Staple diet besides dubias

Moakmeister

Arachnodemon
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Oct 6, 2016
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755
Hi my doods

I’ve recently been sorta bit by The Bug again and I’m probably gonna be posting here again. I kept a dubia colony until last year, when I became allergic to them. Every time I opened the bin, I’d begin sneezing for the next hour. I had to throw them out. I switched to superworms, but I understand that these aren’t the healthiest things to exclusively feed to my Ts and the scorpion I just bought. Plus… they aren’t exactly the most exciting feeder, especially since I always crush their heads before dropping them inside.

Are there other good staple feeders?
 

Ultum4Spiderz

ArachnoGod
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Oct 13, 2011
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6,204
Hi my doods

I’ve recently been sorta bit by The Bug again and I’m probably gonna be posting here again. I kept a dubia colony until last year, when I became allergic to them. Every time I opened the bin, I’d begin sneezing for the next hour. I had to throw them out. I switched to superworms, but I understand that these aren’t the healthiest things to exclusively feed to my Ts and the scorpion I just bought. Plus… they aren’t exactly the most exciting feeder, especially since I always crush their heads before dropping them inside.

Are there other good staple feeders?
I have two mealworm colony’s that I started from one jar from the store.
Hornworms on rare occasions. I never buy them too expensive for me. Orange head roaches .
 

cold blood

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Jan 19, 2014
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Hi my doods

I’ve recently been sorta bit by The Bug again and I’m probably gonna be posting here again. I kept a dubia colony until last year, when I became allergic to them. Every time I opened the bin, I’d begin sneezing for the next hour. I had to throw them out. I switched to superworms, but I understand that these aren’t the healthiest things to exclusively feed to my Ts and the scorpion I just bought. Plus… they aren’t exactly the most exciting feeder, especially since I always crush their heads before dropping them inside.

Are there other good staple feeders?
There's nothing unhealthy about mealworms or superworms...They will even eat the larvae and the beetles of mealworms.

Lots of people like red runners.

I'm also allergic to dubia, but I'm not allergic to other kinds of roaches.

If you can find banded crickets, they're quite hardy and easy to keep.
 

Moakmeister

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Don’t threaten us! 🤣😜🤣
Dude what’s wrong mealworms??? They have the most fat of any feeder out there, super nutritious!!!!!
Haha it’s good to be back

mealworms are tiny!

Crickets or mealworms?
Mealworms are too small and crickets are the thing I’d like to try the least… noisy, stinky, short lifespans, cannibalistic, and from all accounts I’ve ever heard, very lacking in nutrition.
 

Mike41793

Arachnoknight
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Apr 14, 2013
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I don't think I've ever seen studies showing that a diet of super worms or meal worms will kill your spider quicker than a diet of roaches or something else would. If that works, use them.

I use red runners. You could try those and see if you're allergic to them. Maybe it's just dubias specifically. I'm in NH if you're local I'd give you some to snort and decide if you're allergic.

Personally I want nothing to do with crickets. They smell , they die easily and they make noise. If I couldn't use roaches at all, I would just stick with meal worms and super worms. If you're in Europe they have locusts there. Those look awesome to feed Ts. We don't have them here in the US really tho.
 

Tinyspiderzz

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Waxworms are pretty easy to keep, and they eventually turn into moths which might be more interesting for your T. I personally like locusts, cheap, easy to catch, quiet and not smelly! I'm also looking to have a culture of bean weevils.
 

viper69

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Haha it’s good to be back

mealworms are tiny!


Mealworms are too small and crickets are the thing I’d like to try the least… noisy, stinky, short lifespans, cannibalistic, and from all accounts I’ve ever heard, very lacking in nutrition.
I meant super worms- were did you get the idea they are not nutritious for any length of time???
 

Arachnophobphile

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Haha it’s good to be back

mealworms are tiny!


Mealworms are too small and crickets are the thing I’d like to try the least… noisy, stinky, short lifespans, cannibalistic, and from all accounts I’ve ever heard, very lacking in nutrition.
There's different sizes of mealworms. I predominantly use mealworms and E. posticus roaches. I also use crickets every now and then. All provide nutrition and I raised tiny slings to massive adults on them.

Even my big adults I will feed a couple of giant mealworms every now and then. It gives my roach colony a break. Small mealworms I use for slings.

Seriously it's what your tarantulas will eat at feeding time and they are healthy.
 

Moakmeister

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I’m curious of this as well, if anything they’re probably more nutritious
Than dubias? I’ve always heard for years that dubias are the best and healthiest feeders ever!

idk, I feel like I read in a few places years ago that superworms had way higher fat than the other macros. I understand that lipids are good for animals too, but there needs to be a balance. If that information is just wrong, though, then I suppose there’s nothing wrong with superworms as staples.

what should I feed the superworms? I gave them a clementine slice yesterday and they seem to have eaten it quickly. I know carrots are good too.
 

Ratmosphere

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Banded crickets, been using them for years. They still chirp as adults but virtually no stench like normal pet store crickets.
 

Introvertebrate

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Than dubias? I’ve always heard for years that dubias are the best and healthiest feeders ever!

idk, I feel like I read in a few places years ago that superworms had way higher fat than the other macros. I understand that lipids are good for animals too, but there needs to be a balance. If that information is just wrong, though, then I suppose there’s nothing wrong with superworms as staples.

what should I feed the superworms? I gave them a clementine slice yesterday and they seem to have eaten it quickly. I know carrots are good too.
Sounds like you're reading herp care sheets. Various theories have made the rounds over the years, and I would question all of them. They often said that mealworms were no good because of a tough exoskeleton. They also claimed that superworms and waxworms were too fatty. When various roach species first came on the scene, there was a lot of hype surrounding their superior nutritional value. I suspect that was just a sales pitch. Assuming they're right about any of those assumptions, they're still talking about reptile feeders. For all we know, invertebrates have completely different nutritional requirements.
 
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Moakmeister

Arachnodemon
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Oct 6, 2016
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755
Sounds like you're reading herp care sheets. Various theories have made the rounds over the years, and I would question all of them. They often said that mealworms were no good because of a tough exoskeleton. They also claimed that superworms and waxworms were too fatty. When various roach species first came on the scene, there was a lot of hype surrounding their superior nutritional value. I suspect that was just a sales pitch. Assuming they're right about any of those assumptions, they're still talking about reptile feeders. For all we know, invertebrates have completely different nutritional requirements.
Good to know. Why even bother with dubias then? Just seems like a ton of extra trouble for no benefit.
 

Mustafa67

Arachnobaron
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Joined
Jun 29, 2021
Messages
365
Hi my doods

I’ve recently been sorta bit by The Bug again and I’m probably gonna be posting here again. I kept a dubia colony until last year, when I became allergic to them. Every time I opened the bin, I’d begin sneezing for the next hour. I had to throw them out. I switched to superworms, but I understand that these aren’t the healthiest things to exclusively feed to my Ts and the scorpion I just bought. Plus… they aren’t exactly the most exciting feeder, especially since I always crush their heads before dropping them inside.

Are there other good staple feeders?
I feed my Ts locusts

I’d be open to starting a colony
 
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