tonyiscool65
Arachnopeon
- Joined
- Jun 3, 2016
- Messages
- 36
Just fed one to my p regalis. What are your opinions on using hornworms as feeders? Are roaches still considered better?
I also read hissers are more fatty then Dubia's and that dubia's are overall more "healthy" for T's.I 'thought' hissers had a much harder carapace than dubai and as a result dubai are possibly the better choice. That and dubai breed easier/faster than hissers and may be more readily available for purchase. I could be wrong though.
I've seen a few more senior users say that the whole "too much calcium" thing is blown out of proportion and that there is no fact to prove it specifically is bad for tarantulas.I've been told that hornworms are very high in calcium which is not necessarily good for your tarantula. Anyone care to follow up or confirm this?
Just read exactly that on another thread. Very little is really known about the nutritional requirements of tarantulas in general, so, at this point whatever you feed your tarantulas is much more of personal decision. I don't buy hornworms for my T's, simply because they are more pricey than crickets, dubias, and superworms. I like to mix it up between the three of those feeders.I've seen a few more senior users say that the whole "too much calcium" thing is blown out of proportion and that there is no fact to prove it specifically is bad for tarantulas.
Since we don't actually know what ts actually require nutritionally, we have zero idea as to the role of excess fat, although fatty prey just seems to fatten them a little faster and that's about it.Doubt there's a problem with them nutritionally, but they're just way too expensive and have too short of a shelf life for me to bother giving them to my tarantulas. They're also a pain in the butt to breed because they need live tomato plants (or to a lesser extent, fresh tomato leaves) to lay their eggs. I only buy them occasionally as a special treat for my lizards.
Hissers do breed much slower and they eventually get to a size where they're just too large for all but the largest ts. For this reason dubia are a far more popular feeder.I 'thought' hissers had a much harder carapace than dubai and as a result dubai are possibly the better choice. That and dubai breed easier/faster than hissers and may be more readily available for purchase. I could be wrong though.
Here say, its all speculation as the dietary needs/requirements of tarantulas are basically unknown.I also read hissers are more fatty then Dubia's and that dubia's are overall more "healthy" for T's.
The calcium thing is a myth.I've been told that hornworms are very high in calcium which is not necessarily good for your tarantula. Anyone care to follow up or confirm this?
True we don't really know anything about their nutrition requirements, I just meant that I don't think there's all that much of a difference in the hornworms' nutrition content vs the usual feeders people use as a staple. But it's been a while since I looked up that info and I'm too lazy to look it up again, lol. From what I recall though I think they're actually low in fat contentSince we don't actually know what ts actually require nutritionally, we have zero idea as to the role of excess fat, although fatty prey just seems to fatten them a little faster and that's about it.
My understanding is that horn worms sold in the pet trade are raised on something else....ones raised on tomatoes are toxic.
I saw on another post that hornworms are mostly water so they'd Imo be great for a dehydrated T.True we don't really know anything about their nutrition requirements, I just meant that I don't think there's all that much of a difference in the hornworms' nutrition content vs the usual feeders people use as a staple. But it's been a while since I looked up that info and I'm too lazy to look it up again, lol. From what I recall though I think they're actually low in fat content
And yeah eating the tomato plants are what makes the caterpillars toxic, but the plants used for breeding are to stimulate the moths to lay their eggs, not for eating. Once the eggs are laid I think they're removed into a separate container. It's all a pain in the butt and why I decided not to get into breeding them