Does anyone else get excited by new feeder bugs?

[Raghild]

My red runners arrived today. Had someone remarking that most people pay to get rid of roaches, and here I am buying them

My feeder bugs usually wind up treated about as well as the pets

I've never had red runners before though, so these guys will be a first for me.

 

[TheraMygale]

I would get excited if i could get them. Because here in Canada, youre lucky if you can get discoids.

now, i can only get excited when i get to manage to keep my crickets alive long enough. Let alone, get the small ones to actualy grow.

 

[Ultum4Spiderz]

Yes, I wanted to try this species but the adults d0 not get very large and they look so similar to pest species. I definitely. enjoy getting new feeders! Unless most of them are dead, like it some pet shops. My worst was a while back 1k crickets died in one order and they didn’t offer lag . Shipping literally cooked them .

 

[Raghild]

I would get excited if i could get them. Because here in Canada, youre lucky if you can get discoids.

now, i can only get excited when i get to manage to keep my crickets alive long enough. Let alone, get the small ones to actualy grow.

Oh, I have discoids arriving on Saturday too! Up until now I've just had my Dubia for roaches. But I also keep superworms, mealworms, and both variety of darkling beetles on hand, as well as soldier flies and larvae, and seven different species of isopods. My bug cabinet is getting crowded. Surprisingly I think my favorite are the darkling beetles. They're fun to watch. Especially the superworms ones.

 

[Raghild]

Yes, I wanted to try this species but the adults d0 not get very large and they look so similar to pest species. I definitely. enjoy getting new feeders! Unless most of them are dead, like it some pet shops. My worst was a while back 1k crickets died in one order and they didn’t offer lag . Shipping literally cooked them .

Oof... That could not have smelled pleasant crickets are smelly, but dead crickets are so much worse. I briefly tried to get crickets going, but I'm rather sensitive to smells when I have migraines.

My entire bug cabinet has a nice pleasant earthy smell. But I couldn't stand even a small colony of crickets during my migraines

 

[Wolf135]

They love sliced oranges

 

[Brewser]

The Savages I keep get very excited!

 

[Raghild]

The Savages I keep get very excited!

Hah! The recent heat wave had all my tarantulas metabolisms ramped up.

Two of them molted and their fangs haven't hardened yet, and the other five all seem to have gone into premolt simultaneously. So haven't been able to give any of the roaches to them yet

 

[TinWoman]

Sometimes I find feeder insects more interesting to watch than my tarantulas, especially the ones that move around a lot.

 

[TheraMygale]

Today i had a reason to get excited. Mites and or springtails have finaly landed.

i thought i was pretty good at not having any in my enclosures. Turns out, i just had not been looking properly.

with my cellphone in full zoom, i was filming one of my tarntulas eating. That is when i saw the magical little milky orbs crawling on my tarantulas carapace.

It is still hard to make out what they are, i think i have both mites and springtails.

pretty sure they came in with my last bacth of feeders. Also possible they just appeared because of eggs in soil and moss.

thank the gods i did my research well before hand. I was just disapointed. I thought i was nailing the moisture and maintenance. I cleaned the feeders and will be keeping on eye on things. Not worried at this point.

what excitement. I didnt even pay for them

 

[Raghild]

Today i had a reason to get excited. Mites and or springtails have finaly landed.

i thought i was pretty good at not having any in my enclosures. Turns out, i just had not been looking properly.

with my cellphone in full zoom, i was filming one of my tarntulas eating. That is when i saw the magical little milky orbs crawling on my tarantulas carapace.

It is still hard to make out what they are, i think i have both mites and springtails.

pretty sure they came in with my last bacth of feeders.

thank the gods i did my research well before hand. I was just disapointed. I thought i was nailing the moisture and maintenance. I cleaned the feeders and will be keeping on eye on things. Not worried at this point.

what excitement. I didnt even pay for them

Hah. They are a normal part of life. They exist everywhere. In our homes, gardens, the grocery store, potted plants, our beds, carpets, sinks, and yes, tarantula enclosures as well.

I find the presence of microfauna in animal enclosures to be perfectly normal and healthy, as long as it is moderate and balanced.

It's just when things are out of whack that it's a sign of something being wrong.

 

[Glorfindel]

Yes... just placed an order for some more exciting red runners today.

 

[Arachnophobphile]

My red runners arrived today. Had someone remarking that most people pay to get rid of roaches, and here I am buying them

My feeder bugs usually wind up treated about as well as the pets

I've never had red runners before though, so these guys will be a first for me.

View attachment 478529 View attachment 478526 View attachment 478528 View attachment 478527

Do research on these if you want them reproducing. These are one of the fastest moving roaches out there. There are techniques to capture them easily when feeding off.

Make sure to use a bigger bin to put the roaches bin in whenever removing roaches for feeding, cleaning their bin or feeding roaches themselves.

These roaches have great jumping skills, keep that in mind.

If there is any roach that triggers a feeding response everytime except premolt it's these B. lateralis or red runners. They are one of the best feeders for T's. However I moved on to E. posticus roaches as I wanted a bigger feeder for my adult T's that are 5 inches and up.

You'll need to feed a 5 inch T a minimum of 2 adult male roaches but I used to feed off three.

Do I get excited in getting new feeders??? Well I'll tell ya, when/if I find a roach like E. posticus that triggers a feeding response like them at the same adult size and do NOT stink like hell-warmed-over I'll be excited.

 

[Raghild]

Do research on these if you want them reproducing. These are one of the fastest moving roaches out there. There are techniques to capture them easily when feeding off.

Make sure to use a bigger bin to put the roaches bin in whenever removing roaches for feeding, cleaning their bin or feeding roaches themselves.

These roaches have great jumping skills, keep that in mind.

If there is any roach that triggers a feeding response everytime except premolt it's these B. lateralis or red runners. They are one of the best feeders for T's. However I moved on to E. posticus roaches as I wanted a bigger feeder for my adult T's that are 5 inches and up.

You'll need to feed a 5 inch T a minimum of 2 adult male roaches but I used to feed off three.

Do I get excited in getting new feeders??? Well I'll tell ya, when/if I find a roach like E. posticus that triggers a feeding response like them at the same adult size and do NOT stink like hell-warmed-over I'll be excited.

Thanks for the tips!

I've got them in 10 gallon aquarium right now. I repurposed my moss tank for them.

I've been catching them by putting food in an escape proof dish. I just dump the contents of the dish into a holding container along with any roaches that got themselves trapped in it. Any extras get dumped back into the main enclosure after.

It's going well so far.

Unfortunately 4 of my 7 are currently in premolt, and I suspect a 5th one has also. It webbed its burrow shut two nights ago so it's been a pretty boring time for feeding them

I'm hoping the red runner enclosure will work well on a 6 month schedule. All of my other roaches and isopods get a 50% substrate change every 6 months or so.

The moss tank has been setup for a while and it is also where I've been keeping surplus springtails, so it should adjust well to the addition of the roaches.

How do the E. posticus compare to discoid roaches when it comes to Tarantulas? I have a Dubia and a discoid colony as well, but the discoids are a new addition and primarily for the bearded dragon.

The best feeding response I have encountered so far was actually soldier flies. They can't seem to resist the wing buzzing.

Even the Psalmopoeus Cambridgei went for one and it was barely a mouthful for her I liked them for the sling, and just let the juveniles have the excess. But they are hardly big enough to use as feeders for anything bigger than a sling, or a very small juvenile.

View attachment 2024-05-05 12_08_19~3.mp4

 

[Arachnophobphile]

Thanks for the tips!

I've got them in 10 gallon aquarium right now. I repurposed my moss tank for them.

I've been catching them by putting food in an escape proof dish. I just dump the contents of the dish into a holding container along with any roaches that got themselves trapped in it. Any extras get dumped back into the main enclosure after.

It's going well so far.

Unfortunately 4 of my 7 are currently in premolt, and I suspect a 5th one has also. It webbed its burrow shut two nights ago so it's been a pretty boring time for feeding them

I'm hoping the red runner enclosure will work well on a 6 month schedule. All of my other roaches and isopods get a 50% substrate change every 6 months or so.

The moss tank has been setup for a while and it is also where I've been keeping surplus springtails, so it should adjust well to the addition of the roaches.

How do the E. posticus compare to discoid roaches when it comes to Tarantulas? I have a Dubia and a discoid colony as well, but the discoids are a new addition and primarily for the bearded dragon.

The best feeding response I have encountered so far was actually soldier flies. They can't seem to resist the wing buzzing.

Even the Psalmopoeus Cambridgei went for one and it was barely a mouthful for her I liked them for the sling, and just let the juveniles have the excess. But they are hardly big enough to use as feeders for anything bigger than a sling, or a very small juvenile.

View attachment 479079

I haven't bought discoids yet but they seem very similiar to dubia just seem bigger.

E. posticus are very stinky and make a nasty mess in their bin. They are not for the squeamish. Also when they are disturbed like grabbing them to feed off they excrete a very foul smell from their abdomen. It's nasty, like rotten garlic something on that line.

I had one actually shoot some butt juice at me when I had it in the tongs.

Unlike dubia, posticus roaches trigger my T's to instantly pounce on them. My T's don't care for dubia. Dubia worked fine for juveniles but as soon as they hit 3 - 3.5 inches they didn't want anything to do with them.

B. lateralis and E. posticus they will take from slings to adults.

 

[Raghild]

I haven't bought discoids yet but they seem very similiar to dubia just seem bigger.

E. posticus are very stinky and make a nasty mess in their bin. They are not for the squeamish. Also when they are disturbed like grabbing them to feed off they excrete a very foul smell from their abdomen. It's nasty, like rotten garlic something on that line.

I had one actually shoot some butt juice at me when I had it in the tongs.

Unlike dubia, posticus roaches trigger my T's to instantly pounce on them. My T's don't care for dubia. Dubia worked fine for juveniles but as soon as they hit 3 - 3.5 inches they didn't want anything to do with them.

B. lateralis and E. posticus they will take from slings to adults.

Yeah, a dubia has been living with my c. versicolor for months. It even got moved from the old enclosure to the new one with it

And not for lack of her trying. One time when it came out for water, she went for it, but it was too far away for her to get a good fix on its location so she ended up straddling it, turning in circles tapping around for it.

It froze and waited her out. For an hour and a half it sat there under her until she finally wandered back to her web and it went back into hiding

I don't usually bother with giving them to the tarantulas anymore because if they miss them on the initial grab, the dubia roaches are very adept at evading the tarantulas.

And I don't mind gross, but I do get sensitive to smells when I have my migraines. I don't do crickets for that reason. Unfortunately I can't know what smells will bother me.

My entire bug cabinet has a faint pleasant earthy smell to it normally, and when I have a migraine it's about 50 times stronger smelling and the 'earthy smell' becomes a more potent rotting wood smell, but it doesn't bother me. Just reminds me of the woods after a rain.

But the cat litter box in the other room? Might as well be sitting in my lap. It can be perfectly clean fresh litter and I can't stand it still. And crickets? They just smelled downright rancid. Like a rotting animal

I keep all my feeder bugs in natural substrates, leaf litter, wood, and other organic matter because I know I don't mind the earthy smell during my migraines. But it couldn't mask the crickets from my migraines

Probably will steer clear of the E. Posticus to be safe.

 

[Ultum4Spiderz]

Yeah, a dubia has been living with my c. versicolor for months. It even got moved from the old enclosure to the new one with it

And not for lack of her trying. One time when it came out for water, she went for it, but it was too far away for her to get a good fix on its location so she ended up straddling it, turning in circles tapping around for it.

It froze and waited her out. For an hour and a half it sat there under her until she finally wandered back to her web and it went back into hiding

I don't usually bother with giving them to the tarantulas anymore because if they miss them on the initial grab, the dubia roaches are very adept at evading the tarantulas.

And I don't mind gross, but I do get sensitive to smells when I have my migraines. I don't do crickets for that reason. Unfortunately I can't know what smells will bother me.

My entire bug cabinet has a faint pleasant earthy smell to it normally, and when I have a migraine it's about 50 times stronger smelling and the 'earthy smell' becomes a more potent rotting wood smell, but it doesn't bother me. Just reminds me of the woods after a rain.

But the cat litter box in the other room? Might as well be sitting in my lap. It can be perfectly clean fresh litter and I can't stand it still. And crickets? They just smelled downright rancid. Like a rotting animal

I keep all my feeder bugs in natural substrates, leaf litter, wood, and other organic matter because I know I don't mind the earthy smell during my migraines. But it couldn't mask the crickets from my migraines

Probably will steer clear of the E. Posticus to be safe.

E. Posticus I’d definitely avoid and get discoid or something else. There cool as pets maybe but not fun to feed off.

 

[Raghild]

Yeah, I already have discoids and dubias, but they are primarily for the bearded dragon.

I keep a lot of different things though, and tend to just feed whatever to whoever based on what colonies need population reductions.

A bearded dragon can make short work of isopods when colonies need to be culled

Usually I always have superworms, mealworms (and darkling beetles of both), soldier flies and larvae, Dubia roaches, and seven different species of isopods. Also frequently have hornworms and hawkmoths.

But I'm still growing my collection

Plenty of room to add more stuff yet.

 

[Arachnophobphile]

Yeah, I already have discoids and dubias, but they are primarily for the bearded dragon.

I keep a lot of different things though, and tend to just feed whatever to whoever based on what colonies need population reductions.

A bearded dragon can make short work of isopods when colonies need to be culled

Usually I always have superworms, mealworms (and darkling beetles of both), soldier flies and larvae, Dubia roaches, and seven different species of isopods. Also frequently have hornworms and hawkmoths.

But I'm still growing my collection

Plenty of room to add more stuff yet.

Hawk moths are pretty cool. Do you keep them until they turn into a moth then free them? Are you using them as feeders?

 

[Raghild]

I usually just keep them long enough to lay some eggs, and then I feed off the adults.

Sometimes we will keep a few adults in a butterfly enclosure for my son.

They only live for a few weeks though. And are messy buggers

Fun story... When they first emerge as moths, they are very bloated. The first thing they do when they break free is defecate all the waste that built up during metamorphosis.

One time I had one who had a rough emerging and ended up with a piece of the chrysalis still attached to its face.

So it was just flailing around as if it hadn't broken free yet. So I gently held it and removed the piece from its face.

Queue the immediate defecation reflex

Explosive moth poop. All down the front of my shirt.

Me: really? *Really*?

That was one of the ones we kept. Its proboscis didn't fuse properly because of the ordeal, so it had to be hand fed. And I'm a sucker for helping bugs so it got to stick around as a pet.