Eating Question

[Laceface]

For the first time today I was able to watch from start to finish when my rosea ate (awesome to see!) But, after about 5-10 minutes, she stopped, and started webbing the bottom of her hide, then dropped the cricket (after hardly eating any) and wrapped it in webbing and substrate. Im sure its normal, but im also quite positive I need to remove it.. Would this be correct? I figure leaving it in would result in mites and such, but, is this a normal every time she eats sort of thing? Or would certain conditions make her do this? (just for future knowledge) thank ya much!

 

[ShadowBlade]

Did she actually eat the crik, or kind of held onto it? ten minutes isn't long, sometimes they web food over and eat it soon after.

Oh, just saw you said she ate a bit of it. She was probably just sort of toying around with, as they like to wait till its soft to chow down, often adding more crix on the web before balling them all up to eat.

-Sean

 

[Laceface]

OK, so should I leave it there for a couple feedings then? I dont wanna risk mites or anything, and I think shes going to molt somewhat soon, her abdomen is turning dark.

 

[cheetah13mo]

Give the T just a couple of hours to eat it. If it's still there, untouched, then you should remove it.

 

[Laceface]

Alright, Ill have to keep an eye on where she puts it, last i saw she had it in her hide..but who knows, hehe, thank you much! I was at a loss to what to do when she first did it! Id be worried without you guys

 

[Mushroom Spore]

As long as your enclosure is dry--which it should be anyway, for a rosie--a webbed up cricket or two won't mold or result in mites. Heck, my C. cyaneopubescens tends to hold on to her molted exoskeletons for months at a time, but her enclosure is BONE dry so they just get all dry and papery.

You obviously don't want to leave it in there for ages and ages, as it's unsightly, but in a dry environment they basically just turn into little cricket mummies. (I found this out myself just today, the dead cricket I left my parahybana sling right before I went home for a week didn't get eaten due to premolt. Fortunately, again, dry enclosure and dry winter air = it didn't even turn black, just dried up.)

The most likely reason is that your rosie just isn't hungry, so it decided to save the bug for later (since they aren't smart enough to know that we'll keep providing them food on a regular basis, they have to make sure they don't starve in the future ).

If it's not eaten in 24 hours, I'd go ahead and pick it out.

 

[Laceface]

Alright! And yep, its bone dry. I had to remove and replace a little bit of substrate earlier ( A ferret got onto the counter and bumped the cage, spilled her water) But its back to bone dry. Im just a paranoid momma hehe