crickets vs locusts vs roaches

[terror_corpz]

What do you prefer to feed your T's. is one feeder better for the tarantula than the other thought it would be interesting to get a poll going do you stick with 1 or do you change your T's food

 

[spidey noob]

i think variety is the key with feeders. i use locusts / mario worms / i will be adding roaches in also.
im haveing to feed pinhead crickets to the slings as i cant get tiny locusts / mario worms. but im going to bread them both, then i wont feed crickets at all.

 

[DVirginiana]

Hm... Dubia roaches are considered more nutritious and easier to gutload for frogs, so I imagine the same would hold true for T's.

 

[Poec54]

I use crickets primarily. I get them locally, for $17.50/1000. Superworms are good for some species that are newly-molted and starving, plus they last for months. The drawback (which is a big one) is that instantly try to bury themselves in substrate, and have been known to resurface weeks or months later, and chew holes in molting tarantulas. They have vicious mouthparts. Roaches are especially good for the big South American terrestrials, but as with superworms, there are tarantulas that won't eat them. If you have a big collection, crickets are by far the most cost effective. Locusts don't seem to be available as a feeder in the US.

 

[Rick Stallard]

Poec54 is right, crickets are the best and very easy to gut load. Nothing bites harder than a meal worm or superworm, and yes, if you don't see your T kill it it will hide and come back to bite it in the ass. Dubias are the same as far as digging and hiding. They don't bite, but I have put in a 1/2" one and a month later find a full grown adult hiding under something. So crickets #1. Where I'm at crickets are a real problem to get in the cold months, so I started a dubia colony, and now have about a 1000, of all sizes from a start of 25. Trouble is only about half of my Ts will eat them, none of the adults will. I gave wax worms once and they loved them.

 

[DVirginiana]

I have put in a 1/2" one and a month later find a full grown adult hiding under something.

Wish the ones in my colony would mature that fast! lol

 

[Martin Oosthuysen]

What do you prefer to feed your T's. is one feeder better for the tarantula than the other thought it would be interesting to get a poll going do you stick with 1 or do you change your T's food

Hello
I use roaches,but the ones I use do not burrow. I use turkistan,pallids and lobsters. All my tarantulas love them,I used to use Dubia tarantulas but they love to dig and just makes feeding an issue. Another plus point,all the above mentioned climb arboreal love them and if I need to remove them they are already at the top of the enclosure.

 

[terror_corpz]

I use crickets primarily. I get them locally, for $17.50/1000. Superworms are good for some species that are newly-molted and starving, plus they last for months. The drawback (which is a big one) is that instantly try to bury themselves in substrate, and have been known to resurface weeks or months later, and chew holes in molting tarantulas. They have vicious mouthparts. Roaches are especially good for the big South American terrestrials, but as with superworms, there are tarantulas that won't eat them. If you have a big collection, crickets are by far the most cost effective. Locusts don't seem to be available as a feeder in the US.

I personally am not a fan of super worms being from the UK locusts are available I like them for terrestrials because they can walk on glass

 

[Fuzzball79]

I've got Turkistan roaches for most of mine, bar the P.met and the B. Boehmei slings as they both don't touch them. With the P. met I thought it had eaten its roach because I couldn't find it, but when I threw a small silent cricket in this tiny red thing jumped out from a crack in the wood, grabbed the cricket and ran off with it. It is now back with the "colony" (small group really).
I tried Dubia Roaches, but could only get a hold of bigger ones. The Rosea didn't touch them and let them crawl right underneath her and the Genic was in pre/post molt. It was only a group of 5 or 6, and only 2 are left (the others just died), male and female. I don't think they'll breed, but I've grown kind of attached to them, because they're a kinda cute couple, lol.
I'm off larger crickets because they're noisy and they smell. We tried to keep them outside but you could hear the chirping and we were worried the neighbours would complain, lol. Then it got too cold for them. I still feed small SILENT crickets to the slings.
I also feed the occasional Morio worm to my Genic but only when I know she's ravenous (which she is when she's not in pre/post molt), because I know she destroys them before they get the chance to dig. I've had that happen once and didn't know of the danger they could pose. Luckily my girl was actively hunting for it herself, found it and dug it out. As I said, always hungry.
For my A. versi juve I occasionally get wax worms, but he/she eats anything that fits into his/her body.

Forgot to add I also got flightless fruit flies for my tiny LP sling, but it still won't eat. it pounced, grabbed and then left them, so I assume it's definitely in premolt.

 

[Tomoran]

I use crickets for the majority of mine, however, I also have a dubia colony and use them for my larger, hungrier terrestrials. To prevent them from burrowing, I just crush their heads and drop them in. They wander around aimlessly until they are inevitably snatched up. Gross, but simple. I will also use mealworms and superworms on occasion, as I always have some on hand.

 

[Rick Stallard]

I have switched to the striped cricket instead of the common brown ones. Much fatter, slower, don't smell as bad and don't really make any noise.

 

[Christell Erasmus]

I feed my tarantula roaches. Have my own little roach colony and my T's love them.

 

[Poec54]

I have switched to the striped cricket instead they don't really make any noise.

The chirping is a free bonus, background music.

 

[DVirginiana]

When I was hiding a frog in college I used to go to a bait store where they knew me and would let me pick out only female crickets lol. I can sort out 25 female crickets in under two minutes now though!