I'm completely new to owning a tarantula and am wondering about feeding.

[AbelTeemo]

Hello! My name is Abel and I just recently became interested in getting a tarantula. I have already bought the enclosure and a few other supplies, and am now waiting for brachypelma hamorii to go back on sale on Jamie's Tarantulas. The website also sells food, and I'm interested in the lateralis roaches but I have a few questions. Is it better to regularly buy the roaches or to just breed them (can you even do that)? About how long do the roaches live? How many should I be buying at one time and when should I be ordering more? Am I going to have to feed the roaches to keep them alive for my tarantula? I'm going to be getting a late adolescence/ adult tarantula in case anyone needs that information. Any help would be greatly appreciated!
(I'm also new to this forum so sorry if there are any formatting issues with my post)

 

[Goopyguy56]

I wouldn't breed roaches for just one tarantula. Your probably better off getting half a dozen crickets at your nearest pet shop once in a while. I personally just feed my t's once or twice a week. I just check out there abdomen size. If it's too big I slow down feeding or maybe stop feeding

 

[omni]

Welcome and hope you'll enjoy keeping a hamorii,, for one spider, you dont need a colony of lateralis or dubia. they live 6-8 months and lateralis breed like crazy if kept warm and fed in a tub. smallest amount I saw was like 25 or 50 and even that is too much for 1 T. esp. if you feed a small spiderling every 5-10 days.
you can get mealworms and keep them in the fridge for a long time

 

[BigRich981]

There is really no need to breed roaches for just one T like many have already stated. I currently keep 14 Ts and 20+ lizards. We buy crickets from either Fluker's or Rainbow Mealworms every other week. much more affordable than your Big Box store. We typically feed off 250 crickets a week so the savings is there for us buy purchasing online. But really for 1 T it would probably be more cost effective to just pick up a dozen crickets from your local pet store and keep those until they either die or you feed them off.

 

[The Grym Reaper]

Is it better to regularly buy the roaches or to just breed them (can you even do that)?

There's no point in starting a roach colony unless you have 2 dozen tarantulas at the very least, they reproduce far faster than you can feed them off (I have 76 tarantulas, 2 scorpions, and a leopard gecko and I still have to periodically sell off a few hundred at a time to keep their numbers manageable).

About how long do the roaches live?

Not sure exactly but I'm guessing several months if provided adequate food/hydration.

How many should I be buying at one time and when should I be ordering more?

A large juvenile/adult hamorii is only going to need to eat once or twice a month so a pack of 25-30 is going to last you a while.

Am I going to have to feed the roaches to keep them alive for my tarantula?

Yes, I feed mine a mix of chick feed & fish flake, and water crystals for hydration.

 

[AbelTeemo]

There's no point in starting a roach colony unless you have 2 dozen tarantulas at the very least, they reproduce far faster than you can feed them off (I have 76 tarantulas, 2 scorpions, and a leopard gecko and I still have to periodically sell off a few hundred at a time to keep their numbers manageable).



Not sure exactly but I'm guessing several months if provided adequate food/hydration.



A large juvenile/adult hamorii is only going to need to eat once or twice a month so a pack of 25-30 is going to last you a while.



Yes, I feed mine a mix of chick feed & fish flake, and water crystals for hydration.

Thanks for your response, it was extremely helpful! One last question, how often to you feed your roaches the mix and the water crystals?

 

[The Grym Reaper]

Thanks for your response, it was extremely helpful! One last question, how often to you feed your roaches the mix and the water crystals?

I just top it up as needed so they have a constant supply of food/water

 

[viper69]

Hello! My name is Abel and I just recently became interested in getting a tarantula. I have already bought the enclosure and a few other supplies, and am now waiting for brachypelma hamorii to go back on sale on Jamie's Tarantulas. The website also sells food, and I'm interested in the lateralis roaches but I have a few questions. Is it better to regularly buy the roaches or to just breed them (can you even do that)? About how long do the roaches live? How many should I be buying at one time and when should I be ordering more? Am I going to have to feed the roaches to keep them alive for my tarantula? I'm going to be getting a late adolescence/ adult tarantula in case anyone needs that information. Any help would be greatly appreciated!
(I'm also new to this forum so sorry if there are any formatting issues with my post)

Can’t breed roaches for one T- supply/demand

 

[Sgt7212]

I maintain a dubia colony, but I've had one for 2 years and am not only feeding my 8 T's and scorpion, but also an adult male bearded dragon and my son's 2 leopard geckos. Main diet is dubias, but even then I will occasionally feed mealworms, super worms, horn/wax/butter worms, silk worms and crickets. My smallest slings get pre-killed mealworms or small crickets. Like others have stated above, if you only have one T, then it doesn't make sense to keep and maintain a colony. It won't be cost effective at that point and it will take up more time to maintain than it would to go buy a few feeders locally when needed and more time than maintaining your T.