Feeding problems

[mischiefhaze]

Since I got the Dubia’s none of my T’s have eaten. The Versicolor doesn’t surprise me so much because it molted in transit about 2 weeks ago.

Crickets didn’t stand a chance with my Boehmei, but it just walks away when I try to hand feed it the roaches. This guy may be getting ready to molt, but I‘m not sure.

The P. Irminia didn’t stirke the cricket until the next night. I didn’t see this, just looked over and it was eating it.

Now the Irminia seems almost scared of the Dubia‘s . It shot in it’s hole on two previous feeding attempts and today It was inside it’s hole, but at the entrance. I slowly lowered the Dubia in front of it and it looked like the T struck hard. The roach was dragged halfway in the hole, but a couple of seconds later I see the Irminia pop out the back of his hole. The roach disappeared. This is the second roach that pulled a David Copperfield on me in that enclosure. The first one is still MIA, about a week ago.

The Irminia has not eaten in nearly two weeks when I feed it the last cricket, and from what I can tell it doesn’t look like it is about to molt.

If they are pre molt, then everything is fine I suppose, but in case that isn’t it, any idea’s what could be wrong? The Irminia is about 2” and the Boehmei is about 1 ½ “ if that makes a difference.

Also, should I move the Irminia to a deli cup and get the 2 roaches out of there?

Any help anyone can offer would be appreciated.

Thanks

 

[AmbushArachnids]

Since I got the Dubia’s none of my T’s have eaten. The Versicolor doesn’t surprise me so much because it molted in transit about 2 weeks ago.

Crickets didn’t stand a chance with my Boehmei, but it just walks away when I try to hand feed it the roaches. This guy may be getting ready to molt, but I‘m not sure.

The P. Irminia didn’t stirke the cricket until the next night. I didn’t see this, just looked over and it was eating it.

Now the Irminia seems almost scared of the Dubia‘s . It shot in it’s hole on two previous feeding attempts and today It was inside it’s hole, but at the entrance. I slowly lowered the Dubia in front of it and it looked like the T struck hard. The roach was dragged halfway in the hole, but a couple of seconds later I see the Irminia pop out the back of his hole. The roach disappeared. This is the second roach that pulled a David Copperfield on me in that enclosure. The first one is still MIA, about a week ago.

The Irminia has not eaten in nearly two weeks when I feed it the last cricket, and from what I can tell it doesn’t look like it is about to molt.

If they are pre molt, then everything is fine I suppose, but in case that isn’t it, any idea’s what could be wrong? The Irminia is about 2” and the Boehmei is about 1 ½ “ if that makes a difference.

Also, should I move the Irminia to a deli cup and get the 2 roaches out of there?

Any help anyone can offer would be appreciated.

Thanks

If your Ts dont eat in your presence it could be that they are spooked by you opening the cage. Dont really have to worry much about the dubia/ at least not until your T is getting ready to molt. Chances are your Irminia is pre molt. If your T is getting darker than normal and really lazy its premolt. some Ts will stop eating for 2-4 weeks before molting at the 2" size. Not much to worry about.

 

[gvfarns]

Dubias' reputation as a good feeder is somewhat undeserved. Lots of people including myself have found that they are not as well accepted by T's as other feeders are. Very prey-aggressive T's eat them fine, but finicky or easily scared T's will avoid them until you go crazy. And they very often hide so you don't ever find them until you are re-housing or something and they pop out of the substrate.

This is why smaller, more active roaches are better. Even the most finicky tarantulas munch Blatta lateralis like crazy. In part it's because they are smaller and I think we tend to feed tarantulas prey that is larger than what they prefer, but the more important thing is that they are active and run around and stimulate the striking reflex. Dubia are heavy and short-legged and tend to hold still a lot. They just don't provoke the right reaction.

People often say you can get around these problems by doing varying amounts of damage to the roaches...squishing their heads, etc. In my experience this just results in the roaches crawling away and dying somewhere, then stinking up the house.

Crickets are also very good in the sense that tarantulas like them. They have many downsides, however.

If I were you I'd grab some lateralis (they are way cheap) and try them. You will find that you will have no more feeding problems and likely get rid of your dubias, like I did.

If you really want big roaches (for big T's) I'd be inclined to go with one of the smaller blaberus species (discoids or bolivensis). They are dubia sized but much more active. Very crunchy, though. And until they are mature they burrow even more than dubia do.