Struggling to Feed My Phiddipus Regius.

[JonoPulchra]

Hey,

I'm having serious problems trying to feed my little dude. It's not that she is fasting or not hungry, but her food does not stay around long enough for her to eat!

I did use flightless fruit flies, but they're troublesome to try and hold with the tweezers and they jump around everywhere. She's never really taken to them either.
I bought some mini mealworms, and so she fed earlier this week because it happened to get tangled in her web when I placed it near her. Today I see she is out of her web with a smaller abdomen, but the mealworms will not stay anywhere in the enclosure and I have now lost three of them because they have burrowed into the substrate which I will now probably have to change.

I know my little dude likes to wait, stalk and pounce, but she takes too long as the food has burrowed out of sight. I can't put it near her web again because if she is not in it, the worm may destroy the whole webbing.

What can I do?

 

[lllWolvielll]

When I had a little tarantula (if it helps) i bought mini crickets (like SERIOUSLY small) . They were good because they didnt burrow and we would take them out after a day or so. My feeding routine is once a week because i only have 4. The only problem is with mini crickets is that they grow up super fast.

I really am not a pro at this stuff since i've been in the hobby for about a year but maybe try newborn crickets ?

OR red runners. (baby)

 

[Pmurinushmacla]

Id try what @lllWolvielll was saying, commonly referred to as pinhead crickets. I wouldn't recommend trying to start a colony of crickets, Id just go to your local pet store every week or two to restock, depending on how many you bought. Crickets smell and are noisy, plus you dont need a colony for one jumper. Jumpers will probably scavenge (I dont own them, but tarantulas scavenge) so in the meantime you can cut up mealworm pieces and put one in her webbing.

 

[LadyShia77]

Fruit flies are all my Regius will eat. If you have a sling, it's best to have them in a small deli cup and put a single fly inside. I have a tiny Regius sling and a tiny Clarus sling and they both take down the bigger Hydei fruit flies. You just have to make sure their container is small enough where they can easily catch it. Below are my two tiny guys in their container. Excuse the fruit flies. I, also, have a Regius sling that's a little bigger. He also will only take food that can crawl up to him. It won't touch crickets. He's in a small sling enclosure. It's in the last picture. Just trying to give you some ideas.

 

[regalpaws]

Hey,

I'm having serious problems trying to feed my little dude. It's not that she is fasting or not hungry, but her food does not stay around long enough for her to eat!

I did use flightless fruit flies, but they're troublesome to try and hold with the tweezers and they jump around everywhere. She's never really taken to them either.
I bought some mini mealworms, and so she fed earlier this week because it happened to get tangled in her web when I placed it near her. Today I see she is out of her web with a smaller abdomen, but the mealworms will not stay anywhere in the enclosure and I have now lost three of them because they have burrowed into the substrate which I will now probably have to change.

I know my little dude likes to wait, stalk and pounce, but she takes too long as the food has burrowed out of sight. I can't put it near her web again because if she is not in it, the worm may destroy the whole webbing.

What can I do?

How big is your jumper?
I agree with everyone above, I would try either pinhead crickets or small crickets. You can also try house flies - I buy mine on amazon. They come as larvae and hatch, but they are also something small enough that you can feed that wont burrow into the substrate when they are adults.
In the meantime, since she hasnt eaten in a while, just make sure to spray the sides of her enclosure so that she has some water until she does eat.

 

[JonoPulchra]

I bought my jumper two weeks ago and she was a sub. She has molted once in this time, so I'd imagine she's adult now?

thanks everyone for your advice! I'll try the crickets out. A lot of her enclosure is brown/darkish in colour: I wonder if this prevented her from seeing the fruit flies maybe?

 

[regalpaws]

They'll usually molt several times before reaching true adulthood, so she since she just recently molted, she could be shy and not quite as adventurous. All of my P. regius get this way after they molt. Just keep providing water and offering food. Def try the crickets out, especially if they are about the same size as her body length; the fruit flies may just be too small for her now since she molted. She's graduating lol!

 

[LadyShia77]

Are you using the melanogaster fruit flies (small ones that jump) or the hydei fruit (the bigger ones) flies? It sounds abit like you have the melanogaster fruit flies. Depending on her size, she may be better suited to try the hydei. Fruit flies won't harm a molting spider. I've been continuously reading cautions about being careful with feeding crickets as some can harm a jumping spider. Especially, if they are molting. So far, though, I haven't had any issues with banded crickets harming any of my adult audax jumpers, but I still try not to leave crickets in the enclosure overnight. You can put a cricket in there to see if she'll eat it and then take it out at the end of the day and try again the following day. Hopefully, your regius is not as picky as mine. My bigger one will not touch crickets.

 

[lllWolvielll]

I bought my jumper two weeks ago and she was a sub. She has molted once in this time, so I'd imagine she's adult now?

thanks everyone for your advice! I'll try the crickets out. A lot of her enclosure is brown/darkish in colour: I wonder if this prevented her from seeing the fruit flies maybe?

Make sure to update me if it helps!

 

[Pmurinushmacla]

Are you using the melanogaster fruit flies (small ones that jump) or the hydei fruit (the bigger ones) flies? It sounds abit like you have the melanogaster fruit flies. Depending on her size, she may be better suited to try the hydei. Fruit flies won't harm a molting spider. I've been continuously reading cautions about being careful with feeding crickets as some can harm a jumping spider. Especially, if they are molting. So far, though, I haven't had any issues with banded crickets harming any of my adult audax jumpers, but I still try not to leave crickets in the enclosure overnight. You can put a cricket in there to see if she'll eat it and then take it out at the end of the day and try again the following day. Hopefully, your regius is not as picky as mine. My bigger one will not touch crickets.

Crickets most certainly can hurt a molting spider, but an appropriately sized cricket wont do any damage to a hungry jumper, or even a not hungry one. As long as they aren't molting and the cricket isnt the size of the spider, theyll be fine.

 

[LadyShia77]

Crickets most certainly can hurt a molting spider, but an appropriately sized cricket wont do any damage to a hungry jumper, or even a not hungry one. As long as they aren't molting and the cricket isnt the size of the spider, theyll be fine.

I usually get the banded crickets as they're more docile and less likely to chew on sleeping or molting jumpers than the house crickets.

 

[Frogdaddy]

D. hydei are about twice the size of D. melanogaster. Here's the trick, and I do this all the time with my dart frogs, shake out a few ff's into a container with a lid and put them in the refrigerator for about 2-5 minutes. Then take them out and put them into the jumping spiders enclosure. The cold will make the fruit flies go into a state of torpor. As they begin to come out of it they will twitch and buzz their wings which should attract the attention of your jumper. Easy meal.

 

[LadyShia77]

That's what I do too. lol

 

[Pmurinushmacla]

I usually get the banded crickets as they're more docile and less likely to chew on sleeping or molting jumpers than the house crickets.

I wasnt even aware of the possibility of purchasing house crickets.

 

[LadyShia77]

I wasnt even aware of the possibility of purchasing house crickets.

Yeah, I've seen them for sale on a few websites. I even bought some at one time since they were native to my area, Just in case some escaped. Then I learned that banded crickets were more docile and less likely to harm my spiders.

 

[JonoPulchra]

UPDATE

My little dude is so fussy that it seems she'll only feed if the prey is on her web!

But I will take the advice to buy the Hydei, as at least they'll be light enough to get stuck in her web for easy feeding. the worms may get very heavy and I do not want to destroy her beautiful webbing!

Thanks again everyone for your advice. I'm a first-time spider daddy, so I probably worry too much lol

 

[CRX]

I have a very young female Audax and she has no problem tackling pinhead crickets, as long as they're small enough.

 

[regalpaws]

UPDATE

My little dude is so fussy that it seems she'll only feed if the prey is on her web!

But I will take the advice to buy the Hydei, as at least they'll be light enough to get stuck in her web for easy feeding. the worms may get very heavy and I do not want to destroy her beautiful webbing!

Thanks again everyone for your advice. I'm a first-time spider daddy, so I probably worry too much lol

Lookit that baby go! Nice catch, lil dudette. Glad she's eating.

 

[LadyShia77]

I have a very young female Audax and she has no problem tackling pinhead crickets, as long as they're small enough.

I've found Audax to eat just about anything. My Regius tend to be a little pickier. My tan jumper is the pickiest still lol. Each species of spider and each individual spider has their own personality and preference.

 

[Storii]

Hey,

I'm having serious problems trying to feed my little dude. It's not that she is fasting or not hungry, but her food does not stay around long enough for her to eat!

I did use flightless fruit flies, but they're troublesome to try and hold with the tweezers and they jump around everywhere. She's never really taken to them either.
I bought some mini mealworms, and so she fed earlier this week because it happened to get tangled in her web when I placed it near her. Today I see she is out of her web with a smaller abdomen, but the mealworms will not stay anywhere in the enclosure and I have now lost three of them because they have burrowed into the substrate which I will now probably have to change.

I know my little dude likes to wait, stalk and pounce, but she takes too long as the food has burrowed out of sight. I can't put it near her web again because if she is not in it, the worm may destroy the whole webbing.

What can I do?

Dont feed her in her cage get a plastic container preferred with a lid like an iced coffee kind of cup worms and food wont get away and she has less space so will be more apt to initiate a kill