuff, im surprised people in the comments think a bee, yes, a bee.. could potentially be a risk. ive fed one inch tarantulas wasps and bees so many times ..

 

[Ultum4Spiderz]

I never had a single issue and Ive owed so many tarantulas. I do live away from the city and i know there arent pesticides. And I also never have any parasite issue. They could over power a lot of stuff, im surprised people in the comments think a bee, yes, a bee.. could potentially be a risk. ive fed one inch tarantulas wasps and bees so many times ..

I wasn’t saying they couldn’t eat them , just it’s a bad idea one sting and the t may be dead . They’re biggest predators are t hawk wasps literally you said your feeding them wasps ? .
I’ve fed silly things before , but bees , wasps, Pedes are All dangerous like feeding live non pinkie , larger mice to them . Argiope weavers eat bees and wasps , I’ve actually fed one to one before and got stung trying to catch one of those spiders by a bee it captured . Get some of those if you want to feed bees to your spiders . Cmon man ..