Cricket Corpses?

[tiberius]

I searched but couldn't find anything concrete. As I said, I'm new to this and have a 5 month old Red Knee.

My question is, I always was under the impression that T's just consume the liquids. But after various feedings, I cannot find any cricket corpses.

Do T's also "eat" the crickets? Or is she burying the dry corpses in the cocofiber? I cant find any cricket remains, and Im concerned about leaving the remains in there and bacteria forming.

Thanks!

 

[Mr. P]

You won't find a dried up corpse, what you will find is a bolus. When a T is finished eating it will look like a rolled up ball of what is left of the corpse.

 

[ilovebrachys]

We had an interesting thread on this going a short while ago with some interesting articles @Enn49 might be kind enough to point you in the right direction if you cant find it in the listings

 

[Enn49]

I think this may be the thread @ilovebrachys is referring to
https://tarantulaforum.com/threads/mouthparts-of-tarantulas-how-do-they-eat.23491/#post-144203

 

[tiberius]

Thanks!

 

[Tnoob]

I have heard that T's will attempt to dispose of the bolas in an area of the enclosure that the T doesn't frequent. I guess they like to keep clean, and will create a "dumpster" of sorts. If your T is trying to be clean then I suppose it's possible that your T burried the bolas in order to keep the enclosure clean. I guess check the area where your T drops it's molt. Perhaps your T has an area it likes to get rid of stuff. I'm not very experienced.

 

[spodermin]

In a dry, arid enclosure, boluses will are fine. Remove them as you find them, but no need to hunt them.

I made a thread a while ago about boluses inside fossorial tarantulas hides being inaccessible, but if the T has a problem with it they will bring them out (and often use the water dish as a toilet for them)

In a constantly humid enclosure, I HIGHLY advise putting springtails and/or isopods in, that way the boluses will be taken care of automatically and mold will never accumulate.