Dried mealworms? Emergency food?

[Freyjios]

Can I give my tarantula juvenile dried mealworms as emergency food? The store is out of dubias for three weeks and no other store in my city. And it's winter here. I tried live mealworms and my spider didn't eat. Now thinking if I just drop one of the dried ones in there maybe it will eat? Or can dried mealworm hurt its fangs?

 

[BoyFromLA]

Can I give my tarantula juvenile dried mealworms as emergency food?

Nope.

 

[TimmmyTarantula]

I would say no for a couple of reasons, t's will drink water but get most of the moisture from their food, imo if it's not alive n kicking they won't have much interest unless you tong feed and simulate a struggling bug because t's eat live they're not scavengers. Also when was the last time your t ate? Keep in mind if it's an adult t that is healthy they can survive a long time without eating I'm not advocating this because surviving isn't thriving but 3 weeks or so w/o food isn't necessarily the end of the world. If your local shops don't have feeders you could try looking for a bait and tackle fishing shop they often sell various types of live insects for bait, I've never done this but if you have 0 other options it might work I have seen live crickets at bait shops before. Hope this helps

 

[Freyjios]

He's just a juvenile and it's now been 15 days.

I'm worried. I'm already so attached to this little brat despite the disappointment of him being a boy

IMG_20211112_191040.jpg

• Freyjios
• Nov 12, 2021

IMG_20211112_192658.jpg

• Freyjios
• Nov 12, 2021

Some photos

 

[TimmmyTarantula]

A very nice T! I can totally understand your concern as keepers we all try to take the best care of our pets but at 15 days your still in the safe zone I had an avic avid go 3 full months on food strike and he wasnt even in premolt

 

[Freyjios]

Thank you so much. He's so beautiful and so sweet. He never tried to attack (not that I openly provoke him) and he's just so sweet. I never knew a spider could be so sweet. Thanks for calming my nerves. I feel like he's dying now but feel better now.

 

[Edan bandoot]

He's very fat, if it were hungry it would take the live meal worms. Dried mealworms are useless as there is nothing for them to suck up.

Even if it didn't take them, it would still probably be fine for 3 weeks.

 

[TimmmyTarantula]

His abdomen looks nice and plump not shriveled looks healthy, in the meantime just make sure your husbandry is good right temperature has water etc and he should do just fine and keep trying to find a food source. If you google how long a t can go without eating and you'll find tons of info even other arachnoboards posts about the subject to settle your nerves

 

[cold blood]

Mealworms will last 6 months in the fridge....alive.....so live mealworms could easily be considered an emergency food.

Those dried ones are devoid of all the stuff a t would consume.

 

[kingshockey]

use all the way killed super worms just try leaving on ontop of its hide to findalso its chubby so no worries about it starving any time soon

 

[viper69]

He's just a juvenile and it's now been 15 days.

I'm worried. I'm already so attached to this little brat despite the disappointment of him being a boy

IMG_20211112_191040.jpg

• Freyjios
• Nov 12, 2021

IMG_20211112_192658.jpg

• Freyjios
• Nov 12, 2021

Some photos

No

and your T is “fat” could go without food for about a month depending on temps

why are you worried?????

 

[The Grym Reaper]

Even slings can go several months without food so a plump juvenile genic will be fine waiting another 3 weeks.

 

[Freyjios]

Thanks guys