I am new to Tarantulas and was wondering how to keep Crickets between feedings without them keeping me up. Do I have to make a weekly trip to the store to get more? I recently got a Pink Zebra Beauty from spidershoppe.com and it's healthy looking so far and has made it's terrarium home. Thanks for your help I'm sure that I'll be checking back for more help soon.
Keeping Tarantula Food
- Thread starter eleven_68
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What I do is..I have a container with air holes, I put in either apples, potatoes, dog biscuits and water along with some cut up egg cartons. I have them in my kitchen in the cubbard where it is pretty dark and cozy. I dont ever hear them and they live for quite some time.
Anyone other ideas guys??
REnee
Anyone other ideas guys??
REnee
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I assume by keeping you up you mean the chirping. You can avoid this by buying immature crickets, recognizable because they don't have wings. Only the mature males chirp.
Crickets are easy to keep, all they need is food (lots of things work...dry dog or cat food, chicken feed, goldfish flakes, bran cereal), water (sliced potatos, apples or oranges work, as well as a dish with gravel, they will drown in open dishes) and somthing to cling to (paper towel tubes, egg carton, cardboard).
Ventilation is importnat, the inside of the cage should be kept pretty dry. Since you only have one spider, a small container should meet all your needs. See the insect forum for larger-scale keeping and breeding.
Wade
Crickets are easy to keep, all they need is food (lots of things work...dry dog or cat food, chicken feed, goldfish flakes, bran cereal), water (sliced potatos, apples or oranges work, as well as a dish with gravel, they will drown in open dishes) and somthing to cling to (paper towel tubes, egg carton, cardboard).
Ventilation is importnat, the inside of the cage should be kept pretty dry. Since you only have one spider, a small container should meet all your needs. See the insect forum for larger-scale keeping and breeding.
Wade
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Oh I see you got a PZB, I just asked what you got on your other post. Nice T. What size and did they tell you if it was a male or female? As for Crickets with only one T. I would say just go get what you need at the time, no real need to keep them around until you have an army of the eating machines. I love the noise they make I just wish they didn't smeel so bad
. GregHEHE LOL, they smell bad too!!! =D =D =D
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It is a female and she molted just last week or the week before...I can't remember. That's when they sexed her. He didn't tell me a size, but I guess I didn't ask either. She seems to be about 5 inches front to back though and fuzzy as heck!
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Very cool, Docile T., Just so you know at that size she may not be ready to eat for a few more days (depending on when she molted) I like to give mine of that size 10-14 days after a molt before I feed, gives there body and fangs time to harden up. Greg
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Another thing you might want to try feeding is superworms or mealworms - you can normally get cups of 50-100 mealworms and 25-50 superworms for 3-5$.
You can keep the mealworms in the fridge, and they last forever - and the superworms are typically fine in the cups they come in for a month or two IME (In My Experience).
If you go to the main forum page, and type either "mealworm" or "superworm" in the search box at the bottom right, you'll see a whole lot more info on these feeders.
You can keep the mealworms in the fridge, and they last forever - and the superworms are typically fine in the cups they come in for a month or two IME (In My Experience).
If you go to the main forum page, and type either "mealworm" or "superworm" in the search box at the bottom right, you'll see a whole lot more info on these feeders.
I've heard of using these but I've been discouraged because of the fact that they can get down into the soil if they aren't eaten immediatly and turn into beatles which can harm your Tarantula if it's molting when it resurfaces. What are your thoughts?
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Offer them in a deep dish that they can climb out of or crush their heads. If you crush the heads just right they will still roll around for awhile before dying and won't burrow down.
When I buy crickets I alway feed the males first. That way I am left with quiet females! You can tell the difference because the female has a long straight ovipositor sticking out if its rear. Of course I have many that I am feeding so it is easy to feed all males first!
Jennifer
Jennifer
i agree with jennifer feed your t the males first. i have 10 t's and i just make a trip to the pet store about every 2 weeks for crickets. this way i get to look at the t's for sale while waiting. i dont like the smell of stupid crix. i raise my own m,ealworms for my slings. if your pzb just molted i wouldnt worry about the beetles harming her if you feed her a mealworm tommorrow by the time it turns into a beetle you pzb will be more than happy to dispose of the beetle. my rosie loves the beetles he prefers them to crickets and worms. if you pzb is 5 inches dont worry she can take care of herself. the molt rule for me is ten days after then i feed. i keep track of molts for this reason. i pull out all uneaten food items after 24 hours regardless of when the last molt was.