Yay for pet rocks.

Transylvania

Gondorian
Old Timer
Joined
Dec 26, 2006
Messages
593
My 3" F B. smithi, Shelob, just came in on Friday and has been exploring the whole enclosure since then. Last night I went to a petstore and bought about 8 small/medium crickets and some cricket food (a jar of some wet cube-shaped orange things). I put a cricket in there and the stupid cricket literally walked over to my T and sat in front of her for a really long time. Shelob wouldn't budge. The two of them just sat there looking like old college roommates hanging out. :rolleyes:
:wall::wall::wall:
I'm pretty sure she's not about to moult, because she's been outside of her shelter and hasn't made any webs. It's been 3 days; I'm kinda worried that all the crickets I bought will die if I don't feed em to her quick (they cost me a whole 80 cents!). xD She's not skittish or nervous at all; in fact, whenever I try to get Shelob to move by nudging her with a paintbrush, she barely even lifts a hair. Speaking of hairs, she hasn't flicked any as far as I've seen. I'm proud of how calm she's being. My pet rock. :D:clap: It seems like she should be eating if she's being this calm. Also, would it be okay to let her crawl on my hand soon?
 

Arachnophilist

Arachnoprince
Old Timer
Joined
Sep 12, 2006
Messages
1,252
itrs not unusual for Ts to not eat. and you could try to hold her if you want just6 make sure she cant fall and hurt herself.. and make sure you are comfortable enough that you wont panic at all if she decides to move quickly.
 

cheetah13mo

Arachnoking
Old Timer
Joined
Oct 10, 2006
Messages
2,151
Everything your discribing is perfectly normal and sometimes, you just out the 80 cents. Start off by nudging her on to you other hand and hold it right over the substrate in the tank. If she runs or your not sure, she can step right back off and noone gets hurt. Do this until you are completely confident, you can controll the situation without panic.
 

Talkenlate04

ArachnoGod
Old Timer
Joined
Feb 13, 2006
Messages
8,656
I will also throw out there that she looks well fed. And it is not uncommon with smithi for them to refuse food for months before a molt.
 

rYe

Arachnosquire
Old Timer
Joined
Dec 30, 2006
Messages
123
Crickets live anywhere from 4-6 weeks, you should have another 3 weeks to go on them. Keep them in a cool place and that'll help to prolong their life span.
 

Cerbera

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Mar 12, 2005
Messages
540
Everything your discribing is perfectly normal and sometimes, you just out the 80 cents.
OR spend maybe 20 cents more on a small bit of apple or carrot, and feed the crickets, and keep them alive for when she is hungry - Mine go on for 2 or even 3 months !

I'd chill on handling til she's well settled in, and happy.
 

Amanda

Arachnolord
Old Timer
Joined
Jan 20, 2006
Messages
652
Am I just getting mutant crickets? Even when I feed them, I'm buying more every week... every other week at the very most. There are usually 5-6/24 dead by the morning after I buy them. (These are adult crickets already, btw.)
 

rYe

Arachnosquire
Old Timer
Joined
Dec 30, 2006
Messages
123
Am I just getting mutant crickets? Even when I feed them, I'm buying more every week... every other week at the very most. There are usually 5-6/24 dead by the morning after I buy them. (These are adult crickets already, btw.)
Take this from me, I've breed crickets by the thousands for my collection of hungry "Critters" and my friends "Critters" as well. feed them lots of watery lettuce and fruits and Veggies (avoid citrus fruits), keep them with plenty of egg cartons to hide(if you don't have them I can help you out), give them room a 20 gal. tank can house up to 1000, and keep them really cool. I keep a tank with 500-1000 crickets at any time since I stopped breeding, how many you'll need will vary based on what you own of course but the more you got the more food they eat. Mine eat ALOT.

To the other guy (Sorry can't remember your user name) you say yours go 2-3... your talking about the crickets living that long? Well congrats cause your the one with mutant crickets.
 

rYe

Arachnosquire
Old Timer
Joined
Dec 30, 2006
Messages
123
Oh yeah...

Amanda your not leaving them in those stupid bags they put the crickets in that they blow "AIR" into. (I've hollered at guys at the pet store for blowing into the bag.) They blow into it to puff out the bag, why I'm not sure. My best guess is to make it look good. Other then that it's only them blowing what is it Co2 (whatever the heck we breath out) in with your crickets. A bag with 12, or 24 or whatever number crickets just ends up die'n because of lack of air.
 

Stylopidae

Arachnoking
Old Timer
Joined
Jul 7, 2005
Messages
3,203
I've never kept crickets alive more than 2 weeks (yes on the food food, yes on the moist veggies changed daily)
 

Binky/Carol

Arachnosquire
Old Timer
Joined
Oct 9, 2006
Messages
137
That owuld be Fluckers orange food/water combo..
It sucks. Don't use it..
I found the best way to keep crickets alive is two things...
One.. get a T type water dish and put some rocks in it.. fill that with water every day or so..
AND flavored instant oatmeal. OR sugary cereal- smashed up a bit.
I went and bought 2 boxes of crickets from a store and moved them into KK's.. one for bigger cricks.. one for the smaller cricks..
I learned one lesson.. Bigger cricks into the KK with bigger slats..
My little ones keep getting out...
And I now have a bunch of loose crickets cause some get away when I try to grab them to feed...
But I have kept crickets alive on Gut Load and instant oat meal.. and simple water in a lid.

Carol
 

Bear Foot Inc

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Nov 8, 2006
Messages
408
Oh yeah...

Amanda your not leaving them in those stupid bags they put the crickets in that they blow "AIR" into. (I've hollered at guys at the pet store for blowing into the bag.) They blow into it to puff out the bag, why I'm not sure. My best guess is to make it look good. Other then that it's only them blowing what is it Co2 (whatever the heck we breath out) in with your crickets. A bag with 12, or 24 or whatever number crickets just ends up die'n because of lack of air.
Actually we breathe in 78% nitrogen 21% oxygen .9% Argon, .03% carbon dioxide and .07% other gasses. We breath out 78% nitrogen 17% oxygen, 4% carbon dioxide, .9% Argon, .01% other gasses.

So when they blow into the bag there is going to be almost as much oxygen in it as if was strait from the air. They are mostly dying of old age (adult crix only live 4-6 days) or from using up all there air (they would do the same if it had been blown in the bag with a fan)
 
Last edited:

rYe

Arachnosquire
Old Timer
Joined
Dec 30, 2006
Messages
123
That owuld be Fluckers orange food/water combo..
It sucks. Don't use it..
I found the best way to keep crickets alive is two things...
One.. get a T type water dish and put some rocks in it.. fill that with water every day or so..
AND flavored instant oatmeal. OR sugary cereal- smashed up a bit.
I went and bought 2 boxes of crickets from a store and moved them into KK's.. one for bigger cricks.. one for the smaller cricks..
I learned one lesson.. Bigger cricks into the KK with bigger slats..
My little ones keep getting out...
And I now have a bunch of loose crickets cause some get away when I try to grab them to feed...
But I have kept crickets alive on Gut Load and instant oat meal.. and simple water in a lid.

Carol
Anything with sugar is bad, oatmeal is fine or some cherrios. If your feed them watery lettuce you won't need a water dish, they'll get all their mositure from the food itself.

The cricket food I bought is a food/waterer that's in cube-form and is made from oranges. Is that bad?
I've seen the stuff but never used it, I doubt it would hurt them though. When I first started I used the Flukers cricket quencer and it seemed to work okay. It's pretty much the same stuff and does the same thing only cheaper. Citrus won't kill crickets or anything I just said avoid it off personal preference. It seems to me that the Citrus fruits mold and spoil faster then everything else.
 

rYe

Arachnosquire
Old Timer
Joined
Dec 30, 2006
Messages
123
Actually we breathe in 78% nitrogen 21% oxygen .9% Argon, .03% carbon dioxide and .07% other gasses. We breath out 78% nitrogen 17% oxygen, 4% carbon dioxide, .9% Argon, .01% other gasses.

So when they blow into the bag there is going to be almost as much oxygen in it as if was strait from the air. They are mostly dying of old age (adult crix only live 4-6 days) or from using up all there air (they would do the same if it had been blown in the bag with a fan)
Well that's good to know, guess I didn't need to chew out the pet store guy... but oh well.
 

Laceface

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
Joined
Nov 20, 2006
Messages
264
Ive had mine alive for over two weeks now.. Started with like 20 or so, down to 13, some feedig, a few deaths.. I paid for 12, haha.. I just had those little blue pads that you drip water on, that the crickets can get moisture with (not anymore, they mold sooo easy) and some chex..now they have a papertowel with water, and the occasional hunk of fruit. I also bought mixed sizes, use the bigger ones first, no deaths - everyone grows up to be eaten!
 

Mina

Arachnoking
Old Timer
Joined
Oct 4, 2005
Messages
2,136
I love pet rocks, that is why I have 6 G. roseas. As far as cricket water goes, dampen some cotton balls and put them in with the crickets, they when they get dirty and disgusting throw them out and put in new, cheap and easy.
 
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