Best and worst feeder

[l4nsky]

I mean, what makes a good feeder?

I'd argue one which doesn't burrow, one which won't eat the spiders, one which is drawn to the spider's nesting area, can be raised at scale, and one which will not infest your house.

B. dubia burrows, crickets can harm moulting spiders (and are a pain in the butt to raise at scale, compared to roaches), caterpillars won't seek out the spider's nesting area, and B. lateralis will infest. Bonus if the first instars are small enough to feed first instar spiderlings.

The only feeder which has met all of those requirements, including the bonus, (for me) were lobster roaches.

IMO, lobster roaches are much more likely to cause an infestation then lateralis. Both are prolific for sure, but lateralis can't climb.

 

[Ultum4Spiderz]

I mean, what makes a good feeder?

I'd argue one which doesn't burrow, one which won't eat the spiders, one which is drawn to the spider's nesting area, can be raised at scale, and one which will not infest your house.

B. dubia burrows, crickets can harm moulting spiders (and are a pain in the butt to raise at scale, compared to roaches), caterpillars won't seek out the spider's nesting area, and B. lateralis will infest. Bonus if the first instars are small enough to feed first instar spiderlings.

The only feeder which has met all of those requirements, including the bonus, (for me) were lobster roaches.

Dang I considered lobster roaches. But due to their climbing ability never bought
any . My mom hates escaped roaches .

I do like Locusts, which are available as feeders here. My t´s like them, they don´t smell, don´t make noise, don´t burrow and are easy to catch for both me and the t. Perfect for my small (4) collection of t´s since their relatively short lifespan doesn´t matter when i always a small pack of then once a month or so.

wow Locusts! Don’t got those here.
I mostly use superworms as crickets are rather expensive here and only come in small sized no adults .
got two types of roach I’m trying to get a colony going , dubia,orange head .

 

[Stylopidae]

IMO, lobster roaches are much more likely to cause an infestation then lateralis. Both are prolific for sure, but lateralis can't climb.

Lobsters can climb, but need high temperatures to breed.

I once dropped a bag of about 500 adults in an apartment I was living in at the time, and stopped seeing living roaches after a few days. So based on that experience, I'm 100% convinced they can't infest.

As for the infestation potential of Shelfordella, my opinion on that is mostly based on what I hear from keepers...a lot of people seem to think they can infest. Although this species has established itself as an invasive outdoors species in some areas, I haven't heard of any cases of escapees causing a self-sustaining infestation like we'd see with, say, German roaches.

So maybe red runners can infest and deserve their reputation, maybe it's all just keeper lore.

 

[l4nsky]

Lobsters can climb, but need high temperatures to breed.

I once dropped a bag of about 500 adults in an apartment I was living in at the time, and stopped seeing living roaches after a few days. So based on that experience, I'm 100% convinced they can't infest.

As for the infestation potential of Shelfordella, my opinion on that is mostly based on what I hear from keepers...a lot of people seem to think they can infest. Although this species has established itself as an invasive outdoors species in some areas, I haven't heard of any cases of escapees causing a self-sustaining infestation like we'd see with, say, German roaches.

So maybe red runners can infest and deserve their reputation, maybe it's all just keeper lore.

When I was originally researching lateralis as a potential feeder source right when COVID hit and the supply chains went stupid, I remember finding some information that made sense to me in regards to the possibility of infestation. In places where they have become established and have to go up against german roaches, the german roaches are more tenacious and always outcompete the lateralis roaches in an indoor environment.

I kind of take this as as long as you don't have a roach problem now, your home doesn't have the resources to sustain an infestation should you have a few escapees. Now, start keeping an open bag of dog food next to a leaky hot water heater and your secret stash of cardboard egg crates with some less than secure colony enclosures and all bets are off lol.

Regardless though, I still treat them as if they can cause an infestation. Their enclosures are gasketed and secure, there are sticky traps around the colonies to monitor for any potential escape routes, ootheca are frozen before being disposed of, and I never feed off adult females without prekilling them to avoid any ootheca in the enclosures themselves.

 

[Ultum4Spiderz]

Lobsters can climb, but need high temperatures to breed.

I once dropped a bag of about 500 adults in an apartment I was living in at the time, and stopped seeing living roaches after a few days. So based on that experience, I'm 100% convinced they can't infest.

As for the infestation potential of Shelfordella, my opinion on that is mostly based on what I hear from keepers...a lot of people seem to think they can infest. Although this species has established itself as an invasive outdoors species in some areas, I haven't heard of any cases of escapees causing a self-sustaining infestation like we'd see with, say, German roaches.

So maybe red runners can infest and deserve their reputation, maybe it's all just keeper lore.

How did you catch the escaped roaches wow 500!!!
have any feeders infested ?recently..
Dubia just die when they escape.

 

[Stylopidae]

How did you catch the escaped roaches wow 500!!!
have any feeders infested ?recently..
Dubia just die when they escape.

I didn't catch them. I just picked up the dead ones as I found them. Eventually I stopped finding dead roaches.

Unfortunately, I no longer use roaches as feeders. I got out of the hobby to go to school, got distracted with a series of jobs, and left the hobby for about a decade.

My current collection is not big enough for a roach colony to really work out.

 

[Ultum4Spiderz]

I didn't catch them. I just picked up the dead ones as I found them. Eventually I stopped finding dead roaches.

Unfortunately, I no longer use roaches as feeders. I got out of the hobby to go to school, got distracted with a series of jobs, and left the hobby for about a decade.

My current collection is not big enough for a roach colony to really work out.

Ah my roaches are struggling, and pet stores price gouge so can’t buy them there it’s $$.

Picky Dubias won’t eat?

I’ve tried apple cores and various different vegetables. I found this list I’ve tried various items from it, no luck . They had water I misted /plus small water drops in the container plenty .

arachnoboards.com

 

[Stylopidae]

Ah my roaches are struggling, and pet stores price gouge so can’t buy them there it’s $$.

Picky Dubias won’t eat?

I’ve tried apple cores and various different vegetables. I found this list I’ve tried various items from it, no luck . They had water I misted /plus small water drops in the container plenty .

arachnoboards.com

When I kept roaches, I kept Lobsters, Blaberus, and orange-heads. I have not kept B. dubia, so I cannot offer advice for this particular species.

However, that being said, I kept them all in 10 gallon glass tanks with a heat lamp on one end of the tank, plenty of egg crates, and I fed them a mixture of dog food and fish food. Water was supplied by a frozen/thawed apple once or twice per week.

There are like a million different ways to care for roaches, though, and they're very low maintenance.

 

[Rigor Mortis]

To me it's anything that's not crickets. I hate feeding with crickets. They're annoying, they never move towards the tarantula, they drown themselves in the water dish, just overall a pain.

 

[Matt Man]

B lats are the best as long as you don't let them escape

 

[tommyno]

My favorite feeders are Dubia roaches. Easy to gut load, easy to keep, and I always crush their heads before feeding so the roach is still moving its legs (sometimes even walking) and my Ts love them. In my opinion crickets are the worst feeder... they smell, are noisy and I believe they can pass some sickness to Ts.

 

[Introvertebrate]

.....So maybe red runners can infest and deserve their reputation, maybe it's all just keeper lore.

I vote for option B. All that infestation talk is greatly exaggerated.

 

[ForTW]

Crickets is the worst to me. An escaped male can turn into a trauma....

Best is locusts, don't dig, smell nice, very produktive, easy to handle and all my animals like them. They don't harm T's and others. I can't think of any negative sideffects.

Turkistan roaches are Seconds best.
Mealworms are second worst. Dig away, are annoying, can harm the animals and once turned into Bugs pretty worthless....

 

[ArachnoDancer]

My favorite feeders are Dubia roaches. Easy to gut load, easy to keep, and I always crush their heads before feeding so the roach is still moving its legs (sometimes even walking) and my Ts love them. In my opinion crickets are the worst feeder... they smell, are noisy and I believe they can pass some sickness to Ts.

For dubia roaches since their legs move even with the head crush or sliced. I place them in my Tarantulas slings enclosure?
Possible signs of pre molt.
But how long can I keep a wiggling dubia roach in there? Do they go bad? Will it attract parasites bugs etc? Like dead corpses do?
Or is it alive or is it just the nerves moving but it is fully dead and may attract bugs?

 

[TechnoGeek]

Only feeder roaches I would recommend are dubias and dicoids. They usually require a higher temperature than we keep our homes at to breed, they can't climb smooth surfaces, and they don't remain tiny for long... 1 + 2 + 3 = unlikely to become an infestation..

Best feeders if you don't plan on breeding them and keeping a colony might also be crickets. They don't dig it hide and they like to move a lot which triggers a strong feeding response from most predators. I only buy as many crickets as I'm likely to use in 24 to 48 hours tho.. they don't last long and the noise and smell isn't something I'm willing to put up with.

When it comes to worms I'd say superworms are the worst, while silkworms might be the best.

Locusts and grasshoppers make for great feeders too.

 

[mack1855]

Best....B.lats(red runners) and waxworms, with hornworms a close third

Worst...crickets and dubias.

 

[Jesse607]

B. lateralis will NOT infest homes, let's stop spreading this misinformation please. They do not exist in the same niche as B. germanica, and it has nothing to do with competition, and everything to do with adaptations and behavior. B. lateralis is not adapted to living in homes. They can survive long periods in our homes, but can not successfully produce generation over generation. B. germanica is quite small and great at climbing. B. lateralis is much larger and unable to climb very well, so will not be able to climb around counter tops and cupboards and especially sinks. Also B. lateralis needs a humid place to drop their oothecae, where as B. germanica carry the ooths around until they hatch.

B. lateralis is a peridomestic roach that favors anthropogenic environments, much like its' close relative B. orientalis. So in favorable climates they will be found OUTSIDE around foundations and sidewalks. Because of where they inhabit, they often come inside under doors or through cracks in foundations, and may be found indoors as a result (but did not breed or come from somewhere indoors). Structures that may have B. lateralis populations breeding inside are animal rearing facilities, zoos, pet stores, old warehouses, and greenhouses.

 

[darkness975]

In your opinion and personal experience, what's the best and worst feeder?

The one that got away.

 

[Wolfram1]

B. lateralis will NOT infest homes, let's stop spreading this misinformation please. They do not exist in the same niche as B. germanica, and it has nothing to do with competition, and everything to do with adaptations and behavior. B. lateralis is not adapted to living in homes. They can survive long periods in our homes, but can not successfully produce generation over generation. B. germanica is quite small and great at climbing. B. lateralis is much larger and unable to climb very well, so will not be able to climb around counter tops and cupboards and especially sinks. Also B. lateralis needs a humid place to drop their oothecae, where as B. germanica carry the ooths around until they hatch.

B. lateralis is a peridomestic roach that favors anthropogenic environments, much like its' close relative B. orientalis. So in favorable climates they will be found OUTSIDE around foundations and sidewalks. Because of where they inhabit, they often come inside under doors or through cracks in foundations, and may be found indoors as a result (but did not breed or come from somewhere indoors). Structures that may have B. lateralis populations breeding inside are animal rearing facilities, zoos, pet stores, old warehouses, and greenhouses.

I agree that it is very unlikely, but you never know what conditions or regions of the world people live in, so it is best to be aware that very warm and humid conditions could become a problem.

Better to be overly paranoid than to say its not possible and not be vigilant don't you agree.

 

[Introvertebrate]

Better to be overly paranoid than to say its not possible and not be vigilant don't you agree.

I see nothing but paranoia here. What we all need is some over-the-counter Valium. Or maybe a 6 pack?