Florida Whipspider Questions

[Arachnid Hobby]

Hi guys, so I have a Phrynus marginemaculatus and I have some questions.

Question 1
What sized crickets should I really be feeding her? She is an adult and I feed her small crickets, but should I feed her something smaller?

Question 2
She is gravid so what should I feed the babies? Are dwarf white isopods a good idea?

Question 3
Should I separate her from the babies or can they coexist for a while?

 

[schmiggle]

What sized crickets should I really be feeding her? She is an adult and I feed her small crickets, but should I feed her something smaller?

Whipspiders in general take large prey, I think. I used to occasionally feed my Heterophrynus crickets larger than her, and she had no problem with them. Just don't make a habit of feeding anything that large, because overfeeding can lead to immature molting. But you're honestly more likely to have a problem with her ignoring small prey. A third to a half of body length is a good rule to go by.

She is gravid so what should I feed the babies? Are dwarf white isopods a good idea?

Similar rule to above, although I don't know what size the babies are. I think a lot of people start out with flightless fruit flies and quickly move up to crickets.

Should I separate her from the babies or can they coexist for a while?

Like many arachnids, whipspider babies stay on the back of the adult until their first molt. You should probably separate them pretty soon after that, although that's a guess on my part based on what I've read from others. Another concern you have is cannibalism by the babies, so at some point you'll either want to separate or accept that you'll lose some.

 

[InvertsandOi]

What @schmiggle said. I would add that individual whipspiders seem to have different preferences on prey type and size, so some trial and error might be necessary. I've never heard of anyone using Trichorhina tomentosa as feeders for baby whipspiders, but I think it's an interesting idea. They're the right size and they're more soft bodied than most isopods, so they might be pretty appetizing. It might be hard to get them to venture up toward the whipspiders to get eaten though. You can get them to the surface with some kibble. They probably won't venture any higher than that though, so the amblys would have to to come down to the isopods in order to snack on them. Also, according to Orin's book, Amblypygid can't survive on a diet of fruit flies alone. They're great for getting them eating, but you might want to supplement with something else like pinhead crickets or L1 nymphs from a small roach species if you can find that stuff. Otherwise they could eventually have trouble molting.

Also, the babies should be okay with each other for at least the first few instars with minimal to no cannibalism.