Clean up Question

[Entity]

HI Guys,

I have a question that feels stupid to me but here goes anyway.
After i feed my Tarantulas, I know i am suppose to remove the prey remains. I dont know if the little ones suck them dry or what but i hardly ever find remains to remove? I dont wanna tear apart their homes looking for them either. Right now i am feeding small to medium crickets mostly. Is it a big deal I dont find anything to clean up?

 

[Fuzzball79]

I would say as long as there is no mold or rot in the tub, it should be fine. My little ones also do this and I'd probably need a microscope to find the remains, lol.
That said, my subadult A. Versicolor uses the severed heads of her food to decorate her web and I just leave her be with that, too, lol.

 

[Entity]

lol. Thanks fuzzy. i had no idea the little guys could be so creative. lol

 

[EZGodmod]

I guess this is kind of an add-on question. I know people use isopods to clean after spiders, but would isopods eat remains of crickets as well? Or do they tend to avoid that stuff?

 

[PamCz]

@EZGodmod ...I think they eat those remains, and all bolus remains. That's what I've heard anyway. This reminds me to look into getting some isopods for my more humid tanks, so mold won't be an issue. I have trouble locating the remains, too, so isopods would be useful.

 

[Denny Dee]

They love dead crickets. And pretty much anything else. Great cleaners.

 

[Entity]

So denny u use isopods? the spiders dont eat them?

 

[Chubbs]

I've used them before. Larger tarantulas tend to ignore them. Don't know about slings and juvies.

 

[Denny Dee]

So denny u use isopods? the spiders dont eat them?

I use them in some of my tropical swamp set-ups (i.e. T. Blondi). I actually raise them so always have them handy. I did have one situation when a sub-adult H. albostriatus kind of freaked with them in the enclosure. First, she tried to escape and then webbed up the enclosure for weeks. Other than that, I have had no issues. But only use on larger T's so not sure about the sling/juvies being able to eat them?

 

[PamCz]

Well....we'll find out soon enough. I'm going to buy a small amount of isopods & test it sometime in the next couple weeks...when I get to it. ;-) I have a couple moist-ish enclosures that I want them for. And they all contain slings or juvies. The worst that'll happen is the isopods get eaten. I'll post on it when it happens. (We just sold our house & are moving in 3 weeks...so my priorities are not so T-related right now, besides general care, but I'll keep you posted.)