Keeping feeders alive and healthy

[Benzen]

Healthy feeders means healthy Tarantulas.
I mainly use crickets as feeders and buy some prepackaged packs from local pet stores (around 2 bucks for some 40 crickets). Thing is i don't have a big T collection like some of you guys and i actually have to consider how to keep the crickets alive.
I rehouse them to a critter keeper, put some soil and oats in it.
They seem to love apples and tomatoes, but they leave the bananas untouched. Just because they are feeders, doesn't mean i want them to suffer or neglect their well-being.
Is this fine? What's to improve? Do they need a water dish?

 

[Dorifto]

Healthy feeders means healthy Tarantulas.
I mainly use crickets as feeders and buy some prepackaged packs from local pet stores (around 2 bucks for some 40 crickets). Thing is i don't have a big T collection like some of you guys and i actually have to consider how to keep the crickets alive.
I rehouse them to a critter keeper, put some soil and oats in it.
They seem to love apples and tomatoes, but they leave the bananas untouched. Just because they are feeders, doesn't mean i want them to suffer or neglect their well-being.
Is this fine? What's to improve? Do they need a water dish?

Best way to keep them healthy is to bake them in the oven, great snak.

For small collections, blatta lateralis (red runners) hands down. They don't have any special requeriments, a simple box with egg crates and they will thrive. They do not stink and can't climb smooth surfaces. Last time I bought a colony was two years ago or more.

 

[TheHound]

I have the same issue. Own 7 Ts, with a couple of different food size requirements. Keeping them alive long enough to exhaust a box is pretty tricky, even with streamlining what I buy as much as possible. Right now I keep 1 box of mealworms, one of superworms and one of locusts. The locusts I keep in a Cricket Keeper, which definitely improved their longevity over leaving them in the tub. With all 3, I try and put in fresh fruit and veg every few days. Sometimes I put oats in also for the worms. I used to put a water dish in for the locusts but I feel they get enough hydration from the fruit and veg, and removing it doesn't seem to have affected how long they last. I normally now get through all the locusts, nearly through the superworms, and often have quite a few mealworms left by the time they all start to die. It's an improvement on before, though I hate wasting anything, even though for the mealworm it's probably not any better to be eaten by a spider than to live a bit longer in a tub and then die.

Best way to keep them healthy is to bake them in the oven, great snak.

For small collections, blatta lateralis (red runners) hands down. They don't have any special requeriments, a simple box with egg crates and they will thrive. They do not stink and can't climb smooth surfaces. Last time I bought a colony was two years ago or more.

I tried red runners and dubias recently. They are very hardy and last a lot longer than other feeders, which is a nice plus. Also they have good nutritional value. But they are quite the hassle to capture with tongs, especially red runners. Fiddly little buggers they are. It's even worse if the T doesn't eat it and you then have to extract it from the enclosure!

 

[Timc]

I’d say just keep them clean to reduce their odor as much as possible, because man do crickets stink. Otherwise, yeah, if you’re not breeding them some egg crates and fruit and you’re pretty well set.

 

[Dorifto]

I have the same issue. Own 7 Ts, with a couple of different food size requirements. Keeping them alive long enough to exhaust a box is pretty tricky, even with streamlining what I buy as much as possible. Right now I keep 1 box of mealworms, one of superworms and one of locusts. The locusts I keep in a Cricket Keeper, which definitely improved their longevity over leaving them in the tub. With all 3, I try and put in fresh fruit and veg every few days. Sometimes I put oats in also for the worms. I used to put a water dish in for the locusts but I feel they get enough hydration from the fruit and veg, and removing it doesn't seem to have affected how long they last. I normally now get through all the locusts, nearly through the superworms, and often have quite a few mealworms left by the time they all start to die. It's an improvement on before, though I hate wasting anything, even though for the mealworm it's probably not any better to be eaten by a spider than to live a bit longer in a tub and then die.



I tried red runners and dubias recently. They are very hardy and last a lot longer than other feeders, which is a nice plus. Also they have good nutritional value. But they are quite the hassle to capture with tongs, especially red runners. Fiddly little buggers they are. It's even worse if the T doesn't eat it and you then have to extract it from the enclosure!

Just tilt the box and they will stack in the same corner hahahahaha, being honest, I don't find them hard to catch, specially if they are in the egg crate. If they stay running, that's another story xD

In case the T does not take them instantly, it's perfectly safe to leave them there (red runners) unless it's a gravid mature female. I wouldn't leave any prey that burrows and can feed from organic matter, Eg dubias, morios, zophobas... etc.

 

[Benzen]

red runners

No no no...i really can't have these things in my apartment. In case they escape they can become a pest, and i really don't want to explain to my landlord why there's a cockroach pest in my apartment.

 

[Dorifto]

No no no...i really can't have these things in my apartment. In case they escape they can become a pest, and i really don't want to explain to my landlord why there's a cockroach pest in my apartment.

In case you have an scape place a roach trap nearby, 100% infallible.

If roaches are big issue, what about mealworms?

 

[Benson1990]

I've totally switched to worms, never liked crickets myself they die very easily and can smell, never tried roaches they're not as easily gettable where I am.

Meal worms and morio's are simple to care for, I just put them on a bed of oats and feed them lettuce, potato skins, carrots etc...and they thrive, no smell, no deaths, not hard to catch, just a lot simpler all round in my experience.

 

[Myrlina]

Regular mealworms last for months in the fridge. I use them for my slings. Crickets I keep in a purpose made cricket keeper (a modified kritter keeper) and feed them goldfish flakes and water gel. The crickets survive and grow for weeks until I feed them all off. Morios live for a couple weeks at least in the box of bran they come in. The only thing I struggle to keep alive is locusts, possibly because my house is a bit cold for them.