thawed crickets?

[Gillian]

Hi all,
I have a question for everyone..I recently started freezing crickets, and then thawing them later, to feed my t's. My t's are from teensy, to adults. I started the freezing/thawing, to get my teensy parahybana to eat. Then, I started with the others. Its mostly working, however, some I'll have to get live for. I guess my question would be..
I have 2 snakes, and feed them thawed prey. I simply hold it in the hemoststs, give a realistic shiver or 2, and they go for it. With the t's, I just put the cricks in, and (the ones that do) eat them. How do they recognize this as prey, without movement? Could this possibly be why the others aren't taking the dead prey?


Peace,
Gillian

 

[Ultimate Instar]

I've only fed dead crickets a few times but, like you said, usually the Ts go for it, sometimes not. I've dropped the crickets on the ground from a distance of several inches so the crickets landed with a thump and that seemed to help. Another time, the T just went up to the crickets and scooped them up slowly, which makes me think that the T knew that they were already dead. Swear to God, I saw my B. pallidum do that. In any case, the consensus on the board appears to be that the Ts find the dead crickets by smell. Oh, I also defrosted the crickets in hot water so perhaps the Ts may partially respond to temperature. I do that for my snakes and they always liked that better.

Karen Nakashima

 

[ArachnoJoost]

I don't know if this goes for all the legs, but I know that at leas in the first pair of legs (and maybe pedipalps) T's have chemoreceptors that can 'smell' prey, dead or alive. When I feed a pinkie I just lay it in the cage in a place that I know the T will wander on, and as soon as those legs touch the pinkie, the T will hover over it and grab it in its fangs.

 

[Tranz]

Originally posted by ArachnoJoost
I don't know if this goes for all the legs, but I know that at leas in the first pair of legs (and maybe pedipalps) T's have chemoreceptors that can 'smell' prey, dead or alive. When I feed a pinkie I just lay it in the cage in a place that I know the T will wander on, and as soon as those legs touch the pinkie, the T will hover over it and grab it in its fangs.

Then how can they tell the difference between a pinkie and - your pinkie?

 

[ArachnoJoost]

first: I suppose that the chemoreceptors are able to distinguish between fingers and pinkies, second: I think that is the reason that -just to be sure- it is often advised to make the T know that you're there and you are not a prey item.
I've often heard of the so-called 'slap-attacks', where a T will slap you with his front legs. I think that, besides the scare-effect, the T is 'tasting' what he is up against, instead of immediate biting

 

[looseyfur]

I suppose

i suppose I could see the rational for feeding slowed (fridged crix) to tiny T's. But if its cause you cant handle live prey items perhaps you are in the wrong hobby?

its not normal for T's to eat dead or thawed crix...

I know that this sounds like a mean post but its not its ashame you cant hear the inflextion in someones voice when they type... its just I dont buy the non live feed apporach and although it might not be unhealthy for T's all and all it must be acknowledged its mad unatural.

loo