Best feeders

[ratluvr76]

I swear by super worms.
1) Fatty
2) Good protien
3) Cut em in 1/2 for slings to scavange
4) Crush heads if you worry about em burrowing.
5) no maintenance
6) live a long time
7) cheap

Cant go wrong IMO, i really have yet to see a downside to them

I like meal worms too, for the same reasons you do with one exception. I'm not sure why but my adult G. porteri's completely and totally ignore them.

You can pull off the first pair of legs on dubia also. Digging will not be possible anymore but they'll still be pretty active.

i didn't know they couldn't dig without the first pair of legs though that makes sense. I may try that in cases where there is zero chance they are going to molt soon.

 

[EulersK]

i didn't know they couldn't dig without the first pair of legs though that makes sense. I may try that in cases where there is zero chance they are going to molt soon.

It doesn't make it impossible, but darn near. It sure doesn't stop them from trying, though!

 

[Tar]

Aren't superworms cannibalistic?

 

[cold blood]

Mealworms are too small

You can just feed multiples....even my largest adults readily take mealies.

I think they're a little too big

Too small, too big, what, are you goldilocks?

Things too small can be offered in multiples, things too big can either be offered as pre-kill or diced into the right size.

The best overall feeder is hands down a cricket.

Not all ts will eat roaches, and some won't take worms, but every darn one will happily eat a cricket.

Dubia are a nice source though, just clean them out often or you will get mites.

I like meal worms too, for the same reasons you do with one exception. I'm not sure why but my adult G. porteri's completely and totally ignore them.

Yeah, my porteri is picky as all get out as well....worms...pfffft, no thanks.

Aren't superworms cannibalistic?

They can be, but so can most feeders, the only ones I can think of that aren't are hornworms and wax worms. I've had supers just decimate each other when not fed out quickly enough.

 

[antinous]

Mealworms and super worms. Easy to keep and easy to feed.

 

[Tar]

@cold blood crickets are like the McDonalds of the inverts/some reptiles everything eats crickets

 

[cold blood]

@cold blood crickets are like the McDonalds of the inverts/some reptiles everything eats crickets

Except that ts stay nice and healthy eating nothing but crickets...ever see that "Supersize me" movie?

 

[antinous]

@cold blood crickets are like the McDonalds of the inverts/some reptiles everything eats crickets

Exactly why I don't feed them crickets. I feed them mealworms, which are like the soft tacos from Taco Bell, and superworms, which are like crunchwrap supremes....

 

[Tar]

I just got a couple of dubias about 52 to be exact. I'm going to attempt to feed my tarantulas and scorpion and if it woks with all of them I'll probably breed them and be my go to feeders.

 

[cold blood]

I just got a couple of dubias about 52 to be exact. I'm going to attempt to feed my tarantulas and scorpion and if it woks with all of them I'll probably breed them and be my go to feeders.

A couple is 2, you got a fairly large breeding colony You don't "breed" roaches, you just feed them, breeding is an inevitability.

 

[Jeff23]

I haven't had one success with Super worms so far. I crush the head and find the uneaten worm in the container the next evening every time. I didn't get to do a very good try with meal worms because Petco sold me a container that was mostly dead ones. Crickets have worked well for me on the normal eaters. I just wish I had not bought so many. While the so called "normal" person in the world might have nightmares of a spider climbing on them. I have nightmares of crickets crawling on me. Only about twenty or thirty have escaped so far. Too bad I can't have a guard tarantula to patrol the house. I haven't tried to buy crickets at McDonald's yet though.

 

[YagerManJennsen]

I used to feed dubias on occasion until we had a mite explosion (not saying that is likely to happen to you) It was most likely just an isolated incident. We put the roaches outside in the shade over the summer and ended up with more than we had a month prior, now I just keep them as pets. I feed mostly crickets and mealworms, I don't bother with trying to breed feeders for I am lazy and it is more convenient IMO just to run and buy some more when you are out (only 11 Ts). If you have a very large collection like CB or poec than breeding makes alot more sense.

 

[Napier19]

I swear by Dubias for everything on God's green earth that needs inverts for food! However Dubias will dig down as well, especially the smaller ones. But from my experience they surface at night and the T will dig them up too.

 

[Trenor]

I swear by Dubias for everything on God's green earth that needs inverts for food! However Dubias will dig down as well, especially the smaller ones. But from my experience they surface at night and the T will dig them up too.

Just crush the heads and they won't dig. This is all I feed baring a few odd feeders here or there. Breeding is easy and with my colony I have a big range of sizes to match to my animal's needs. I only have 60ish Ts so far but I have yet to see one that wouldn't eat the right sized Dubia. This is regardless of who I got them from or what they were fed before I owned them. They are so convenient for me unless there is a major problem I doubt I'll ever feed much else.

 

[Napier19]

Very good point about crushing the head. If your colony is over run with males they are great for larger Ts. Mine never burrow and usually run around like crazy looking for death. You want a much larger ratio of females to males. Males usually just eat up all your food and water source. I've got a small colony right now but it consists of 25 males and 150 to 200 females. Woukd like some feed back from everyone else though, do you keep all your Dubias in one enclosure? I've read several write ups about people keeping a breeding tank and a feeding tank.

 

[Trenor]

I have two enclosures. A breeder enclosure and a feeder enclosure. I keep about 100ish females in my breeder enclosure and other than to feed/water them 2 times a week they get left alone. it has a head mat on a dimmer switch that keeps the temps around 90ish. I move the little nymphs out of the breeder bin once a month to the feeder bin. The feeder bin doesn't have a heat pad and they grow pretty well.

I recently gave away 120ish females and 175 males (most of the males are going to be fed off while his colony gets going) to a friend to start up a large feeder colony for some animals he has. I'm not interested in selling them so I keep my colony the size I need.

 

[cold blood]

Very good point about crushing the head. If your colony is over run with males they are great for larger Ts. Mine never burrow and usually run around like crazy looking for death. You want a much larger ratio of females to males. Males usually just eat up all your food and water source. I've got a small colony right now but it consists of 25 males and 150 to 200 females. Woukd like some feed back from everyone else though, do you keep all your Dubias in one enclosure? I've read several write ups about people keeping a breeding tank and a feeding tank.

I would feed off a bunch of those males, they breed better with fewer males.

I try to keep my mature male population to a max of 3 or 4.

 

[Napier19]

I may try that in cases where there is zero chance they are going to molt soon.

One thing that is worth noting, everything I've ever read about Dubias outside of stress, they are of no danger to a molting T. I'm not advocating one way or the other as far as leaving food at all times, but if you do leave a dubia or simply forget to remove it, you wouldn't have the worry as in the case of a cricket.

 

[Napier19]

I would feed off a bunch of those males, they breed better with fewer males.

I try to keep my mature male population to a max of 3 or 4.

Thanks for the Input. I'll definitely be throwing those excess males to my Beardie and my 0.1 H. Mac!

 

[ratluvr76]

One thing that is worth noting, everything I've ever read about Dubias outside of stress, they are of no danger to a molting T. I'm not advocating one way or the other as far as leaving food at all times, but if you do leave a dubia or simply forget to remove it, you wouldn't have the worry as in the case of a cricket.

I have heard of dubia's eating molting T's, it is rare, but I do believe it happens. And I don't see why it couldn't. They will canabalize each other in their bin if they are over crowded or need protein, they have in my colony at least. So in a situation where a dubia is left in the enclosure with the spider for perhaps weeks, it could concievably be hungry enough to attack and eat a molting spider. Spiders are completely helpless while molting. Why take a chance? Simply crushing their heads will not kill them, but will stop them from burrowing away and with no mouth parts they can't even think about eating your T.