Can I feed my pet orb weaver other orb weavers as their only food?

[Asshen0ne]

I've been doing this for about 4 weeks now and they seem fine ig? Someone tell me if I should continue or look for a better food

 

[viper69]

Get better food! Spiders are beneficial to humans jeez !

 

[Asshen0ne]

Get better food! Spiders are beneficial to humans jeez !

I mean I got about 3 jars of hatched spider eggs soooo...

 

[Brewser]

I suggest releasing all of them back to the wild.
Orb Weavers need plenty of space in which to Weave Their Webs.
I'm surmising you took a Gravid Female who has now laid eggs which are now Cannibalizing One Another.

 

[Asshen0ne]

I suggest releasing all of them back to the wild.

I definitely would if they were a little bit bigger but they're still a few days old sooo

 

[Brewser]

I definitely would if they were a little bit bigger but they're still a few days old sooo

They have been surviving on they're own Without Humans 'Helping' them for Millions of Years.

 

[Asshen0ne]

They have been surviving on they're own Without Humans 'Helping' them for Millions of Years.

I actually had 4 jars, I released the first hatch and came back to them being feasted on by red ants sooooo

 

[Brewser]

Suggest Researching BEFORE Removing Wild Animals from Their Native Habitat.
Watch and Learn about Them in Their NATURAL ENVIRONMENT.
Find a Field with tall Grass and Bushes, away from Ant Colonies.
Disperse them / Spread them out / Not all together.

 

[Asshen0ne]

Find a Field with tall Grass and Bushes, away from Ant Colonies.
Disperse them / Spread them out.

I got 6 more spider eggs so stop worrying and answer my question, should I look for other food for them and what insect will it be

 

[FatBadBay]

Find other food, soft bodied insects. Ie flies, catapillars, roaches. The search feature is your friend.

 

[CRX]

I think OP is a troll, smells like it

 

[TheraMygale]

I mean, if you have to ask.

And why worry about releasing if young if just to feed your spider.

I definitely would if they were a little bit bigger but they're still a few days old sooo

this is gross in a human morality way.

if you care, stop doing that. Are you even feeding it it’s own young???

its not healthy in an arachnid way. They get multiple food sources from prey food. Not predators.

sure. Go ahead and keep doing that. Why cant you provide normal prey items?

feeding a lion, lion cubs everyday? Geneticaly, its not healthy.

i wonder what your objective is when you ask that?

My answer: Stop doing that. Ask for forgiveness to the arachnid Gods. One of these days you’ll wake up with an eggsac in your ears. Nature does that. Especialy in tropical places where everything will try to kill you.

also, they are called orbweavers. Not orbfeeders.

 

[Glorfindel]

Leave the Orbweavers in the wild.

 

[CRX]

I mean, if you have to ask.

And why worry about releasing if young if just to feed your spider.


this is gross in a human morality way.

if you care, stop doing that. Are you even feeding it it’s own young???

its not healthy in an arachnid way. They get multiple food sources from prey food. Not predators.

sure. Go ahead and keep doing that. Why cant you provide normal prey items?

feeding a lion, lion cubs everyday? Geneticaly, its not healthy.

i wonder what your objective is when you ask that?

My answer: Stop doing that. Ask for forgiveness to the arachnid Gods. One of these days you’ll wake up with an eggsac in your ears. Nature does that. Especialy in tropical places where everything will try to kill you.

also, they are called orbweavers. Not orbfeeders.

Too much effort for a troll man lol

 

[Brewser]

Trolling is a great way to catch fish...

Along with other Intriguing Creatures. LOL

 

[Godsmack1934]

I'd most certainly say stop feeding it other orb weavers. Even from a moral perspective it's wrong much less as has already been mentioned it's unhealthy for the spider. I'd highly recommend releasing the slings you have now and start feeding the orb weaver soft bodied insects, I had an orb weaver a while back that fed fine off crickets, but if you go to your local pet store there are likely plenty of options.

 

[The Snark]

Let's slow down a minute. Indignation is cheap. Even Albert Schweitzer's reverence for life didn't include the tapeworm, tsetse fly and the cancer cell.
Most competent keepers suggest allowing slings to cannibalize each other either for a leg up growth wise or to simply reduces the number of slings to manageable numbers. There are no morally repugnant acts when it comes to food sources with survival of the species. This is purely a human sentiment and often hypocritical. Shouldn't we take steps to avoid these vile acts by exterminating Portia and carefully controlling pholcid diets?

If the OP is simply being lazy with other food sources readily available then some act cleaning is in order. But otherwise, food is food. Depredation of animals wise humans are at rock bottom the worst. It seems a little introspection is in order. We need to avoid become yet another self righteous religious group of fanatics telling others how to live while we grope the choir boys.

 

[Kada]

Let's slow down a minute. Indignation is cheap. Even Albert Schweitzer's reverence for life didn't include the tapeworm, tsetse fly and the cancer cell.
Most competent keepers suggest allowing slings to cannibalize each other either for a leg up growth wise or to simply reduces the number of slings to manageable numbers. There are no morally repugnant acts when it comes to food sources with survival of the species. This is purely a human sentiment and often hypocritical. Shouldn't we take steps to avoid these vile acts by exterminating Portia and carefully controlling pholcid diets?

If the OP is simply being lazy with other food sources readily available then some act cleaning is in order. But otherwise, food is food. Depredation of animals wise humans are at rock bottom the worst. It seems a little introspection is in order. We need to avoid become yet another self righteous religious group of fanatics telling others how to live while we grope the choir boys.

Indeed.

Pragmatically I see 3 issues with thiis question in this type of group.

First and foremost. Yes, they will eat other spiders. No one can deny this ability or possibility.

1. This is an arachnid centric lovers guild. This question is like going to a dog forum and asking for best ways to marinade dog meat. Yes, people can eat dog meat. Sure, it's no different than eating other meats. that logic is undeniable. But a given group loves dogs (in this case, spiders), so it's a bit of an issue for many people I would assume if we discuss how to eat them. And to be fair, it should be discussed, but in a tactful manner i think. Some people are full on Gung ho on these animals and it will crush them to see them fed to another. Right or wrong, some sensitivity is warranted ona dog group talking about poodle steaks. As is this here, on an arachnid forum

2. Spiders can bite back. Ideally we feed our pets things that cannot harm them. Feeding a scorpion another scorpion, a centipede another centipede, a hornet another bee etc. natural, innnature, sure. There runs the very real risk of them being messed up in the process however. most people that consider this do so thinking about monetary value, rather than life value. Re read this sentence, so it sinks in. thats the root of the pet industry's massive failure. Also why things are being, often rightfully, regulated more heavily. We aren't responsible, and are proving it publicly.

Most of us long term keepers not in it for profit won't even leave live crickets in the tank because they can chew like a real sonna. The sister hobby to here, being herps, we would never leave live rats in a snake cage for equally serious risk of injury. it's just beyond ridiculous to even imagine that level of poor husbandry practice (despite it happening all too often....). It's just ignorant and poor practice done by amateurs.

3. Conservation. Feeding native species to pets is beyond not ok, for very obvious reasons. if they aren't native, the other reason not to is risk of pathogen escape. Which frankly most pet keepers seem to fail at understanding the importance of a barrier and quarantine.

So I feel the fair answer to the question of "Can orb weavers eat other orb weavers?".

Can they? Yes.

Should they? Almost certainly never a valid reason to do so in a captive situation. Cannot think of 1 good reason to do so. if money is an issue, don't keep pets. save up, learn, take the responsibility when you are ready tobhandle the financial burden and tome commitment. These arent plastic toys. they are sentient beings, despite your inability to communicate with them. Go outside and observe them in the wild and learn that way until one has the funds to be responsible for caring for another life form. That goes for spiders, cockroaches, mealworms, dogs and even having children to be honest. Don't cut corners and risk others

 

[TheraMygale]

Let's slow down a minute. Indignation is cheap. Even Albert Schweitzer's reverence for life didn't include the tapeworm, tsetse fly and the cancer cell.
Most competent keepers suggest allowing slings to cannibalize each other either for a leg up growth wise or to simply reduces the number of slings to manageable numbers. There are no morally repugnant acts when it comes to food sources with survival of the species. This is purely a human sentiment and often hypocritical. Shouldn't we take steps to avoid these vile acts by exterminating Portia and carefully controlling pholcid diets?

If the OP is simply being lazy with other food sources readily available then some act cleaning is in order. But otherwise, food is food. Depredation of animals wise humans are at rock bottom the worst. It seems a little introspection is in order. We need to avoid become yet another self righteous religious group of fanatics telling others how to live while we grope the choir boys.

I did say it wasnt a good thing in terms of human morality. So i brought up the fact that as humans and our values, this is wrong.

i agree food is food. I just think in this specific situation, it seemed inappropriate. Just like @Kada brought up. This is an arachnid loving forum. We encourage captive prey foods. We also encourage keepers to give the best feeders and do research. Just feeding slings to an adult, isnt the same as sling eating slings, which i can get onboard with because it happens in nature.

just like an orbweaver can eat other orbweavers.

that being said, in the wild, orbweavers don’t hoard egg sacs to feed on the slings.

morality is very subjective. And i think it is healthy to have a moderate sense of morality and conscience. We need to treat life with respect when we can. Or else we become monsters.

 

[CRX]

Like I said, I am pretty sure the OP was just trolling and trying to get a rise out of people, which he succeeded lol.

It doesn't even make sense to only feed other spiders to a spider, and he said he has "jars full of spider eggs" sounds like BS