How many?

[MassExodus]

Had around 140 at one point. Turned out to be a chore, so now I have five. I have several hobbies.

 

[Metalman2004]

A GBB breeding group? Please elaborate.

Its mostly males and females

In all seriousness I have 5 females (number 6 died for no apparent reason) and 2 MMs currently. Feeding up the females before pairing but they seem like bottomless pits!

 

[MissKitty]

Last count was around two months ago, it was 364. Around a third of that is slings. Since then more have come in and a few males have gone out.

Always seems to be more coming in than going out. I like it that way.

How in the H do you feed them all?

 

[MrKrowe]

How in the H do you feed them all?

It's not so bad, spiders don't need to eat very often. Feeding and maintaining my spiders is a de-stresser for me so it's not a chore. Also, with that many to deal with there's always a nice surprise like a moult or some interesting behaviour to be observed, so feeding time always has a little sweetener.

Probably the biggest pain in the butt is looking after the food. I have two roach colonies and a small mealworm farm which take more maintenance between them than the spiders. Both the roach colonies are well established so I rarely have to buy spider food, just the occasional treat such as lob worms for my Theraphosas or morio worms for my largest spiders.

 

[MassExodus]

It's not so bad, spiders don't need to eat very often. Feeding and maintaining my spiders is a de-stresser for me so it's not a chore. Also, with that many to deal with there's always a nice surprise like a moult or some interesting behaviour to be observed, so feeding time always has a little sweetener.

Probably the biggest pain in the butt is looking after the food. I have two roach colonies and a small mealworm farm which take more maintenance between them than the spiders. Both the roach colonies are well established so I rarely have to buy spider food, just the occasional treat such as lob worms for my Theraphosas or morio worms for my largest spiders.

Yep, the food requires more attention than the spiders when you have a large collection. I still have a dubia colony, but its too much food for my five spiders. I still keep the colony though. Maybe I'll release them in my back field, see what happens.

 

[MrKrowe]

Yep, the food requires more attention than the spiders when you have a large collection. I still have a dubia colony, but its too much food for my five spiders. I still keep the colony though. Maybe I'll release them in my back field, see what happens.

I heard an aquarium shop assistant once who said something which stuck with me - he said that you’re not a fish keeper, you’re a water keeper. Keep the water right and the fish will thrive - Wonderful advice.

It’s not about keeping spiders, it’s about maintaining the environment you keep them in and the food you are going to feed them. My roaches get the best food I can supply, they are kept clean and comfortable. In return I get plenty of babies, and fat healthy adults. Without high quality food I shouldn’t expect healthy spiders.

But it’s still a PITA.

 

[menavodi]

I heard an aquarium shop assistant once who said something which stuck with me - he said that you’re not a fish keeper, you’re a water keeper. Keep the water right and the fish will thrive - Wonderful advice.

It’s not about keeping spiders, it’s about maintaining the environment you keep them in and the food you are going to feed them. My roaches get the best food I can supply, they are kept clean and comfortable. In return I get plenty of babies, and fat healthy adults. Without high quality food I shouldn’t expect healthy spiders.

But it’s still a PITA.

I like how you put that! You are so right!

 

[Whitelightning777]

I may well have more critters then firearms, which says a lot, not even counting Nyx the cat.

In terms of feeding, I typically go through a box of crickets every time, giving them to my pokies and the rest to my C versicolor and B hamorii, usually one or two.

The three slings are still just a bit too small for the large sized crickets that I get.

I feed the remaining survivors to my 3 destroyers of worlds, namely my T stirmi, L klugi and P sp machala. Any one of these is a great way to toss out excess feeders that'll likely die in less then a week and be useless by then.

I also do super worms, meal worms (for the 3 slings) and roaches for all the others as the main food source.

A wide variety of food seems to make all the difference.