Your favorite feeders?

[Flashback]

I've only done crickets, but it seems alot of people here seem to like red runners?? Do they burrow like Dubias?

I do crickets just because it's easy to grab a them at the pet store ( I'll buy a day before & feed them a carrot or apple slice). Because I only have one T, I don't really need a colony of any feeders

I'd like to try something different (lol, just to see), so I'll see if PetCo has red runners! If so, I'll try it!

 

[Wyoguy069]

Apparently we can't get hornworms in the UK. How about dubia - do they make a mess too?

Dubia are fairly clean.

 

[Phia]

I have a favorite feeder .... dubia but .... I raise my own colony. It's around 7000 and I'm ridiculously attached to them, lol ... They have alot of personality for dumb fat roaches. They're so clean and gentle. I never sacrifice females. Actually, I rarely sacrifice at all! Dubia tend to be treats and special meals !

For regular weekly meals, I get crickets from a local pet conglomerate and feed/monitor them for a day before feeding.

 

[SonsofArachne]

Do they burrow like Dubias?

Never burrow, never freeze. Those two things alone make them better than dubias

 

[Minty]

Crickets, grasshoppers, dubias, and the flesh of my enemies.

 

[Nightstalker47]

Crickets, grasshoppers, dubias, and the flesh of my enemies.

If ever you need to dispose of a few fingers, Theraphosa are just like pigs in Snatch.

 

[Flashback]

I have a favorite feeder .... dubia but .... I raise my own colony. It's around 7000 and I'm ridiculously attached to them, lol ... They have alot of personality for dumb fat roaches. They're so clean and gentle. I never sacrifice females. Actually, I rarely sacrifice at all! Dubia tend to be treats and special meals !

For regular weekly meals, I get crickets from a local pet conglomerate and feed/monitor them for a day before feeding.

What do you feed your crickets? Last week was the first time I started feeding the crickets & I put a blueberry, a carrot & one spinach leaf in there (along with water)

Any suggestions? Would dry oats work? A banana slice? I've read the crickets eat anything, but just curious what's the best or most preferred food item. Thanks!

 

[Nightstalker47]

What do you feed your crickets? Last week was the first time I started feeding the crickets & I put a blueberry, a carrot & one spinach leaf in there (along with water)

Any suggestions? Would dry oats work? A banana slice? I've read the crickets eat anything, but just curious what's the best or most preferred food item. Thanks!

Crickets love leafy greens, carrot, apple and I feed mine wheat bran as well, they go nuts for that especially.

 

[asunshinefix]

I use crickets because I'm afraid of them but I'm even more afraid of roaches and worms. Giant hairy tarantulas are just fine, but for some reason I'm horrified by crickets.

 

[Tenebrarius]

supers. but a pain in the are to breed. not one success for a colony.

 

[jrh3]

supers. but a pain in the are to breed. not one success for a colony.

Were you able to get them to pupate? You have to separate them individually, I used to breed them all the time with no issues.

 

[Tenebrarius]

Were you able to get them to pupate? You have to separate them individually, I used to breed them all the time with no issues.

yeah, I got them into beetle no problem. I put them in the small condiment cups I use as water dishes, I had lots of beetles. But they started to cannibalized and mold was everywhere. total failure.

I used a shoe box with the sides cut out and stored my worms to pupate in there, so that was no issue. The issue was when they were beetles.

 

[jrh3]

yeah, I got them into beetle no problem. I put them in the small condiment cups I use as water dishes, I had lots of beetles. But they started to cannibalized and mold was everywhere. total failure.

I used a shoe box with the sides cut out and stored my worms to pupate in there, so that was no issue. The issue was when they were beetles.

I used the sterilite shoe box containers. Cut the whole lid out and put mesh on it.

I would also cycle them so they would lay in different boxes.

Also, not too many beetles in one container or they will try to kill each other, or this was my case at-least.

I fed them fruit and veggies, took it out after a few days.

 

[brahn]

I absolutely hate crickets, but it's the only reliable feeder for one of my Ts, and my amblypygi.
My G. rosea is called "Rosie the Roach" because she'll happily coinhabit and "pet" roaches (caught her more than once basically sitting with one of her legs on a dubia, refusing to eat it).
My L.P. on the other hand absolutely loathes crickets, anytime I try to feed her one it only ends in threat postures and running away from the cricket, so she gets dubias (which she'll only attack if I drop them from high enough that they make an audible *thud*).

So in the end my feeders of choice are crickets (ugh!), as well as dubia, and the occasional isopod.
I get the crickets as pinheads by the ml, and house them in vermiculite, which seems to help reduce the smell. They still stink, though

I've tried mealworms, but I end up with loads of beetles in no time, and they refuse to breed. Not to mention they smell even worse than crickets.
Also tried locusts, which worked for a while until they all died... without breeding.
I refuse to get red runners, too high a risk of a house infestation.

 

[SonsofArachne]

I refuse to get red runners, too high a risk of a house infestation.

Unless you keep your house temp. in the 80's-90's there's no chance of infestation. I had 2 bins dumped with hundreds escaping - a dozen glue traps later most roaches gone and I've never seen a baby (I have changed the way I feed however - smaller feeder bin inside a larger bin)

 

[The Grym Reaper]

I refuse to get red runners, too high a risk of a house infestation.

Never had a problem with them, mine absolutely will not reproduce if kept below 25°C.

 

[Tenebrarius]

I used the sterilite shoe box containers. Cut the whole lid out and put mesh on it.

I would also cycle them so they would lay in different boxes.

Also, not too many beetles in one container or they will try to kill each other, or this was my case at-least.

I fed them fruit and veggies, took it out after a few days.

I'll test it out. thanks.

 

[brahn]

Unless you keep your house temp. in the 80's-90's there's no chance of infestation. I had 2 bins dumped with hundreds escaping - a dozen glue traps later most roaches gone and I've never seen a baby (I have changed the way I feed however - smaller feeder bin inside a larger bin)

You may have gotten off easily. At least from what I've read Dubia will not breed in room temperature, but Lateralis roaches can.
Then again: "from what I've read" is the key phrase.

 

[SonsofArachne]

You may have gotten off easily. At least from what I've read Dubia will not breed in room temperature, but Lateralis roaches can.
Then again: "from what I've read" is the key phrase.

I don't know where you read that but it's "fake news". I have to keep a ceramic heater over my colony or they won't breed. I currently have them at 82 deg.f and they're just starting to reproduce.

 

[Zevil]

Lateralis for slings and juveniles.
Dubia for large juveniles and over.

Sometimes I also use superworms and crickets.