Phrynus marginemaculatus babies... NOW WHAT?!

[Daniel Edwards]

My trio of Phrynus marginemaculatus produced a female with babies. They have now molted into i1 and are venturing all over the terrarium alone. The mother died. The other 2 adults stay away from the babies. They are rediculously tiny, as in a few millimeters tops each. I put in cider spiced bit of fruit to attract fruit flies because I have no other access to food they could easily find. Seems to be working and they are thriving. They are so small that separating them would be a nightmare. I'm excited. However I see no other option than leave the colony alone.
Thoughts?

 

[aphono]

Congrats! Responded in my thread but will repeat some of it: Mine handled pinhead crickets quite well but I understand it's not easy to find these in most places. Perhaps mail order? Pinhead roaches would work as well & are much hardier than crickets. I've been collecting ooths of the wild red runners(B. lateralis- extremely common in southern CA... ugh) to try out a colony of those. Their babies hatch out at a perfect size for babies of this species.

Apparently they either cannot molt or have molt problems on a fruit fly only diet. If you can get mealworms, try cutting them up and see if they will eat it for some variety? Recently learned some very young amblypygi will take prekilled. Never tried that myself since they were taking on pinheads all by themselves but I'd like to know if you try this. I also introduced springtails and fed them to make them explode. No idea if they are nutritious or if they were taken at all but...

In general, adult amblypygi will kill and eat much smaller members. Don't know what degree that is a problem with this species but my adults proved to be very hostile and territorial- including cannibalism so I had to separate them. I decided to separate the mother and babies soon after they left her.. at the moment all of the babies are still together and it sort of looks like they are communally-inclined as they mostly hang out on the same slab of cork bark.

 

[Daniel Edwards]

Very cool. I also added chunks of wood full of "micro" bugs to get something in there. I am n Virginia and the rain has destroyed us. I gt ants, fruit flies, and "micro" bugs meaning tiny things I can't identify in there and they are thriving. Pretty fun to see this all in action!

 

[pannaking22]

Little Kenyan roach nymphs would probably work too. I've used those to feed young phrynids before and they've been pretty popular.

 

[LordAnon]

My trio of Phrynus marginemaculatus produced a female with babies. They have now molted into i1 and are venturing all over the terrarium alone. The mother died. The other 2 adults stay away from the babies. They are rediculously tiny, as in a few millimeters tops each. I put in cider spiced bit of fruit to attract fruit flies because I have no other access to food they could easily find. Seems to be working and they are thriving. They are so small that separating them would be a nightmare. I'm excited. However I see no other option than leave the colony alone.
Thoughts?

I only have secondhand knowledge from the breeder I get my P. Marginemaculatus. He was very easy about it. Kept them communal setup, he said they tended to get along well (except for the specimen I purchased which had a cannibalistic streak). He would drop in some pinheads or ff about twice a week, and leave them. I don't think he separated them, even as adults (which is why he always has so many).