No remains?

[Vampire]

What the heck? my b smithi is eating just fine & getting a nice fat bod. Thing is, when I go in to remove the cricket carcass remains, I can't find anything! He's not eating the whole things is he?

 

[NightCrawler]

The only time I have found remains of meals was when I fed my b.smithi an roach. The entire "shield" of the roach was left behind, so my guess have always been that they eat it all.

 

[Vampire]

WOW

:?
I did not know that! thanks, I thought I was going nuts (again)

 

[hillie16]

Mine never leaves anything behind.

 

[Sean]

alot of my T's eat all the cricks my large parahybana usually eats all of them a few times i have found remians though not often though.

 

[Code Monkey]

They always leave remains, it's physically impossible that they consume everything since the outer exoskeleton of arthropods is impervious to their digestive enzymes. Whether those remains are easily identifiable, or what size they are is a whole other matter. A large cricket might be reduced to a small bit of debris a couple of millimeters across and barely distingushable from the substrate.

 

[NightCrawler]

Originally posted by Code Monkey
They always leave remains, it's physically impossible that they consume everything since the outer exoskeleton of arthropods is impervious to their digestive enzymes.

Can the remains of the exoskeleton that is almost impossible to find attract mites and stuff then??

 

[Code Monkey]

Originally posted by NightCrawler
Can the remains of the exoskeleton that is almost impossible to find attract mites and stuff then??

I would think not, the only thing left is essentially chitin and mites are attracted to easier fare.

Of course the real secret is this: keep your Ts dry or nearly so. Mites need moist substrate, with very few exceptions, your Ts don't.

 

[Nameless]

My b.boehmei leaves only the crickets head and a shell of the cricket. I was feeding mine last night and aftewards I watched it move the remains around, I was too lazy at the time to take the remains out. Woke up this morning and my T had move it to the side of the tank and pushed it some into the substrate, it was so covered with substrate it was almost impossible to see it. And this was all taken place in a mini pet-pal type container. And my other T is in a 10gal glass tank, I can't ever find the remains in that thing. I am new to the hobby but I think this a good enough reason for me to go with smaller enclosures.

 

[rosehaired1979]

Re: WOW

Originally posted by Joni Pote
:?
I thought I was going nuts (again)

Thought you were already passed nuts hehe;P

 

[Telson]

I hardly ever find remains of a single crick. Only when a T is munching several at a time do I find a clump of remains large enough to worry about needing to remove it.

 

[Malhavoc's]

Code as for your statement wouldn't the diggestive fluids if giving enough time and enough quantity be able to complete desinigrate the exoskeleton hell our digestive fluids can destroy tin but it normaly passes through us before then so if a t chewed on a cricket or soemthing long enough could it not potentialy completely digest they cricket?

 

[Code Monkey]

Originally posted by Malhavoc's
Code as for your statement wouldn't the diggestive fluids if giving enough time and enough quantity be able to complete desinigrate the exoskeleton hell our digestive fluids can destroy tin but it normaly passes through us before then so if a t chewed on a cricket or soemthing long enough could it not potentialy completely digest they cricket?

No, you're thinking acid versus enzyme. A protein can only do what it's adapted to do and they simply cannot break down the outer layer of the exoskeleton (if they could, they'd digest themselves). You can wait forever for an enzyme to do something it can't, and you'll still be waiting there at the end of forever.

 

[Malhavoc's]

Thanks for the clear up