Rantra refuses to eat

Oliver King

Arachnopeon
Joined
Apr 26, 2017
Messages
3
Hello all,

I have recently acquired a Ranatra spp from a dealer, and have put him/her in a housing following this article: http://blogs.thatpetplace.com/thatr...uatic-insects-for-arachnid-fans/#.WS3e92jyubg
So far, everything is fine, except he/she does not seem to want to eat. I have tried the suggestions in the article, as well as from other areas, but it will not take anything from the tongs. I have offered earthworms, raw fish, and centipedes, with no luck. This has been the case for about four days, and does not seem to change depending on the time. It seems to be otherwise healthy, and appears to be attempting to hunt, as shown in the attached image, and moves around occasionally. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!
 

Stugy

Arachnolord
Joined
Apr 21, 2016
Messages
649
Try waiting a few days and try again. Invertebrates are evolved to be able to go for periods of time without food.
 

VolkswagenBug

Arachnobaron
Joined
Feb 26, 2017
Messages
500
Hello all,

I have recently acquired a Ranatra spp from a dealer, and have put him/her in a housing following this article: http://blogs.thatpetplace.com/thatr...uatic-insects-for-arachnid-fans/#.WS3e92jyubg
So far, everything is fine, except he/she does not seem to want to eat. I have tried the suggestions in the article, as well as from other areas, but it will not take anything from the tongs. I have offered earthworms, raw fish, and centipedes, with no luck. This has been the case for about four days, and does not seem to change depending on the time. It seems to be otherwise healthy, and appears to be attempting to hunt, as shown in the attached image, and moves around occasionally. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!
Have you tried feeding more "traditional" prey items like crickets and/or roaches?
I wouldn't recommend feeding centipedes to anything because of their venom, btw.
 

MTA

Arachnosquire
Joined
Aug 1, 2016
Messages
89
Try live fish or tadpoles, I've had luck with mealworm beetles, roaches, crickets, etc. Ranatra like live, moving prey items and usually don't accept dead food, and tongs can create a lot of disturbance so just drop food in front of it.
 

Salmonsaladsandwich

Arachnolord
Joined
Jul 28, 2016
Messages
633
Ranatra seem to have a preference for small living prey like mosquito larvae and daphnia. They'll eat bigger things, of course, and accept bits of meat and such from tongs. But I wouldn't be surprised if one that's stressed, not hungry or just not a very aggressive individual is a bit pickier.
 

dragonfire1577

Arachnodemon
Joined
Oct 7, 2015
Messages
697
I used to tong feed mine frozen thawed bloodworms and It took em just fine if that helps at all.
 
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