Cleaning up Feeders

[4wrdUn2Dwn]

I'm still new to the caring of Ts so I'm curious as to the cleaning of feeders, not sure if this is the right boards so I apologize if it is misplaced. I received my 3" LP on Friday, fed her Saturday, she created a burrow under the cork bark she has on Sunday, then fed her Monday night and Tuesday morning. I'll explain the last part because I know I don't want to overfeed her. Firstly I could see she was in the waiting for food to come by stance with her staying at the edge of the burrow opening, so Monday night I dropped in a Dubia (all Dubias I have fed her are about 1"). Problem was I dropped it too close and she backed up startled and the roach scuttled off and buried itself, I forgot to crush its head. I thought how can I get it to come to the burrow in the night, so I put a cut grape near the entrance of the burrow to lure the roach in. Morning comes and against my better judgement I decided to crush the head of another one and drop it in front of the burrow. I go eat cereal and the new roach was gone when I came back with her in the shadows carrying what I assume to be the roach. Then this afternoon I noticed the grape had been munched on and I'm wondering if my T ate both roaches and is just a pig. I know, don't put too many feeders in and don't overfeed, it was a bad decision and I the future gonna crush the heads of all the roaches I put in to better keep track of them. Just a newbie mistake from over worrying about feeding a new pet.

My questions are these, should I try to fish around without disturbing the T for the roach or try and lure it into a container to remove, if the one from Monday is still kicking around. Assuming she ate all of them, should I have any concern I haven't seen any carcasses? If I don't see any carcasses should I change the substrate every few months to ensure no mold starts to grow from the dead Dubias? Hope my questions make sense, any help is appreciated.

 

[Ungoliant]

My questions are these, should I try to fish around without disturbing the T for the roach or try and lure it into a container to remove, if the one from Monday is still kicking around.

If you can easily locate it, great. If not, I wouldn't worry too much about a lost roach unless your tarantula is about to molt. (Feeder insects can kill a molting tarantula.)

Assuming she ate all of them, should I have any concern I haven't seen any carcasses?

No. When a tarantula eats a feeder insect, it leaves behind a bolus (a little ball of the indigestible parts of prey wrapped in silk). These can be hard to spot, as they blend in with many substrates.

I remove these when I find them, but I don't worry too much if I can't find them, as my tarantulas are all on relatively dry substrate, so the potential for mold or other infestations is low.

If I don't see any carcasses should I change the substrate every few months to ensure no mold starts to grow from the dead Dubias?

For a tarantula being kept on relatively dry substrate, there is no need to regularly change the substrate. Spot cleaning of uneaten prey / boluses will suffice.

Most of us only change substrate during rehousings or if there is a serious problem with mold, pest organisms, or potential exposure to airborne poisons (for example, insecticides). If the enclosure looks good and smells good, it's probably fine.

 

[4wrdUn2Dwn]

Thanks for the info! Didn't know about the bolus thing, I just thought there would be an empty husk of an insect. I guess once she does get to the point of molting I'll just tap around in the substrate a bit where she isn't just to double check that roach is definitely gone, which I don't see why it wouldn't be. I also thought that was one of the perks of Dubias is they don't bite T so they would hurt it while molting, then again I could just be misreading.

 

[Ungoliant]

I also thought that was one of the perks of Dubias is they don't bite T so they would hurt it while molting, then again I could just be misreading.

I wouldn't trust any feeder insect with a molting tarantula.

 

[EulersK]

I also thought that was one of the perks of Dubias is they don't bite T so they would hurt it while molting, then again I could just be misreading.

Dubia are known to be cannibalistic at times, meaning they could certainly take a chunk out of a molting tarantula.

 

[Ungoliant]

Dubia are known to be cannibalistic at times, meaning they could certainly take a chunk out of a molting tarantula.

They sound like rather dubious characters.

 

[mconnachan]

To be honest, the way your post reads the LP has eaten both, just keep an eye out for the dubious^^^ character, if you see it get it out, I wouldn't worry about it if the spider isn't nearing a molt then there's no risk, the T will soon devour the pest. @Ungoliant posted the best advice, now that's what I call a thorough answer, good for you @Ungoliant very informative. Look for boluses and remove them as soon as possible.

 

[4wrdUn2Dwn]

I had to google what boluses look like and I haven't seen any since I was informed about them. Thanks for all the advice, always helpful for a newbie like myself!

 

[Matttoadman]

If you have room you could place a dish of some kind flush into the substrate with a piece of oat or fish food and wait for the roach to fall in and get trapped. As long as the sides are smooth(no lid threads) and it's deep enough.