Feeding jumping spiders without losing prey

[gorybmovie]

When I first housed my female P. Audax Ichabod, I fed her houseflies that I caught around the house. She seemed to enjoy that but I've read that I should avoid wild caught prey to protect her from pesticides. I purchased crickets and she seemed to like those. She usually catches prey items that I place in the enclosure but she has been shy since her molt the day before yesterday.

I currently have dubai roaches, crickets, and mealworms. My issue with all of these is that when she doesn't eat them they sometimes get loose in the enclosure and then I have to dig through the substrate to find them. Especially the dubai roaches! They tend to burrow. They also stay very still most of the time so the spider doesn't always see them.

In the past, I have sometimes moved her to a separate feeding enclosure. As she recently molted, I do not want to disturb her too much and risk injuring her. What advice do you have for feeding jumping spiders these insects and not losing them in the spider's home?

 

[BoyFromLA]

Feed half-killed or nearly killed feeders. That way, even if they are on the loose, they will not survive through the injuries.

Oh boy, that sound very… hmmm…

 

[Nicole C G]

When I first housed my female P. Audax Ichabod, I fed her houseflies that I caught around the house. She seemed to enjoy that but I've read that I should avoid wild caught prey to protect her from pesticides. I purchased crickets and she seemed to like those. She usually catches prey items that I place in the enclosure but she has been shy since her molt the day before yesterday.

I currently have dubai roaches, crickets, and mealworms. My issue with all of these is that when she doesn't eat them they sometimes get loose in the enclosure and then I have to dig through the substrate to find them. Especially the dubai roaches! They tend to burrow. They also stay very still most of the time so the spider doesn't always see them.

In the past, I have sometimes moved her to a separate feeding enclosure. As she recently molted, I do not want to disturb her too much and risk injuring her. What advice do you have for feeding jumping spiders these insects and not losing them in the spider's home?

You could buy flies online, or use less substrate maybe?

 

[Hardus nameous]

You could always catch a few flies to start a maggot colony and raise your own.......
Whenever I feed dubia or mealworms I crush the heads; that's feeding them to tarantulas though. That stops the feeders from burrowing, but I don't know if a jumper would eat them.
Would waxworms be too big for your spider? Those things are harmless except to bees (never let them escape). I keep a mini exoterra with some dry oatmeal and crumpled wax paper in it; dump a tub of waxworms in and two or three weeks later have a bunch of tiny moths.

 

[Cecelias lair]

You could buy flies online, or use less substrate maybe?

I was thinking that. At least they'll also be flightless which is a plus, and so easy to keep

 

[gorybmovie]

You could always catch a few flies to start a maggot colony and raise your own.......
Whenever I feed dubia or mealworms I crush the heads; that's feeding them to tarantulas though. That stops the feeders from burrowing, but I don't know if a jumper would eat them.
Would waxworms be too big for your spider? Those things are harmless except to bees (never let them escape). I keep a mini exoterra with some dry oatmeal and crumpled wax paper in it; dump a tub of waxworms in and two or three weeks later have a bunch of tiny moths.

Waxworms might work. I'll also try crushing the heads. That's a great idea! Here are some pics of Ichabod so you can see how big she is.

 

[Edan bandoot]

They may not eat for a few days to a week after molting to prevent themselves from damaging their fangs