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Tarantula food emergency.

Entity

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Porcellio scaber. :( poor little things. My mean Nhandu just killed them and piled them up. Three others actually ate them! And you know if I'm guilty of anything it's a tendency to overfeed :/
hmmm. well at least they have a snack running around. lol
 

NatashaG

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If you can source Locusts they are a great alternative to crickets. They seem to live for ever, don't smell at all, and my Ts enjoy them with much gusto.
I think the next time that I need to purchase food that I might try locusts, just to see how they go :):)
 

MassExodus

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Porcellio scaber. :( poor little things. My mean Nhandu just killed them and piled them up. Three others actually ate them! And you know if I'm guilty of anything it's a tendency to overfeed :/
Oh god what have I done...lol...I just spread around a whole lot of P scaber in my enclosures..We shall see, I suppose...
 

kormath

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hoping the Little Kenyan roaches I ordered will work for the tiny slings i still have. If not i might look at getting some of these scabers :)
 

SpiderDad61

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Warminster PA
You can use a heat mat if you want them to breed faster, but lateralis breed just fine at room temps, dubia will also but at warmer temps, ideally for breeding you'd want dubia 85F or so, they're an East African tropical species. I'd get rid of the sponge, they're just bacteria traps. If you're worried about them drowning in the dish put in pebbles or marbles or something they can crawl out of the water onto. With water gels you don't have to worry about that ;)
I have my Dubia in a 10 gal tank, glass covered for darkness, and a plexi lid. Heat cord around the whole bottom on a timer and feed/water every few days. They literally explode in numbers and I have way more than I'll ever need. Easy to care for, no dying, and no smell. Still, some if my Ts eat mistly crickets BUT if long enough, a T will eat a dubia. It's not gonna starve itself.
I also bought 10 large hissers fur my large stirmi, and those suckers are breeding now! There were 100 or so babies running around 1 day and I was shocked
 

kormath

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I've run out of adult lateralis except for the few female and single male i've threatened my son about feeding. Found out the lps here is now breeding dubia and selling them in 4 sizes, so my larger T's that were eating the adult lateralis are learning the hard way to eat the sub adult dubia. So far i've had some success in the change. The GBB "bites" them, then sits back with one foot on it to wait for it to move then pounces and devours it. the freshly molted B. albo "Moe" does similar, but with his front 2 feet or 1 foot and a pedipalp. the LP and genic gobble them up like candy. All of my other Ts are either to small for the dubia i have or run from them.

I've found waiting until their first meal after a molt is a good way to change their food preferences ;)
 

syzygy

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Texas
I bought some dubias for the first time and they don't really seem to work for me. I tend to have oversize terrariums and like to add prey items away from the T so that they have to work for it a bit. Crickets tent to walk or hop around until they draw attention, but the dubias seem to sense the T presence and either immediately dig or they stay motionless. One of them hasn't moved an inch from where it landed in the habitat 3 days ago.

Not that I have a source for them, but are lateralis better? Crickets stink and the thought of a food source that self replenishes is appealing.
 

kormath

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I bought some dubias for the first time and they don't really seem to work for me. I tend to have oversize terrariums and like to add prey items away from the T so that they have to work for it a bit. Crickets tent to walk or hop around until they draw attention, but the dubias seem to sense the T presence and either immediately dig or they stay motionless. One of them hasn't moved an inch from where it landed in the habitat 3 days ago.

Not that I have a source for them, but are lateralis better? Crickets stink and the thought of a food source that self replenishes is appealing.
they're much better. For dubia you have to drop them at the T's feet or they ignore it. Lateralis are crazy, they sprint everywhere and draw the T's attention to it almost as well as a cricket. Excellent feeders. Still my main feeder for my slings, dubia is just a reserve until the lateralis colony grows large enough again.
 

Zaiaku

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3 Year Member
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93
So when I first got my T like what....3 weeks ago? Somewhere around there (2in. N. Chromatus) I did a lot of research which eventually led me to these forums. But one of the places I looked was Tom Moran's youtube videos and his blog. I emailed him about different food sources cause I honestly hate crickets after keeping a bearded dragon for a while when I was younger. He gave me lots of good advice about the different feederst
  • Crickets are easy to find in pet stores. They move around a lot, which the Ts love, and they come in convenient sizes. Unfortunately, they can be a pain to keep alive and they stink.
  • Dubias are easy to raise, don't smell, and can become quite large, which is great if you have larger Ts. The can't climb, which makes keeping them easy. The downside is they have a tendency to burrow or play dead when a T approaches (this behavior can be eliminated by crushing their heads; gross, but it works!). I have a colony of these.
  • B. lats are easy to raise, no smell, and they move around constantly like crickets, which Ts love. They can't climb, but if they get out, they ARE an invasive animal (meaning, you could end up with roaches in your home). I used a LOT of these now.
  • Mealworms are convenient and can basically be kept forever in a refrigerator. They are also very easy to raise, and the Ts tend to gobble them up. They will burrow, however, and they can bite, so crushing the heads helps.
  • Hissers get really large and WILL climb, which makes them a little more difficult to house, but makes them great for arboreal species.
Hope this helps. My local pet store literally JUST got a colony of Dubias so I bought a few of them and threw one in with Vivian and...I think I may have found a new favorite food! Lol she wrecked that thing and it was near the same size as she is!!
 

Kymura

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So when I first got my T like what....3 weeks ago? Somewhere around there (2in. N. Chromatus) I did a lot of research which eventually led me to these forums. But one of the places I looked was Tom Moran's youtube videos and his blog. I emailed him about different food sources cause I honestly hate crickets after keeping a bearded dragon for a while when I was younger. He gave me lots of good advice about the different feederst
  • Crickets are easy to find in pet stores. They move around a lot, which the Ts love, and they come in convenient sizes. Unfortunately, they can be a pain to keep alive and they stink.
  • Dubias are easy to raise, don't smell, and can become quite large, which is great if you have larger Ts. The can't climb, which makes keeping them easy. The downside is they have a tendency to burrow or play dead when a T approaches (this behavior can be eliminated by crushing their heads; gross, but it works!). I have a colony of these.
  • B. lats are easy to raise, no smell, and they move around constantly like crickets, which Ts love. They can't climb, but if they get out, they ARE an invasive animal (meaning, you could end up with roaches in your home). I used a LOT of these now.
  • Mealworms are convenient and can basically be kept forever in a refrigerator. They are also very easy to raise, and the Ts tend to gobble them up. They will burrow, however, and they can bite, so crushing the heads helps.
  • Hissers get really large and WILL climb, which makes them a little more difficult to house, but makes them great for arboreal species.
Hope this helps. My local pet store literally JUST got a colony of Dubias so I bought a few of them and threw one in with Vivian and...I think I may have found a new favorite food! Lol she wrecked that thing and it was near the same size as she is!!
Nice share. Could have just asked him here lol
@Tomoran
 

kormath

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Lol I figured he was on here too he's the one who pointed me here
Yep, i have @Tomoran to blame in part for my addiction ;) started reading his blogs and watching his youtube vids when my son and i first got into the hobby. That led us here to these forums (after reading and not liking a few others).
 

Tomoran

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Connecticut
Yep, i have @Tomoran to blame in part for my addiction ;) started reading his blogs and watching his youtube vids when my son and i first got into the hobby. That led us here to these forums (after reading and not liking a few others).

Hahahaha. This made my day! :)

I was actually JUST apologizing to another keeper yesterday for feeding into her budding addiction. ;)
 

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