Other Kinds of Feeders

[hellknite]

Hi Hellnite, Where are you from? We don't have coconut beetles native here. Not even locusts.

I'm from the Philippines..

 

[hellknite]

I see daily a good number of dragonflies, grasshoppers, beetles, moths and june bugs out in the garden. And every night I see crickets at my doorsteps. And not to mention the big orbweavers up high.
I tried experimenting with 2 pulchripes for 4 months, the other one I fed with wild caught feeders until I gave up in fear of pesticides since around me are coconut plantations.

 

[hellknite]

I was just thinking about your ideas regarding captive bred and wild caught feeders. Will you go feed your T's wild caught feeders?

To give you an idea how much feeders I can catch here is an image of the town where I live.

 

[Denny Dee]

Perfect for a T collector! Glad you can take advantage of it. Kind of hard here to capture prey when it snows

 

[Deepseafortydog]

Any insects that are NOT okay to feed t's?

 

[hellknite]

Any insects that are NOT okay to feed t's?

Actually, it's a risk feeding them with wild caught insects due to pesticides. But if you can obtain them far from farming and agricultural lands I guess it's not a problem.

 

[Therasoid]

Actually, it's a risk feeding them with wild caught insects due to pesticides. But if you can obtain them far from farming and agricultural lands I guess it's not a problem.

I agree with not using wild caught feeders.
Check with local county health officials about night spraying pesticides from aircraft. Its done in areas to control mosquito and tick from causing health issues. Just an FYI. [emoji6]

 

[RedCapTrio]

@hellknite Kabayan! nice to know that someone from Pinas is active here. I am just a noob so is also curious as to wild caught insects that might interest our web slingers.

I already have some grasshoppers, bettles, and black roaches that dig into the ground ready for my 2 incher B. smithi after it molted.

 

[RedCapTrio]

The black roaches may be sand roaches, they are mostly underground and loves burrowing. They don't really grow big too. I hope that they can be breed so that I can start a colony.

 

[Chubbs]

Anything wild caught should not be fed to them. Avoid anything that can sting or bite hard enough to cause damage to a tarantula. Basically your options are crickets, roaches, mealworms, superworms, wax worms, or possibly locusts depending on your location.

 

[E.M.DuBois]

I was wondering, or moreover wanted to ask what do you feed your Ts?

Like in my case I ocassionaly feed them with
June bugs

A note on this, specifically in the US:
There is an actual DANGER in feeding your T with June bugs in certain parts of the US. I'd keep away from them if you live anywhere near farmland or in an apartment complex where pest-control does regular perimeter-sprays. June bugs (aka May bottles) hibernate in loose soil for long periods (like tilled farm soil, or the mulch around an apartment complex) and their exo's are incredibly resistant to pesticides. But the poisons will soak into the shell and can present a danger to your little friend.

I understand the appeal of catching June bugs to feed to your T. They're free, easy to catch, and are a rather sizable morsel for the bigger Tarantulas. I thought those same things when I caught one for my little Everwood. I wasn't aware of the danger, though. I live in an apartment complex in WI... which is right across the street from a major, local farm. Honestly, I think my own ignorance cost me, because I lost my friend a day later, when she only 13 (could've live another two years easily, and still another 5 on top of that,) was active, and still had yet to show any grey hair. Let my loss be a lesson to everyone: be careful with your feeder-insects. Remember that what looks like a free meal for your buddy is also a pest everyone else is trying to kill, and just like it has caused problems with us (thinking specifically of controversies surrounding DDT on that one), is also can have unintended consequences for us T-lovers.

 

[Dave Jay]

I'm not in the U.S. but this is an important point to make about any creature that is considered a pest species, a regular poisoning or baiting regime may be in place to control numbers.

Thanks for the info!