Can jumpers eat insects with harder shells?

[truecreature]

Initially I resisted jumpers because of their tiny size and short lifespans, but now I've given in and bought a P. regius. And man I'm already addicted.

But anyway, I dropped off a few bean beetles in its cage and when it caught one it dropped it soon after, so I don't know if the shell could've been too hard for its fangs to penetrate? Ideally I'd like to stay away from crickets because I don't trust them, but only feeding it fruit flies is kinda dull. I also have rice flour beetle larva if it might accept them out of a bottlecap, otherwise they'd burrow

 

[Aquarimax]

Initially I resisted jumpers because of their tiny size and short lifespans, but now I've given in and bought a P. regius. And man I'm already addicted.

But anyway, I dropped off a few bean beetles in its cage and when it caught one it dropped it soon after, so I don't know if the shell could've been too hard for its fangs to penetrate? Ideally I'd like to stay away from crickets because I don't trust them, but only feeding it fruit flies is kinda dull. I also have rice flour beetle larva if it might accept them out of a bottlecap, otherwise they'd burrow

I hope this helps: I have offered Phiddipus audax bean beetles, and the beetles were successfully ripped apart and turned into a bolus. I suspect that if P. audax can handle a bean beetle, P. regius of sufficient size should be able to do so without trouble.

 

[Ratmosphere]

Why don't you trust crickets?

 

[truecreature]

Oh thanks, that's good to hear

I'm wary of using crickets because with P. regius supposedly being a diurnal spider, I don't want it to be attacked by a cricket at night if it fails to eat it that day. The cage has cork bark tubes in it for climbing and it would be too much of a pain to find and grab any small loose crickets in there with tweezers to remove uneaten ones

 

[Nephila Edulis]

A jumper will quite happily eat rice flour beetle larva from a bottle cap, as for the jumper dropping the bean beetle it seems as though he's too lazy and well fed to bother tearing it apart.

 

[spotropaicsav]

Yes

 

[Smokehound714]

phidippus seem to be adapted for taking down hard shelled prey with their enormous chelicerae and long fangs

 

[truecreature]

Thanks guys, I'll continue to use the bean beetles then. Lord knows I'm drowning in the things.